The short answer
Every online ticket has a card processing cost, and most ticketing platforms add their own fee on top. Some charge the organiser, some charge the buyer, and some take a monthly subscription instead. The real question is the total per ticket, and who pays it.
On One Ticket the organiser pays nothing on the Free plan. The buyer pays a booking fee on a paid ticket, so a $25 ticket costs the buyer $26.45 and you receive $25. Free tickets cost nobody anything.
The three costs to add up
When you compare ways to sell tickets, write down three numbers for a typical ticket:
- Card processing. Someone always pays the card network. In Australia, Stripe’s standard rate for domestic cards is roughly 1.7% plus 30c a charge. Check Stripe’s pricing for the current figure.
- The platform’s fee. A percentage, a flat amount per ticket, or both. Some platforms cap it, some do not.
- Fixed costs. A monthly plan, a setup fee, a payout fee, or a charge to unlock features you need, like questions at checkout or a door app.
Add them up for one ticket at your real price, then for a whole event. A fee that looks small on a $10 ticket can look different on a $90 one, and the other way round.
Who pays it changes the sum
A buyer-pays fee is added at checkout, so you receive your full price. An organiser-pays fee comes out of your payout, so you receive less than the price on the page. Neither is wrong. Just make sure you are comparing like with like: a platform that “charges the buyer” and one that “charges you” can end up costing your event the same if you raise your price to cover the second.
Free events are a special case
If your event is free, look closely at what a platform charges for free tickets. Some charge nothing, some charge a small amount per registration, and some limit how many free tickets you can issue on a free plan. Our post on whether free events are really free goes through what to check.
Run the numbers before you choose
- Pick your actual ticket price, not a round example.
- Work out what one buyer pays and what you receive.
- Multiply by the number you expect to sell.
- Add any monthly or setup costs, divided across the tickets.
The fee calculator does this for you against other platforms, and our post on the cheapest ticketing platforms in Australia has worked examples. To see one platform at a time, ticket fees by platform sets out what each charges per ticket, and the fee comparisons put any two side by side at every price.
On One Ticket
The Free plan costs nothing: no setup fee, no monthly fee, no payout fee, and you keep 100% of the ticket price. On a paid ticket the buyer pays a booking fee, which is a small platform tier plus Stripe’s card processing. A few examples:
| Ticket price | The buyer pays | You receive |
|---|---|---|
| $10 | $10.94 | $10 |
| $25 | $26.45 | $25 |
| $50 | $52.14 | $50 |
| $100 | $103.51 | $100 |
Free tickets have no fee and do not need Stripe connected. The full schedule is on the pricing page.
Related: Cheapest event ticketing platforms in Australia, Who pays the booking fee on event tickets? and How to sell tickets for a small event without big fees.
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.