Recently, we were asked by one of our non profit clients if we could build a ticket system for their website. The requirements were that they wanted to sell tickets online for a particular event,  then allow the buyer to print the ticket after purchasing with a credit card. Of course we can do that we said, but Eventbrite does that already!

With Eventbrite, your customers/donors/attendees can register for an event via a secure credit card transaction, print the ticket, and be notified of changes that may happen. Additionally, organizers can add an option for sending a check or to send an invoice for those without or not wishing to use a credit card. Eventbrite in this case is a great alternative to PayPal, but can also incorporate PayPal if you want it to. This is the perfect tool for fund raiser events, musicians and organizers alike. Eventbrite is the perfect tool to sell tickets or registrations and take credit card payments without a merchant account. Eventbrite is free to use, free to sign up for and there are no recurring fees. The way they make their money is off transaction fees and you can decide whether to take on those fees yourself or let the purchaser incur the fees.

Eventbrite Service Fee

At the time this was written, for every ticket you sell using Eventbrite, they currently charge 2.5% of the ticket value plus $0.99 per ticket. No matter how much you charge, they cap our service fee at $9.95 per ticket for event organizers.

Credit Card Processing Fee

When you collect money through Eventbrite’s standard credit card processing, they charge a small percentage of the ticket value. ( 3% at the time this was written )

Now that may seem like a lot, but when you consider what most merchant accounts charge between 2-5% (Not including monthly fees) and the incredible tools Eventbrite offers to help promote your event, it’s a no brainer.

“…your sales are very likely to rise if you start accepting plastic. Various studies have suggested accepting credit cards typically increases a business’ sales by at least 30 percent, with some research claiming sales can double.” – Intuit Small Business

Often times for smaller price points I will advise fund raisers to add the transaction fees to the ticket price, it’s a fund raiser and your donors should understand that the small fee helps the cause. For larger price tags or commercial events, I advise hiding the fees and paying them yourself. Again, it’s your choice on how you pay the fees. You can have your attendees pay for all fees by adding them on top of your ticket price. Or you can pay the fees by including them into the total price of the ticket. Once you create your event, decide the costs (By the way you can do free events too) you can publish your event after you decide how you want to get paid.

Get Paid

Your funds are sent 5 business days after the event ends via direct deposit or mailed check, and may take a few days to reach you.

Now that you’ve published your event, it’s time to market it right? Eventbrite’s promotional tools are stellar. You can add all your email contacts, and send invitations. You can link your social media pages, and every invitation as well as the event page has social media shares. Event cancelled, moved, rained out? Simply email all attendees with a click of a button to let them know the event details have changed.

Other Tools:

• Invite & Promote
  • Email Invitations
  • Promotional Codes
  • Facebook Integration
  • Website Integration
  • Tracking Links
  • Affiliate Programs
• Google Analytics

• Communicate
  • Emails to Attendees
  • News & Updates
  • Attendee Surveys
• Manage Attendees
  • Orders
  • Attendee Add
  • Guest List
  • Name Badges
  • Check-in

So, if you want to promote and sell for events like a professional I recommend you check out Eventbrite.