How do I close ticket sales before the event?

The short answer

Set an end time for sales on each ticket type, and sales stop on their own when it passes. Close early when you need final numbers for catering, a venue headcount or printed name badges. If you still want late arrivals, keep a way to sell at the door.

Why close early

By default, many platforms sell until the event starts. That suits a casual night, but not everything:

• Catering. The caterer wants numbers two to five days out.
• The venue. Some venues need a final headcount for staffing or security.
• Materials. Workshops with kits, canvases or ingredients need ordering.
• Name badges and seating plans. These take time to print and arrange.
• Your own sanity. A cut-off the night before stops 11pm bookings you only notice at the door.

Pick the cut-off

Work backwards from whoever needs the number first. If the caterer needs it Wednesday for a Saturday dinner, close Tuesday night. Give yourself a buffer of a few hours to export the list and send it.

Close one ticket type, keep another

You do not have to close everything at once. A common setup:

• the dinner ticket closes five days out, for the caterer
• the drinks-only ticket stays open until the day
• the early-bird ticket closed weeks ago

Each type can have its own end time.

Tell people the deadline

Put it on the event page and in your posts: “Bookings close Tuesday 9pm.” People respond to deadlines. You will often see a rush of bookings in the last day, which is exactly what you want before you lock numbers.

What about latecomers

After sales close, someone will message asking to come. Decide your answer in advance. If you have space and the cost per person allows it, you can add them yourself. If the numbers are locked for food, it is fine to say no kindly.

On One Ticket

Each ticket type has an optional sales start and sales end, in the event’s time zone. Leave them blank and it sells from when the page is live until the event. When a ticket type’s sales end passes, it stops selling on the event page, while other ticket types carry on.

You can also stop a ticket type selling by removing it. If it has already sold tickets, it is taken off sale rather than deleted, and the tickets already sold stay valid.

The box office is not bound by sales windows, so after online sales close you can still add a latecomer yourself, as cash, card at the door, bank transfer or a comp, with no booking fee.

Related: When should I put tickets on sale?, Collecting dietary requirements for events and Can I take cash at the door and online bookings together?