--- title: "Let buyers refund their own tickets | Ticket Fairy Guides" description: "Turn on self-refunds, see what a buyer is offered on their order page, and know what happens to the ticket and the stock afterwards." canonical: "https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/let-buyers-refund-themselves" --- 1. [Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/) 2. [Guides](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides) 3. Let buyers refund their own tickets Checkout and orders # Let buyers refund their own tickets With self-refunds, a buyer who can't come gets their money back from their own order page, without emailing your team. Buyers refund their own tickets on the refund terms agreed for your event. Takes: 7 minutes [Watch the video: Let buyers refund their own tickets](https://d3lcdr963b5ubl.cloudfront.net/uploads/guides/video/let-buyers-refund-themselves/3fb0a9d7338eef6a7171588072a232d91e0e072f89f14763f9f9c5e5fc114279/81137af9a9d89d88/guide.mp4) · [English](https://www.ticketfairy.com/resources/captions/guides/guide-let-buyers-refund-themselves-81137af9a9d8.vtt) ***Watch how it's done** 2 min 45 s, with captions.* - [Turn on self-refunds](#step-1) - [The other switch, on Event Settings](#step-2) - [The buyer's side of a refund](#step-3) - [The amount a buyer gets back](#step-4) ## Before you start - You're an owner or an admin on this event. If you can't see the switch, ask the event owner or an admin to turn it on. - Your event's ticket money has not been paid out to you yet. Once it has, the switch turns off and can't be turned on again for this event. 1. ## Turn on self-refunds [Play from here](#guide-video) Open your event, select **Tickets** and, on the **Settings** tab, turn on **Allow customers to initiate refunds**, confirm, then select **Save Ticket Settings**. The confirmation tells you what changes for your payout. **Note:** The dashboard switch is unavailable after your ticket sales revenue has been paid out to you. Hover over the switch to see why. **Warning:** While self-refunds are on, Ticket Fairy does not pay out the event after it ends, so turn the switch off when you want the payout to go ahead. On your own connected Stripe account, keep enough money in that account to cover the refunds. ![The Allow customers to initiate refunds switch on the event's ticket settings](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-self-refunds--allow-customer-refunds.png) *Event, Tickets, Settings.* 2. ## The other switch, on Event Settings [Play from here](#guide-video) **Refunds allowed** on the event settings grid marks your event as offering refunds. The switch a buyer acts on is the one on the Tickets settings tab. **Note:** Set both when you offer refunds, so the event's own settings and what buyers can do agree with each other. ![The Refunds allowed option on the event settings grid, with its note about buyers refunding eligible orders from their order page](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-settings--refunds-allowed.png) *Event, Settings.* ## The buyer's side of a refund [Play from here](#guide-video) A buyer opens their own order page and selects Refund ticket beside the ticket they want to give up, then confirms. It is one ticket at a time for most buyers, so a buyer with four tickets refunds them one by one; a whole-order button appears on a payment plan that is still running, and on an order that reached you through a partner box office. **Note:** The ticket usually stops working there and then. If the card provider says the refund is pending, the barcode stops working and the place returns only once the provider confirms the refund, so there can be a short gap. ![Order page dialog asking the buyer to confirm the refund of their General Admission ticket](https://www.ticketfairy.com/resources/images/consumer-posters/consumer-manage-tickets--refund.png) ## The amount a buyer gets back [Play from here](#guide-video) Ticket Fairy agrees the amount with you and sets it on the event; there's no page where you set it yourself. It can be the full face value, a percentage of it, the face value less a fixed amount you keep, or a flat sum. Where you agree on more than one, the buyer chooses between them on the confirmation, with the first already selected. **Note:** To change the terms, ask Ticket Fairy support, because there's no control for it. The confirmation names the figure where the terms set one, and tells the buyer either way that a refund cannot be reversed. ## Or have it done for you Fai, your AI teammate, can check sales, update your event or change a ticket when you ask. Fai can turn self-refunds on or off for an event and asks you to approve the change first. She refuses to turn them on once the event's money has been released, and says why. She can't see the terms a buyer is offered, so ask Ticket Fairy support for those. ### In your dashboard, with Fai ``` Turn on self-refunds for and confirm the setting is on ``` ## From your terminal Install the CLI from [our CLI page](https://www.ticketfairy.com/cli), sign in with `ticketfairy auth login`, and choose the brand you are working on with `ticketfairy brand use `. `ticketfairy brand list` and `ticketfairy event list` show the IDs the other commands use. Use the CLI to read the setting. You change it in the dashboard or through Fai, so the confirmation is never skipped. ### Show the event, including whether buyers can refund themselves. ``` ticketfairy event get --output json ``` ## Where the ticket goes [Play from here](#guide-video) A refunded ticket stops working and its place goes back on sale, or to the waiting list if you send refunded stock there instead. Any seat it held is released with it. **Note:** The buyer keeps the refund email as their record, and the refund appears against the order in your reports. Fai can tell you the state each ticket on an order is in. Where a refunded place went afterwards is not recorded against the ticket, so ask Ticket Fairy support to check that one. ### In your dashboard, with Fai ``` What state is each ticket on for in ``` ## When a buyer cannot refund [Play from here](#guide-video) A ticket listed for resale keeps the button but asks the buyer to take it off resale first. A ticket already refunded, transferred or checked in has no button at all. **Note:** Once the event's ticket money is released, the button disappears from its orders, unless Ticket Fairy has set the event up to keep refunds open after a postponement, which is a separate rule. It never appears on a free ticket, on one already refunded down to nothing, or on a ticket type left out of the self-refund list. Fai can see the ticket's own state, so she can tell you it is refunded, transferred, checked in or on resale. She can't see the rules that come from the event rather than the ticket, so ask Ticket Fairy support where none of those fits. ### In your dashboard, with Fai ``` What state is the ticket on order in ``` ## Refund on a buyer's behalf [Play from here](#guide-video) You can still refund an order yourself from **Orders**, whether or not self-refunds are on, until the event's money is released. That path asks for a code sent to your email address and refunds the whole order, and the refund-an-order guide sets out the rest of what it needs. ![The Orders table with a paid order's row menu open and the Refund entry](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-order-refund--refund-from-order-menu.png) *Event, Orders, row menu.* Fai can refund an order for you in two steps: she asks for a code, which reaches your email address, and you give it to her with your approval before anything is refunded. ### In your dashboard, with Fai ``` Refund order on for , and send me the code first ``` ## Questions you might have **Why will the switch not turn on?** The event's ticket money has been released, so a self-refund would have nothing to come from, and the switch says so when you hover over it. The Orders page cannot refund that event either, from the same moment and for the same reason. Ask Ticket Fairy support to refund the buyer for you. **Can I turn self-refunds off again?** Yes, from the Tickets settings tab while the switch is available. The dashboard switch is unavailable after your ticket sales revenue has been paid out to you. Refunds already made stay as they are. **Who decides the percentage or the amount that is kept?** It is agreed with Ticket Fairy and set on the event, not in the dashboard, and one set of terms covers every ticket type on it. Ask Ticket Fairy support for the terms you want, and the buyer will see exactly that on the confirmation. **Does the buyer get their ticketing fee back?** On the standard terms the refund is the ticket's face value and the ticketing fee stays, which is the same as a refund you make yourself from the Orders page. Where Ticket Fairy has agreed a percentage, a withheld amount or a flat sum with you, that is what the buyer gets and the confirmation names the figure before they agree to it. **One buyer has no refund button and everyone else does. Why?** An order paid in cash at a shop rather than by card cannot be refunded back the way it came, an order that reached you through a partner box office belongs to that partner, and a ticket bought for nothing has nothing to return. If none of those fits, Ticket Fairy support looks at the order with you. **Does a self-refund put the ticket back on sale?** Yes, unless you send refunded stock to the waiting list, in which case the place is offered to the next person waiting. The barcode usually stops working at once, and if the card provider says the refund is pending, the barcode stops working and the place returns once the provider confirms the refund. **Can a buyer ask their assistant to arrange a refund?** Yes. A buyer can ask the same assistant service that sold the ticket to show the refund choices for eligible tickets. The assistant sends a link; preparing the request does not refund money. The buyer signs in to the Ticket Fairy account that owns the order, reviews the refund, any amount retained and the changes to the ticket and linked add-ons, then confirms the refund. Your event's self-refund terms still apply. A pending result means the refund is being checked, not that it is complete. The buyer checks their normal order page and contacts support if it stays pending, using the same request rather than starting another. ## 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 monthly fee. No credit card required. ## Related guides - [More ways to use Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/features/orders-refunds-and-resale) - [Refund an order on your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/refund-an-order) - [Run a waiting list for a sold-out event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-waiting-list) - [Postpone or reschedule an event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/postpone-or-reschedule-an-event) - [Find and manage the orders for your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/find-and-manage-your-event-orders) - [Download your ticket buyers](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/download-your-ticket-buyers) - [Respond to a disputed ticket order](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/respond-to-a-disputed-ticket-order) - [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 Start free with unlimited events and no monthly fee, and choose a paid plan when you need more. - Set up your event in minutes - Free events are free - Fai, your AI teammate, is built in [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) No setup fees. No monthly 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/orders-refunds-and-resale) ### Tips for selling more tickets Practical advice from working event organizers, and every new guide as it is published. We respect your privacy. 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