Checkout and orders
Run a waiting list for a sold-out event
Promoters of a sell-out show put a waiting list on the event so nobody who missed out has to keep refreshing the page. Once tickets are gone, buyers leave their name against the ticket type they want, and each ticket that comes back through resale, a refund or a cancelled instalment plan is offered to the next person in line, with a time limit to buy before it moves on.
Switch on the waiting list, decide how many tickets one person can ask for, watch who is waiting, and know how a returned ticket reaches the next person in line and for how long they can claim it.
- For
- Filling returned tickets after an event sells out
- Takes
- 7 minutes
Before you start
- You're an owner or admin of the event. Promoters and stats logins do not see the switches or the Waiting List tab.
- You have decided whether one person may ask for several tickets, and whether add-ons that sell out should take a waiting list too.
- Your event is published. A buyer cannot join the waiting list of an unpublished event.
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Turn the waiting list on
Open your event, select Tickets, then Settings, turn on Enable waiting list after ticket sell-out and, when parking, camping or merchandise can run out, Enable waiting list after add-on sell-out, then select Save Ticket Settings. Both switches take effect for the next visitor to the event page.
Note: A new event starts with the ticket waiting list on, through Advanced options in the create-event wizard. The Waiting List tab appears in Performance only while one of the two switches is on.
Tickets, Settings. -
Limit how many tickets one person can ask for
Open a ticket type, turn on Set custom maximum quantity for waiting list and enter the Maximum tickets for waiting list. A buyer asking for more sees a message at signup, and the list spreads the returned tickets across more people.
Note: Without a cap, a signup can ask for up to ten. Each ticket a person asked for is offered to them separately as tickets come back.
The buyer's side of the list
Once a ticket type has sold out, the event page shows a Join Wait List form asking for the ticket type, the quantity, a name and an email, and confirms by email that the person is on the list. Every ticket that comes back is offered to the next person in line for that ticket type, by email, with a link to buy at the ticket's current price.
Note: An offer lasts thirty-six hours, shortening to eight hours in the last day before the event, and a person whose offer lapses leaves the list. On an event Ticket Fairy has set up to pool a category, the offer goes to the next person waiting for any ticket type in that category.
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Watch who is waiting
Open Performance and select Waiting List. Each row shows the person, the ticket type or add-on, the quantity requested, whether they are waiting, have been offered a ticket, bought or dropped out, and when an open offer expires.
Note: Export to CSV downloads the list with email addresses for a release you plan by hand.
Performance, Waiting List. -
Tell the list when you add tickets
When you release more tickets, open Messaging, start an email and choose Waiting list members as the audience. Choose Waiting list members without orders to leave out anyone who has since bought.
Note: A new release is not offered to the list automatically. Only a ticket that comes back goes to the next person in line on its own.
Event, Messaging, Send Email.
Or have it done for you
Fai, the assistant inside your dashboard, can switch the waiting list on or off, set the most tickets one signup may ask for, read who is waiting and email the list. She shows you each change before she makes it. The whole workflow is also in the dashboard.
In your dashboard, with Fai
Turn on the waiting list for <EVENT NAME> for tickets and add-ons, cap each signup at <NUMBER> tickets, then show me who is waiting and how many tickets they asked for
From your terminal
Install the CLI from our CLI page, sign in with ticketfairy auth login, and choose the brand you are working on with ticketfairy brand use <BRAND_ID>. ticketfairy brand list and ticketfairy event list show the IDs the other commands use.
Use the CLI to switch the waiting list on through the event's attributes. The per-ticket cap, the report and the messaging audience are in the dashboard.
Turn on the ticket and add-on waiting lists for an event.
ticketfairy event update <EVENT_ID> --body '{"flagEnableWaitingList": true, "flagEnableAddOnWaitingList": true}'
Close the list without losing the names
Turn off Enable waiting list after ticket sell-out when you stop taking names. The event page shows no form, the people already on the list stay in the report, and open offers run their course.
Fai can turn the waiting list off after showing you how many people are on it. The CLI sets the same attribute.
In your dashboard, with Fai
Tell me how many people are on the waiting list for <EVENT NAME>, then turn the waiting list off
Send returned tickets to the right ticket type
On an event with ticket categories, a returned ticket is offered as the ticket type the category's resale type names, so keep tickets with different entry times or seating areas in separate categories. The categories guide walks the resale type choice.
Fai can create the categories and set each one's resale type after showing you the ticket types in it. The CLI does not manage categories.
In your dashboard, with Fai
On <EVENT NAME>, put each ticket type into a category by entry time and set the resale type so a returned ticket is offered as the same kind of admission
Questions you might have
- What price is a returned ticket offered at?
- The ticket type's current price, or the price of the category's resale ticket type when you run categories. The person who returned the ticket receives the face value less any resale fee, as the resale guide describes.
- Who gets a returned ticket first?
- The earliest signup for that ticket type who still has tickets to be offered. A person who asked for three is offered three tickets one after another, and drops back to waiting between them.
- How long does someone have to buy?
- By default it shortens as the event nears: thirty-six hours when the event is more than two weeks away, then eighteen hours, fourteen inside a week, twelve inside two days and eight hours on the last day. Your event can carry one fixed window instead, which then applies whatever the date, so ask us if you want one. An offer that lapses moves the ticket to the next person.
- Does the waiting list open before tickets sell out?
- No. The form appears under a ticket type once it has sold out and sales are still open. To collect interest before the on-sale, use pre-registration instead.
- Does the list include people who already bought?
- The report shows everyone who signed up, with their status. When you email the list, choose the audience without orders to leave out anyone who has since bought a ticket.
- Can I offer a ticket to a particular person on the list?
- Not from the report. Offers go to the next person in line automatically. To favour someone, issue them a guest ticket or send them a personal invitation instead.
Related 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.