On 28 Sep 2014 at 8:41am Tipex wrote:
As always the wood fair was a great day out, especially for the kids. However £14 per adult and £10 for kids admission is bonkers given once inside virtually everything will cost you further. It's basically like being charged to enter a shopping mall! Seems to me the entrance fee needs looking at again (and I've heard several similar comments from others).
On 28 Sep 2014 at 8:00pm Winston wrote:
I also enjoyed the day although it has to be said that there was a lot of empty stand spaces and also a lot of the same thing going on.
I picked up a flyer for the wood fair next weekend at Surrey Hills near Guildford. I have been before and it is exactly the same as Bentley without the train. The big difference though is that an adult is charged £7.50 on the gate to get in and £7 on the net.
On 28 Sep 2014 at 11:18pm Wooden it be funny wrote:
Paying an entry fee to see stalls to buy stuff. Someone's got it right but its' not the customers. Are you mad?
On 29 Sep 2014 at 7:52am woodentop wrote:
Have to agree - but what goes on @ these do`s ? is there a display of woodland crafts or something
On 29 Sep 2014 at 8:22am ducatipete wrote:
What is it with these shows. South of England is £20 a go and the trade stands pay a fortune. What a rip off. I went to Waldron steam and vintage day free!
On 29 Sep 2014 at 10:47am WTF wrote:
Its the classic problem. Fair starts up and prices are "affordable".
Venue gets greedy over time and starts to push up prices. As traders begin to drop out, venue pushes up entrance prices further and starts charging more for the pitches. End result, very high entrance prices, unhappy traders.
In the case of Bentley, buy a yearly family pass (I think they begin around Feb/March time), costs around £70. This gives you free entry into the wood fair too. The family ticket for the wood fair was £49 this year and a family day ticket for Bentley currently costs £26 so you can see that the yearly family pass is good value.
Bentley has recently appointed a new manager so perhaps things may change for the better in future?
On 29 Sep 2014 at 11:28am A Fool and his money... wrote:
Don't forget, for the venue the purpose of the event is to make a profit. They don't host these events out of the goodness of their hearts, they want to maximise the venue's profit formt he event regardless of whether or not the stall holders cover their attendance costs, and whether or not the visitors buy anything or enjoy the show!
The show itself may well have been organised by a "managment" company who book the show with the venue, and who then try and sell on the stall-space to potential exhibitors - thus there may well be a "middle man"'s costs and profit expectation to be covered too...
If prices are(were) too high then why did anyone bother paying to go in, presumably sufficient people felt £14 a head was tolerable. If they went in and were then disappointed by what they found to the point that they felt th eshow didn't offer value for money, or was far smaller than imlie din advertisements etc, then I hope they complained to Bentley, or the show organisers, on the day, and then compalined to ESCC Trading Standards office too.
I would also imagine anyone who felt it wasn't value for money will give the show a miss next year?
Tipex sums it up, who in their right mind would pay to visit a shopping Mall (apart from car parking, and thats likely to be less than £14 per day in most places), yet when the "shopping event" is dressed up as a "Craft Fair" or something that sounds equally eco and "homemade", then people seem happy to part with wads of their cash simply to go inside - wonder if a typical family of four felt that it was £48 well spent?
Maybe the event has more going for it than I imagine, such as performers or excellent displays of traditional wood-working skills etc, that might justify an entry fee, but for £14 a head I'd want a good day out, not an hour's trudge round a few stalls that are probably all selling much the same - ie. wooden seats, tables, garden tools and ornaments, fruit bowls, jewellery and knicknacks etc
Wakehurt Place used to host a good "Country Fair" event once a year, which included themed-costumed "artistes" and entertainment for visitors alongside loads of exhibitors stalls, but that followed the route that WTF mentions, it started to shrink in terms of exhibitors year on year, prices went up (for exhibitors and visitors I suspect), and it quickly became a shadow of its former self before it disappeared formt he calendar.
On 29 Sep 2014 at 11:55am Harry Harrelson wrote:
I used to go to Bentley Woodfair regularly 'cos forestry stuff floated my boat but then the admission price became too high. So unfortunately neither Bentley nor the traders get any of my cash now. Shame.
On 29 Sep 2014 at 5:43pm Quentin Quarrelsome wrote:
You`re all wrong .
On 29 Sep 2014 at 7:03pm ducatipete wrote:
Quentin, why are we all wrong you w****r?
On 29 Sep 2014 at 7:20pm Tim Burr wrote:
My partner and I used to go to the Woodfair every year. The journey down the little lanes to the venue in the free bus was an adventure in itself and worth the entrance fee alone. For the last few years however, the prices have been way too much for us to manage. It's a shame. As others have already said, we would always come away with something and always patronised the tea shop while we were there so at least someone made a little something out of us. We also used to go to the South Of England Show every year too but that seems to have gone the same way. It hardly bodes well for keeping country crafts and traditions alive and inspiring the next generation of wood turners, hedgelayers and blacksmiths does it?
On 29 Sep 2014 at 7:21pm Quentin wrote:
Sorry my wit went over your head = my nom de plume was in response to Harry Harrelson `s name . Apologies to Harry if it`s his real name .
On 29 Sep 2014 at 7:22pm Norton Norm wrote:
Bit harsh, Pete