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Ticket Types Overview

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Donation

  • Purpose: Collects funds without generating a ticket.
  • Key Points:
    • No SimpleTix fee is charged.
    • Attendees do not receive a ticket (purely a donation).
    • Donors can enter any amount they choose.
While a donation ticket does not generate a ticket, an event must have at least one free, pay-as-you-wish, or paid ticket active to be shown as “on sale.” If only a donation ticket is available, the event will be shown as “sold out.” For donation-only events, consider adding a free ticket type or using a hidden ticket with password protection.

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Pay-as-you-wish

  • Purpose: Allows the customer to pay any amount above a minimum set price.
  • Key Points:
    • You set the Price field to establish the minimum amount.
    • Customers can choose to pay more than the minimum.
    • A ticket is generated upon purchase.
The listed amount for a Pay-as-you-wish ticket represents a minimum required payment, not just a suggested amount. Customers must pay at least this amount, but can choose to pay more if they wish. At checkout, customers will see a field where they can enter their chosen amount (which must be equal to or greater than the minimum).

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Free

  • Purpose: Lets attendees register for a no-cost ticket.
  • Key Points:
    • No fee is charged to either you or the attendee for these tickets.
    • A ticket is generated upon purchase.
  • Purpose: Standard paid ticket type with a fixed price.
  • Key Points:
    • Attendees pay a set amount.
    • A ticket is generated upon purchase.

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Ticket Settings for Pay-as-you-wish, Free, and Paid Tickets

While Donation tickets do not issue a ticket or require many settings, the other three ticket types share the same configuration options:
  1. Ticket Name
    • Appears to customers during checkout (e.g., “Adult,” “Child,” “VIP”).
  2. Quantity (Max Available)
    • The total number of that specific ticket type available for sale.
    • If you have an overall event capacity that’s lower than the sum of ticket-type quantities, that lower number will be the limiting factor.
  3. Price
    • For Paid tickets: Set the fixed cost of the ticket.
    • For Pay-as-you-wish: Specify the minimum price (customers can pay more).
    • For Free tickets: The price is simply zero.
  4. Ticket Description
    • Briefly explain any details (like “Open entry” vs. “Assigned time,” age requirements, or special offers).
    • For more advanced customization, enable Editor Mode.
  5. Who Can Purchase
    • Attendees & Staff: Available online and through the box office.
    • Staff Only: Available only to box office/admin staff.
    • Attendees Only: Restricts purchases to attendees online (useful if you don’t want staff selling this ticket type at the door).
  6. Minimum/Maximum Tickets per Order
    • For example, if you want a minimum of 2 tickets purchased per order, set the minimum accordingly.
    • Useful for group deals or restricting bulk purchases.
  7. Service Fee Mode
    • Pass On: Pass the fee to the customer so they cover SimpleTix + credit card fees.
    • Absorb: You (the event organizer) cover the fees.
    • Custom: If you have a specific fee arrangement, set it here. (Consult SimpleTix Support if you’re unsure about custom options.)
  8. Sales Start
    • When does the ticket become available for purchase?
    • Default is “immediately,” but you can schedule a future date/time.
  9. Sales End
    • When does the ticket stop being available for purchase?
    • By default sales will end at the event start time, but you can set an earlier or later cutoff.
  10. Password Protect
  • You can optionally password protect tickets which means users will not be able to see or purchase the tickets unless they enter the password into the promo code field.

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Disabling or Pausing Ticket Sales

  • Disable at a Specific Time Slot
    • Navigate to the Times & Tickets section for a particular date/time.
    • Switch off the toggle for Ticket Sales Enabled.
  • Disable for the Entire Event
    • From Event Details, switch off ticket sales globally to pause or stop all sales.
This feature is especially helpful if you want to temporarily halt sales without removing or editing each ticket type.

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Saving & Verifying

After adjusting ticket settings:
  1. Click “Save” after each change in the Manager Portal.
  2. Preview Your Event: Open the public event page or box office view to confirm the correct ticket names, prices, or disabled statuses.

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5. Additional Tips & Troubleshooting

  • Donation Tickets: Note that donation tickets do not generate an entry ticket; they are recorded solely as a donation in your reports. For an event time to be on sale, you need to have at least one Free, Pay-as-you-wish, or Paid ticket active. Just having a donation ticket will result in the event showing as “Sold Out” or “Not Available”.
  • Clarifying Descriptions: If customers confuse “free form” donation fields or open entry times, emphasize details in the Ticket Description.
  • Ticket Holds: When customers add tickets to the cart, those items are removed from the availability pool and are held for them. The default hold time is 45 minutes, but you can adjust this setting under Settings > Order Form > Count Down Minutes.
By focusing on these ticket settings, especially the differences among Donation, Pay-as-you-wish, Free, and Paid options, you can tailor your General Admission events to suit a variety of pricing structures and attendee needs.