Ticket Exchange

[Red Alert]

Has gone live for this game.

 

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/20151013-ticket-exchange-southampton-leicester-city-2742277.aspx

 

Really glad to see the club doing this personally as there has been 2-3 games a season I cant make it too.

 

Category A fixtures

Adults - £30

Concessions - £25

Under-17s - £17

Under-11s - £9

 

Category B fixtures

Adults - £27

Concessions - £22

Under-17s - £16

Under-11s - £7

 

Category C fixtures

Adults - £24

Concessions - £19

Under-17s - £14

Under-11s - £5

[The9]

It think it's a pretty crappy version of a ticket exchange, you get a credit against next year's season ticket.

 

Fans are only going to use this if they can't find a mate to give them a chunk of cash which is more than the "per game" cost but less than buying an actual match ticket.

 

The refund values make it even worse.

 

If I bought a Northam ST, cost £625 (I think) - and couldn't go to any matches, assuming this was available for all matches in a season for the purposes of the calculation and they all sold out, I'd only get 8*£30 + 3*£27 + 8*£24 = £513 back. You lose nearly £100 in "credit" against the following year's ST.

 

Plus, that's assuming

1) they can sell your ticket - as you don't get a credit if it isn't sold

2) that the game has already sold out in order for this to be available

3) you don't change your mind after the ticket is sold, in which case you have to buy another seat at full value - for a match that's already by definition sold out to begin with.

 

I can see this one having the staying power of the QJump app, priority queues and contactless payment bands (though contactless cards are at least a thing).

Edited 14 October, 2015 by The9

[Griptenstien]

But as they have no requirement to do it at all it's a hell of a lot better than nothing.

 

You bought a season ticket to go to games not to get money back for the next year!

[Sour Mash]

It think it's a pretty crappy version of a ticket exchange, you get a credit against next year's season ticket.

 

Fans are only going to use this if they can't find a mate to give them a chunk of cash which is more than the "per game" cost but less than buying an actual match ticket.

 

The refund values make it even worse.

 

If I bought a Northam ST, cost £625 (I think) - and couldn't go to any matches, assuming this was available for all matches in a season for the purposes of the calculation and they all sold out, I'd only get 8*£30 + 3*£27 + 8*£27 = £537 back. You lose nearly £100 in "credit" against the following year's ST.

 

Plus, that's assuming

1) they can sell your ticket - as you don't get a credit if it isn't sold

2) that the game has already sold out in order for this to be available

3) you don't change your mind after the ticket is sold, in which case you have to buy another seat at full value - for a match that's already by definition sold out to begin with.

 

I can see this one having the staying power of the QJump app, priority queues and contactless payment bands (though contactless cards are at least a thing).

I don't see anything wrong with it at all. What would you do differently? Seems a better option than Stub Hub etc that is used at other clubs.

 

If this scheme doesn't last long it'll be due to the fact that demand for spare tickets isn't that high week in, week out.

 

On another note, good going selling out inc block 43 so quickly.

[The9]

But as they have no requirement to do it at all it's a hell of a lot better than nothing.

 

You bought a season ticket to go to games not to get money back for the next year!

 

Well yes, but in the event you can't go, it has a value per game which is less than the club is selling it for to someone else, and more than you're getting for it if they do (plus they tie you to having to spend £600+ to buy an ST the following year to benefit from it). The club's also making money off you for helping them make more money from merchandise and food. Plus I realised there was a typo in my original prices and actually it's £513 not £537 you'd get back so you're basically losing out on a fiver compared to the average value of the match on your ST every time you do it.

 

There's no reason to use the service at all unless you absolutely can't find a single person you can trust to take on your ST for one match and pay more than the low value the club offers in the event it sells. Agreed that it's better than StubHub making the money, but that's about it.

[The9]

I don't see anything wrong with it at all. What would you do differently? Seems a better option than Stub Hub etc that is used at other clubs.

 

If this scheme doesn't last long it'll be due to the fact that demand for spare tickets isn't that high week in, week out.

 

On another note, good going selling out inc block 43 so quickly.

 

Can't sell ticket? Here's the amount we're selling your ticket for sent to your account via BACS. If you want you can set how much you're prepared to sell it for so there's even a chance you might make a profit (because the market will determine the value).

 

We'd rather facilitate the stadium being full as new customers spend more on merchandise anyway and we might encourage someone to become a longer term fan, plus we'd like to thank you for your commitment to the club this season, so don't worry about the negligible admin cost of an online resale.

 

In short, I buy an ST, I control how much it's available for resale for.

 

Obviously there's a side-effect of people potentially only buying to resell game by game instead of actually going, but there's absolutely nothing stopping them doing that in practice at the moment and there's no viable profit margin that makes it worthwhile on a regular basis.

[Sour Mash]

Well yes, but in the event you can't go, it has a value per game which is less than the club is selling it for to someone else, and more than you're getting for it if they do (plus they tie you to having to spend £600+ to buy an ST the following year to benefit from it). The club's also making money off you for helping them make more money from merchandise and food. Plus I realised there was a typo in my original prices and actually it's £513 not £537 you'd get back so you're basically losing out on a fiver compared to the average value of the match on your ST every time you do it.

 

There's no reason to use the service at all unless you absolutely can't find a single person you can trust to take on your ST for one match and pay more than the low value the club offers in the event it sells. Agreed that it's better than StubHub making the money, but that's about it.

So the club should go to the effort and hassle for free?

[The9]

So the club should go to the effort and hassle for free?

 

Effort and hassle of what exactly? There's barely a cost to what they're doing even now. There's already an online booking system with a function for reselling, the only thing that changes is that you'd get credited to the card on your online account (a pre-requisite that card details are saved, already able to do that too) and they might need to add something that allows the user to set a price. And if they couldn't do that, just credit the face value of the ticket.

[Griptenstien]

Well yes, but in the event you can't go, it has a value per game which is less than the club is selling it for to someone else, and more than you're getting for it if they do (plus they tie you to having to spend £600+ to buy an ST the following year to benefit from it). The club's also making money off you for helping them make more money from merchandise and food. Plus I realised there was a typo in my original prices and actually it's £513 not £537 you'd get back so you're basically losing out on a fiver compared to the average value of the match on your ST every time you do it.

 

There's no reason to use the service at all unless you absolutely can't find a single person you can trust to take on your ST for one match and pay more than the low value the club offers in the event it sells. Agreed that it's better than StubHub making the money, but that's about it.

 

But they still don't have to do it.

 

The season ticket was bought to give you the right to watch x number of games during the season whether you turn up or not.

 

The fact they have done this benefits you and the club, I admit, only you if you buy a season ticket next year but I assume the majority of people do renew.

[Sour Mash]

Effort and hassle of what exactly? There's barely a cost to what they're doing even now. There's already an online booking system with a function for reselling, the only thing that changes is that you'd get credited to the card on your online account (a pre-requisite that card details are saved, already able to do that too) and they might need to add something that allows the user to set a price. And if they couldn't do that, just credit the face value of the ticket.

Setting up the system? Dealing with issues it inevitably throws up?

[Sour Mash]

Can't sell ticket? Here's the amount we're selling your ticket for sent to your account via BACS. If you want you can set how much you're prepared to sell it for so there's even a chance you might make a profit (because the market will determine the value).

 

We'd rather facilitate the stadium being full as new customers spend more on merchandise anyway and we might encourage someone to become a longer term fan, plus we'd like to thank you for your commitment to the club this season, so don't worry about the negligible admin cost of an online resale.

 

In short, I buy an ST, I control how much it's available for resale for.

 

Obviously there's a side-effect of people potentially only buying to resell game by game instead of actually going, but there's absolutely nothing stopping them doing that in practice at the moment and there's no viable profit margin that makes it worthwhile on a regular basis.

The club aren't going to set up a system to let you tout tickets and make a profit..

[The9]

The club aren't going to set up a system to let you tout tickets and make a profit..

 

It's what all the top sides do.

[the_emu]

The system by design is to get more people through the turnstiles and help widen the fan base where ST holders cant make a game as an exception, its not to turn ST holders into casual attendees for premium games and then tout the rest.

 

Perfectly sound reasoning to me.

[The9]

The system by design is to get more people through the turnstiles and help widen the fan base where ST holders cant make a game as an exception, its not to turn ST holders into casual attendees for premium games and then tout the rest.

 

Perfectly sound reasoning to me.

 

But completely flawed in execution, as no-one is going to make their ST available to the club for a poxy refund they can't even get unless they continue to be an ST holder and someone else sells the ticket on their behalf, when they could just loan it for cash to a person they know and get the money immediately and get more of it, as well as the temporary user having the benefit of probably paying less than the club would charge.

[Red Alert]

But completely flawed in execution, as no-one is going to make their ST available to the club for a poxy refund they can't even get unless they continue to be an ST holder and someone else sells the ticket on their behalf, when they could just loan it for cash to a person they know and get the money immediately and get more of it, as well as the temporary user having the benefit of probably paying less than the club would charge.

 

I will. I don't live locally and have no Southampton supporting mates. Its not even easy for me to give my two season tickets away when i can't make games. For me personally this is brilliant.

[The9]

I will. I dint live local and have no Southampton supporting mates. Its not even easy to give my two season tickets away when i can't make games. For me personally this is brilliant.

 

Fair enough, there's the target audience then. People who live miles away with no Saints fans near them and no-one interested in taking them (that was me 14 years ago)

 

How have you not got any Saints mates but two STs?

 

And doesn't the "living away" make you less likely to renew the ST and therefore not benefit from the resale?

[Red Alert]

Fair enough, there's the target audience then. People who live miles away with no Saints fans near them and no-one interested in taking them (that was me 14 years ago)

 

How have you not got any Saints mates but two STs?

 

And doesn't the "living away" make you less likely to renew the ST and therefore not benefit from the resale?

 

I go with the Mrs so if i cant go she doesnt go vice versa. I said i had two tickets as that is the number of tickets not in use if i cant go. I didnt feel it needed a full explination really in the last post. I am sure there are a number of season ticket holders that dont live in Southampton like myself. Given i have had a ST for years yet have never lived in Southampton i dont think it makes it any less likely I will renew next year.

[JRM]

I go with the Mrs so if i cant go she doesnt go vice versa. I said i had two tickets as that is the number of tickets not in use if i cant go. I didnt feel it needed a full explination really in the last post. I am sure there are a number of season ticket holders that dont live in Southampton like myself. Given i have had a ST for years yet have never lived in Southampton i dont think it makes it any less likely I will renew next year.

 

If anything you are more likely to renew as there is a safety net to get some money back for games you cannot make. As a fan who has lived away I understand your predicament as even selling your ticket to a mate can be hassle, getting the ticket to them etc. At least this way it's a couple of clicks then all done as long as someone buys it.

I appreciate what The9 is saying, for any fans with a wide network of potential friends / family / colleagues who would be interested taking the ticket then you wouldn't use this method.

[The9]

I go with the Mrs so if i cant go she doesnt go vice versa. I said i had two tickets as that is the number of tickets not in use if i cant go. I didnt feel it needed a full explination really in the last post. I am sure there are a number of season ticket holders that dont live in Southampton like myself. Given i have had a ST for years yet have never lived in Southampton i dont think it makes it any less likely I will renew next year.

 

Just wondering. Well done on keeping your attendance up, I only managed 1 year as an exile before giving up the ST and it took moving down here to get another. Though that was 10 years ago now.

[VectisSaint]

Fair enough, there's the target audience then. People who live miles away with no Saints fans near them and no-one interested in taking them (that was me 14 years ago)

How have you not got any Saints mates but two STs?

 

And doesn't the "living away" make you less likely to renew the ST and therefore not benefit from the resale?

Worked for me (or rather for my daughter) who exceptionally cannot make the game this Saturday and we have no-one to sell it to at this short notice (usually have a couple of mates that would take it) . Quite honestly, don't really care about the refund. The alternative is that the seat next to me would be empty, the club would not benefit from selling another ticket and making a few quid out of some merchandise/program/burger/beer that it would otherwise not have made, and so help reduce our loan to Kat. Won't make a jot of difference to whether we renew or not.

 

My only concern is that I might have some fat, sweaty bloke sat next to me :-) I could have been selfish and left the seat empty, so that I could man spread :-)