Looking for a free online ticketing system for my events — what are the traps before signing up?

Last fall we hosted a 120-person acoustic show, tickets were 20 euros each, pulling in 2,400 euros gross. The platform advertised free onboarding, but at checkout they took a 6% cut plus 0.80 euros per ticket. A full 240 euros that should have gone into our pocket went to platform fees. A basic plugin license on our own website would have only cost 50 euros anyway.

Definitely test the door ticket scanning beforehand. Most free ticketing platforms' mobile QR code scanner apps do not work in offline mode. If cell service doesn't reach the basement of the historic venue where you're hosting the event or inside thick stone walls, you won't be able to scan barcodes at the entrance and you'll get stuck searching for names manually on a printed list at the door.

In the ticketing industry, no platform covers payment gateway processing fees out of their own pocket. If someone claims to be a commission-free ticketing system, they're either charging exorbitant withdrawal fees to transfer the money to your account, or they're slapping a mandatory processing fee onto the ticket buyer at the final checkout step.

Before signing up for a system, check these three features in their dashboard: 1) In case of cancellation, does the service fee deduction get billed to the organizer? 2) Are ticket revenues paid out on a weekly basis or only after the event ends? 3) Can ticket buyers' email and phone details be downloaded directly in CSV format?

We had to postpone one of our theater plays by a week because the lead actor fell ill. The free ticketing tool we were using didn't allow postponements and simply canceled all 90 tickets in the system with a single click, issuing refunds. On top of that, they billed the per-ticket commission to our account for the refunds, leaving us 100 euro in the red for a show we didn't even put on.

havng the third-party platform's giant logo on the checkout screen and ads for other concerts showing up at the bottom really ruins the professional vibe imo then a simple ticket form integrated into your own website looks way more legit.

For cultural event ticketing in France, it is a legal requirement that the ticket displays the association or business registration number (SIRET), VAT rate, and sequential ticket number. You must ensure that whatever free tool you choose provides ticket generation and invoicing compliant with local regulations.

Events for 100-150 people are a great size for community building. If you have your own website, setting up a simple open-source ticketing plugin integrated into it and linking a standard virtual POS directly will cut your commission way down plus you get to keep the entire audience database to yourself.

I'm a small business let me explain from my side. Just because everyone does it doesn't mean it's right.

When you try to change everything at once, nothing settles. That's all, sorry if I went on too long.

You're right.

sorry but this doesnt apply in every case... dont hesitate to ask; those who dont ask always pay more.

everything goes well for the firsst three months; problems arise in the fourth. i'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

i was thinkinng the same thing then btw payment schedules should be tied to project phases not calendar dates.

if I were you, Id go this route.

The cheap-looking path usually ends up costing more later. Solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late.

Good luck with that.

I think it's hard to be that definitive about free online ticketing system. Payment schedules should be tied to project phases, not calendar dates.

If you post the result here, it will help others too.

I have no experience with free online ticketing system, so I'm asking. Most time waste accumulates in tasks waiting for approval.

Most time waste accumulates in tasks waiting for approval.

i'm writing this so you don't make the same mistake but everyone rushing into free online ticketing system gets stuck at the same point.

just leaving this note it might be useful.

Thanks a lot, I'll try it today.