Ticket Fee Calculator

How ticket fees work

Every paid ticket carries costs between the buyer's card and your bank account. Platforms describe them in different ways, but almost every fee structure is built from the same parts:

• Platform fee (also called a service or booking fee). What the ticketing company charges for selling the ticket. It is usually a percentage of the ticket price, a fixed amount per ticket, or both.
• Payment processing fee. What it costs to take the card payment. It is usually a percentage of the amount charged to the card plus a small fixed amount. Some platforms pass it on as a separate line; others include it inside one fee.
• Tax on fees. In some regions, sales tax or VAT is added to the fees themselves. This is separate from any tax on the ticket.

Because fixed fees stay the same whatever the ticket costs, they take a much bigger share of a cheap ticket than an expensive one. Percentage fees grow with the price. When you compare platforms, work out the fee on your actual ticket price, not on the headline rate.

Buyer pays or absorb: which is right for your event?

Buyer pays the fees means the fee is added on top of your face value at checkout. You keep the face value, and the buyer's total is higher than the advertised price. Absorbing the fees means the buyer pays the advertised price and the fees come out of your money.

• Effect on what you receive. On the example structure, absorbing the fees on a $40 ticket costs you $4.85 per ticket. Across 500 tickets that is $2,425.
• Effect on sales. A total that jumps at the last step of checkout can make a buyer hesitate or leave. An all-in price avoids that surprise but raises the number people see first.
• Local rules and expectations. Some regions now require the total price, including mandatory fees, to be shown up front. Check your local rules before you choose how prices display.

Buyer-pays often suits events where fees on top are expected and the face value is what people compare. Absorbing, or setting an all-in price, often suits events where buyers compare the final total, where the law or the venue expects all-in pricing, or where you want the simplest possible price on a poster.

How to gross up a ticket price

If you want to show an all-in price and still receive a set amount per ticket, you have to "gross up" the price. You cannot just add the fee you calculated on the face value, because the percentage fees are then charged on the higher price as well. Solve for the price instead:

price = (target + fixed fees × (1 + tax)) ÷ (1 − (platform % + processing %) × (1 + tax))

The calculator rounds the result up to the next cent so you never receive less than your target. This is also why a grossed-up price ($45.33 in the example) is slightly higher than the buyer-pays total ($45.00): when the buyer pays on top, the platform percentage is worked out on the $40 face value; when you gross up, it is worked out on the full $45.33.

How the same fees hit different ticket prices

This table uses the example structure (6% + $1.00 platform, 3% + $0.25 processing, no tax on fees). The figures are directional; enter your own platform's rates in the calculator above.

The fixed $1.25 per ticket is the reason a $10 ticket loses over a fifth of its value while a $100 ticket loses about a tenth.

Why "no fee" can mean the fee is hidden in the price

A ticket advertised with "no booking fee" still costs money to sell and to process. Someone pays it. Usually the fee is either built into the ticket price or taken from the organizer's payout. Before you believe a "no fee" claim, ask what the organizer receives per ticket and when, and compare platforms on that number.

Fees on free tickets

On a $0 ticket there is no card payment, so there is no processing fee. Many platforms also charge no platform fee on free tickets, but some charge a small per-ticket or per-event amount. Check the pricing page, and check whether the answer changes if you add a paid add-on, a donation or a paid upgrade to a free event.

What to ask any ticketing platform about fees

• Who pays payment processing? Is it included in the service fee, added on top for the buyer, or taken from your payout?
• What happens to fees on a refund? Does the buyer get the fee back, and does the platform return its fee to you or keep it?
• When is the money paid out? Before the event, daily, or a set number of days after it? Your artist and venue bills do not wait for your payout.
• Who covers chargebacks? If a buyer disputes a charge, who pays the dispute fee and who handles the evidence?
• Are there monthly, setup or minimum fees? A low per-ticket fee can come with a fixed cost that matters on a small event.
• Is tax charged on the fees? And is it shown to the buyer or taken from you?

How Ticket Fairy charges

By default the buyer pays a single Ticket Fairy service fee at checkout, and that fee includes payment processing. You keep 100% of the ticket face value. If you prefer an all-in price, you can absorb the fee instead. Free tickets have no platform fee, and core ticketing has no mandatory monthly fee. Rates vary by currency and ticket price, so see the Ticket Fairy pricing page for the exact figures in your region. To use this calculator for Ticket Fairy, enter the service fee as the platform fee and set both processing fields to 0.

Common ticket fee mistakes

1. Adding the fee to the price instead of grossing up. On the example structure, $40 + $4.85 = $44.85 leaves you $39.56, not $40, because the percentage fees then apply to $44.85. Use the gross-up formula.
2. Comparing headline percentages only. A lower percentage with a higher fixed fee can cost more on cheap tickets. Compare the fee on your real ticket price.
3. Forgetting processing. If processing is charged separately, it can add several percent. Check whether the quoted fee includes it.
4. Calling ticket sales your income. What buyers spend is not what you receive, and what you receive is not profit. Fees, refunds, commission and every event cost come out before anything is left for you.
5. Ignoring fee refunds. If you cancel or move a date and the platform keeps its fees on refunded tickets, that cost falls on you. Ask before you sign.

What this calculator leaves out

It covers the ticketing fees you enter and nothing else. It does not include tax on the ticket itself, refunds, chargebacks, discounts, promoter commission, currency conversion or any of your event costs. To see whether ticket income covers your costs, use the event break-even calculator.