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News that the dominant betting exchange were set to bring in a new charging formula, which will result in certain holders ofaccounts in profit over a 60-week period paying a minimum 20 per cent commission, was greeted angrily by dozens of the exchange's users after it was announced late on Monday.
20% commision is a bit of a disgrace really. I've got a betdaq account but their web site is a bit pants, I think I'll look into starting up a WBX account and see what they're like.
alansouthcoast
Hopefully punters will leave in droves. Imagine the outrage if Hills charged 20% tax.
theGoingStick
alansouthcoast wrote:
Hopefully punters will leave in droves. Imagine the outrage if Hills charged 20% tax.
Betfair have had it too easy for too long. They've got a great web site hopefully this'll encourage the other exchanges to catch up with them and offer the consumers a bit of realistic choice.
jennywales
Hmmm....can you honestly say that after 60 weeks (over 1 year) your account is likely to be in profit? I do hope so! But what they are trying to do, I think, is load the commission against people who constantly make a profit over a long period - ie in most cases, surely, the professional gamblers, who may well be upset by this, as it seems to penalise skill! My only complaint as a small punter who hopes merely to break even is that the commission will accrue to a private sector organisation as profit, assuming that it does not count towards the Levy. If they were to say that 15% of the commission, under these circumstances, goes into Betfair's pockets as normal, and the additional 5% back into racing, I would welcome this - but as it's explained at present it's like charging a tax and then sticking all of it into the pocket/Treasury, not applying at least some of it to the "public good". I daresay the professional or semi-professional gamblers will disagree, and I would be interested to know if this is likely to be a serious disincentive to using Betfair over the long term.
The strict free marketeers will argue that if Betfair chooses to charge this level of commission then either they think the market will stand it, or people will vote with their feet and Betfair will take a hit. I think they may be relying on the "familiarity" and "too much trouble" reactions (ie Betfair is a familiar instrument and people are comfortable with it, and that the deals you get elsewhere, even assuming that registering yet again and managing another account isn't too onerous, would be worth a long-term commitment).
Gamblers even more than other people are, although risk takers in one sense, risk-averse in another (in that if you have spent ages developing an approach that works with a particular set of data using a particular exchange or bookmaker, you are unlikely to want to start all over again somewhere else.) Betfair is counting on the risk-averse, not the risk-taking; and they could well be right!
jennywales
theGoingStick wrote:
alansouthcoast wrote:
Hopefully punters will leave in droves. Imagine the outrage if Hills charged 20% tax.
Betfair have had it too easy for too long. They've got a great web site hopefully this'll encourage the other exchanges to catch up with them and offer the consumers a bit of realistic choice.
Yes, this is the biggest problem. I cannot tell you how frustrated I get with Totesport's website - and they aren't even an exchange. As a punter who is in it for fun (profit is a bonus!) I would like to think that a small proportion of my betting money goes back into racing - or even, as with Totesport, quite a lot of it! But the website is a serious obstacle to more people using the Tote online.
As for the other exchanges, I have no idea what they are like. Which says a lot - I am satisfied with Betfair, the site is excellent, and I use it as my exchange of choice. I have seen nothing about the other available exchanges to give me any incentive to even have a look at them, let alone register and open an account.
Owl of Minerva
This is an absolute disgrace.
They are going to drive away those who create the liquidity in the markets for everyone.
This will never last surely. Hopefully loads will leave.
I certainly won't be using betfair again until they reverse it.
Betdaq site is fine anyway - only problem is lack of liquidity sometimes. Hopefully that won't be an issue anymore.
lochsong
I agree with Jenny. Hopefully it will be like IR taxation and only the top end earners will be affected.
As far as the masses leaving in droves is concerned, I doubt that will happen, because 20% simply nullifies the better odds availlable on BF and folks will think 'why should I trudge over to the bookie shop to get the same odds then trudge back to collect?'
BF have reeled in all these people (myself included) and now they are starting to squeeze. Ouch!
MT VESSELS
Well, we give you a really atractive rate to reel you in, and after a bit we ditch that and throw you in the keep net
jennywales
OK, as a result of this I have now looked at WBX, Betdaq and Sportingbet (formerly Spodds). The only site I would feel pretty much immediately comfortable with is Betdaq, and that site also gives a wider range of other betting opportunities, which I wouldn't use (eg football, tennis) but which others might find useful if looking to change.
On balance, as a small non-pro punter I don't suppose the Betfair changes will have any impact on me, so selfishly I would stick with them - but why oh why can't the Tote improve it's site so that we are all encouraged to bet on the Tote and support racing!
awaywardlad
I could not recommend Spodds in any way - leave well alone!
MT VESSELS
The board are having an emergency meeting to discuss this 20% today due to the number of punters that have moved to Betdaq.
Betdaq have reported one of their busiest weeks ever.
Maybe a rethink by Betfair is well on the cards.
