A Guide to Online Ticketing Services

Gone are the days of printing tickets in the school office and handing them out in envelopes after school. These days, tickets have gone high-tech and you can use online platforms to sell, print, receipt and organise tickets to your next fundraiser. But which one should you use?

Here is the essential information about some of the major online ticketing systems in Australia.

Humanitix

Website: https://humanitix.com/au/

Summary: 

Humanitix is an Australian not-for-profit online ticketing agency, which donates 100% of profits from booking fees to fund education projects for disadvantaged kids in Australia and abroad. It is fully featured and comprehensive, and while it offers competitive rates for all event organisers, it provides lower rates to schools and not-for-profits.

Features:

All the standard features of platforms such as TryBooking and Eventbrite plus:

Personal (ie human) support for event organisers available 7 days.

Integrated with Canva so you can create a beautiful event page using their design tools.

Live impact tracking – see the change your event is making – whether it is contributing to Indigenous scholarships, literacy programs for girls or feeding hungry school children through OzHarvest.

Accessibility features to aid guests with special needs.

Able to automatically issue DGR (deductible gift recipient) receipts where relevant.

Option to make your event private or public.

You can sell merchandise at the time of booking tickets (such as bags, t-shirts or DVDs) which customers can collect at the event.

Apps and scanners available to scan barcodes on tickets for quick entry to events.

Cost:

Free Events: Free to use if the event is free (for both organisers and customers).

For Paid Events: total booking fee is 2.5% + $0.50 per ticket (inclusive of credit card fees and GST).

Please note this is the fee for schools and not-for-profits (including sporting clubs). Normal fees are 4% + $0.99 per ticket.

The booking fee can be passed on to the customer in full (free for the organiser), or absorbed within the ticket price.

Example: Fred buys two tickets at $20 using his credit card. The booking fee is $0.50 + $0.50 per ticket, total $42. This can be passed on entirely to the customer, so the event organisers receive the full amount of $40. 

If event cancellations occur and/or tickets are refunded in full, 100% of the booking fees are refunded.

Stripe option available (cheaper than Paypal)

Try Booking

Website: http://www.trybooking.com/default.html

Summary:

TryBooking is an Australian company. It has lots of features and is aimed at community groups and not for profits. It is one of the cheapest and most comprehensive sites available.

Features:

Anyone can buy a ticket online – they do not need to register with the site.

Customers pay online using credit cards and are immediately sent a receipt and their tickets to print at home.

Organisers can customise tickets and their selling page with logos and images.

You can sell a variety of tickets ie. Single, family, adult, child, concession, multi-pass etc.

You can create discount codes for VIPs and free tickets.

You can fundraise by offering the option of ‘adding on’ at the check-out.

You can specify what data you wish to collect from customers, and export all your customer data to have a record for future events (ie mailing lists).

Dedicated Client Service Teams (ie support) plus online videos to learn about setting up an event.

Suitable for all types of events such as school functions, theatre (you can even allocate seats), movie nights, training courses, seminars, dances, business events, concerts, markets, reunions etc.

Option to make your event private or public.

You can sell merchandise at the time of booking tickets (such as t-shirts or DVDs) which customers can collect at the event.

Apps and scanners are available to scan barcodes on tickets for quick entry to events.

Cost:

Free to use if the event is free (for both organisers and customers).

For paid events:

For ticket buyers: a $0.50 non-refundable fee per ticket.

For organisers: 2.5% processing fee per transaction (includes credit card processing fee).

Example: Fred buy two tickets at $20 each using his credit card. The service fee is $0.50 per ticket. Total: tickets $40 plus $1.00 in fees ($41.00).

The fee for the organisers is 2.5% of $40 ($1.00) meaning they will receive $39.00 from the transaction.

No fee (for organisers) for cancellations or refunds – although the 50c service fee for customers is non-refundable.

No PayPal option.

ABN Requirement (official statement from company)

“TryBooking does not require that you have an ABN to sell tickets through us. No funds will be withheld should they not have an ABN. The reason for this is that we only supply the software to the event organiser to enable them to sell tickets online. As such we are not responsible for the GST component of the event. This is the responsibility of the event organiser.”

EventBrite

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/

Summary:

EventBrite is an US based system that operates in Australia. It’s full of features and has a more sophisticated look and feel. It is perfect for large scale events such as festivals and conferences, but it is more expensive than most of its competitors. Organisers can choose to pass on the fees to customers.

Features:

Has all of the above features of Try Booking.

Flashier and more professional appearance.

Uses PayPal as a payment option (but you are liable for all of PayPal fees and charges as well).

Cost:

Free to use if the event is free (for both organisers and customers).

For events where you are selling tickets the service cost is 2% of the ticket price plus $0.79 per ticket PLUS a 2.5% payment processing fee if you are using the EventBrite credit card payment system. You can choose to pass on all these fees to your customers (ticket buyers) in most cases.

Example: Fred buy two tickets at $20 each using his credit card. The event organisers have passed on the full amount of fees. The service fee is $0.40 plus $0.79 per ticket, plus a credit card fee of $0.50 each. Total: tickets $40 plus $3.38 in fees ($43.38) of which the organisers will receive $40.00.

If the organisers choose to absorb the service costs and just let Fred cover the credit card processing costs, Fred will pay $40 plus $1.00 ($41.00) and the organisers will receive $37.62.

If you are using PayPal as the payment system, you are still liable for the service cost plus the PayPal fees and charges.

Receive your money five business days after the conclusion of your event.

ABN requirement (official statement from company)

“Because we are a US-based company, we need to comply with US tax laws, as does anyone who is using our proprietary payment processing to receive funds. Per the IRS, we are required to report earnings to the IRS when 200+ tickets have been sold and gross revenue reaches $20,000 (USD). If tax information is not provided by an Organizer, by the time these metrics are met, we will withhold funds until tax information has been entered for the account. This article will give you more information on that.”

O-Tix

Website: http://o-tix.com.au/

Summary: O-Tix is a relatively new Australian company that was launched to serve large event and exhibition companies, trade events and open days but it can also be used for smaller events. With lots of features, consumers can buy tickets from any device, and they offer extra services over and above merely selling tickets, such as a strong research arm to help promote and maximise event success.

Cost:

Free to use if the event is free (for both organisers and customers).

For paid events, the fees are $1 per ticket plus 1.5% of the face value of the ticket, with a minimum event fee of $195. There is also a 1.8% banking fee on the total of all transactions.

ABN Requirement (official statement from company)

“We received the directive from our accounting firm that we needed to be more vigilant on checking the status of our customers ABN and GST registration in order to make sure we were compliant with [ATO] withholding requirements. Our current advice suggests that we are required to withhold GST for non GST-registered customers, and withhold 43% of income from organisers that do not have an ABN.”

Sticky Tickets

Website: https://www.stickytickets.com.au/

Summary: Sticky Tickets is an Australian online ticketing site that been operating since 2007. They offer many of the same features as the other sites, and is suitable for any sized event. The fees are on a sliding scale meaning it is relatively expensive for cheaper tickets (about the same as EventBrite) but cheaper for more expensive tickets.

Features:

Has many of the features mentioned above including ability to customise selling page and tickets, ability to offer discount codes and free tickets, downloadable check-in app to scan barcodes.

Does not offer a Paypal option.

Can integrate with MailChimp.

Can be used to sell raffle tickets.

Cost: 

Free to use if the event is free (for both organisers and customers).

For events where you are selling tickets the service cost is a sliding scale:

Tickets $.01- to $9.99 service fee is $1.00

Tickets $10.00 to $24.99 service fee is $1.50

Tickets $25.00 to $49.99 service fee is $2.50

Tickets $50.00 to $99.99 service fee is $3.50

Tickets $100.00 to $149.99 service fee is $4.50

For tickets selling for $150+ the service fee is $1.50 plus 2% of ticket price.

Plus for all tickets paid for with Amex, a credit card processing fee of 1.75%

Organisers can choose whether or not to pass the service fee onto customers.

Example: Fred buy two tickets at $20 each using his Mastercard. The event organisers have passed on the full amount of fees. The service fee is $1.50 per ticket. Total: tickets $40 plus $3.00 in fees ($43.00) of which the organisers will receive $40.00.

If the organisers choose to absorb the service costs and let Fred cover the credit card processing costs, Fred will pay $40 and the organisers will receive $37.00.

Typically organisers can receive their money five business days after the conclusion of the event, although under some circumstances (and for a fee) you can apply to have 50% of the money from sales prior to the event starting.

For charities

Registered charities can apply to receive 20% of the credit card fees back as a donation (as long as you acknowledge Sticky Tickets on your website as a sponsor).

For one-off charity events, you can also apply for a rebate of 20% of the total booking fees.

Schools, sporting clubs and not-for-profits can apply for a rebate of 10% of the credit card fees paid as a donation.

Ticketebo

Website: http://www.ticketebo.com.au/

Summary: Ticketebo is an Australian company, full of features and unlike other sites, has zero costs for organisers, with customers picking up the tab for service fees.

Features:

Many of the standard features mentioned previously are available but they also offer some extra options such as:

You can access up to half your money prior to the event.

Customisable URLs on your selling page so it is easy to remember (and find).

You can allocate seating to customers when they purchase tickets.

Free app to scan tickets at the event.

Does not accept PayPal, Amex or Diners.

Cost:

All fees are incorporated into a booking fee which is passed in its entirety to customers, meaning organisers have no costs whatsoever.

Organisers can choose to have the booking fee made visible to customers, or organisers can absorb the fee into the ticket price (ie have a slightly higher cost per ticket), customers do not have to pay the extra fee at the checkout, and the fee is deducted from the ticket sales before being paid to the organisers.

The fee is 3.85% of the total order price with a minimum fee of $1 per booking.

Importantly, there are no additional credit card fees – these are covered by the booking fee.

Example: Fred buy two tickets at $20 each using his credit card. 3.85% is $0.77 per ticket, or $1.54 for the order. Total: tickets $40 plus $1.54 in fees ($41.54) of which the organisers will receive $40.00.

Ticket Booth

Website: https://www.ticketbooth.com.au/

Summary:

Ticket Booth is an Australian online ticketing platform that is geared toward professional companies and big events. It has a strong built-in marketing element, comprehensive links to social media and analytics program.

Features:

Ticket Booth is used by a number of large companies hosting large scale events, but it is still available for school and community groups.

Many of the features mentioned previously are available but they also offer extra options such as:

Being able to bundle tickets, offering discounts to groups above a specified size.

They offer a ‘pay what you want’ option, allowing customers to pay as much or as little as they can afford.

Customers can make donations alongside their ticket purchase with no extra costs.

You can set up automatic email ‘blasts’ reminding people about the event.

Customers can earn some of their ticket price back by sharing the event on their social media platforms.

Cost:

Costs are not freely available on the TicketBooth website, and I received no reply to my enquiry. Instead you must email them with your event details for a quote. However the website claims to charge some of the lowest fees in the industry.

Outix

Website: https://www.outix.com.au/tickets/

Summary: The online ticketing service Outix has a slick website, and offers a range of impressive features including being able to purchase and manage your ticket sales from a mobile phone, and social media interactivity. A glance of the website shows that the majority of events promoted via the site are cooking classes and comedy nights as well as some large festivals and concerts, and therefore probably not geared towards schools and community groups.

Cost:

No pricing is available on the website.

I Wanna Ticket

Website: https://www.iwannaticket.com.au/

Summary: Launched in 2009 in Sydney, I Wanna Ticket was designed to be feature-filled and easy to use for event organisers. It caters for many large-scale events and big businesses and has strong marketing and analytic components built-in.

Cost:

No pricing is available on the website, you must contact the team to get a quote. Schools, charities and not-for-profits are eligible for reduced rates.

Moshtix

Website: http://www.moshtix.com.au/v2/

Summary: Moshtix is an Australian company and was launched in 2003. As the name suggests Moshtix caters primarily for live music and entertainment.

Cost: No cost to organisers, all fees are passed onto customers at the time of booking tickets.

Event Gate

Website: http://www.eventgate.com.au/

Summary: Event Gate is primarily aimed towards large-scale registered events such as conferences. It offers three levels of service, but the costs would most likely be prohibitive for most school functions.

Costs:

Free for free events.

Standard service $3 per attendee

Premium service $4 per attendee

Important update (May 2016): some online ticketing services have changed their requirements based on information from the ATO that they are cracking down on possible money laundering by individuals. Therefore, some companies may require an ABN otherwise almost 50% of the ticket sales can be withheld. For a school or club-based fundraiser with an ABN this is not a major issue, but for individuals who are raising money or organising events in their own name, it is strongly recommended you check all their requirements with the company before signing up.

This is not a sponsored post. 

Author: Shannon Meyerkort


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