--- title: "How do you keep a high-demand on-sale running smoothly? | Ticket Fairy Guides" description: "Use the waiting room to control entry to checkout, stagger ticket releases to spread demand and collect a waiting list for later releases." canonical: "https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/keep-a-high-demand-on-sale-running-smoothly" --- 1. [Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/) 2. [Guides](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides) 3. How do you keep a high-demand on-sale running smoothly? Solving event ticketing problems # How do you keep a high-demand on-sale running smoothly? On a high-demand on-sale, buyers arrive at checkout in a rush. A waiting room holds arrivals before checkout, timed releases spread the demand, invitations get chosen buyers in first, and a waiting list keeps the people who miss out. Touring promoters and festival teams sell out that way, with fewer buyers asking the team for help. Use the waiting room to control entry to checkout, stagger ticket releases to spread demand and collect a waiting list for later releases. For: Putting a high-demand event on sale Takes: 6 minutes Use the waiting room to control how quickly buyers enter checkout, split tickets into timed releases and give people who miss out a waiting list. You can also invite selected buyers or pre-registered customers before the public on-sale to reduce the opening rush. The waiting room turns itself on when arrivals climb, and it moves your buyers into checkout in turn. Buyers see their place in the queue and roughly how long they have to wait, and the checkout keeps working for the buyers already in it. Sell your tickets in releases and one rush becomes several smaller ones. Invite your own list or open pre-registration, then let those people buy first, and you sell part of the event before the public on-sale. A buyer who arrives after the last ticket has gone can join your waiting list, so you can contact them when you add a release. ## How Ticket Fairy helps - ### A waiting room in front of the checkout It turns itself on when arrivals climb, shows each buyer their place in the queue and moves them into checkout in turn, so the checkout keeps working for the buyers already in it. - ### [Staggered ticket releases](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/schedule-ticket-sale-windows-and-release-tiers) Each release is its own batch, at its own price, with its own on-sale time. Sell in tiers and one crowd becomes several smaller ones, and the buyers who miss the first release have something to come back for. - ### Invitations before the public on-sale Invite selected buyers or pre-registered customers to buy early, which reduces demand during the public on-sale. - ### [A waiting list you can come back to](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-waiting-list) People who arrive after the tickets have gone can join your waiting list. Message them when you add a release, or when tickets come back through resale. ## Set it up - [Schedule the publish time](#step-1) - [Split your tickets into releases](#step-2) - [Move part of the crowd earlier](#step-3) - [Tell your buyers what to expect](#step-4) - [Come back to the buyers who missed out](#step-5) ## Before you start - You're an owner or an admin on the event. - You know the on-sale time and have an estimate of expected demand. Use that estimate to decide how many releases to prepare. 1. ## Schedule the publish time Schedule the publish date and time so the event opens at the time you announced. Publishing by hand means a team member has to select **Publish** at that moment. ![The Schedule Publish dialog, with the date and time the event goes live and the Send Promoter Links checkbox under it](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-publish--schedule-publish-dialog.png) Publish, Payment/Support, Schedule Publish. 2. ## Split your tickets into releases Give each release its own allocation and its own on-sale time, with the later ones set to appear when the one before sells out or at a set time, whichever comes first. **Note:** Two releases turn one rush into two smaller ones. They also give the people who missed the first one something to come back for instead of a sold-out page. 3. ## Move part of the crowd earlier Send invitations to your own list, or open pre-registration. The people most likely to buy are then not queuing with everybody else on the day. ![Ticket Fairy Invitations page with invited guests, ticket types and invitation statuses](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-invitations--recipients.png) Event, Invitations. 4. ## Tell your buyers what to expect Say in your announcement that there is a queue, that it shows their place, and that refreshing will not move them up it. Buyers who were not told about a queue often decide the site has broken. 5. ## Come back to the buyers who missed out After the on-sale, message waiting-list members when you add a release, and contact the buyers who left tickets in their basket while they are still interested. ## Try these steps on your own event Create a free account, build your event and follow the steps above in your own dashboard. It takes a few minutes and you do not need to book a sales call. Your email address [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) No setup fees. No required monthly ticketing fee. No credit card required. ## Questions you might have Is this what I do on the day?: No. This page is the plan you make beforehand. For the checks, the announcement and the first hour, read the guide to opening your ticket on-sale. Is there a queue for a busy on-sale?: Yes. A waiting room sits in front of the platform and turns itself on when arrivals climb. Your buyers see their place and roughly how long they have to wait, and it moves them through in turn. Do I have to turn the waiting room on?: No. It is in front of every on-sale and only comes on when the traffic needs it, so there is nothing to switch on and nothing to forget. How does the waiting room protect checkout?: It limits how quickly buyers enter checkout when arrivals climb, so the payment and order pages stay quick for the buyers already there. Does refreshing the page move a buyer up the queue?: No. Their place is preserved while they wait, so refreshing does not move them forward. What happens to the people who do not get a ticket?: They can join your waiting list. Message them when you add a release, or when tickets come back through resale. ## Still have a question? Book a demo and we will answer it on a call, on your kind of event. Or create your account and see it for yourself. [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) No setup fees. No required monthly ticketing fee. No credit card required. ## Related guides - [More ways to use Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/features/ticket-types-and-pricing) - [Open your ticket on-sale](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/open-your-ticket-on-sale) - [Schedule ticket releases](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/schedule-ticket-sale-windows-and-release-tiers) - [Schedule when your event goes live](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/schedule-when-your-event-goes-live) - [What marketing tools should a ticketing platform give you?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/ticketing-platform-marketing-tools) - [Set up ticketing for a multi-day festival](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-a-multi-day-festival) - [Run a waiting list for a sold-out event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-waiting-list) - [Invite promoters to your collective so they can sell tickets for your events](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/invite-people-to-your-collective) - [How do you manage many events without repeating the same work?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-many-events-on-one-platform) - [What should you compare when choosing a ticketing platform?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/compare-ticketing-platforms) - [How do you answer a ticket sales question no report covers?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/answer-custom-ticket-sales-questions) - [What is social ticketing, and how do referral rewards work?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/social-ticketing-and-referral-rewards) - [How do you manage accreditation and backstage passes for your event?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/manage-event-accreditation) - [How do you manage tickets for a multi-day event?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/manage-tickets-for-a-multi-day-event) - [How do you set up a payment plan so buyers pay for tickets in installments?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/let-buyers-pay-for-tickets-in-instalments) - [Can you sell tickets directly from your own website?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-tickets-on-your-own-website) - [Can ticket buyers join your email list automatically?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/add-ticket-buyers-to-your-email-list) - [How can fan club members get presale access?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/give-fan-club-members-presale-access) - [What can you find out about the people who buy your tickets?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/what-you-can-learn-about-your-ticket-buyers) - [How do you run a guest list for your event without a spreadsheet?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-guest-list-without-a-spreadsheet) - [Can you hold and spend your ticket money without a separate bank?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/hold-and-spend-your-ticket-money-in-one-place) - [Can you run a festival's marketing and production from one dashboard?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-festival-from-one-dashboard) - [How do you sell more tickets without spending more on ads?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-more-tickets-without-more-ad-spend) - [How do you keep touts and bots off your tickets?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/keep-touts-off-your-tickets) - [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) ## Sell tickets with Ticket Fairy Everything in these guides is in your dashboard from the day you sign up. - Set up your event in minutes - Free events are free - Fai, your co-pilot, is built in [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) No setup fees. No required monthly ticketing fee. No credit card required. ## See it on a call Book a demo and we will show you how Ticket Fairy handles your kind of event. [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) [More ways to use Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/features/ticket-types-and-pricing) ### Tips for selling more tickets Practical advice from working organizers, and every new guide as it is published. We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime. --- 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) ยท [Ticket Fairy for AI assistants](https://www.ticketfairy.com/llms.txt)