# Approve orders before buyers receive tickets | Ticket Fairy Guides

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Setting up an event

# Approve orders before buyers receive tickets

Require a decision for every order or selected ticket types, control payment timing and approve or decline each pending order before its hold expires.

For:  Reviewing ticket requests before confirming admission

Takes:  12 minutes

- [Choose event-wide or ticket-type approval](#step-1)
- [Turn approval on for every order](#step-2)
- [Turn approval on for one ticket type](#step-3)
- [Choose when supported payments are collected](#step-4)
- [Place one test order through the chosen ticket](#step-5)
- [Find every order that needs a decision](#step-6)
- [Act before the payment hold expires](#step-7)
- [Approve an order you want to accept](#step-8)
- [Decline an order you cannot accept](#step-9)

## What you need before you start

- You can edit ticket settings and review orders for the event.
- You have decided whether every order needs approval or only orders containing particular ticket types.
- You know whether supported payment methods should reserve the amount until you decide.

1. ## Choose event-wide or ticket-type approval

   Use event-wide approval when every order needs your decision. Use ticket-type approval when only a membership tier, guest request or other selected ticket needs review.

   An event-wide setting applies to every ticket type. A ticket-type setting applies to the whole order whenever that order contains at least one ticket from the selected type.
2. ## Turn approval on for every order

   Open **Tickets**, select **Settings**, and turn on **Require order approval** under **Ticket Settings**. Save the settings before the event starts taking requests.

   Every new order then waits for your decision. The event-wide setting also becomes the inherited setting for every ticket type.
          ![Ticket Fairy Ticket Settings with Require order approval and Hold payment until approved enabled for the event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-tickets--event-order-approval.png)    Tickets, Settings, Ticket Settings.
3. ## Turn approval on for one ticket type

   Leave event-wide approval off, open the ticket type, and turn on **Require order approval for this type** in its options. Save the ticket and repeat only for the other types that need review.

   A ticket type inherits event-wide approval when the event setting is on. Turn the event setting off first when some ticket types should sell without review.
          ![Ticket Fairy ticket options with Require order approval for this type and Hold payment until approved enabled](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-tickets--ticket-type-order-approval.png)    Tickets, Edit Ticket Type, Options.
4. ## Choose when supported payments are collected

   For event-wide approval, turn on **Hold payment until approved**. For ticket-type approval, turn on **Hold payment until approved** in that ticket type. Supported payment methods then reserve the order amount at checkout and collect it only after you approve. Leave the relevant switch off when payment should be collected at checkout.

   A payment method that cannot hold the amount collects it at checkout. Declining that order sends a refund, and the payment processing fees on that refund may not be returned.
5. ## Place one test order through the chosen ticket

   Open the event in a private browser window and place an order containing the ticket type you configured. Confirm that checkout says the order is waiting for approval and does not issue usable tickets yet.

   For ticket-type approval, repeat with an ordinary ticket on its own. That counterexample should complete normally when event-wide approval is off.
6. ## Find every order that needs a decision

   Open **Orders**, choose **Needs Approval** and find the order. On a wide screen, select **...** on the order, then select **Approve** or **Decline**. On a smaller screen, open the order; its details show **Approve** and **Decline**. On a phone, select **...** first, then select **Approve** or **Decline**.

   Read the buyer, ticket types, total and order details before you act. One approval decision covers every ticket and add-on in that order.
          ![Ticket Fairy pending-order approval with Approve and Decline actions shown](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-orders--needs-approval.png)    Orders, Needs Approval.
7. ## Act before the payment hold expires

   Read **Hold expires** on any order with a reserved payment and decide before that time. The dashboard marks the deadline more strongly as it approaches.

   An expired hold cannot be collected. The order is declined and the reserved amount is released, so contact the buyer with a new purchase route when you still want to admit them.
8. ## Approve an order you want to accept

   Select **Approve**, check the order number in the confirmation and select **Approve** again. A held payment is collected, the order becomes paid and the tickets are issued.

   When payment was already collected at checkout, approval marks the order paid and issues its tickets without collecting it again.
          ![Ticket Fairy confirmation asking whether to approve Order 450901](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-orders--approve-pending.png)    Orders, Approve Order.
9. ## Decline an order you cannot accept

   Select **Decline**, check the order number in the confirmation and select **Decline** again. A reserved amount is released; a payment already collected at checkout is refunded.

   The buyer receives the rejection notification. Read the order once more before confirming because decline closes this pending request.
          ![Ticket Fairy confirmation asking whether to decline Order 450901](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-orders--decline-pending.png)    Orders, Decline Order.

## Or have it done for you

Fai, the assistant inside your dashboard, can turn order approval on for the event or selected ticket types, show you a pending order, and approve or decline it. She asks you to approve settings changes and asks again before the order decision. You can also complete the whole workflow in the dashboard. Your own AI assistant over the MCP server can show you and approve a specified pending order.

### In your dashboard, with Fai

Find my event by name. Require approval for \<EVERY ORDER OR TICKET TYPE NAMES\> and \<HOLD SUPPORTED PAYMENTS OR COLLECT AT CHECKOUT\>. Show me the setting and ask me to approve it. Then open pending order \<ORDER NUMBER\>, show me the buyer, ticket types, total and payment state, and ask whether I want to approve or decline it. Do not make the order decision until I choose and approve it

### From your own assistant, over MCP

Connect your assistant to [our MCP server](https://www.ticketfairy.com/mcp-server) and ask it:

The copied MCP configuration includes `--read-only`. Remove `--read-only` only when you want your assistant to make changes. Routine changes run when requested; destructive actions ask you in a compatible client. If your client cannot ask, make the change in your dashboard.

Find my event by name, open pending order \<ORDER NUMBER\>, show me the buyer, tickets, total and payment state, and ask me to approve the order. Do not approve it until I confirm

## Questions you might have

Can I require approval for only one ticket type?:  Yes. Leave event-wide approval off and turn on **Require order approval for this type** on each type that needs it.

What happens when one order contains an approval ticket and an ordinary ticket?:  The whole order waits for your decision. Approving issues every ticket in the order; declining closes the whole order.

Is the buyer charged before I approve?:  With the event-wide **Hold payment until approved** switch, or the ticket type's **Hold payment until approved** switch, on, a supported payment method reserves the amount and collects it after approval. Another method collects at checkout and receives a refund if you decline. With the switch off, payment is collected at checkout.

Where do ticket-type approval orders appear?:  Open **Needs Approval** and find the order. On a wide screen, select **...** on the order, then select **Approve** or **Decline**. On a smaller screen, open the order and use **Approve** or **Decline**. On a phone, select **...** first, then use **Approve** or **Decline**.

What happens when a payment hold expires?:  The reserved amount is released and the pending order is declined because the payment can no longer be collected. Use the displayed **Hold expires** time to act before that point.

Can I approve only part of an order?:  No. Approval applies to the order as a whole. Ask the buyer to place separate orders when different ticket requests need different decisions.

Does order approval make the event invitation-only?:  No. It lets someone place a request and gives you the decision afterward. Use a password, personal invitation or hidden-ticket access code when access must be controlled before checkout.

## Where to go from here

- [What else you can do with Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/features)
- [Make your event invitation-only](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/make-an-event-invitation-only)
- [Require an invitation before someone can buy tickets](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/require-an-invitation-to-buy)
- [Password-protect your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/password-protect-your-event)
- [Unlock hidden tickets with an access code](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/unlock-hidden-tickets-with-an-access-code)
- [Schedule when your event goes live](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/schedule-when-your-event-goes-live)
- [Share an event setup as a reusable template](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/share-your-event-as-a-template)
- [Set up ticketing for a multi-day festival](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-a-multi-day-festival)
- [Sell parking, camping and merchandise with your tickets](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-add-ons-with-your-tickets)
- [Group ticket types under headings buyers understand](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/group-your-tickets-into-categories)
- [Issue reusable event passes to crew and artists](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/issue-entry-passes-to-your-crew)
- [Every Ticket Fairy guide](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides)

## Do this on your own event

Create your account, build your event and follow the steps in your own dashboard. You do not need to book a sales call.

  [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo)

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This page is on Ticket Fairy, a ticketing, marketing and operations platform for live events and the venues that host them: festivals, club nights, concerts, conferences and tours, and night clubs, beach clubs and concert venues. It grows revenue with fan rewards that turn an audience into a sales channel, and runs the money side with payments and payouts, Vault business banking, and working capital advanced against ticket sales. [How Ticket Fairy ticketing works](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing) · [Ticket Fairy for AI assistants](https://www.ticketfairy.com/llms.txt)