Ticketing & Sales

Selling tickets should be boring in the best possible way. Set a price, share a link that actually looks like you, get paid while you sleep, and move on with your day. That’s the dream.

The nightmare? You pick a platform that charges you a tax on your own success, hides fees until the final click, and holds your payouts hostage for 30 days - just long enough to make you sweat about covering venue deposits. I’ve been there. It’s like building a beautiful restaurant and letting the reservation system take 7% of every check because… why?

For Indie Producers: Your checkout page is your brand. If it looks like a mall kiosk, people feel it. A branded checkout with your colors and zero surprise fees sends a signal: “This is a professional who respects my time and wallet.”

For Shoestring Planners: Every dollar matters. Percentage fees are a silent margin killer. On a $25 ticket, a 7% platform fee might only be $1.75, but that’s your coffee, your parking, your buffer. Flat fees keep you sane.

Pricing That Works (Without a Finance Degree)

Pick a simple approach and commit. Three reliable options:

• Cost‑Plus: (hard costs + time value) ÷ seats + buffer → round to a clean number.
  Hard costs = venue, materials, tech. Time value = what you’d pay yourself hourly. Buffer = 20% for oops.

• Value‑Based: Price the transformation, not the minutes. If someone walks away with a skill worth $100 to them, charging $29–$49 feels like a steal - even if your costs are low.

• Market Anchor: Look at similar events in your area, then pick a confident, simple price. Don’t undercut by $1; it looks desperate.

Two quick scenarios that fit any event:

• Example A: Your costs are $200, you have 20 seats. Cost‑plus says breakeven at $10; you charge $25–$35 to pay yourself and fund the next one.
• Example B: The outcome is “a breakthrough idea” or “real connections.” If that’s worth $100 to your attendee, pricing at $45–$75 makes more sense than $15.

Fees: Flat Beats Percent (Here’s Why Percent Is a Scam)

Percent fees punish success. Sell more tickets, pay more tax. Flat fees are predictable - you know exactly what you’ll keep.

Real math: 20 tickets at $25 each

• Percent‑fee model (7% + $1 per ticket): 20 × (25×0.07 + 1) = 20 × (1.75 + 1) = $55 in fees.
• Flat $1 per ticket: 20 × 1 = $20 in fees.

Same event, wildly different take‑home. For a small event, that $35 difference is your entire food budget. For a festival, it’s the difference between profit and panic.

The industry knows this is a pain point - fees are the top reason buyers abandon carts, and it just removes money from yours, or your customers, bottom line.

For Indie Festival Directors: When you’re moving hundreds of tickets, 7% becomes a second venue rental you never agreed to. Flat fees let you scale without the platform taking a victory lap on your back.

Smart Tiers & Discounts (Keep It Boring)

• Tiers: Early Bird, General, Supporter.
  Example: 10 early bird, rest general, 5 supporter seats. That’s it. No “Platinum Ultra VIP.”

• Discounts: Use them for partners, alumni, or last‑minute fill. Cap usage so you don’t accidentally erase your margin.

• Waitlist: When you sell out, collect interest and auto‑offer released seats. It’s passive revenue insurance.

Checkout Best Practices (AKA: Don’t Lose Sales at the Finish Line)

• Fewer fields = more sales. Name, email, payment. That’s it. Every extra field is friction. I once saw a checkout ask for a fax number. I left.

• Mobile‑first. Test the whole flow on your phone. If your thumb gets tired, your buyer bounces.

• Clear refund policy in one sentence. “Full refund up to 48 hours before.” No legalese.

• Friendly microcopy: “Got a friend coming? Add a seat in one tap.”

• Calendar add + confirmation page. No mystery. They should see “You’re in” and a button for their calendar.

• Payments: Offer Apple/Google Pay wherever you can. It’s faster and safer.

For Growth Marketers: UTM links are your friend. Add a pixel if you must, but keep it respectful. Always export buyers to your email list with consent - no one likes a surprise newsletter.

Payouts & Cash Flow (The Real MVP)

Fast, secure payouts aren’t a feature - they’re how you pay the deposit on your next room, buy materials, or cover travel without floating costs on your personal card. Favor platforms that move money within a few days, not weeks.

Refunds, Transfers, and No‑Shows (Be Kind, But Not a Doormat)

• Post a plain‑English policy: refund window, transfer rules, day‑of expectations. Put it on the checkout page, not buried in a PDF.

• Default to kind. Offer transfers over refunds when possible; it keeps goodwill and revenue.

• No‑shows happen. A waitlist helps you backfill the seat instead of eating the cost.

Fraud & Oversell Guardrails (The Paranoid Corner)

• Watch for multiple high‑value orders from the same card or IP. That’s either a bot or a scalper.

• Cap per‑order quantity if your events are small. No one needs 20 tickets to your 30‑person workshop.

• Keep an eye on chargeback patterns. Have a simple dispute process ready: email, proof of purchase, done.

Data & Integrations (Light Touch)

• Track sources with UTM parameters. Know what’s working without becoming a data scientist.

• Export attendee CSVs and tag them by event in your email tool. That’s enough for 99% of us.

• If you’re running ads, verify conversions - but don’t let tracking run your life. The goal is better events, not better spreadsheets.

Day‑One vs. Next‑Level (Your Progress Map)

Day‑One Checklist (Ship It):

• [ ] Price chosen with enough margin
• [ ] One simple tier (or no tier)
• [ ] Branded checkout with minimal fields
• [ ] Clear refund/transfer policy
• [ ] Fast, secure payouts confirmed
• [ ] UTM links and basic export set up (if that's your thing)

Next‑Level Add‑Ons (Once You’re Cooking):

• Early‑bird + general + supporter
• Automated waitlist
• Partner discount codes
• Full checkout branding
• Post‑event survey

For Ops Captains: Practice the check‑in flow. QR scan + name search + manual override. Backups matter more than bells and whistles. I once had a QR code fail because the sun reflected off a phone screen. Name search saved 40 check‑ins.

Common Pitfalls (Don’t Be That Person)

• Racing to “dynamic pricing” before you can nail flat pricing.
• Hiding fees until the last step. Buyers hate surprises - 70% of cart abandonment comes from unexpected costs.
• Collecting more data than you need. Every field lowers conversion and adds privacy risk.

Done? You’ve got a machine that sells while you sleep. Next up: Execution & Operations to make sure the day itself runs smooth as silk.