The short answer
Start with the venue’s maximum, take off your staff, volunteers and performers, keep a small margin for the door, and sell what is left. Then put a cap on each ticket type so the total can never go over that number. Once the caps are set, sales stop on their own when you are full.
Find the real limit
Ask the venue for its maximum capacity in writing. Halls, cafes and function rooms often have a number set for fire safety or by their licence, and it may be different for a seated dinner than for a standing event. Do not guess from the size of the room.
Take off the people who are not buying tickets
The venue’s number includes everyone in the room:
- you and your team
- volunteers on the door, the bar and the kitchen
- performers, speakers and their crew
- complimentary guests, like sponsors
If the hall holds 150 and you have 12 crew, you are selling 138 at most.
Leave a little room
Hold a few places back for mistakes: a cash sale at the door, a VIP you forgot, a ticket sold twice. Five per cent is a reasonable margin for most events. If you expect walk-ins, hold more and sell them at the door.
Split it across ticket types
If you have more than one ticket type, give each a cap, and make sure the caps add up to your number, not more. For example, 138 places might be:
- 20 early-bird tickets
- 100 standard tickets
- 18 concession tickets
When the early birds sell out, they close, and nobody can buy a 21st.
Watch for tickets that cover more than one person, like a couple or family ticket. They need to count for the number of people they let in, or your total will be wrong.
Do not oversell to cover no-shows
Airlines do it. Small events should not. If everyone turns up, you are over the venue’s limit, and that is a safety and insurance problem. For free events where no-shows are common, use reminders and a clear ask to free up places instead.
On One Ticket
Each ticket type has its own capacity, and capacity counts people. Leave it empty for unlimited. A ticket type can admit up to eight people, and each of them counts: a table of eight takes eight places, so a capacity of 80 sells ten tables. When a type is full it shows as sold out, and the event page stops selling it.
You cannot lower a capacity below the tickets already issued. From the box office you can add people yourself, and these count against capacity too; you can go past it on purpose if you need to, and it is logged.
Related: How do I hide how many tickets are left?, How do I stop one person buying all the tickets? and Silent disco tickets.
Answers to your questions
Is One Ticket free to use?
Yes. The Free plan has everything you need to sell tickets, with no monthly cost, no setup fee, no payout fee and no card needed. Pro and Team are open now: upgrade any time in Settings › Plan. Limited-time offer: A$1 for your first year (first 100 organisers), then A$29/month for Pro or A$79/month for Team. Cancel anytime.
Who pays the booking fee?
The buyer, on a paid ticket, on top of the price you set, so you receive 100% of your ticket price. Free tickets carry no fee.
When do I get paid?
Ticket money goes to your own Stripe account, with no payout fee from One Ticket. Until your first paid event has gone cleanly, it is paid out two days after each event; after that, it is paid out as it sells.
Can I run a free event?
Yes. A free ticket costs nobody anything, and you don’t need Stripe connected to run a free event.
Do people need an account to book?
No. They book on their phone or computer without an account, and their tickets arrive by email with a QR code to show at the door.