--- title: "Open your ticket on-sale | Ticket Fairy Guides" description: "Check every ticket type and buy a test ticket yourself, put the event live at the time you announced, and follow tickets sold, revenue and orders through the first hour." canonical: "https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/open-your-ticket-on-sale" --- 1. [Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/) 2. [Guides](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides) 3. Open your ticket on-sale Start to finish # Open your ticket on-sale If you have announced an on-sale, the time before it is your chance to read every ticket type again and buy a test ticket end to end. On the day, the event goes public at the minute you announced, and you watch tickets sold, revenue and orders through the first hour. Takes: 10 minutes - [Check the ticket types one last time](#step-1) - [Add a hidden ticket to test with](#step-2) - [Buy the hidden ticket on the live event page](#step-3) - [Close the test ticket type](#step-4) - [Take the event back down](#step-5) - [Set the on-sale time](#step-6) - [Tell your audience it is open](#step-7) - [Watch the first hour](#step-8) ## Before you start - You've finished setting up the event, and it's in draft, with every ticket type, price, allocation and sale window set. - Your payment processing account is connected and can take payments. Without it, buyers who reach checkout can't pay. - You know the exact minute you announced tickets open, and who is watching the first hour with you. 1. ## Check the ticket types one last time Open the event and read every ticket type: price, how many, when it opens and when it closes. **Note:** A ticket type with no allocation stays on sale until you stop it, and one whose sale window opens tomorrow does not appear today. 2. ## Add a hidden ticket to test with Add one cheap ticket type that is on sale now and hidden behind an access code. **Note:** Buyers can't buy your real ticket types before their window opens, and if you put one on sale early, anyone who finds the page could buy it. Only someone with the access code can reach a hidden ticket, so the test stays yours. ![Ticket options with Hidden enabled and Always hidden selected](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-tickets--hidden-until-access-code.png) *Tickets, Edit Ticket Type, Options.* 3. ## Buy the hidden ticket on the live event page Publish the event, enter your access code and buy that ticket yourself, end to end, on a phone. **Note:** This is the only check that covers the whole path: the page, the checkout, the card charge and the confirmation email. Refund your own order afterwards. 4. ## Close the test ticket type Take the hidden ticket type off sale once your own order is refunded. **Note:** You can't delete a ticket type that has an order, and your test order counts. Once it's off sale and hidden, buyers can't see or buy it. 5. ## Take the event back down Unpublish the event. **Note:** You cannot schedule a live event: its publish button takes it down instead, and a scheduled publish works only on an event that is already down. 6. ## Set the on-sale time Open the publish dialog and select **Schedule Publish** to open the event at the minute you announced. **Note:** A scheduled publish opens the event whether or not your team is at a keyboard. Choose the timezone you announced in, not the one you are sitting in. ![Publish dialog with the choice to publish now or schedule the event to go live at a set date and time](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-publish--schedule-publish-dialog.png) *The publish dialog, set to a scheduled on-sale.* 7. ## Tell your audience it is open Send the announcement to your buyer list at the moment the event goes live, not before it. **Note:** An email that arrives before the tickets are on sale sends buyers to a page they cannot buy from, and they rarely come back the same day. ![Email composer with the audience selector](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-messaging--email-composer.png) *Event, Messaging, Send Email.* 8. ## Watch the first hour Keep **Performance** open and check it every few minutes for the first hour. **Note:** Watch for one ticket type far ahead of the rest, which tells you what to release next, and for no sales at all, which means something is broken. ![Sales summary showing tickets sold, revenue and orders for an event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-analytics--sales-summary-cards.png) *The sales summary, during an on-sale.* ## 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 read the event back to you before you open it, publish it once you approve, and report the sales as they come in. The CLI publishes and reads the same event without opening the dashboard. ### In your dashboard, with Fai ``` Before I open for sale, list its ticket types with prices, allocations and sale windows, and tell me anything that looks wrong ``` ### From your own assistant, over MCP Connect your assistant to [our MCP server](https://www.ticketfairy.com/mcp-server) and ask it: Keep `--read-only` in your MCP configuration. This task only reads data, so your assistant does not need tools that make changes. ``` Pick the brand, find the event and show its ticket types and sale dates ``` ## 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. Check the event, publish it at the announced time, then watch what it sells. ### Show the event and its ticket types before you open it ``` ticketfairy event get ``` ### Put the event on sale ``` ticketfairy event publish ``` ## Release more tickets when a tier sells out 1. ### Open the next release Open the ticket type you held back and set its sale window to start now. **Note:** Holding stock back is what gives you something to release. Decide the price of the next tier before the on-sale, not during it. ![Ticket type form with At a specific time on a specific date chosen and a Sales Start Date and Sales End Date entered](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-ticket-page-form--sale-window.png) *Event, Tickets, Inventory, Create Ticket Type, This ticket type should be available.* Fai can open the next release once you approve the price and the number, and so can your own AI assistant over the MCP server, after your approval in your MCP client. ### In your dashboard, with Fai ``` For , open the next ticket release now and tell me the price and allocation before you change anything ``` ### From your own assistant, over MCP The copied MCP configuration includes `--read-only`. Remove `--read-only` only when you want your assistant to make changes. Your assistant makes routine changes when you ask, and checks with you before a destructive action if your client supports that. If your client cannot ask, make the change in your dashboard. ``` Find my event , show its ticket types, then ask me before you open the held release now ``` ### From your terminal Open the held release from the command line. #### Show the ticket types so you can pick the one to open ``` ticketfairy ticket list ``` #### Open the held ticket type now. The ticket id comes from the list above. ``` ticketfairy ticket update --sales-start ``` ## Collect the people who missed out 1. ### Turn on the waiting list Turn the waiting list on as soon as the last ticket goes, so you collect the people who still want tickets instead of losing them. **Note:** A waiting list collected in the first hour is the audience for your next release, and for your next event. ![Ticket settings with the waiting list switches for tickets and add-ons turned on](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-waiting-list--settings.png) *Tickets, Settings.* Fai can open the event so you can turn the waiting list on. Today, you switch it on and see who's on it in the dashboard. ### In your dashboard, with Fai ``` Open so I can turn on its waiting list ``` ### From your own assistant, over MCP Keep `--read-only` in your MCP configuration. This task only reads data, so your assistant does not need tools that make changes. ``` Pick the brand, find the event and show its waiting list ``` ### From your terminal Read the event to confirm the waiting list is collecting. #### Show the event and its current settings ``` ticketfairy event get ``` ## Questions you might have **Should I publish by hand or schedule it?** Schedule it. The event opens at the minute you announced without your team at a keyboard, and you spend that minute watching the sales instead. **What if I have no sales in the first ten minutes?** Open the event page yourself as a buyer would. A ticket type whose sale window has not opened, a payment processing account that is not connected, and an unpublished event all look the same from the report. **Should I prepare for a rush?** If you expect more demand than tickets, read the guide on keeping a high-demand on-sale running smoothly before the day. You have to make those choices in advance. ## 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/ticket-types-and-pricing) - [Schedule when your event goes live](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/schedule-when-your-event-goes-live) - [Unlock hidden tickets with an access code](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/unlock-hidden-tickets-with-an-access-code) - [How do you keep a high-demand on-sale running smoothly?](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/keep-a-high-demand-on-sale-running-smoothly) - [Run last year's event again](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-last-years-event-again) - [Change the date or call off an event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/change-or-call-off-an-event) - [Prepare your door team for event day](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/prepare-your-door-team) - [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/ticket-types-and-pricing) ### Tips for selling more tickets Practical advice from working event 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)