The comedy night with three lists
You run a comedy night once a month in the back room. Tickets sell on a ticketing website, some regulars buy cash tickets at the bar, and the promoter has a list of guests. On the night, someone sits at the door with a printout from the website, a sheet of cash sales and a note of the promoter's guests. People give names that are not on any list, or say they bought on their partner's account.
The room holds a set number, and you are not sure how many are in. At the end of the night, you do not know how many cash tickets were sold versus online, and the ticketing website's fees and payout arrive weeks later.
Why ticketed nights get messy
Ticketing websites are built for bigger venues and send your customers through their own site and checkout. They work, but they do not know about your cash sales at the bar or the promoter's guests, and their door app only checks their own tickets.
Cash sales at the bar are often the easiest for regulars, but they are recorded on paper. So there is no single count of how many are coming, which matters for the size of the room and for knowing when to stop selling.
Capacity is the other issue. Your back room has a limit that matters to you, and with sales in three places nobody can be sure when it has been reached. Selling too many leads to an uncomfortable night. Stopping too early leaves empty seats you could have filled.
The cost of scattered ticket sales
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Several lists at the door | Queues, arguments and people let in twice |
| No single count | Overselling or stopping sales too early |
| Cash sales on paper | Takings hard to reconcile |
| Customers on another site's list | No way to tell them about your next event |
| Payouts weeks later | Cash flow for paying acts is awkward |
The customers who buy tickets to your events are the ones most likely to come back. If their details stay with a ticketing site, you cannot tell them about the next one.
One list, however the ticket was bought
- Each event is set up with capacity, ticket types and prices, and an events page on your website sells tickets through Stripe.
- Bar staff sell tickets on a tablet or through your EPOS, and those tickets go on the same list, with a printed or texted ticket for the customer.
- Promoter guests and complimentary tickets are added to the same list by the promoter or manager.
- Sales stop automatically at capacity, and a waiting list can be offered.
- At the door, staff check tickets on a phone by QR code or by searching the name, and the count of people in is shown live.
- After the event, sales by type and channel are shown, and customers who opted in can be told about the next one.
If you already use a ticketing website and want to keep it for reach, we can bring its sales into the same door list rather than replacing it, where its export or interface allows.
The next comedy night
Tickets go on sale on your website. Regulars buy at the bar, and their tickets appear on the same list. The promoter adds three guests. When the room is full, the website stops selling and shows a waiting list. At the door, staff scan phones or search names on one list and can see how many are in. The next morning, ticket buyers who opted in get a note about next month.
- One door list for every ticket
- Sales stopped at capacity
- Cash and card tickets in one record
- Ticket buyers you can tell about the next event
Do your ticketed nights run like this?
- The door list is several printouts and a sheet of paper.
- Cash tickets are sold at the bar with no link to online sales.
- You have been unsure whether the room was over capacity.
- You cannot contact people who bought tickets through another site.
- Ticket money arrives weeks after the event.