Paying for races Online

Book-A-Race will be launching on Friday 23 March 2007 with our aim to be the biggest and easiest website for any race organizer to put his or her race online in minutes. The website is:

http://www.bookarace.com

The system takes race payment by credit or debit card in seconds.

Until then we are encouraging all race organizers to create mock races and logon and become familiar with the system.

Just to let you know Book-A-Race is developed by Mark McColl and Ian Murray who are both IT experts and are keen runners in Scottish running clubs and compete in races every weekend.

We implement this level of security and simplicity in everyday commercial companies and hospitals so you know you have both trust and security with us. Plus, it’s developed by runners for runners!

We want to cater for road races, trail races, hill races, Track Races, endurance events, you let us know and we will accommodate it !

Best wishes
Mark and Ian
[email protected]
07791607442

In addition to this we aim to make paying online very fair for everyone, the idea that a race organiser can put X number of entries online and also have entries on the day for late deciders is very appealing indeed and we have had a good interest from various people in Scotland.

We dont want to keep this confined to races, but also club memberships.

Get in touch with us and we will help you out the best way we can.

have a nice weekend

Mark and Ian
[email protected]

Uhm,

How much does this cost race organisors to add a race?

Will runners have to pay well over the odds as they do if they enter on-line through Runners World?

Swoop, don't for get the large overheads bookarace will have.

Advertising charges on this forum for a start :D

Must be expensive since there doesn't seem to be any mention of costs....

Actually, I was going to start a similar scheme for race organisers such as those who put on some of these Lakeland races like GrahamB cherishes - where they get very few runners.

I though of calling it www.rentacrowd.com and the organiser would pay so much for each runner. Of course there would be a sliding scale for runners with the real duffers only costing ten bob, while super fast chaps could net up to £20.

There would be another scheme for runners to register (on line, of course) and where they could submit which weekends they were free, and where they would be prepared to travel, and I would pass on modest sums of money to cover expenses etc.

What do you think?

[Whoops - I've just been told somebody already has my name ... any ideas for a better name?]

The ability to have such a simple and yet powerful system online has never been acheived before.

We are in the position to offer organisers the ability to manage their race entries and monies, clubs to put their memberships online.

No, it doesnt mean it has to be expensive and we are the complete opposite, because we have turned something that always should have been simple to do, into reality.

This is a system for race organisers and runners, designed by club runners who are IT experts in their field.

If any of you out there are race organisers dont hesitate to contact myself and Ian on 07791607442 or email me at [email protected].

We will be most happy to speak to you informally about anything you have on your mind.

Have a great Weekend
Ian and Mark

We need to talk about advertising rates...

How much per entrant does it cost?

I preferred title case!!

Surely someone needs to say how much it costs?.... I feel alienated already because it doesn't seem very open to how much they are going to charge...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mark McColl

We will be most happy to speak to you informally about anything you have on your mind.

Have a great Weekend
Ian and Mark

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Come on then fellas, just tell us the extra costs incurred to the runners. We are a pretty informal bunch.

How do I enter this race and where is it? :confused:

So what's the cost? Pretty simple question really.

I may be wrong

but.................

I get the impression they are trying to get some organisors to enter their races on to the system. This will initially fill the system out and perhaps test the system out for them. Once they are confident everything is functioning correctly. They will market the system, with real races that we have entered. Then the costs will come.

Cynical old bugger me

Book-A-race is cheaper than any of the competition out there, runners would get the best deal possible, the issue of complete safety for paying online is paramount also.

Therefore if you are a race organiser or club secretary and want to enquire and go online then we will be happy to discuss such detail (costs, payment proceedures) by calling on 07791607442 or email [email protected].

I cannot discuss such detail on a public forum unfortunately and we also must verify all race organisers to ensure they are genuine.

Most people will appreciate that the fact we are taking so many security measures is a testament to how far we want Book-A-Race to flourish.

regards
Mark and Ian

If you're going to advertise on here then you should be prepared to discuss details. If not, then don't post about this. At the moment you're just in severe danger of putting everyone's backs up!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Joe

If you're going to advertise on here then you should be prepared to discuss details. If not, then don't post about this. At the moment you're just in severe danger of putting everyone's backs up!

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Too late Joe. I think they have already done that.

The advertising invoice is in the post!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mark McColl

Book-A-race is cheaper than any of the competition out there

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Well how much do the competition charge then?

Well Runners World's costs are....

• We take a commission on every entry as follows:
  £1.50 per entry for entries costing up to £10;
  £2 per entry for entries costing £10.01 to £20;
  £3 per entry for entries costing £20.01 to £30, and so on.
• This commission can be charged to the runner or to the organiser, or split half and half between the two. (So, in the first case, an entry that was £8 by post would cost the runner £9.50, and we would send the organiser the full £8. In the second case, the runner would pay £8 online, and we would send the organiser £6.50. In the third case, the runner would pay £8.75 online, and we would send the organiser £7.25.)

And fabian4....

Event organisers - Ease your workload by taking entries online. Setup is free. The charge is 5% + vat of entries taken (inclusive of all card processing fees). If interested please contact [email protected] or proceed with creating your event.

I’d have thought. after the experiences of this year’s Edale Skyline. that we would be coming to the conclusion that on-line entry is NOT what we need – with its ease of entry, quick response and cursory evaluation.

And we certainly don’t need middle men like these (or Mr Hooker) creaming off their ten precent to the detriment of the organiser, the runners and the sport.

Whether a race has online entry or not is really the call of the organiser, but I would have thought it was the way to go for the larger races. Struggling to see its relevance on my race though - entry is free so long as you pay the nice farmer £3 to enter the sheepdog trial field.... but some of the costs do seem a bit high - once you've developed a half decent system it seems like money for old rope.

I think it has a place. I also don't like seeing races being advertised and filled months and months before a race. But it's simpler and easier than sending out cheques. I'd be willing to spend a few quid extra on a race and just do it all online.

This was the norm in NZ, you went on coolrunning.org.nz, picked your race in the calendar, were given a link to the website, or they hosted a page for the race organisers and entered. It's quite hard here to get entries, work out what the website is, how to enter and who to pay. Once you are used to it, it may seem simple, but my missus has been struggling finding links to all the championship races.

It's also easier for the race organiser as they dn't have to handle the money, process cheques etc. I struggle to see the reluctance to go down this line for any pre entry race.

the usual race cost what? 3 - £15 max, so 5% is less than a quid on top.

To me this is a very similar situation to the Trailrunning events. If it is wanted and useful then people will pay for it and fair play to them. Personally, I'm more than happy to pay an extra couple of quid to know for sure that my entry has been recieved and to avoid buggering about with paper and envelopes but i understand that other people may not feel the same way. If people don't want to use it then they won't and enter races in the usual manner. At this stage I would have thought that any sensible race organiser would still leave conventional routes of entry open anyway.

As usual the market will decide...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Yorkshire Thug

And we certainly don’t need middle men like these (or Mr Hooker) creaming off their ten precent to the detriment of the organiser, the runners and the sport.

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Why not? I agree with Track Fairy, its up to the runners to decide. If on line entry become popular (and I think it will), then its obvious most runners are happy for people to make a small amount from this.

This is common place in orienteering is it not? Is it because people are making money?

The average race organiser does not have the ability to set up on online entry system, and so has to source it out, to pay for this, the company/person takes a small cut of the entry fee. Perfectly reasonable to me.

Actually it looks like the fabian4 website has to charge VAT on the entry fee. So they take 5% of the entry fee, but the event becomes subject to VAT at 17.5%.... so perhaps the biggest rip-off artists in the country take their cut - the government!

So theres the answer.

Just pay on the day and the right folk get the brass. EASY

Fine, but what about race limits?

It's only 17.5% of 5%, so if the entry is £5, they take 50p + 17.5% VAT, which is an additional 9 p.

If not online you pay for printing, paper, envelope, stamp, your time, which would work out at a similar cost.

I'm genuinely quite suprised online entry is an issue at all, it's a good serve being provided (which it does seem to be going well in other sports).

The vast majority of fell races that I do are enter on the day only, so whilst I see the point of races that are enter in advance, it's of little use for most of the races I enter. Even more so as most cost less than a fiver!

Online entry is only needed for the larger races, championship races etc.

I quite like pre entry as well, the night before in a local pub or something, it means you can turn up on the day and walk to the start line and race without any hastle on the day. This was again quite common in NZ, and while I first thought it a pain I soon came to appreciate it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dominion

The vast majority of fell races that I do are enter on the day only, so whilst I see the point of races that are enter in advance, it's of little use for most of the races I enter. Even more so as most cost less than a fiver!

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Quite so. I very rarely pre-enter any race. Queuing up in the village hall/pub/tent clutching 3 quid in my hot little hand is part of the charm of fell running for me.

Part of the charm for me is actually taking it off you!!

How else would I get to meet you all!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by david

Queuing up in the village hall/pub/tent clutching 3 quid in my hot little hand is part of the charm of fell running for me.

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I'm surprised you're not going to ask for a quote Brett. With all the races you are involved with, you could get a 'job lot'. Just imagine all the thousands of runners turning up at the White Lion. Just what fell running needs!

Another issue is that for fell races the organisers MUST know who has actually started because if you don't come back we consider sending out the mountain rescue. So you can't just turn up and run...

PJ, you will have noticed The White Lion is not in the calendar as yet - numbers need to come down!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PeeJay

I'm surprised you're not going to ask for a quote Brett. With all the races you are involved with, you could get a 'job lot'. Just imagine all the thousands of runners turning up at the White Lion. Just what fell running needs!

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Without debarting the merits or otherwise of the system being hawked here there are some good arguments for and against. I do wonder abou the appropriateness of this system for a lot of fell races but I wonder if people are simply afraid of change or if their thoughts hold water. I think some do and some don't.

"Don't mistake change for progress"
"Theres none so blind as those who won't see"

???

My personal view for small races is that I would like on-line registration of competitors who think they may turn up such that I have their entries on a computer before the event. We would then type in entries on the day for the rest, plus take the money off of everyone that turns up and hand out start numbers (and hence know exactly who is running etc). So the on-line entry merely helps with typing on the day so that we could compile an electronic results sheet quickly.