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Checkout and orders

Clear the ticket orders waiting on an ID check

Where an event asks buyers to prove who they are, the money is held rather than taken until they do. Club and festival teams running age-restricted or high-demand nights end up with a queue of holds nobody has finished, and every one of them is a ticket that is neither sold nor available. This is the tab that clears it.

Work the Needs Verification tab: see whose card is on hold, send the check again, take the payment without waiting, or release the hold and put the tickets back on sale.

For
Clearing the card holds waiting on an ID check so the tickets sell again
Takes
5 minutes

Before you start

  • You're an owner or admin of the event. The tab appears where an ID check is asked for, on the event or on one of its ticket types.
  • You accept that two of the three decisions cannot be undone, because each one either takes the money or releases it.
  • You know your own rule for how long to wait. Ticket Fairy only starts clearing an untouched order after seven days, and the ticket comes back later still, once the bank has let the hold expire.

  1. Open the orders waiting on a check

    Open your event, select Orders and select the Needs Verification tab.

    Note: The tab is there only where your event asks buyers for an ID check, and the number beside it is how many holds are outstanding right now.

    Ticket Fairy Orders page on the Needs Verification tab with two held orders and the row menu open
    Event, Orders, Needs Verification.

What a hold means

The buyer's card carries an authorisation rather than a charge, and their tickets are neither issued nor back on sale. Every row on this tab is money you have not taken and stock you cannot sell.

Note: Card authorisations do not last forever. A hold you leave long enough expires on the bank's schedule rather than yours, so decide rather than wait.

  1. Ask the buyer again

    Open the row menu and select Resend verification.

    Note: This emails a fresh link. It is the first thing to try, because most holds are a buyer who closed the tab rather than a buyer who cannot pass.

  2. Take the payment without the check

    Select Capture & verify and confirm with Capture & bypass.

    Note: This takes the money, marks the order paid and issues the tickets without the ID check, and it cannot be undone. Use it when you have satisfied yourself another way.

    Ticket Fairy confirmation before a card hold is captured without the ID check, warning that it cannot be undone
    Event, Orders, Capture and bypass.

  3. Release a hold that is going nowhere

    Select Cancel & release hold and confirm with Cancel order.

    Note: No money is taken, the hold on the buyer's card is released and the order is cancelled. The tickets go back on sale, and this cannot be undone either.

Or have it done for you

Fai, the assistant inside your dashboard, opens the event and takes you to its orders. The decisions on a hold are made on the page, because taking the money and releasing it both change what the buyer has and cannot be undone.

In your dashboard, with Fai

Take me to the orders on <EVENT NAME>

From your own assistant, over MCP

Connect your assistant to our 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 <EVENT NAME> and show it

Keep the tab short

  1. Work it on the same schedule every day

    Open the tab once a day and release anything older than your own cut-off.

    Note: Ticket Fairy already emails a reminder after twelve hours and again every twelve after that, so send one yourself only where you have a reason to. An order nobody touches waits at least seven days, and its ticket returns to the sale only once the bank has let the hold expire, which is why your own cut-off gets the ticket back sooner.

Fai can take you to the tab. The decisions themselves stay on the page, because taking a buyer's money and releasing it both change what they have and cannot be undone.

In your dashboard, with Fai

Take me to the orders on <EVENT NAME> that are waiting on an ID check

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 <EVENT NAME> and show it

Questions you might have

Has the buyer been charged?
Not yet. Their card carries an authorisation, which is a hold on the amount rather than a payment. Capture takes it; cancel releases it.
Can I undo a capture or a cancellation?
No. Both confirmations say so before they act, because one takes the money and issues the tickets and the other gives the tickets back to the sale.
Why can I not see the Needs Verification tab?
It appears where an ID check is asked for, and that can be set on the event or on a single ticket type. Check both before you conclude the event does not use it.

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.

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