The cost of walkons

[preacher]

Because I went to Universal Newcastle walkon it spiked my interest in paintball again. Sadly I’m too old, fat and lazy to play speedball. So laying around in the bushes waiting for someone to shoot was perfect. But ! I must admit there were a few game areas that are fast and furious.
At the site it was £30 which included entry and a box of paint (2000 balls). Now the point is, I have checked in my area for walk-ons but to my horror they all seem to charge entry at £20 with 500 balls. Additional balls are charged at £20 per 500 balls. And these prices were not the most expensive. By calculating the amount of balls I used at Universal it should have cost me £80. Now they don’t give you a free lunch but you do get free tea/coffee all day. Surely a free lunch doesn’t cost the companies £50. (by the way I’m a diabetic so I cant eat fried crap. If I did I’d be asleep under a bush somewhere.) For me personally the site is a 90 mile round trip. A bit far, but It saves me £50 and the site and guys there were just fantastic. They have my loyalty because I felt good and they didn’t try to rip the cash from my wallet. I hope to get back there as soon as possible.
Now the thing is how can they charge such an excellent price while other paintball sites charge so much?

Edited for obvious reasons. trying not to piss people off. lol

 

[Kitty]

They may do a Bring Your Own Paint price, give them a call and see.

 

[bmw]

i cant really speak about other venues or there walk-on prices but i think i can speak for chris (shadlad) here, the walk-ons at universal are ment to have a club like feel to the day, all mates, relaxed atmosphere, chris in all the years ive known him has ran his site as a club, where other folk can feel like its there site/club too, no- rip offs just good value for money, i know for a fact chris makes no money on walk-ons, does it for the love of the sport and to promote paintball in the north east

 

[newboy]

To be honest, your post sounds like a free plug.How many times do you need to mention the name of the site?You sound like one of those guys who gets on the radio then tries to plug their company loads of times in the one minute airtime they have.

If a site can offer a box of paint and entry for £30 then that's fantastic.They wont be making much money that day but they also don't have to get many marshals as most walk-on's have an element of self marshalling and good sportsmanship .I think you have compared walk on prices at your(well it might as well be) site to other "punter day" prices.Yes £20 for 500 balls seems a lot but remember the site owner has to pay for marshals,equipment upkeep,providing clean overalls etc, and in some cases pay the land owner, on a per head basis. Please think about the bigger picture here.

 

[Mario]

Six times in a paragraph. Pretty pluggy isn't it?

How much do you really save when you factor in the 90 mile trip?

However, you have to wonder don't you? How can other sites charge that much and universal charge that much? What are other sites doing wrong in that they have to charge those prices? Thats the actual bigger picture you should be thinking about here.

 

[evoonline]

its all about the money...

 

[preacher]

Sorry didn't mean it to sound like a plug. Only ever been to "that site" once and was shocked at the huge difference in price. The trip up there was a tenner as I have a diesel.

 

[stongle]

Isn't the first post comparing customer (rental) to Walk-on (own gunner prices)?

They have a totally different pricing structure.

Interesting that you value your weekends at less than 20 quid an hour though.

 

[mrfisk]

walkons

The walk on price at dangerzone/NPG sheffield is £15 bring ya own with free tea/coffee,Dinner,Air and the staff really friendly or £10 buy from them and its tourny grade chronic or similar.Site such as bawtry who charge £35 on the day then charge for dinner etc just take the PxxS with us players, Just check the thread on bawtry then check dangerzone.I was at DZ on sun and even though it was raining till dinner there was another large turnout, Cheers Steve and Chriss. Give em a ring on 0114 2852477 and mention my gud PR i mite get a discount nex time CHEERS BOYS

 

[vmaxnick]

The walk on price at dangerzone/NPG sheffield is £15 bring ya own with free tea/coffee,Dinner,Air and the staff really friendly or £10 buy from them and its tourny grade chronic or similar.Site such as bawtry who charge £35 on the day then charge for dinner etc just take the PxxS with us players, Just check the thread on bawtry then check dangerzone.I was at DZ on sun and even though it was raining till dinner there was another large turnout, Cheers Steve and Chriss. Give em a ring on 0114 2852477 and mention my gud PR i mite get a discount nex time CHEERS BOYS

In comparison to punter days, I think the price of walkon's is pretty good. Most sites I've been to, price ranges from £30 to £50. Sometimes there are only about 50 people in attendance and with air services having to be bought in (must cost about £200 for a days puff) then you add to that 5 marshals who probably want a drink for giving up their Sunday, the site owner wants to see a return for his astronomical insurance and site outlay.
I don't run a paintball site, but I do have experience with paying public liability insurance, so trust me, it is costly. Insurance companies think everyone is running an Alton towers! So time you have taken all these factors into consideration, the piece of cake called profit ends up being pretty small.
A pat on the back to all walkon organisers for running a fair shop and not doing the usual rip off Britain thing by trying to get rich every time you open the door.
Let's be honest, what active hobby can you indulge in that isn't going to cost you around £40 a shout?
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