If The Tote Was A Supermarket........

The moment the words 'Tote' and 'Bookmakers' are introduced into any debate reason and logic seems to fly out of the window and it all becomes very emotive.

So - for the sake of this exercise - let's pretend that the two competing factions were supermarkets. Then you can decide where you would shop! (It's been interesting to note that little has been written about the punter's preferences and requirements to date although turnovers cited would suggest that quite a large percentage of the customer base prefers bookmaker offerings to tote offerings ).

Before we even begin it is worth noting that bookmakers were around long before the Tote. Had those positions been reversed I am sure that the Tote would still be crying over the invasion of its former monopoly.

Lets's start off with a WIN bet - which we shall liken to a frozen chicken for the sake of this comparison.

The Bookmaker Supermarket :

The chicken is clearly priced and the customer is made aware that 6% of the bird's body weight is made up of brine ( a technique permitted by law up to certain levels).

The customer decides how many chickens are required and the supermarket supplies accordingly. If the customer purchases an unusually large amount of chicken an element of negotiation may have to take place ( and some of the chicken may have to be bought at a higher price ).

Nevertheless the customer can take home the chicken purchased and enjoys the 'meat' - all 94% of it if it is a winning bet.

The Tote Supermarket

The chicken is clearly priced but subject to massive gyrations if you require a large quantity. Approximately 15% - 18% ( unable to confirm as it appears nowhere on the operator website ) of the bird's body weight is made up of brine ( a technique permitted by law up to certain levels). This amount is significantly higher than the identical product at the Bookmaker Supermarket.

The customer decides how many chickens are required and the supermarket supplies accordingly. If the customer purchases an unusually large amount of chicken less and less meat may remain on the carcass. It is possible to spend an enormous amount of money on this type of purchase and later find out that there was 0% meat on the chicken.

Conversely you might get more meat than you were anticipating but in both cases you will only know after the fact.

Neither the Bookmaker nor Tote supermarkets make ANY contribution to the supermarket overheads. 100% of these amounts are paid for by the customer.

Both supermarkets can survive alongside each other. If we look at comparative businesses (where different pricing models are in force) how do they differentiate?

By adding value. That's how. Normally in all or any of the following ways :

Start of the art premises maintained immaculately where everything works
Use of only the finest raw materials
Well trained, knowledgeable and courteous staff
Fair employment policies with opportunity available to all
Communication
Loyalty programmes
Effective ongoing marketing
Etc

But at the end of the day most customers are driven primarily by affordability, convenience and self interest. They will shop for articles which they believe (even if it is not true) are affordable and do the job according to their understanding of that function.

They are usually totally disinterested in the day-to-day problems facing the supplier outside of how it directly affects them as consumers.

If I am purchasing chicken I would want to know precisely what it costs and would think twice before purchasing the same bird with a markup nearly 3x greater........

Shoprite vs Massmart
Game: Shut down by Shoprite

Massmart: Shoprite wins, but consumers lose
Shoprite wins 1st round against Massmart
Shoprite takes on Walmart


Cape Town - Shoprite [JSE:SHP] has won the next round in its case against Mass Stores [JSE:MSM] about the former's exclusive rights to sell certain products in the Cape Gate Shopping Centre in Cape Town.

Shoprite obtained an interim interdict against Mass Stores in the Western Cape High Court last week.

The interdict prohibited and restrained Mass Stores, which is owned by the US retail giant Walmart and operates a Massmart Game store in the Cape Gate shopping centre, from using any part of the centre in for selling certain food items like bread, cheese and eggs and liquor.

This type of clause usually helps to ensure that anchor tenants in new shopping centre developments will have limited competition.

On the day the interim inderdict was obtained, Game stopped selling certain of the items, but restarted the sale thereof the next day, after it had submitted an application for leave to appeal against it.

On Wednesday Massmart agreed to withdraw this application for leave to appeal.

It was agreed between the parties that, despite the operation of the terms of the interim interdict, Game would be permitted to sell those restricted items currently in its possession in that particular store until the close of business on Tuesday November 5.

The interim inderdict is in place pending the outcome of Shoprite Checkers’ application for a final interdict on the matter.

Mass Stores has asked the Competition Commission to investigate the matter. This means that any declaration by the competition authorities on the validity of an exclusivity clause of Shoprite Checkers’ lease will also have to be taken into account.

"The losers in this action are all South African consumers who, through the device of exclusivity clauses, are denied the benefit of a free and fair competitive trading environment," Massmart Group corporate affairs executive Brian Leroni told Fin24 last week.

In response Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson said the pricing in stores where it has an exclusivity clause is no different to that of stores in centres where there is no such clause in its lease agreement.

Johan Theron of Werksmans Attorneys acts on behalf of Shoprite and Adriaan Hoeben of ENS on behalf of Mass Stores.

Even in shopping centres certain retail stores have exclusive rights to sell certain products. Its plain and simple that all open bets is a tote bet product. What if I wager an open swinger with the Bookmaker and the tote for that particular race has no one placing the bet with them. How do i get paid by the bookmaker has no dividend can be declared. How did Saftote ever lose the case against the open bet is beyond me.

At one supermarket I can be served a lunch and a beer from a courteous barman/waiter. The teller will address me as "good afternoon sir" and will also remind me of any promotions. When I have a problem with a particular transaction paying for the chicken, a warrior will immediately attend to my problem and is resolved, sometimes it is their mistake but largely mine, andhe still makes me feel important. Before I return home I can use their clean and fragranced loo's for a quick pee.

At the other supermarket ...

I own a business and import and hold large stocks of items not stocked by most of my opposition
If they do stock thes items they often run out.
There are customers I dont supply for various reasons maonly poor payers
They have to then buy from my competitors who ask me for a better price
No chance Carring stock costs money

Mac Wrote:

---

> At one supermarket I can be served a lunch and a
> beer from a courteous barman/waiter. The teller
> will address me as "good afternoon sir" and will
> also remind me of any promotions. When I have a
> problem with a particular transaction paying for
> the chicken, a warrior will immediately attend to
> my problem and is resolved, sometimes it is their
> mistake but largely mine, andhe still makes me
> feel important. Before I return home I can use
> their clean and fragranced loo's for a quick
> pee.
>
> At the other supermarket ...

If only the other supermarket would realise that the customer should always come first...

And thank heavens because we now in the real world, no one is crying about who pays the Mall and dividends to it's share holders. Why would shoppers care?

The tote would have no clients the clients would be across the road at the competitor.

To understand my position on this argument, I would ask the clan to conduct the following thought experiment:

Imagine you woke up this morning, and all bookmakers have disappeared overnight. Hands up all those who believe that racing will be cancelled today. Well, put your hands down, fools (spoken in my best Mr. T accent,) racing will go ahead as scheduled.

Now, imagine you woke up this morning, and the tote has disappeared overnight. Hands up all those who believe that racing will go ahead today. Put your hands down, fools, racing will be cancelled today!

If the world was run like a tote, there would be true democracy, and we would have peace on earth. Every man's vote (money,) counts the same, and there are no hidden agendas or ulterior motives. The price you see is determined by the market, and everyone's vote has exactly the same influence on the outcome.

Instead, the world is run like a bookmaking operation, with special interests, hidden agendas, preferential treatment and ducking and diving. The price you see is, well, who knows, really?


[hr]

All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand. - Steven Wright

The tote takeout on win pools is 18%.The take out on exotics like swingers pick six etc is 25%.The take out on sports pools is 33%.Bookmakers on average make about 10% on turnover with massive risk and on sport their is no TAX.They pay 6.5% tax on their winnings and losses on a month are carried forward on a monthly basis.On open bets which have around for over 40 years as 10 cent pools in small towns bookmakers today at most better shops carry the 6% tax for the punter and they pay it on behalf of the punter.Service is better,minimum bets are not six rand but less,VERBAL BETS ARE ALLOWED NO BETMARK CARDS ARE NEEDEDWe seem to forget that due to the past most of the African population were uneducated,not their fault.NOW THE TOTE OPERATORS GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO ENFORCE BET CARDS,R6.00 MIN BETS,NO VERBAL BETS WHY DONT THEY JUST ANNOUNCE WE DONT WANT YOUR MONEY GO TO THE BOOKMAKERS.They have no idea.They deserve to lose their turnover.

If either the tote or the bookies went missing, I would think someone who doesn't give a shit about the sport part of racing sold them to boost dividends.

Too true Jack (tu)