Time to change the deposit scheme?

[The Nal]

2 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

Computers can do a lot of amazing things, like get past the queue and buy your ticket within a minute of the onsale. You can even pay for that sort of thing. Also theres breakdowns of how this system even works and how you can more or less just hack your way through. 

[Suprefan]

2 minutes ago, The Nal said:

If you've ever tried to buy high demand sneakers online than you know what Im talking about. Cause bots can be used for any kind of ticket or product. And yeah, theres a thread about the see tickets system and how you can tweak how you refresh and such to maximize chances. 

[Zoo Music Girl]

On 7/5/2022 at 7:26 PM, incident said:

I don't mind the concept - but logistically (with GDPR etc) there's no workable scenario where this could be done as anything other than a trust based scheme (with a "prefer not to say" option) - and you'd definitely have substantial numbers people lying in order to pay less.

Late to this discussion but we are going to a festival this year that has different price brackets (Supernormal - it's tiny so obviously a lot easier to implement). There's a full-price option, a mid-price option and a low-/no-income option. When we bought tickets, me and my other half went for full-price and got a no-income ticket for our friend. It's an interesting idea, although it does work on trust. We're happy to pay full-price as we love the festival and can afford it but appreciate not everyone might feel that way.

[gfa]

2 hours ago, Alvoram said:

No not at all, unless they're signed up to a ridiculous handling contract. For at least 10 years now all of our card handling contracts and fees have been percentage based... We don't pay a set fee at all. And I don't know anybody that does these days. 

This all changed around the time of contactless appearing, hence you no longer find minimum transaction amounts for card.  

Cheers

2 hours ago, fraybentos1 said:

They could just use a credit card

Even riskier than a shared debit card and something the festival just cannot encourage imo - not everyone can get a credit card with that much credit either (although at that point you probably should give glastonbury a miss for the year)

---

the bot thing is 100% true and no doubt people do you use them, it is illegal however in the UK (although it sounds like its only illegal for touts gettings 100s vs dave and his mates getting 6 glasto tickets).

Easiest option is lots of people with lots of tabs, working together.

[Zoo Music Girl]

On 7/5/2022 at 7:53 PM, dotdash79 said:

Expect the deposit to go up to £75 per ticket. 
 

I would like to see the coach and accommodation packages to have a deposit and balance payments applied to them. 

Agree with this. It's annoying to have to pay up front for the coach (especially when it's really overpriced as it is) but presume they have to do it to book in the coach companies.

[Skip997]

Glastonbury costs a huge amount to run and aims to donate two million to charities. There's really only two options if the festival is going to keep running.

1. Keep prices high and increase them every year.

2. Massively scale down (I'd love this), which wouldn't go down well in so many quarters and would negate the huge charity donation. This may allow a reduction in ticket prices.

 

[FrancisH]

5 hours ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

I think this is probably the best solution for stopping people hoovering up tickets and not really losing anything on it.

Make the deposit higher, make the loss higher. You either really want to go with the means to do so, or you don't.

 

Can't see them changing the deposit anytime soon tbh, if they did I would find that a little bit disappointing.

It's one of the few ways somebody from a lower income can at least secure a ticket and save for something tangible, it's a good leveler that anyone can try and get one - start fiddling with that and it starts to price people out at the first hurdle.

[fraybentos1]

13 minutes ago, gfa said:

Cheers

Even riskier than a shared debit card and something the festival just cannot encourage imo - not everyone can get a credit card with that much credit either (although at that point you probably should give glastonbury a miss for the year)

---

the bot thing is 100% true and no doubt people do you use them, it is illegal however in the UK (although it sounds like its only illegal for touts gettings 100s vs dave and his mates getting 6 glasto tickets).

Easiest option is lots of people with lots of tabs, working together.

I mean each person would need a credit card with £1800 credit limit, that sounds easy enough. Basically any adult can get a credit card and then just pay it off before interest 

[gfa]

55 minutes ago, fraybentos1 said:

I mean each person would need a credit card with £1800 credit limit, that sounds easy enough. Basically any adult can get a credit card and then just pay it off before interest 

Not if your younger - say they announced it now most cards start at £1k credit limit, for someone with little credit history it may be difficult to get to a £2k limit by October. Also for people who've ruined their credit score somehow.

[dotdash79]

1 hour ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Agree with this. It's annoying to have to pay up front for the coach (especially when it's really overpriced as it is) but presume they have to do it to book in the coach companies.

When you book a coach company you only pay a deposit with them then the rest 28 days before, I’m sure see can manage a contract like that. 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

1 hour ago, FrancisH said:

 

Can't see them changing the deposit anytime soon tbh, if they did I would find that a little bit disappointing.

It's one of the few ways somebody from a lower income can at least secure a ticket and save for something tangible, it's a good leveler that anyone can try and get one - start fiddling with that and it starts to price people out at the first hurdle.

But just because they're lower income, doesn't mean they are irresponsible with their money. If they can't scrape together 100 quid, say between the end of that year's Glasto in June and October, I would question if they really need such a lavish expense. 100 pounds really isn't that much, even for low income people. I was a low income earner from 16 to 25, and I attended several festivals in that time. I ate at the Hare Krishna tent on many occasions to keep costs down and so on.

July-October is 4 months. Put aside 25 quid a month, it's really not that bad, is it?

And if they really need to keep hold of that 25 a month, I would question what they're expecting to change about their situation by going to a party that is about as hedonistic as it gets.

[DeanoL]

5 hours ago, Skip997 said:

Bit off topic, but with ticket purchasing seemingly being a lottery, how do people manage to keep coming back year after year?

I don't have this issue as I get an email every Jan asking if I want to work this year.

I think it's only got tough the past 5 festivals. Up then I'd have been confident in getting a ticket, even if it means doing the resale, or the secret resale. Now the secret resales have dried up and the resales are harder, it's a proper lottery, but again, that's only the last five. So doesn't matter if someone has been going to 20 in a row or 6 in a row, it's the same amount of luck. It only got properly difficult from 2015 onwards.

And from there it's just luck (and preparation). I think the odds are about 50% these days, and in 2015/2016 were maybe more like 70%. So it's not that unlikely to get tickets every year.

Like, it's a 6% chance to get tickets 4 times in a row if the odds are 50%  - which sounds low, but it means if the same people were trying for tickets every year, with 135,000 tickets sold, that's 8500 people who have tickets for 

5 hours ago, gooner1990 said:

Me and my girlfriend booked a holiday to NYC with British Airways at the end of last year that cost around £2k for us both...we paid a £350 deposit and then could both go into the account and pay off anything from £1 to all of it as long as it was done by a certain date. 

Worked great for us. 

We'd save the money, put it in Premium Bonds so it was doing something for us, then pay it all off on the last day. Paying it early just helps the company as they can invest it instead of you. 

[DeanoL]

2 hours ago, gfa said:

Cheers

Even riskier than a shared debit card and something the festival just cannot encourage imo - not everyone can get a credit card with that much credit either (although at that point you probably should give glastonbury a miss for the year)

You have to pay by Debit card still right? Unless international?

[ProperTea]

Just to update, I emailed the festival to suggest this and they replied to say it's something they're actively considering for 2023. 

[incident]

2 hours ago, DeanoL said:

You have to pay by Debit card still right? Unless international?

Nope - Internationals have to use Credit Cards. UK can use either Credit or Debit.

I took out a Credit Card specifically for buying Glastonbury tickets without having to share card details or holding a large balance on my bank account - although I have decent money management and can trust myself not to run up debts on it.

[gfa]

3 hours ago, ProperTea said:

Just to update, I emailed the festival to suggest this and they replied to say it's something they're actively considering for 2023. 

considering what if you asked anything in particular or managed to get more from them - system changes? higher deposit?

[ProperTea]

7 hours ago, gfa said:

considering what if you asked anything in particular or managed to get more from them - system changes? higher deposit?

Payment in installments.

[gooner1990]

12 hours ago, DeanoL said:

I think it's only got tough the past 5 festivals. Up then I'd have been confident in getting a ticket, even if it means doing the resale, or the secret resale. Now the secret resales have dried up and the resales are harder, it's a proper lottery, but again, that's only the last five. So doesn't matter if someone has been going to 20 in a row or 6 in a row, it's the same amount of luck. It only got properly difficult from 2015 onwards.

And from there it's just luck (and preparation). I think the odds are about 50% these days, and in 2015/2016 were maybe more like 70%. So it's not that unlikely to get tickets every year.

Like, it's a 6% chance to get tickets 4 times in a row if the odds are 50%  - which sounds low, but it means if the same people were trying for tickets every year, with 135,000 tickets sold, that's 8500 people who have tickets for 

We'd save the money, put it in Premium Bonds so it was doing something for us, then pay it all off on the last day. Paying it early just helps the company as they can invest it instead of you. 

I would agree with this, 2015 was the first time I had to rely on resales, and in 2019 I worked on a bar to get in to the festival.

[gigpusher]

Deposit schemes for Glastonbury are probably safe enough but in general the travel and event industry are in quite a perilous position and I would caution anyone giving them more money than they have to as if they go bankrupt you lose everything you have given them. 

As a kid it happened to me when I kept putting money to a local electronics store to get a Sony Sportsman. I was about £15 from paying it off when they declared themselves bankrupt and I lost everything I paid and didn't get my Sportsman. I also know lots of colleagues who were affected by the Christmas voucher scheme that went bust just before Christmas taking with them all of their Christmas savings. They had tried to convince me to join it and I had said I prefer to save my own money. I felt terrible the day it happened as some lost several hundred that they had earmarked for their food shop and presents. 

I definitely think you are better off saving yourself in a separate bank account that comes out straight after payday. If you are not good with money maybe get a trusted friend or family member to keep it for you. 

 

[The Nal]

11 hours ago, ProperTea said:

Just to update, I emailed the festival to suggest this and they replied to say it's something they're actively considering for 2023. 

"Thank you for your email.

Oh yeah we're considering this for 2023 alright".