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You likely ended up here because you’ve planned a sick event or are opening a local attraction spot. You’re thinking, okay, my event is set and ready to go, but now how do I sell tickets so people can come to it? You decided to go with Ticketmaster because it’s a name you know. You’ve probably visited the Ticketmaster website and left it feeling a little confused and somewhat panicked about how to sell tickets online for your event.
Don’t feel discouraged. We know that selling tickets on Ticketmaster can be a bit tricky, so we’re going to help you.
If you’ve been wondering how the platform works and what Ticketmaster charges, you’ve found the right article. We’ve asked ourselves these questions, and with some digging and investigative work, we were able to demystify how Ticketmaster works for people who want to sell tickets for their events. Read on to find out how it is done.
What is Ticketmaster?
Ticketmaster has been selling tickets to fans since the late 70s. As a pioneer in the modern ticketing industry, the company quickly spread its reach from operating exclusively in North America to over 20 markets in the space of two decades. Ticketmaster was one of the first ticketing companies to introduce mobile tickets, ending the long run of paper tickets. You’re now able to buy your mobile ticket and choose your seats with the Ticketmaster app on your phone, thus making buying tickets incredibly convenient.
Ticketmaster is also a platform where you can sell tickets for your event. Whatever event you have in mind, you can use Ticketmaster to sell mobile tickets for your show. Once you have a Ticketmaster account, you can create mobile tickets and sell them on the Ticketmaster app and website.
In theory, choosing Ticketmaster isn’t a bad idea. It’s a legit platform to create your ticket listing and sell mobile tickets for your event. But you may find that Ticketmaster may not be as groovy as it seems when you look at the company and its prices more closely.
How to Sell Tickets on Ticketmaster for Your Event
Start by visiting the Ticketmaster website, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on the “Ticket Your Event” link, which will take you to the Ticketmaster Business page. From there, fill out your name, email, and give a little bit of background info on your event and the type of ticket you’d like to sell. An automated message will be sent to you immediately. The email will ask you to respond with more details about your event and tickets. From there, reply to the email with the required info.
Then comes the waiting part… You’ll have to wait until someone sets up your Ticketmaster account, which can take around 3 weeks in some cases. This account will serve as your online ticket box office and mobile ticket creation lab.
How Much Does Ticketmaster Charge to Sell Your Mobile Tickets?
Theirwebsitedoes not indicate how much you will be charged for each mobile ticket you sell. Inquiries must be made via email or by phone. However, we have done the hard work of asking about their rates for you.
To sell mobile tickets with Ticketmaster, sellers (you) pay 15% of the ticket’s face value. On a $25 ticket, you would pay $3.75. And your attendees are expected to pay at least 10% on their end ($2.50).
Processing Credit and Debit Cards on Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster uses its gateway to process attendee purchases. It charges a service fee that is not consistent instead of having a straight-up price on how much they take per transaction.
That service fee is partly to process your payment, partly for customer support, and partly for security. Since fees are not the same on every transaction, it is hard to fully understand how much Ticketmaster charges, whether a percentage, a set fee, or a combination of both.
Here’s an example to give you a better idea:
On a $25 ticket, buyers have been charged as much as $7.75, counted as aservice or convenience fee. That’s before tax or delivery fees (for paper tickets). That means that attendees were charged 31% on each ticket!
Considering that you, as the seller, are also charged at least 15% of the ticket’s face value, you can see how Ticketmaster makes a killing when you sell tickets.
How About Ticket Seller Support?
There are three ways you can contact Ticketmaster for customer support.
- Phone
Their customer support team is available for questions Monday-Sunday from 9 am to 9 pm. As such a large company, it may take them time to get to your requests.
Essentially, their goal is to set you up with a Ticketmaster account, get your tickets up for sale, list your event on the Ticketmaster app and website, hook you up with a link that you can attach to your website and social media platform, and pay you after your event is done. They aim to do it right the first time around so that they don’t have to answer your customer service questions since it takes them so long to get to them. However, you will likely still need their assistance with some things.
The Verdict on Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster is a platform that will help you sell tickets – that’s undeniable. It’s a recognized name that customers will likely trust, helping them make their purchases with confidence.
On the other hand, there is a downside to using Ticketmaster. It isn’t straightforward about its fees, and they are quite high in comparison to other ticketing services’ rates. In addition, for ticket sellers and buyers, customer support can be difficult to get ahold of due to the high number of people trying to contact them.
Furthermore, Ticketmaster has a bad rep with thousands of past customers. Trustpilot reviews do not plead in Ticketmaster’s favor. In fact, 94% of over a thousand reviews gave it a one-star rating.
Ticketmaster Alternative
So, maybe Ticketmaster isn’t the best ticket platform, luckily it isn’t the only one. If you’re looking for a ticketing platform that’s more reliable than Ticketmaster, saves you more money, and has better customer support, you should consider TicketsCandy.
What is TicketsCandy?
TicketsCandy is a modern and powerful ticketing platform that has gotten extremely popular in the US, Canada, and Europe. TicketsCandy has it all:
- Free for event organizers
- Best merchant services in the business
- A dedicated support team that doesn’t leave you hanging
- Unlimited features to create infinite variations of mobile tickets
- A data tracker that helps you oversee your event
What Does TicketsCandy Charge?
Ideally, you want a reliable ticket solution that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg for using its services. TicketCandy’s philosophy is that selling your tickets shouldn’t have to be expensive. Their secure platform allows you to create your tickets with easeand at no cost to you! As the event holder, you won’t pay a dime for their services.
How’s that work?TicketsCandy charges aflat fee of 0.9%on each ticket you sell.However, that fee is automatically transferred to the customer, so the event holder doesn’t have to pay it. Since the fee is so small, it doesn’t dissuade customers from purchasing tickets either. Plus, TicketsCandy lets you absorb the fee you want instead of passing it on to customers with a quick click in the settings. Sounds pretty good right?
There aren’t any hidden charges for vendor fees, sponsor fees, venue fees, or any other fee that racks up the price of your ticket and kills your profits. Sure, hosting any event is not all about money, but it’s a significant factor in why you go through all the promotional headaches. Unless you’re allergic to profit, using TicketsCandy is a no-brainer.
And to make sure not a cent is wasted in technical errors, TicketsCandy has partnered with the most reliable merchant service in the game: Square.
What are Merchant Services?
When you create your event, you need to ensure you have an effective and trusted merchant service to process your payments.
But let’s take a step back here. What’s a merchant service anyhow?
A merchant service handles your electronic payment transactions. Now I’m guessing that you probably won’t try to collect money orders, cash, or old-school checks since you’re reading this article. That said, you’ll want a merchant service that helps you with that.
So, how does it work?
When your attendees purchase a ticket for your event with a credit or debit card from your event website, a merchant service must process the payment and deposit it in an account that belongs to you. That service isn’t free – such is the way of the world. But fret not. Merchant services are much cheaper than Ticketmaster’s “service fees.”
TicketsCandy trusts Square for your event payments, and here’s why:
Square is hard to beat. It’s widely recognized as one of thebest merchant services out there, so you can’t go wrong using their service.
TicketsCandy partnered with Square to make sure you can process e-commerce transactions without any surprises or hidden fees. TicketsCandy chose Square not only for its low fees but also for its dedicated support team. They can help 24/7, so you can chill about any payment issues.
TicketsCandy Goes All-In on Customer Support
How often have you been afraid to call your bank, insurance, or credit company for fear of being placed on hold for ages and bounced around from one rep to another? Been there, done that.
The people at TicketsCandy must have been at the receiving end of those calls too many times because they based their entire business model around customer service. TicketsCandy is unmatched when it comes to customer support. The team makes it its duty to help you sell tickets by offering pro tips to make your event more successful. They can assist you with the technical side of ticket creation and help you figure out how to use their tools to analyze your event’s data.
Creating an Event with TicketsCandy
The first thing you want to do to sell tickets is create an account on TicketsCandy. Just provide some basic info about yourself and your event,including your name, email address, and organization name.
Once submitted, you cancreate your first eventand immediately start selling tickets after youconnect your merchant account! Need assistance setting your tickets up? Check out theirsupport pagefilled with articles and videos on how to use every aspect of their platform!
Once your event is created, you can easily edit your ticket listing and event details. With TicketsCandy, your event tickets are ready for purchase in a matter of minutes, not weeks.
TicketsCandy Features
With TicketsCandy, you can use tons of features to make your event stand out from the rest. You can create events easily and make unique tickets that look and feel like your brand. Let’s look at some features that make this ticketing platform stand out from the competition.
- Unlimited Tickets: No restrictions on how many tickets you can create.
- Customized Tickets: Personalize mobile ticket types (VIP, general admission, special access tickets).
- Statistics: Keep track of who is buying your tickets and how.
- Revenue Control: Receive sale revenue straight to your bank account.
- Event Data: Stay on top of every aspect of your promotional effort with Facebook Pixel and Google Analytics.
- Coupon Codes: Sell mobile tickets faster with promotional deals and discounts.
- Ticket Scanner: Scan your attendees’ mobile tickets when they arrive at your event.
- Even Calendar: Customize your calendar, so your attendees can easily select the time and date of their visit.
- No Contracts: TicketsCandy is confident you’ll like working with them, so you’re free to cancel anytime.
- Ticketing Widget: Once your mobile tickets are set up and you’ve selected your merchant service, you can copy an HTML code and place it wherever you like on your website. That way, you can sell mobile tickets straight from your site – maximizing ticket sales.
Final Thoughts
Ticketmaster deserves its props for paving the way for other ticketing platforms. However, there are now better options available for event hosts.
In comparison, TicketsCandy has the best value on the market (it’s free!), a killer customer support team, and plenty of tools to help your event succeed. And unlike Ticketmaster, TicketsCandy is available to help you anytime. You won’t be bounced around by sales reps and will never deal with bots. And to top it off, TicketsCandy is compatible with Facebook Pixel, TikTok Pixel,and Google Analytics, so you can measure how your ad campaigns are doing.
Bychoosing TicketsCandy to sell tickets for your event, you’re trusting a company that cares about your event and will do its utmost to help you maximize your ticket sales online.
