Solving event ticketing problems
How can fan club members get presale access?
Take registrations before the on-sale, then give registered fans a presale window before tickets open to everybody.
- For
- Rewarding a fan club, members list or mailing list
- Takes
- 6 minutes
Take pre-registrations from fan club members, then open a presale window for the people who registered. This gives each registered buyer early access without relying on one shared code.
Set the pre-registration dates and a presale window on the event. Once that window opens, registered buyers can buy before the public release opens. A link shared by somebody who already bought, and a presale limited code can also open that gate if you leave those settings on.
Give the presale its own ticket allocation so it cannot use tickets reserved for the public release. Keep the public release hidden until its on-sale time. Add an event password only when you also want to keep the event page private.
How Ticket Fairy handles it
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Registration instead of a code
People register interest before tickets go on sale. You can see how many want to attend and message them when the presale opens without using a shared code.
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Early access for registered fans
Once the presale window opens, registered buyers can buy before the public release opens. If you want registration to be the only presale path, turn off the referral and limited-code paths too.
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Its own allocation
Give the presale a release of its own with a set number of tickets. Keep the public release hidden until the public on-sale, so your members get the tier you promised and the public release still has something to sell.
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A private event page when you need one
Add an event password when you also want to keep the page private. Anyone who receives the shared password can use it while it remains active.
How to set it up
- Open pre-registration before you announce a price
- Turn presales on and set both ends of the window
- Give the presale its own allocation
- Choose whether other presale paths stay open
- Tell them exactly when, and in which time zone
- Check it as a registered buyer would
- Message registered fans who did not buy
What you need before you start
- You're an owner or an admin on the event.
- You know roughly how many people are in the group you are rewarding, and how many tickets you are willing to sell them before the public on-sale.
- You know whether referrals from existing buyers or a presale limited code should also open access.
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Open pre-registration before you announce a price
Turn on Pre-Registration and share that rather than an on-sale time. Set when registration opens and closes before you share it, or nobody can complete the form. People who register are the ones who want to come, and you find out how many before you have to guess.
Pre-Registration Dates, with both the registration and early-sale windows switched on. -
Turn presales on and set both ends of the window
Registering does not let anybody buy on its own. Switch presales on for the event and set when the window opens and closes. Set both: a window with no closing time is treated as already over on some of the ways buyers reach your tickets.
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Give the presale its own allocation
Make the presale a release of its own with a set number of tickets. Keep the public release hidden until the public on-sale. Otherwise a registered buyer can choose that public release during the presale too.
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Choose whether other presale paths stay open
A link shared by somebody who already bought, and the presale limited code can also let somebody buy in the presale window. Leave those paths off for a registration-only presale, or tell your team that those links and codes work too.
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Tell them exactly when, and in which time zone
Say the day, the time with its zone, and when the presale ends. Then close the presale release yourself at that time with Mark as Sold Out, which drops the release to what it has already sold. The presale closing time is honoured by some of the ways buyers reach your tickets and not by the cart, and hiding a release only takes it off your listings, so a registrant, a referral link or the limited code can still buy from a release left selling.
Anybody already holding one in a cart is asked about by name: choose Clear Cart to close them out too, or Allow Purchase to let them finish. A refund afterwards opens that place again, because the count behind sold out only counts tickets that are still valid, so mark it sold out again if you refund anybody after the cutoff. Straight after a refund it can answer that the ticket is out of stock. That means the refund has not reached it yet rather than that the release is closed, so wait a few seconds and mark it again.
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Check it as a registered buyer would
Register yourself before the window opens, then sign in with that same account and add the presale ticket to the cart once the window starts. Try the same ticket in a signed-out browser and expect the cart to refuse it, which is also what a registrant who arrives signed out will meet, so tell them which account to use.
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Message registered fans who did not buy
After the presale, go back to everyone who registered and did not buy. Tell them when the public on-sale opens and which tickets remain.
Or have it done for you
Fai, the assistant inside your dashboard, can check and set the pre-registration and presale date windows for the event, including the switches and both ends of each window. It asks before saving. It does not change ticket releases: keep the public release hidden yourself and test the cart gate yourself.
In your dashboard, with Fai
Set pre-registration to open at 9am on 1 September and close at 5pm on 7 September, then set presales to open at 10am on 8 September and close at 10pm on 9 September. Show me the dates before you save.
Questions you might have
- What is the best way to handle presale access for fan clubs?
- Take pre-registrations, then open a presale window. A registered buyer can buy in that window before the public release opens. Keep the public release hidden and turn off referral or limited-code presale paths if registration should be the only way in.
- Is turning on pre-registration enough?
- No. Registration needs its own opening and closing dates. The presale window is separate, and it also needs both its opening and closing time.
- Are presale codes safe?
- Treat any shared string as public, an event password included. Registration avoids relying on a shared string, but referral links and a limited code can still grant access if you leave those paths on.
- How many tickets should a presale get?
- Enough that your members get the tier you promised, and few enough that the public on-sale is still worth announcing. Its own release is what makes that a decision rather than an accident.
- Can I see who registered before the on-sale?
- Yes. Pre-registration is a list you can view and message, which is the point of taking it before you announce a price.
- What do I do with people who registered and did not buy?
- Message them at the public on-sale. They already told you they wanted to come.
Where to go from here
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.