ExCeL rip off!

[seacock]

No sooner has the London Boat Show finished at ExCeL the Motorhomes and Caravaners are set to move in for their big show in Feb.

Adult entry is £10 (children FREE!) and parking is FREE! and their show guide is FREE!

How come we pay £20 for an adult, car parking is £10 and the show guide is £6?

Why that then?

Who's ripping us off - The BMF? or ExCeL?

 

[stuhaynes]

No sooner has the London Boat Show finished at ExCeL the Motorhomes and Caravaners are set to move in for their big show in Feb.

Adult entry is £10 (children FREE!) and parking is FREE! and their show guide is FREE!

How come we pay £20 for an adult, car parking is £10 and the show guide is £6?

Why that then?

Who's ripping us off - The BMF? or ExCeL?

Well, you know what happens when you mention the word 'marine'.

 

[LadyInBed]

Why that then?

Who's ripping us off - The BMF? or ExCeL?

Good questions. IM(cynical)O everyone that has anything to do with the marine industry

 

[Baggy]

Good questions. IM(cynical)O everyone that has anything to do with the marine industry

Hammer Nail Head come to mind...

 

[Snuggtopz]

if you keep paying it they will keep charging it.. Simplz

I gave up going to boat shows a long time ago

Rich

 

[Dave_Seager]

I do not know how much exhibitors pay for their stands at Excel but I would imagine that it is easier to get a caravan there than a large cruiser.

 

[rob2]

Yes, that's so - but how does that affect the entry charge and car parking? The organisers undoubtedly charge the exhibitors too, so it's a win/win for the organisers (even when the exhibitors don't turn up).

Rob.

 

[Graham_Wright]

I do not know how much exhibitors pay for their stands at Excel but I would imagine that it is easier to get a caravan there than a large cruiser.

My stand at Excel was £1800 compared with £1200 for SBS.

 

[minkysailing]

Maybe someone from NBS would like to come onto the forum and explain this...?

 

[millbeach]

I paid £15 to park my car for 6 hours at LIB.
Now it is free for outdoor show.

We are getting rip off,,

 

[Burnham Bob]

I think it's a case of two different markets - or at least assumed so by the organisers.

Having a boat and a caravan I've got a foot in both camps. Top of the range touring caravan around £18k, top of the range sailboat - how much have you got?

Punters attending the caravan and camping show will probably be looking to buy a caravan. IMHO there's not much point to going otherwise. You can see all the latest accessories and gadgets at big caravan dealers. But you won't get them if the price is extortionate. Us boaties often go to see the other stands etc and buy gadgets, equipment and so on. In days gone by, Show discounts often paid your entry fee. That was the logic - but they don't anymore.

THe Excel caravan show has major competition from the NEC. If the venue is empty, its worth selling off spare space at a cheap rate. Southampton isn't the same kind of competition.

I went on Sunday this year to the Boat Show. I had planned to go midweek to avoid the crowds, but Sunday was flat and hardly buzzing.

I know the costs and logistics of the Boat Show are much higher than Caravan and CAmping, but I think the Boat Show still assumes we'll pay high prices for entry and parking, but its days seem numbered to me. It's more a day out than a serious buying expedition.

 

[reginaldon]

Only go to SIBS because I get accommodation with relatives in Soton (it's reciprocal) and also complementary tickets from the same source, even then I gave it a miss for a few years, as it had gone so up market with craft, but a definite improvement in 2011.

 

[KellysEye]

As said anything boaty is overpriced. For example buy some electrical tape in a chandler and then a DIY shed, there is a marked price difference.

 

[Cariadco]

Obvious....innit???

Price diference is obvious.....Boat owners are loaded...Caravan owners are poor....????

..or so the world thinks.

 

[Searush]

It isn't simply "what the market will bear" - I suspect the caravan show will get a lot more punters than the boat show anyway. More people have caravans/ motorhomes etc than have boats.

The costs & profit will be shared across a larger number of people & so prices can be cheaper - which in turn encourages less serious visitors to drop in, the opposite is true for boat shows & it becomes a viscious circle.

 

[carannah]

I was told by an exhibitor that if you paid £12 to get into the bike show you could walk through to the boat show, rather than pay the £20 and walk through to the bike part

 

[Richardsix]

Apart from the price issue, I went on Sunday, last day... as I did last year, I think the boat side of it has gone downhill rapidly, the boat side was not that busy unless you had the odd spare million to spend, the bike side of things was crowded.
There was a lack of the smaller exhibitors which the average Joe would be interested in. My guess is the stand fees are too high.... companies can offer special prices without shelling out for a stand!
Just my take on things...wait to be corrected.
Richard

 

[VicMallows]

I was told by an exhibitor that if you paid £12 to get into the bike show you could walk through to the boat show, rather than pay the £20 and walk through to the bike part

The Bike/Outdoor/Boat shows are one entity. You pay the same whichever you 'support'. The difference is how you buy your ticket. You may need a few minutes effort on the computer but £12 sounds about right.

Personally, I enjoy all three (or is it four now?) which makes it a worthwhile (if long) day out.

Vic

 

[Bosun Higgs]

Why that then?

Simple. There are far more caravanners than yotties. Fixed cost for Excel divided by a larger number.

 

[Searush]

Simple. There are far more caravanners than yotties. Fixed cost for Excel divided by a larger number.

As explained in post 15.