How to sell tickets to a New Year's Eve party

The short answer

Go on sale early (November), with a cheaper early-bird tier that steps up to a standard price on a date, and a door price if you’ll take walk-ups. Cap the room and the tickets per order, ask the 18+ question at checkout if your venue needs it, show your refund policy, and turn on a waitlist. Open the doors well before the countdown so the queue clears, and staff the door for the rush between 10 and 11.

Why New Year’s Eve sells differently

New Year’s Eve is one night that everyone plans for, and most people decide where they’re going weeks ahead. Big events take the headlines, but a lot of people want something smaller: a rooftop, a club, a backyard with a view of the fireworks, a dinner and a dance floor. For a small host, that means:

• Going on sale early, before people commit elsewhere
• Price tiers that reward early bookers and protect your margin on the night
• A firm capacity, because licensing, fire limits and the bar all depend on it
• Fast entry, because everyone arrives in the same two hours

Pricing tiers that work

Three tiers cover most parties:

• Early bird, until a date in November or until a number sell
• Standard, through December
• Final release or door, a little higher, for the last places

Say what each ticket includes: a drink on arrival, food, a view of the fireworks, a DJ until 1 am. A table or booth for a group at one price suits parties with seating. If you’re adding dinner, a separate dinner-and-party ticket is clearer than a list of options. Work out what you need to cover with the break-even calculator.

Stopping one buyer taking them all

Hot New Year’s Eve tickets attract people buying for resale. Keep it fair:

• a cap per order, like six or eight tickets
• a name on every ticket, so the person at the door is the person who bought it
• a clear line on the page that tickets resold above face value may be cancelled, if that’s your policy

See How do I stop one person buying all the tickets?.

18+ and licensing

Most New Year’s Eve parties with a bar are 18+. Say so on the page, add a required tick box at checkout for each guest (“18 or over: Yes”), and check ID at the door. The tick box sets the expectation; it doesn’t replace the ID check your licence may require.

Refunds, heat and the weather

Set your refund policy before you go on sale. A common one for New Year’s Eve is “no change-of-mind refunds, but you can pass your ticket to a friend”. It’s the middle of summer: if anything is outdoors, have a plan for heat, a storm, or a total fire ban that cancels the fireworks you were promising, and say what happens to tickets if you have to change or cancel.

The door and 1 January

Everyone arrives between nine and eleven. Open early, use two scanners if you expect more than a couple of hundred people, and keep a name search for anyone whose phone has died. Sell walk-ups only if you have room, and record them so you know the real headcount.

1 January is a public holiday, so plan the pack-down, transport home and staff rates around it. If you’re paying staff, check the holiday rates that apply to you.

On One Ticket

Start from the New Year’s Eve party template: an early-bird tier capped at a number, a general ticket, a table for four, a required 18+ tick box for each guest and the waitlist, with a cap of six per order (an order holds at most 25 people, and a table counts four). Add your date, venue and times.

For tiers that step up by themselves, choose Add a price change on a ticket type and pick On a date, So many days before the event or Once so many tickets are sold. People per ticket makes a table ticket admit up to eight people, each with their own ticket and QR code. Set Max tickets per order (up to 25). The 18+ question is Tick boxes with one box, Yes, and Required: every guest on the booking answers it.

Pick a Refund policy, for example No change-of-mind refunds, and add your own wording. A buyer can pass their ticket to someone else before the night: the new person gets a new QR code and the old one stops working. Switch on Waitlist when sold out so freed places go to the next in line. If the date, start time or place changes, everyone booked is emailed, and everyone who paid online (and hasn’t checked in) can get a full refund.

At the door, scan from any phone, search by name, and sell walk-ups at the box office as Cash or Card at the door. Hand the door to staff with a door link that only checks people in. On a paid ticket the buyer pays a small booking fee and you receive your full price. On any plan you can absorb the fee instead, and sell extras with tickets, like a drinks package or a parking spot.

Related: How to sell tickets to a Christmas party, How do I set up early bird tickets? and How do I hide how many tickets are left?.