Is paintball too expensive?

[Rakz]

If your just starting out and your wanting your own gear then its a lump sum to pay, e.g. im looking at around £300 for everything for my starter gear e.g. marker, hopper, mask, air tank, boots (wrecked my trainers this weekend playing so adding this to the list). once you own it then it depends on how often you play, there are always offers on groupon etc for a group of people for about £5-10 then your mainly paying for paintballs, places near me cost £25 for 500 which can last me all day unless i get trigger happy, compare that to my other hobbies then its probably one of the cheapest ive got!

 

[MrJerryCan]

I would say it is a bit pricey, it's ok if you have a decent job though, there are many things to get which can easily add up over time.

 

[Tom]

there are always offers on groupon etc for a group of people for about £5-10 then your mainly paying for paintballs

There are such deals, however they are not necessarily the best way to pay - particularly as this is the punter format which is realy dependant on paint costs
The amount you pay to turn up is irrelevant, in many cases the site does not see your entry fee

There were ticket sellers who sold tickets for sites with nothing to do with the ticket sellers. The site would then honour the so called deal that the customer had bought, and then only have income from the paint. If they actually turned up, used their 100 paintballs and left then the site has had people on site using equipment and requiring staff with £0 income and suffered a loss

IPG sell tickets (at the price the sellers decide 'discounted' from the website price of £30), then you call Delta Force and pay £9.99 each to book
So you have now paid up to £40 that the site has not seen (though delta force sites are part of a big corporation so the site fee is irrelevant)
Then you buy paint

Use groupon or with other deal sites and part or all of the money goes to the ticket agent

Call a site and book, go as a group and tell them you have x people, some preordering 500 to start etc and any site manager will come up with a price

However, idealy as a more regular player look for true walkons, scenario events etc
Then you may pay a higher entry depending on the type of event and will pay a lower paint retail price - buying by the case

Check out the 'what paintball costs'

 

[Rakz]

Ive only played twice as ive just got into the game, not used groupon for any of my visits, i was just stating that sites like that have offers on for people to attend and when people use offers like that the site will only make money on paintballs and any food/drinks you buy while there.

Ive not attended any walkons / scenario events as of yet but i look forward to my first one.

 

[Tom]

Ive only played twice as ive just got into the game, not used groupon for any of my visits, i was just stating that sites like that have offers on for people to attend and when people use offers like that the site will only make money on paintballs and any food/drinks you buy while there.

Ive not attended any walkons / scenario events as of yet but i look forward to my first one.

No issue, just advice to avoid the headline deals that get advertised

 

[Sporky]

I played on and off for the last few years, always with friends and never at a walk-on/scenario event and have found the biggest thing which effects the expense is where you go. Some places charge a bomb for paintballs but cheap entry and others vice versa.

I guess the way most people first play or get involved in paintball can make it seem expensive however it is by no means any less expensive than a lot of other hobbies.

 

[jetter10]

all hobbies are expensive, paintball can seem expensive, but it's the same as any other hobby

 

[Matthew Phillips]

I help run our uni team and we have had to price our membership way lower than all the other teams at our uni because we know that the cost of playing the sport is too high, especially for students! It's hard to get new sign ups and people interested when their only previous experience of the sport comes from being ripped off at a delta force or similar field.

 

[Tom]

I help run our uni team and we have had to price our membership way lower than all the other teams at our uni because we know that the cost of playing the sport is too high, especially for students! It's hard to get new sign ups and people interested when their only previous experience of the sport comes from being ripped off at a delta force or similar field.

What uni? And are you in touch with the other university paintball societies?
Share ideas, and you may need a tom

At last years freshers thing assisted in smashing the 'interest' sign ups, plus for the first time in the clubs history had people fully joining and payed up by the end of the evening.
Being in a corner between the netball and pole fitness societies and helped stop people waking straight through and kept them long enough for me to run off some persuasion
Every student varied, there was combined paintball & airsoft membership in one, so if into shooting stuff this was a winner, some keen for paintball so just getting their details off them, many said they had tried once, knew someone who had or paintball was too expensive.
Cue me for the 'what was their experience like': if it was bad with dicks playing then it's different with the society or the diversity of types of games - dicks won't be tolerated
If it's the expense then yes it can be pricey, but with the society you can do this & that, go to a normal punter style game but at club negotiated prices, go to an event with higher entry but cheaper paint
I took many sign ups based on 'you have to try paintball once in your life', take advantage of university and get it a little cheaper - either at the clubs upcoming taster, or that paying the societies fee but turning up once is still cheaper than punter prices - and to try it sooner than later as they may find they love it

The southampton university got their tournament team put together based on that day and also have local arrangements with a site

Students are 'poor' but not penniless, get them at the right time and they have the money
I did possibly commit a student to a year of living on beans - from his comments I told him about the air bow and other things available, his money was in true danger