Sell seats to your events through your own checkout

What it is and when to use it

An event on your website is an entry in your Events content list. Events, in E-commerce, lists every one and lets you sell seats to any of them. You set a price and how many seats there are. The cart, the payment, the ticket, the guest list and the door are already there, and each ticket is an order like any other.

• Tickets. How the seats stand, such as 12 of 30 seats sold, with how many are left and how many people are waiting. An event with no tickets says Not selling tickets and names any outside site it links to.
• Status. On sale, Sold out, Sales ended, Paused or Cancelled. Not on sale yet means the entry is still a draft, Off your website means it was unpublished after seats sold, and Entry deleted means it is gone, though its guest list stays.
• Revenue. The money you kept from ticket sales: seats still valid, plus any seats you cancelled without a refund, less anything you refunded from Orders.
• Upcoming and Past. An event moves to Past the day after it happens, with its guest list and its revenue.

Start selling tickets to an event

Two numbers start ticket sales: the price of a seat and how many seats there are. The rest starts the way most events want it, and you can change any of it later.

1. 1
   Open E-commerce, then Events, and select the event. Or open its entry in your content list and select Sell tickets to this event.
2. 2
   Check Price per seat. When the entry names one price, such as $95 per person, the box starts with it and says so. Otherwise enter it, such as 30 or 45.50.
3. 3
   Enter Seats. How many people the event holds.
4. 4
   Select Start selling tickets. The page says Tickets are on sale, and that it can take a minute or two to show on your website.

What sits under Optional

• Most seats per order. Starts at 8 and is kept as you type it. A buyer can never take more than the seats there are, so 8 on a 6 seat night means 6.
• Sales end. When the event starts, or At a time I choose, in your shop’s time zone. It cannot be in the past or after the event starts.
• Charge sales tax. On to start with. Your shop’s sales tax is added to each seat at checkout, as on your other products. Switch it off only if tickets are not taxed where you are.
• Waitlist. On to start with. Once every seat is sold, people can leave their email, and they are told when seats open up.
• Door note. Printed on the ticket email under At the door. Where to park, which door, when to arrive.
• Refund policy. Shown on the event before someone buys, and on the ticket email. Left empty, no policy is shown.

What buyers see

On your website the event shows the price of a seat, how many seats are left when only a few remain, and a way to add seats to the cart. Seats go through your normal checkout, so a buyer needs nothing new and you have one place for the money.

• Add to cart. The buyer chooses how many seats and adds them to your normal cart, named for the event with its date, time and place. With seats already in the cart, the button reads Update to 3 seats and sets the cart to that number.
• The limits. The page and the cart never go past Most seats per order or the seats left, and say why in a sentence, such as One order can hold up to 4 seats.
• Your refund policy. Shown on the event before anyone buys, in your own words, when you wrote one.
• No delivery for tickets. A cart of only tickets is not asked for pickup, delivery or an address, and its order never waits to be fulfilled. With a bottle beside them, checkout asks how the bottle reaches the buyer, and says once that the tickets come by email.
• Tax and delivery. With Charge sales tax on, tax is added at your shop’s own state rate, as on your other products. Tickets do not count toward free delivery or a rate set by order value, and the checkout says so. A club member discount comes off bottles, never off tickets.
• Discounts and reminders. Your discount codes work on seats as on any order, and a buyer who leaves checkout gets your abandoned cart emails.

Why a seat is never sold twice

Seats are counted by the event itself, not by your inventory, and they are set aside only once a buyer starts to pay. Two buyers can never both get the last seat: the second is told there is no room before any money moves.

• Held is not sold. While the last seats are being paid for, the event does not say sold out. It says the last seats are being paid for right now, and to check back in a few minutes or join the waitlist.
• Seats come back automatically. A declined card, a bank approval that fails or is closed, and a payment that runs out all put the seats back on sale. So does changing the seats in the cart: the next payment holds them again. The waitlist is emailed.
• A cart that changes at the bank. If the cart changes while the bank is approving a payment, the payment is returned to the card at once and the page says so. Nobody pays for a cart they no longer have.
• Two tabs, one cart. A second tab that pays for the same cart is taken to the order, not shown an error.
• A late payment still gets its ticket. In the rare case a bank confirms a payment after the 20 minutes have passed, the buyer still gets the tickets they paid for, even when that takes the event past its seats.

The ticket email

The moment an order is paid, the buyer gets one email for each event in it, laid out as a ticket so the code is on the first screen of a phone held at the door. The thank you page shows the same tickets, with your door note and refund policy.

• The code first. The event’s name, then one QR code for the whole party, Admit 2, and Show this code at the door, or give your name.
• The facts. The date and time on their own rows, the place, the name on the order and any guest names on the seats.
• At the door and Refunds. Your door note and your refund policy, in your own words.
• Add to calendar. A calendar file named after the event, with its time, its place and your door note.
• From your shop. In your shop’s colors, from your shop by name. Replies reach your support address.

The day of the event: check in at the door

There is no scanner to buy and no app to install. Each ticket’s QR code holds the address of that order’s Check in page in Mirin, so any phone camera opens it in the phone’s browser. One look says whether to let them in.

1. 1
   Sign in to Mirin on the phone you will use at the door, before guests arrive.
2. 2
   Scan a guest’s QR code with the camera. Check in opens with the answer at the top, in green: Valid ticket, and how many seats.
3. 3
   Select Check in all for a party arriving together, or Check in beside one seat when only some of them are here.
4. 4
   Type a guest’s name beside a seat when you want it on the list. It saves when you leave the box.

• Or find the name. Search the guest list by name, email or order number. A search that finds one order opens it, ready to check in.
• Or print the door list. Every order by the buyer’s name, with a box to tick for each seat. For a door with no signal.

What the page tells you

• Green, let them in. Valid ticket, 2 seats, when nobody has come in on it, or Valid for 1 seat when part of the party came in earlier. After your own press it counts, 1 of 2 checked in, then says Checked in and Let them in.
• Amber, stop and look. Already checked in, with the time the last seat came in. Check who is holding the ticket before letting anyone in.
• Red, do not admit. Ticket cancelled means the seats were cancelled. Not a valid ticket means the code is not a ticket for your shop: ask for the name and look on the guest list.
• Another day. A ticket for an event on a different day says which day it is for, and that it is not today.

When the door is busy

• Two phones, one ticket. Any number of phones can check guests in at once. Each reads the ticket again before it acts, so a second phone scanning a used ticket is told the seats were already checked in, and when.
• Undo asks first. A seat checked in by mistake has Undo beside its time. It asks before the seat goes back to not checked in.
• A phone that is not signed in. It sees Sign in to check this ticket. Your team signs in and comes straight back to the ticket. A guest who scans their own code reads If this is your ticket, show it at the door.
• No connection. Within seconds the page says No connection. Nobody was checked in, with Retry, right under the answer. A printed door list works with no signal at all.
• Always current. An open ticket and an open event read themselves again every few seconds, so a phone at the door moves the counts on a laptop.

The guest list

Open the event to see how it is doing and who is coming. Sold, Left, Checked in and Revenue sit across the top. Under them is one line for each order: who bought, how many seats, how many are in and the order number. Select a line to see each seat, or search by name, email or order number.

• Download guest list. A spreadsheet named after the event, one row per seat, cancelled seats included: order number, bought by, email, guest name, seat, status, Seat price, Refunded (with tax), checked in at and bought at.
• Print door list. Opens in a new tab, ready to print or save as a PDF. Seats already checked in print ticked.
• Resend ticket. Sends the ticket email again to the buyer’s address, once per press, for the guest who cannot find theirs.
• Guest names. Add or change the name on any seat. Names print on the door list and on any ticket you send again.
• Cancelled orders. Listed after the rest under Cancelled, with what was refunded.
• More actions. The menu beside Print door list holds what is done to the whole event: Email everyone their tickets again, Cancel event and, on a cancelled event, Sell tickets again.

Cancel seats and refund

Plans change. Open the event, select the order on the guest list, then Cancel seats. Choose the seats and whether the money goes back. Nothing happens until you press the button, and the button says exactly what it will do.

• The exact amount. What the seats cost after any discount, plus the sales tax they were charged, worked out again each time you select a seat.
• Never more than is left. Money already refunded on the order from Orders counts. When less than the full price is left, the dialog says so and refunds only what is left.
• The buyer is told. One email says which seats were cancelled, how many seats they still hold, and the amount refunded or that no refund was sent.

Sold out and the waitlist

When the last seat goes, your website says the event is sold out. With Waitlist on, it takes an email address from anyone who still wants to come. The event’s page in Mirin lists who is waiting, the seats they want, when they joined and whether they have been emailed.

• Joining. Someone leaves their email on the event’s page while it is sold out. Joining again keeps one entry, brings the seats they asked for up to date and tells them they were already on the list.
• When seats open up. Everyone still waiting is emailed at the same time: a payment that did not go through, a cancelled seat or order, or more seats added.
• Never twice in a day. Someone who was emailed is emailed again only after 24 hours. The one exception: someone who heard about fewer seats than they asked for is told again as soon as more open.
• What the email says. The event, its date, its price and its place, and that seats go to whoever books first. Its button, Book a seat or Book seats, opens your events page at that event.
• A buyer comes off the list. Once someone on the waitlist buys seats, they leave it, so no seat opened up email reaches a guest who already has a ticket.
• Taking someone off. The X beside a person removes them, after a yes. They can join again from the event’s page.
• Waitlist off. The event simply says it is sold out, and takes no email addresses.

Change the date, time or place

Guests are not emailed automatically when the details change, so you decide when they hear. The event remembers the change and offers to send everyone their tickets again when you are ready.

1. 1
   Change the date, time or place where it is written: Edit event details on the event’s page opens its entry in your content list. Save it there.
2. 2
   Read the note on the event’s page. Once seats are sold, it says the date, time or place changed after seats were sold, and that guests still have the old details.
3. 3
   Select Email everyone their tickets again, then the button, such as Send 3 emails. One goes to each order that still holds seats.

• The updated ticket. Its subject starts Your updated ticket, or tickets, and its first line gives the date, time and place as they are now and says it replaces the one sent before.
• Sales never outlive the event. Ticket sales stop at the earlier of your Sales end and the start. Move an event earlier than its Sales end and that Sales end is cleared: sales then end when the event starts.

Cancel the whole event

When the night is off, one action cancels every seat that is still valid, with or without refunds, and tells every buyer once. Try it in the guest list picture above. The menu beside Print door list holds Cancel event.

• Cancelled is its own status. The event reads Cancelled in the list and on its page. Your website says This event is cancelled, with no price and no button, until you unpublish or delete its entry.
• Orders already refunded. An order whose money already went back is cancelled all the same. The total counts only the orders with money to get back, and that buyer is told the order was already refunded.
• A refund that fails. Each order is done on its own. An order whose refund is refused keeps its seats and is listed with the reason. Cancel the event again to try once more, or refund it from its order.
• Sell tickets again. In the same menu, until the event starts. Tickets go back on sale at the price and seats you had, the waitlist is told, and seats that were cancelled stay cancelled.

Pause, change or stop ticket sales

Ticket settings sits with the guest list for the life of the event. While tickets are on sale, Pause sales is at its top. Changes apply to seats bought from now on.

• Saving. The first edit brings up a bar at the foot of the page: You have changes that are not saved yet, with Discard and Save changes. A refusal shows beside its field, and leaving the page asks first.
• Pause sales. Nobody can buy a seat until you select Resume sales. Pause always works, whatever else is on the form, and tickets already sold stay valid.
• Seats. Raise or lower the number at any time, never below what is already sold. More seats on a sold out event emails the waitlist.
• Price per seat. A new price is for seats bought from now on. A cart that already holds seats shows the new price, and a buyer part way through paying is asked to check the new total first.
• Sales end. In your shop’s time zone, never in the past and never after the event starts. Once sales have ended the card says when. To sell again, set a later time under Sales end.
• Stop selling tickets. Offered only before any seat was sold. The price, seats and notes are removed and the event goes back to how its entry describes it. Once seats were sold, pause instead, or cancel the event.

The event’s entry

• Edit event details. The name, date, time, place and photo are the entry’s own. The tickets follow whatever you save there.
• Unpublishing pauses sales by itself. After seats are sold, the page says This event is off your website, so sales are paused, and how many guests still hold tickets. Publish the entry again and sales come back, unless you had paused them.
• A sold event cannot be deleted. Deleting the entry, or its whole list, is refused while seats are sold, with how many, such as This event has 12 seats sold. Cancel the event first, then delete it.
• Once it is over. For an event that has passed or whose sales have ended, Left becomes Unsold: the seats that were never sold.

Move an event over from an outside ticket site

An event that links to an outside ticket site, such as Eventbrite, is not changed in any way until you start selling it here. You choose event by event, so one night can stay where it is while the next sells through your shop.

1. 1
   Close sales on the outside site first, so no seat is sold twice. Note how many seats it has sold.
2. 2
   Open the event in Events. Sell tickets to this event names the site the event links to today, and starts from the price on the entry when it names one.
3. 3
   Enter Seats as the places you still have: the room the event holds, less what the outside site sold.
4. 4
   Select Start selling tickets. Event details now says Sold through your shop, and that the link to the outside site is not shown.

To try it, choose the dinner in the picture under Start selling tickets to an event.

Questions

Do tickets charge sales tax?

Yes, unless you switch it off. Charge sales tax is on for a new event, and tax is added at checkout at your shop’s own state rate, as on your other products.

How do I refund a ticket?

Open the event, select the order on the guest list and choose Cancel seats. Select the seats, choose the refund line, which names the exact amount with its sales tax, and select the button. The money goes back to the card that paid and the seats go back on sale.

Are seats held while they sit in a cart?

No. Seats are set aside only once the buyer starts to pay, for 20 minutes. If the payment does not go through, or the buyer changes the seats in the cart, they go straight back on sale.

What happens when an event sells out?

Your website says it is sold out. With Waitlist on, people can leave their email, and everyone waiting is emailed when seats open up. To make room yourself, raise Seats in Ticket settings.

Can someone buy tickets and products in one order?

Yes. Seats sit in the normal cart beside anything else you sell. A cart of only tickets skips delivery and the address. A mixed cart asks how the products reach the buyer, and the tickets still arrive by email.

What if I change the date or time of an event?

Edit the event’s entry in your content list. Guests are not emailed automatically: the event’s page says the details changed after seats were sold and offers Email everyone their tickets again, which sends each order an updated ticket.

How do I call an event off?

Open the event and choose Cancel event. Choose whether every order is refunded, type CANCEL and confirm. Every seat is cancelled, each buyer gets one email, and the event reads Cancelled, on your website too.

Can I delete an event that has sold seats?

Not until it is cancelled. Deleting its entry is refused while seats are sold, and says how many. Cancel the event from Events first, then delete the entry.

Can I sell tickets to a free event?

No. A seat needs a price above $0. An event with no tickets stays on your website as it is, with its own link if it has one.

Next, read Orders for what happens to each purchase, and Store emails for the address your ticket emails come from.