Paintball is too cheap . . ?

[jknight15]

I'm an aircraft engineering apprentice at the moment and the pay is not best in the world but I manage to pay for stuff such as food, small luxuries and soon a car as well as paintball, but having the price of paint triple will mean having to cut my losses and seeing as I need a car to get to work it will mean ballin' will have to go

(this is a view of someone on tight money )

 

[stongle]

The point on cost of paint is correct. It's too cheap. Just becuase you're mostly lamo's who can't get a decent job to pay to play, isn't the site or the shops problem.

I fancy offshore powerboat racing, but Hustler aren't giving me a discount on a powerboat. And frikkin hell, that even qualifies for "sport" status.

And Skeet, you talking utter, utter sh*te. 90% of ballers in this country should only be playing rec, you're kidding yourself your sportsman. WTF should companies sponsor you to rock up to Dartford or whether to play 55 mins of punter speedball a day, with the other 6 hrs spent purring over your shiny gun or white e-vents.

If you the baller want better events and more paintball, then you need to start paying for it at the non-subsidised rate. There's no money left over to invest in the sport once costs and profit are taken out. 60 quid a case might be pushing it, but people have got to eat.

Th eother reason Paintball prices should go up is to envorage site owners and tournament promoters to put on better events. If it was more expensive, you would be more careful how and where you spent your money. Bad sites would eventually have to shut down, good ones that invest in their facilities and providing a good customer experience (and sup-air players are customers too, none of you are pro's who bring in punters), would thrive.

 

[pyroLX]

The guy basically goes against one of the big "laws" of economics..

Price up = demand down (since its not a prestige product).

So he is wrong. The end.

 

[stongle]

The guy basically goes against one of the big "laws" of economics..

Price up = demand down (since its not a prestige product).

So he is wrong. The end.

You're right to a point (although a little bit GCSE in your thinking), and a "massive" increase in the cost of paint is retarded. However the UK pricing structure is wrong and needs to be redressed. We probably pay less for bullets as a proportion of income that the U.S. The current trend of selling paint at too cheap prices or direct from wholesaler to customer undermines the retail distribution channel. Super Air players do not do anything to qualify for special status aside from a volume discount (at a sensible rate).

Making it too cheap to play, also discourage people from trying to better themselves as players to qualify for better sponsorship or incentive packages. The assumption that you have to download thousands of bullets weekly to become a better player is flawed. 70% of UK players could improve their game by joining a Gym.

 

[pyroLX]

You're right to a point (although a little bit GCSE in your thinking), and a "massive" increase in the cost of paint is retarded. However the UK pricing structure is wrong and needs to be redressed. We probably pay less for bullets as a proportion of income that the U.S. The current trend of selling paint at too cheap prices or direct from wholesaler to customer undermines the retail distribution channel. Super Air players do not do anything to qualify for special status aside from a volume discount (at a sensible rate).

Making it too cheap to play, also discourage people from trying to better themselves as players to qualify for better sponsorship or incentive packages. The assumption that you have to download thousands of bullets weekly to become a better player is flawed. 70% of UK players could improve their game by joining a Gym.

Wouldn't a price increase really put newcomers off the sport? The first time I played I did not even know sponsorships and such deals exist, and I had to pay approx 1/12th of the base wage for one game. I really don't know about the UK so I might be making the wrong assumptions here, but in Greece it is still expensive, and IMO this is a huge factor that should be considered if we want more players to join the sport.

Then, there is recball and speedball (sup'air). As most of us (I suspect) I started off with recball, and when we were told that in supair teams spend boxes upon boxes of paint we were instantly put off by the cost of it. With a sponsorship it aint that bad, and the team manages to practice about thrice a month.

The math for younger people here is not that good when it comes to paintball, as most of the 15-20's don't work or work part time, and 21s to 25s are usually working for the base wage. If you deduct from that money the cost of paint, tourny fees, traveling, etc, it does make a difference.

What seems wrong there is the direct line between wholesaler and customer.. but then again fields could be non-BYOP to reduce that, and maybe be BYOP for Open Tournaments or leagues.

Regarding the packages you mentioned, I totally agree with you, since we are following a tier kind of sponsorship, currently enjoying 10%-15% off hard and soft goods, and a discount in paint (something like 23 quid for white box, 35-40quid for pro formula). If we do well in the tournaments these will increase and have incentives such as some free paint or participation fees.

And lets not forget that the US is generally a LOT cheaper than europe

 

[Bedlam]

I used to play in a Young Guns team 17 years ago and we all used the cutting tech of the day.....the first semis. We bought our paint direct from shops and outlets like Belsales in Aldershot. We paid 2.5p per ball and I still shot 2000+ in a day.

Ok, so rocketing forward in time to today.....I now pay 1.5p per ball and still shoot 2000+ at tourneys.

So, regardless of what you think, can anyone think of any other product that has gone down in price in the last 17 years?? Christ, even Mars Bars are bloody extortionate these days, but thats inflation for you.

My point is that to a certain extent I have to agree that paint should probably be more expensive, but its a balancing act....go too expensive and you'll kill the domestic tourney scene.

This is a highly contentious issue, but when have we ever shied away from a bloody good argument

 

[pringle]

70% of UK players could improve their game by joining a Gym.

But wouldn't gym membership and a increase in cost of paint decrease the amount of paintballers! by lets say 40%! I would have thought that that would have a bigger effect on the industry from all aspects because that is 40% less business for paintball companies as a whole. Also you said the the poorer quality events would then fade out but they won't have much of a opportunity to improve and like you said earlier they gotta put food on the table....

I just wanted to share my views and before anyone starts flaming because i a pb noob and i don't know anything this theory could be applied to apples in tesco's so that makes you a supermarket noob I going to go buy shares in re-balls now!

 

[Dusty]

up the price!!! i am in total agreement, then the scrotes will be forever banished from the game......

i often wonder how much you young'uns spend on booze at the weekend before moaning about the cost of training?? and how much was your marker?? loader?your shiny mask?
those AGG (once appeared in a stand at a tourney that dynasty played at) trousers?
oh yes thats right, the super duper 15bps paint chucker must be the latest shiny one with all the inners ripped out and replaced, and the colours changed over because it costs loads of dosh and makes you a far superior player.........

yes kids that CCU kit you had to have would have had you another box of paint most likely. and the virtue board which replaced your stock one and made no difference, 2 boxes? and the all important 12 piece barrel kit, thats right the one you didn't use ten of the pieces from?? another couple of boxes?

trouble is and especially with ballers, for some reason everyone expects and almost demands discounts. now if you know someone who knows someone, great good for you, i will get discount on stuff if i can. however whoever looks after me gets ALL my orders in return.

i reckon up the price of paint and see better, more dedicated players emerge. because they will be the ones who REALLY want to play.

 

[Seany]

up the price!!! i am in total agreement, then the scrotes will be forever banished from the game......

i often wonder how much you young'uns spend on booze at the weekend before moaning about the cost of training?? and how much was your marker?? loader?your shiny mask?
those AGG (once appeared in a stand at a tourney that dynasty played at) trousers?
oh yes thats right, the super duper 15bps paint chucker must be the latest shiny one with all the inners ripped out and replaced, and the colours changed over because it costs loads of dosh and makes you a far superior player.........

yes kids that CCU kit you had to have would have had you another box of paint most likely. and the virtue board which replaced your stock one and made no difference, 2 boxes? and the all important 12 piece barrel kit, thats right the one you didn't use ten of the pieces from?? another couple of boxes?

trouble is and especially with ballers, for some reason everyone expects and almost demands discounts. now if you know someone who knows someone, great good for you, i will get discount on stuff if i can. however whoever looks after me gets ALL my orders in return.

i reckon up the price of paint and see better, more dedicated players emerge. because they will be the ones who REALLY want to play.

all well and good, but dont you think we need more players? worldwide

as much as i agree with you, i would like other teams to play against

 

[Kat]

up the price!!! i am in total agreement, then the scrotes will be forever banished from the game......

i often wonder how much you young'uns spend on booze at the weekend before moaning about the cost of training?? and how much was your marker?? loader?your shiny mask?
those AGG (once appeared in a stand at a tourney that dynasty played at) trousers?
oh yes thats right, the super duper 15bps paint chucker must be the latest shiny one with all the inners ripped out and replaced, and the colours changed over because it costs loads of dosh and makes you a far superior player.........

yes kids that CCU kit you had to have would have had you another box of paint most likely. and the virtue board which replaced your stock one and made no difference, 2 boxes? and the all important 12 piece barrel kit, thats right the one you didn't use ten of the pieces from?? another couple of boxes?

trouble is and especially with ballers, for some reason everyone expects and almost demands discounts. now if you know someone who knows someone, great good for you, i will get discount on stuff if i can. however whoever looks after me gets ALL my orders in return.

i reckon up the price of paint and see better, more dedicated players emerge. because they will be the ones who REALLY want to play.

Totally fair, I can see your point completely. Inflation should mea paint prices have gone up and if they did I would understand why.

But as a full time 6th form student with a part time job it does not make me an un-dedicated player because at that much of a price inflation I genuinely wouldn't be able to continue to play.

EG: £25 quid a week for training at our local site (half a box of paint and walk on) = £100 a month. (Not including any extra paint I need, I'm already being sparing!)

Part time job = £170 a month. This is why for me if prices were to go up I would not feasably be able to continue, not because I go out and get drunk every week because I never do. I'm still borrowing gear to continue playing since I cant afford 'shiney loaders' if I want to train!

I think paint maybe could go up more at the better end of quality? But if white box or whatever would stay cheap it would mean I could train and just put more effort to saving for otherwise? I don't know, some sort of compromise being made would mean I could continue but not at £60 for a box of paint.

just my 2p, I might be talking complete tosh that would never work. Hopefully prices won't go up!

Katxx