Is paintball too cheap?

[leach]

Yep, because the profit margin on a £200 gun is around £20 these days, whereas the margin on a £500 gun is more like £150, and you have to carry less stock, ship less and generally have less overheads. Plus even £500 is too cheap, let's talk about a proper high end price tag of £1k, which would net you £300, meaning you only need to sell 1 of those to 15 of your cheaper guns.

Now you tell me which you would rather do as a retailer?

Typically what happens though, is that the ones who like the sport, and therefore end up part of the committed core of players, go on to purchase a decent, more expensive marker. This means even more business for the paintball companies. without people at least trying the sport, how can we expect to get people to buy these more expensive markers? Noone i know would jump into a sport buying all the best gear before they've at least tried it.. I know i didn't.. Thinking about it who says it stops at markers.. what about all the other gear that comes with paintballing like the pants, jersey, pads and most importantly the goggles. New players also have to buy these where as the committed core, not necessarily.

 

[Dusty]

Yep, because the profit margin on a £200 gun is around £20 these days, whereas the margin on a £500 gun is more like £150, and you have to carry less stock, ship less and generally have less overheads. Plus even £500 is too cheap, let's talk about a proper high end price tag of £1k, which would net you £300, meaning you only need to sell 1 of those to 15 of your cheaper guns.

Now you tell me which you would rather do as a retailer?

Load of crap, profit on a high end gun is no more than £200 IF you sell it for full retail. C'mon, who pays full whack these days really???

So the future of paintball is? Only asking as we struggled all last season to field a full X-Ball team even when i offered to cover costs of players out of my own pocket.

Find the right people. You shouldn't need to cover anyone's costs, you play as a team you pay as a team. Most of your squad young guys? A squad full of guys who have disposable income is what you need if you want to concentrate on playing and not who can afford to make it this time.

 

[Mudafunka]

Load of crap, profit on a high end gun is no more than £200 IF you sell it for full retail. C'mon, who pays full whack these days really???



Find the right people. You shouldn't need to cover anyone's costs, you play as a team you pay as a team. Most of your squad young guys? A squad full of guys who have disposable income is what you need if you want to concentrate on playing and not who can afford to make it this time.

Have you tried getting players at the moment? Who will even commit to training let alone tournies? Not easy Dusty.

 

[Dusty]

Hell I know. Trust me I know, but there's always the option for you to try for a more established team, merge with another smaller squad.

Look at Infamath, they did what they had to do to survive.

 

[Dusty]

Always about Tournies isn't it? If the tourney scene whittled down to nothing Paintball in the Uk would still be going on as the UK is a very small slice of the worldwide tournament paintball income generating pie.
Why not have stricter rules about 'Amateur' and 'Pro' like there used to be, where you have to play and work your way up?

Dusty, has the angry stick fallen on you today?

I'm always angry, it's there under the surface, bubbling away like a good aussie beer

 

[Mudafunka]

I'm always angry, it's there under the surface, bubbling away like a good aussie beer

Best to keep it on Tap

 

[Liam92]

loads of point raised and i guess we just need to weigh them up.

i completely agree that the large revenue generated from punters is vital to any sites success. i work in the catering business, and yes you get regulars that make you money, but its the en mass people that flood in for one meal that make the real money.

same with paintball from what i would expect, its the people who jump in at the shallow end, and purchase some lower end gear after trying some rental woodsball that make up a big part of it. Again i have not worked in the paintball industry, but i would imagine the same applies and that yes the expensive purchases will make a bit of money, but its the masses of people that buy alot of low end equipment that will keep your economy going.

As this discussion started out about being cheap, it most definately isnt. For even just a relatively basic tourney set up it costs quite a bit. add the regular cost of paint and entry. lets not get started on serious player playing tourney on a very regular basis.

this is a luxury sport, and is aimed at the people with a little excess cash to spare, but those high rollers will of course come along with £1000 guns, but they wouldnt be making them if it wasnt for the money people make on ions, 98's etc.

the unemployed and lower classes simply cannot afford to play paintball regularly as a hobby, and will take paintball as far as paying for a game of woodsball once in a while. take this away, and you lose the foundation of all paintball players, as this is the gateway to the sport.

 

[d rabe]

This thread is a good one with arguments valid on both sides doesnt that show that a happy meduim is needed! The cheapness does attract people but the guys who stay playing surely then go on to become better and buy higher end gear....and become the new core players..is that not what the koth and scenario games are all about getting people interested in our sport?
does the divisions in sup air not sort out grades of players that play each other?

 

[chuckwood]

I'm always angry, it's there under the surface, bubbling away like a good aussie beer

I am glad that you didn't try to suggest that all Aussies like Fosters!

I think Dusty is also talking about commitment to the sport and your team. Back when markers & kit cost vast more amounts than now you had to be dedicated to get on the tourney bandwagon, this showed in the teams and tournaments that were played in the 90s. Now it is 'easy' to play in the masters etc for a lower price and it almost becomes a throw away sport in that sense.
Yet scenraio and punter games thrive, so mayhaps there are changes needed to formats or gradings just as you have in most other sports to make you work hard to get there?

 

[onasilverbike]

Dusty, can this be merged with Buddha's irony thread?

Its so laden with it.



Lets face it, £300 is a lot easier to find for most people than £1,000, however, for many who can only find £300, dropping it on some hobby is far more expensive that it is for many people who can drop a grand on it, hence, many of those £300ers will feel it a lot more and need to get out and recoup some of their losses in a fairly short time.