Ticketing is a major part of planning any event. Keeping track of reserved seating, making sure that the clients get their tickets and accepting different methods of payment are just a few of the things you need to consider when selling event tickets. Unless your event is small and general admission, using a free, online ticketing service is the best way to go.
Options
Printing reserved seating tickets is a hassle. There is no simple way to print sequentially numbered tickets without one of two things. Specialty ticket stock and printers is one possible solution. It is expensive and time-consuming. Box office software is the other possibility, with the same drawbacks.
Online box office services abound. Let's talk features. Look for a service that provides ticketing based on your seating chart. There are two options here. You can order printed tickets and deliver them to the customers yourself, or use an email ticketing option. Email ticketing allows your potential audience members to order, pay for and receive their tickets, all without you lifting a finger.
Box Office Features
The box office services do not do this for you out of the goodness of their heart. They want to make money. Here again there are two options. Some services charge a fee to the producer of the event (you). This fee may be a monthly service charge that covers everything for one money charge or a per transaction fee.
The other option is a service that charges the clients. Most offer only online sales and charge every client on every sale. A few offer the ability to make box office purchases without the fee. In that scenario, you collect the information and the money and turn in the order. The service will email the ticket directly to the client and keep track of the seating chart. It will charge clients for orders placed with a credit card. The fee was typically less than $2 per ticket in 2009.
In addition to selling your tickets, the service also will keep track of the income, provide you with printable sales reports and keep track of who buys your tickets. Many of these websites have thousands of hits weekly. They email your information to their clients in your area and provide you with a landing page with your contact information and a description of your event.
Getting Started
Signing up with most services is free. They need a few basic items of information, such as a mailing address, email and, if they will collect money for you, tax information so they can send a 1099 form to you at year's end. Before signing up, have your group's FEIN or nonprofit number handy.
Online box office possibilities, which are linked in the References section, include Brown Paper Tickets. It claims to be a fair trade company. It charges a per-ticket fee and provides a wide range of services. Tix.com provides a wide range of services and charges all of its fees per ticket. TicketStorm.com provides one of the best services available. It allows your venue to sell directly to the client without a fee.
