How to sell tickets to a webinar, step by step

The short answer

Selling tickets to a webinar takes two tools: the meeting tool you run it on, such as Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, and a ticketing page that takes the bookings and sends the join link. Set up the meeting first, make an online event with a ticket type and a price, paste the join link, then share the page.

The link should only go to people who have booked. That is the whole point of selling a ticket: the join link is the thing being paid for, so it should never sit on the public page.

Before you start

Have these ready and the rest takes a few minutes:

• A title that says what people get. “Tax time for sole traders: a 60-minute walkthrough” sells better than “October webinar”.
• A date, start time and time zone. Online audiences are spread out, so the zone matters more than it does for a room.
• The meeting itself, scheduled in your meeting tool, with its join link copied.
• A price, or a decision that it is free. Our post on pricing a paid or free webinar works through the choice.
• A cap, if places are limited. A workshop with breakout groups may only work with 30 people.

Step 1: Schedule the meeting

Create the meeting in the tool you will run it on, at the time you will sell. Use a scheduled meeting for this session rather than a personal room you use every day, so a link that gets passed around only opens this one session.

Turn on whatever your tool offers for keeping out people who were not invited, such as a waiting room or a lobby, if you want to admit people yourself. Then copy the join link.

Step 2: Create an online event

On One Ticket, create an event and choose Online as the place. Add the title, the date, the start and end time and the time zone, then a description: what people will learn, who it is for, how long it runs and whether there will be a recording.

Paste the join link into the meeting link field. It is only shown to ticket holders. The public page says the event is online and that the link comes with the ticket.

A new organiser’s join link must open a known meeting or video site, such as Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex or YouTube. Any other link is held back until your payouts are verified. The webinar ticketing page lists every site that works from the start.

Step 3: Add your tickets

Add a ticket type with a name, a price and, if you need one, a quantity. A few common set-ups:

• One paid ticket at a single price, the simplest choice for a one-off talk.
• An early-bird ticket that closes at a set time, then the standard price. See how to set up early-bird tickets.
• A free ticket for a free session. Free tickets carry no booking fee, and you don’t need Stripe connected to take them.
• A free ticket and a paid one side by side, for example free to watch and a paid “with workbook” ticket.

If places are limited, set a quantity, and turn on the waitlist: when a ticket type sells out, people can leave their details and be offered places that free up.

You can also ask buyers questions at checkout, such as their role or what they hope to get from the session. See collecting information at checkout.

Step 4: Connect Stripe for paid tickets

Paid tickets are paid through Stripe, into your own Stripe account. Connect it from your account before you publish a paid ticket. You keep 100% of your ticket price, and the buyer pays a small booking fee on top at checkout. On a one-ticket order, a $20 webinar ticket carries a $1.37 booking fee, so the buyer pays $21.37 and you receive $20.

See One Ticket pricing for the full fee table.

Step 5: Publish and share the page

Publish the event and share its link wherever your audience already is: your email list, your LinkedIn or Instagram, a newsletter, your website, a community group. One Ticket is not a marketplace, so the people who book are the ones you bring.

If you would rather keep it off public listings, make the event unlisted, so only people with the link can find it. See how to make a private or unlisted event.

What buyers receive

Buyers don’t need an account. They give a name and an email, pay if it is a paid ticket, and then:

1. Their ticket page shows the join link straight away.
2. The ticket email has the link, a calendar file and Google Calendar and Outlook links, so it lands in their calendar.
3. A reminder the day before and another on the morning of each carry the link again.
4. A “Starting in 15 minutes” email brings it once more just before the start.

People who book late, even an hour before, get the link at once. For more on getting people to actually turn up, read how to run a webinar people actually show up to.

On the day

Open the meeting a few minutes early. If you use a waiting room, keep your attendee list open: the Orders and Attendees pages show everyone who booked, and you can export them as a spreadsheet. Admit the names you recognise.

A join link can be forwarded, like any link. For most webinars that is fine. If it isn’t, choose to show the link only 15, 30 or 60 minutes before the start, use your meeting tool’s waiting room and check names against the list, or consider a pre-recorded session, where each ticket has its own Watch link.

After the webinar

Many hosts send a recording afterwards. On One Ticket, a replay is a feature of the Pro and Team plans: you add the recording link and choose when it goes out, and everyone with a ticket is emailed it and finds it on their ticket. 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.

Whatever plan you are on, export your attendee list after the event for your follow-up email.

Selling a series

If you run a webinar every week or month, make it a series rather than a new event each time. Regulars can book single sessions or subscribe. See can people pay weekly or monthly for a series of events?

A quick checklist

1. Meeting scheduled, join link copied.
2. Online event created, with the time zone right.
3. Join link pasted.
4. Ticket types, prices and any cap added.
5. Stripe connected, if anything is paid.
6. Refund policy chosen. Our refund policy generator writes one for you.
7. Page published and shared.

Everything One Ticket does for online events, live and pre-recorded, is on the webinar ticketing page.