General Betting
There is currently 1 person viewing this thread.
As of today the exchange is merely a bit player that is tucked away elsewhere when you come onto the Betfair site.
sort by:
Show
per page
Replies: 266
|
By:
been on purple recently and quite happy there. like the free geeks toy app for purple too. the bf one you have to pay for..
|
|
By:
TheVis - I'm told if you add /exchange when you have betfair.com in your browser, it'll get you where you want to go
|
|
By:
I do not think that they will get much casual revenue from the punter who's been told bf are best odds and doesn't realise they've concealed the exchange.
The only way they claw back a significant share of the punting-at-home market is by taking more pain on margins that the mgmt. wants to take. They need to shore up their liquidity by finding some way of trimmimg pc and allow losing arbers / traders (on bf) to take small amounts off them as a 'bonus' for continuing to play. |
|
By:
wow, they've done an excellent job of hiding the exchange and promoting their own fixed odds product havent they
|
|
By:
BCM2 - yes I found the Exchange thanks, but for anybody new to the site, the sportsbook will of course be what is seen and they are very unlikely to even look for the exchange.
It is clear BF has gone full circle and now just wants to offer their own worst odds to as many people as possible. |
|
By:
When I go to www.betfair.com (even having cleared cookies), and then click on 'Sports', 'Football', etc, it takes me to the exchange.
What am I doing differently? |
|
By:
Have Betfair forgotten their best selling point? It's encouraging that they are trying to remember who the customer is and deal with the corporate arrogance but they still seem to be confused what business they're in. At a time when their core product is in a mess and under threat (and the market knows it), now is not time to be distracted by another new product. It is likely to further damage, dilute or confuse the Betfair brand at a time when what it really needs is bolstering.
|
|
By:
So if only a fraction of the new customers, that our pc is supposedly paying for, are going to be visiting the exchange, then surely we should only be paying a fraction of our current rates.
It's like paying virgin for broadband and they go and install it next door. |
|
By:
The margin on fixed odds is huge, so its hard to resist not to take it straight away to the pocket. Why sharing the money with customer than? yeah thats clear message. In a long term it wont work. Its like putting a jeep and racing car into one car. You will never be happy. And trying to turn off the old page is pushing the customers to the page where the fixed odds are.
|
|
By:
My experience is the same a Contrarian's.
In fact I would go further and say what fixed odds ? They are so hidden to me that they virtually don't exist. Presumably there are many others to whom BF remains primarily an exchange in the manner it has always been. |
|
By:
for me, clearing cookies then going to www.betfair.com and clicking on 'football' gives a page of entirely fixed odds, even on in-play markets
the 'exchange' link is just a tiny link in the top-left looks very much like they are promoting fixed odds over the exchange |
|
By:
"When I go to www.betfair.com (even having cleared cookies), and then click on 'Sports', 'Football', etc, it takes me to the exchange".
Same + tried a different ISP and a different browser... and still I cant even find the fixed odds site |
|
By:
If I was the CEO of betfair, I wouldn't have that great an answer to a big investor (in the millions) who said to me, 'why aren't you like Bet 3.65?' Why are you persisting with a model that rakes in pennies?
|
|
By:
All the honest answers, like 'they have a stronger brand than us', 'they have a simpler site to navigate', 'they're a better option for a recreational 10 quid punter who wants a one-stop shop' are ones that a chief executive would be prepared to admit.
|
|
By:
*would be loath to admit, I meant
|
|
By:
I cleared history and caches/cookies this morning and were taken to their fixed odds site as soon as I logged in.
I had read this thread earlier so didn't have any difficulties finding the exchange, but there's no doubt in my mind that the vast majority of new users will NOT find the exchange unless they are determined to do so. Just another nail in the Betfair coffin imo. I've come to a point close to not bothering anymore though. They will probably never admit it, but I'm sure the founders regret selling out and therby wrecking the company... |
|
By:
I've logged in as normal today. I've never even been on the Fixed Odds site.
What I don't get is they're heavily advertising 'Cash Out' but isn't that only an option on the exchange? Seems like p1ssing money down the drain if that is the case and betfair.com now takes you to their fixed odds offering. |
|
By:
liquidity seemed low at weekend for the few markets I played. Don't know if its linked.
My feelings on everything betfair are like yours Eddie. Its as though they don't care anymore. They seem to be drifting along. |
|
By:
Aye str8 to the fixed odds site now. I don't think its that hard to find but still reckon up to a third of people will not find it. Maybe there will be a buyer for Blue Square after all. Piss poor fixed odds internet bookies have been going to the wall one after the other and that is what Betfair fixed odds is as things stand.
How can you run an advertising campaign singing the virtues of the exchange and Betfair's USP? (and you have to have a USP to be successful imo) then automatically send people to something that doesn't have a USP, doesn't do what the advertising campaign says on the tin, in fact the complete opposite. It's bonkers. The fixed odds site is rubbish. Sending people directly to a rubbish site because it's not as busy as you want (because it's rubbish) is only going to damage the good site. This is a case of trying to justify a bad decision by continuing to make bad decisions in a fruitless attempt to make the original decision more justifiable. Re: the owners. They had to sell the company to realise their investment, retire and enjoy life, so I'm sure they don't regret selling it, and they can't admit it whilst they still have huge cash invested as it would undermine their investment, although i'm pretty sure they can't be happy with a share price that has nearly halved since flotation whilst many of its competitors share prices are rising steeply |
|
By:
Hmmm, it is obvious we are not all getting the new fixed odds page by default which is probably why there hasn't been a lot of comment about it.
Mine came up straight away on the morning of the first of Feb all new look and though that had obviously been rolled out for everybody. Sometimes I am going to the exchange, sometimes to the sportsbook. Doesn't seem much consistency. www.betfair.com/sport takes you to the sportsbook and I think that is what any new users will be faced with and they are v unlikely to come onto the exchange from there. |
|
By:
I've just loaded up the website from a previously unused browser (IE) as a new customer. Well havent they been busy!
Its completely Fixed Odds now, and if you click a sport at the top you're taken to what resembles a typically high street bookmaker website (like BluSq or Laddies) with no link to the exchange at all. In fact the only place I saw a mention of the Exchange was a small advert on the front page which was a side link, taking you to a subsidiary website http://www.betfair.com/exchange I was aware they'd made efforts to hide the market depth and graphs, but now it seems they've made efforts to hide the whole thing! |
|
By:
I will add if I came to betfair today I wouldnt even see the exchange and would be happily taking the fixed odds prices. I suppose thats the plan!
|
|
By:
I always open Betfair by clicking on a link on my homepage (http:sports.betfair.com) that takes me to the exchange even after clearing cookies so until I read this thread I wasn't even aware of the changes.
I just took a look by going to betfair.com and can't believe what they have done! - another kick in the teeth for full-timers on here. To actively discourage people away from the exchange in this way at a time when markets are looking sparser by the day beggars belief and confirms the longheld belief that they are slowly killing off the exchange. |
|
By:
betunfair b0llocks as usual. Get used to it or bet elsewhere!
|
|
By:
Betfair's advertising campaign is based on exchange prices and not their fixed odds.
I am surprised the other bookmakers don't complain about this to the advertising standards. |
|
By:
Today when I tried logging in, after clearing cookies, I was taken to the new look fixed odds site.
This is very bad. |
|
By:
the words:-
"clutching at straws" springs to mind |
|
By:
E Mail from Betfair, explaining why we are being directed to the fixed odds site.
" Many new customers will find the exchange, slightly daunting, and then close their accounts."  What a load of........ Can't imagine too many joining for anything other than the exchange. This place is going darn the pan, fast. |
|
By:
...sigh...
To hide your unique selling point means one of two things, desperation or idiocy! Can anyone tell me whether short-selling (in UK) is still banned or not? I am seriously thinking a hedge maybe a good idea. |
|
By:
I can only think it has something to do with getting the bans lifted in Germany/Spain etc. Or a condition to crack the US maybe.
It's a lousy developement whatever the reason. Surely they don't think they can compete with 365 etc on a standalone fixed odds site |
|
By:
short selling was only banned on some financial stocks.... betfair was not on this list...
easiest way to do it would be with spread betting company. |
|
By:
I saw an advert for mountain bikes yesterday. I thought "that sounds interesting", I recognised the brand as the brand leader in mountain bikes, and thought, "actually I've always fancied a mountain bike", so I decided to visit the premises. When I got to the shop I found the shop full of touring bikes and not a mountain bike in sight. There were no staff present to ask where the mountain bikes were but there was a customer notice pinned to the wall.
Dear Customer "We realise you have visited our shop to take a look at our mountain bikes we've been advertising, but we thought you would find it to too difficult to ride. Take a look instead at our touring bicycles which are not quite as good as the Dawes and Raleigh versions, but seeing as you are here anyway, you might want to buy one." I thought WABOFC. |
|
By:
CLYDEBANK29
04 Feb 13 11:00 Re: the owners. They had to sell the company to realise their investment, retire and enjoy life, so I'm sure they don't regret selling it, and they can't admit it whilst they still have huge cash invested as it would undermine their investment, although i'm pretty sure they can't be happy with a share price that has nearly halved since flotation whilst many of its competitors share prices are rising steeply I don't think it was necessary for the founders to sell out in order to get as much cash as needed to "enjoy life". As far as I know Betfair has been debt free and had decent/large surplus every year for the last decade or so. They could have taken out whatever they neede in dividend and if that wasn't enough, they would have had no problems borrowing huge sums with Betfair shares as collateral. Of course they aren't happy with the share price performance, nobody would be.. However, I think they "know" that selling out to investors is the reason for the price decline as the management desperately trying to please shortsighted shareholders, keep making long term bad decisions. |
|
By:
It took them a year to realise having their self proclaimed crack trading team fixed odds even though in reality it was the worst value in the industry next to the exchange odds was a bad idea. Credit where it's due at least they offer competitive odds on the sportsbook site now. It's bad news for exchange users as people betting on the sportsbook site will not be betting on the exchange.
|
|
By:
Thanks JLivermore, I was thinking more of a hedge/insurance/final payoff so a spreadbet wouldn't have a long enough duration imo. All these continual bf gaffs, situation in Europe, purple possible success etc are not reassuring. I hope the US legalise and then open their doors internationally. I think that would drastically increase the bf share price, that you would hope would also be of benefit to the exchange users i.e., more liquidity etc (but bf's preferred fixed odds push doesn't make this sound likely). I can't see bf competing with the likes of 365 etc as the changes/disregard/greed over the years have left a bad taste in the mouth for many past/current customers. It is the USP and being able to bet and bet efficiently that has kept many of us here, maybe the only reason? All this is just my opinion of course. It saddens me greatly how the company I once held in awe, constantly shoots itself in the foot.
|
|
By:
They've still got the fixed odds on the beta website aswell as having a separate sportsbook website. They must be desperate for people to use it.
|
|
By:
Just been on to the fixed odds for the first time in a year and its not as bad as I recall.
Gillingham v Wycombe (all firms going 5/1 Wycombe) Betfair FO 1.53 3.8 6 Ladbrokes 1.57 3.8 6 Stan James 1.57 4 6 VC Bet 1.6 4.2 6 Boyles 1.57 4.2 6 Still the worst of the lot, which is the exact opposite of their advert, so if you are a new customer enticed by the promise of better odds you there's a strong chance you think WTF. However, it appears to me the fixed odds site is blended in with the exchange, it is relatively obvious how to switch between the prices, and if you switch to a market not offered on the fixed odds site it takes you straight to the exchange. It is actually better than I imagined and the seemless way you can switch between both platforms is quite good I think. Maybe for new sign ups there is some sort of welcome page explaining it all and which we cant see because obviously we are not new sign ups. I would hope so. |
|
By:
I'd love to know what their max stakes (on fixed odds) are for new customers - I can get, wait for it..... a whopping £20 on Wycombe tonight. And whilst I do win on here I'm not a football man + don't touch it really, so their limiting algorithm must be incredibly crude (if indeed I am being limited).
|
|
By:
"Are you looking for value, Betfair offer better than bettt3665 on 178 occasions of the 252 premier league matches, better than laddies on 173, and better than willlhill on 178 of the matched odds."
Not sure if its fair to compare other bookmaker prices with the exchange when Betfair clearly promote their own separate match odds. Of course if purple sell goes as expected, then we can expect laddies to be dropped from the better value advert anyway. |