FREE SCARF! (For Season Ticket Holders Only)

[SLAMMED]

So iv read on the official website that season ticket holders will receive a free scarf to commemorate the stadiums first 10 years. BUT, is this really just a commemorative scarf, or is it a hidden advertising campaign.

John Madejski is known for his excellence as an entrepreneur, and some might suggest that this "commemorative" scarf is just a ploy to lure in more season ticket buyers.

If this is the case then he sure is a genius. I Know im thinking about buying another few season tickets.

So, is this in commemoration, or is it another way to hook in the buyers?

[Readingfanman]

It's a scarf. Cost them about 5p to make and will appear in the Megastore at xmas for £15 to make STH's think they got a bargain.

[SLAMMED]

Cost them about 5p to make

Probably made in a chinese sweat shop

[eddiegrundy]

Why be cynical about it? You don't have to pick yours up if you don't want one.

Newcastle fans were given free scarves about a season or so back and they looked quite impressive when twirled around en masse.

[brendywendy]

im very happy with this
since i left my other scarf in the car park for some reason

[Readingfanman]

Why be cynical about it? You don't have to pick yours up if you don't want one.

Newcastle fans were given free scarves about a season or so back and they looked quite impressive when twirled around en masse.

I'm not being cynical about the scarf as such as it may turn out to be quite a nice scarf, just the premise that they will probably end up being sold for £15 to non STH's is a bit strange that's all.

[Kingsley]

I really dont know why the club bother.

They make a half decent gesture to the fans and still get abused for it.

Maybe you would prefer the board be run more like that at Southampton or Leeds.

[SLAMMED]

Newcastle fans were given free scarves about a season or so back and they looked quite impressive when twirled around en masse.

but reading fans wont do that, will they. I believe this is more to do with our lack of personality.unlike teams such as liverpool who have "You'll never walk alone"

[Y21_Royal]

I really dont know why the club bother.

They make a half decent gesture to the fans and still get abused for it.

Maybe you would prefer the board be run more like that at Southampton or Leeds.

'greed

But we're Reading fans and thats what we do...

I'm not being cynical about the scarf as such as it may turn out to be quite a nice scarf, just the premise that they will probably end up being sold for £15 to non STH's is a bit strange that's all.

Whats strange? I think you'll find it fairly common business practice to buy something cheap, wholesale and then sell it on at a profit and thats only if they decide to do that. The club could have easily said that they were releasing commemorative scarves and that they would be available for £15. They haven't, instead we get them for free. I don't see why people always have to look for negatives

[Jack Celliers]

Why be cynical about it? You don't have to pick yours up if you don't want one.

Newcastle fans were given free scarves about a season or so back and they looked quite impressive when twirled around en masse.

Bollocks. They looked gayer than the Village People bumming each other on the way to a Julian Clarey convention

[SLAMMED]

Bollocks. They looked gayer than the Village People bumming each other on the way to a Julian Clarey convention

In Brighton. LOL

[Row Z Royal]

This is old news on Club Policies.

[Sarah Star]

I like waving my old Gilligham-I mean Reading scarf at matches. Now I'll have an official one.

[Rex]

It only cost everyone on average of £420 to get one so what is all the fuss. Moan, moan, moan. That makes good business sense to me.

[Dirk Gently]

Why be cynical about it? You don't have to pick yours up if you don't want one.

Newcastle fans were given free scarves about a season or so back and they looked quite impressive when twirled around en masse.

I'm not being cynical about the scarf as such as it may turn out to be quite a nice scarf, just the premise that they will probably end up being sold for £15 to non STH's is a bit strange that's all.

No - they'll end up being offered for sale to non STH's. Whether they are actually sold at that price is entirely up to those non STH's, and what difference does it make to STH's?

[Scrappy]

It's a very clever scheme from the club as they can say the Season Ticket includes this item which is at a lower tax band thus making a bit more...

[Dirk Gently]

It's a very clever scheme from the club as they can say the Season Ticket includes this item which is at a lower tax band thus making a bit more...

It might have been, if the scarf was a zero-rated item, like - say - a book.......

But would a football scarf be zero-rated. I thought it was only children's clothes which were no-vatable, but I may be wrong. But unless it is they can only claim the VAT reduction on kids' season ticket sales, so that makes me think it might not be worth the hassle of doing in the same way they did last year with the yearbook.

[The 17 Bus]

why do folk go on about VAT so much, there is a cost, with or wothout, if it costs £2 per item it makes no difference , they will have a bottom line figure, the vat is only 15% of the total, so on a low priced item is hardly imposrtant

[Dirk Gently]

why do folk go on about VAT so much, there is a cost, with or wothout, if it costs £2 per item it makes no difference , they will have a bottom line figure, the vat is only 15% of the total, so on a low priced item is hardly imposrtant

Agreed, it's not massively significant on small numbers, but work it through.

If you add a non-vatable item like a book to the ST purchase, and give it a cover price of £19.99, the VAT you don't have to pay on that item is £2.98. Not much, and you do have to cover the book production costs out of that.

But now do the sums if you're pretty much assured of selling 18,000 STs. With that sort of print run you could easily get the printing costs down to under a quid a copy - so that saves you paying VAT of about £2 per ST - or about 36 grand in all, which is not to be sniffed at, and is perfectly legal. You could do a lot of useful stuff with that money (or pay a player for 10 days!)

That's why I agree it's less worthwhile if it is tax-orientated than it was when they did it with the yearbook.

[westendgirl]

why do folk go on about VAT so much, there is a cost, with or wothout, if it costs £2 per item it makes no difference , they will have a bottom line figure, the vat is only 15% of the total, so on a low priced item is hardly imposrtant

Agreed, it's not massively significant on small numbers, but work it through.

If you add a non-vatable item like a book to the ST purchase, and give it a cover price of £19.99, the VAT you don't have to pay on that item is £2.98. Not much, and you do have to cover the book production costs out of that.

But now do the sums if you're pretty much assured of selling 18,000 STs. With that sort of print run you could easily get the printing costs down to under a quid a copy - so that saves you paying VAT of about £2 per ST - or about 36 grand in all, which is not to be sniffed at, and is perfectly legal. You could do a lot of useful stuff with that money (or pay a player for 10 days!)

That's why I agree it's less worthwhile if it is tax-orientated than it was when they did it with the yearbook.

Not sure you are right that the £19.99 part for the book can be taken out of the equation for VAT as the principal supply is that of a seat at the stadium and so standard rated and in a composite supply the VAT follows the main supply. This is why your airline ticket is still zero rated evenif you fly with someone who 'feeds' you on the plane. The food supply should be standard rated but the courts decided it is incidental and so the whole supply is zero.

I don't think the club could justify people buying a season ticket to get hold of the book do you? The book was a lot more incidental than a meal on a transatlantic flight.