Whether you’re running your group’s ticket sales yourself or handing it to a small committee, one question that comes up time and time again is how to sell tickets online. Is this something you’re already doing? Or is it something you’re just starting to look into? Either way, hopefully this guide will help spell out what you’ll need and which companies can help you make the most of it.
If you’re not yet considering selling tickets online, you definitely should be. Most groups who move their sales online see an increase in ticket numbers, an increase in revenue, and a significant reduction in the admin burden on whoever is running the box office.
What will I need to sell tickets online?
Here’s a handy checklist of everything you’ll need:
- A bank account – you’ll need somewhere for the ticket earnings to be deposited digitally. It’s preferable to use a separate account for the group so that ticket finances don’t get mixed up with personal money.
- A ticketing platform – this is the website that will sit at the core of how you sell your tickets online (see below for recommended options).
- A payment processor – your payment processor handles the card payments and gets the money from the ticketing platform into your bank account. There are nominal fees for using these processors. I’d recommend Stripe or PayPal, both of which offer industry-leading payment processing and integrate with most popular ticketing platforms.
- A website – while not strictly essential, ideally you’d have a website for your group (something like www.groupnamehere.co.uk) where you can direct people. You can then either embed or link to your ticketing platform from there.
Step 1 – Decide on your ticketing platform
There are lots of ticketing platforms out there, each with its own fee structure and set of features. Here’s my round-up of three options worth considering:
Ticket Tailor
This is a platform I’ve had personal experience of using and can highly recommend. The pricing is simple and easy to understand: you can choose to pay on a per-ticket-sold basis, or buy credits upfront in bulk to bring the cost per ticket down. There’s no monthly commitment, which is great for groups that are only actively selling for a few weeks of the year.
Ticket Tailor has a very customisable box office which you can either link to directly or embed into your website with basic HTML code. It’s the best platform I’ve come across for the balance between cost and features — and as a bonus, they now have a seating chart tool, which lets you build a bespoke layout for your venue and allow audience members to pick their own seats. Do bear in mind that seated tickets incur a small additional fee on top of the standard per-ticket cost. You can see a full list of features here.
Ticket Source
This is probably the most popular platform amongst amateur theatre groups, and even some professional venues. It’s a reliable and well-developed system with a good level of customisation for groups of all sizes. Their pricing is transparent, with a simple per-ticket booking fee structure to help you work out costs in advance.
One of Ticket Source’s big selling points is its seating plan feature, which allows audience members to choose their seats from an on-screen layout of your venue. They also offer a variety of ticket delivery methods including e-tickets, wristbands, and a scanning app for your front-of-house team. You can see full details of their features here.
Ticket Pass
Ticket Pass is a platform that approaches ticketing a little differently. As an ethical ticketing platform, their main selling point is that they donate 50% of their booking fees to charitable causes around the world. They offer free ticketing for free events, and a simple percentage-based pricing structure for paid events — so every ticket sold does a small amount of good beyond filling a seat.
If supporting good causes is important to your group, this is well worth a look. You can find out more about how it works and explore their pricing here.
NB – I would advise against setting up your event on Eventbrite. Their fees have continued to rise over the years and now regularly exceed 10% per ticket when all charges are included — significantly more expensive than the other platforms listed here. For a village pantomime or community group, you’ll almost certainly be better served elsewhere.
Step 2 – Pick your payments provider
Your payments provider is what gets the money from the ticket buyer’s card into your bank account. These providers integrate with your ticketing platform, creating a secure channel for funds to flow through. Here are the two most popular options:
Stripe
Stripe has become the go-to payments provider for most ticketing platforms. They offer excellent payment analytics, fast payouts, and integrate seamlessly with a huge range of platforms across all areas of online selling. If your chosen ticketing platform supports Stripe, it’s usually the smoothest option.
PayPal
PayPal remains one of the most widely recognised payment providers in the world, and many of your audience will already have an account. It’s a solid and trusted option that integrates well with most of the ticketing platforms mentioned above.
Step 3 – Set up your event and start marketing your show
Once you’ve got your platforms set up, you’re ready to start marketing. Embed the ticket-selling module into your website using HTML code, or link directly to your ticketing provider’s page. Make sure the box office details are clearly displayed on your poster (if you need a poster template, take a look at my professional templates here) and share everything widely with full details of the show.
