Online Ticketing

[drfrightner]

We had another OUTRAGOUS year of selling tickets online... We sold over $200,00.00 worth of tickets on line. Just think a few years ago we did maybe ummm... $20,000 or so. When I started selling tickets online it was with ticketmaster and I did about $2,500.00 the first year.

I think we might have been the first haunt in the nation to sell tickets on line but today most haunts are doing it. I think all haunts should be doing it without question. After suffering through several years of trying to deal with selling my own tickets with a shoping cart program (which is working) I've come up with a better system.

I've contracted a program company to write a ticketing program for Scarefest 2008. This system will allow me to access through a data base all customers who bought tickets, it will allow me to customize reciepts that the customers get after a ticket purchase, but most importantly thanks to wireless internet, I will be able to manage my online ticketing via my ticket booth through the web.

Our new system will allow a user to sell their own tickets via their website but you'll still need a merchant account. I'm looking forward to having this done soon... I don't know if we'd sell our system because I don't have it tested through a season so I probably won't but it will be awesome!

If you're not selling tickets on line you should be and starting 2008 I will have a fully integrated online ticketing system, that ONLY I manage, that will allow me to mass email customers, look up customers from years past, anything I want it to do it will do.

I'll update you on my progress!!!

Larry

[spookologist]

Hey Larry.......

Do you have timed ticket sales or just general admission? I'm really thinking about doing timed sales online because our lines are getting huge. On the really busy nights it can be 6 hours from the time they get there to the time they exit the trail so I need to do something. The biggest challenge is the people who are driving several hours to come see us and we have to turn them away. They aren't too happy.
Any thoughts or ideas from anyone?

Wayne
www.trailofterror.com

[beardedbil]

Why not sell timed tickets in 10-15 min increments, that's what most haunted hayrides do around here. Not sure if you have a hayride, but if you move to a full reservation system, you will guarantee that who ever buys tickets for that night will get in to see your show. No more turning people away, and if your event is big you might actually sell out certain nights in advance. It would be nice going into a night knowing you already sold as many tickets as you can before even opening.

[Jim Warfield]

I wonder how many of those on-line ticket holders never showed up?
Do they get a refund?
Another open night for them to use their unused ticket?
Just curious. I will never be selling tickets this way since everyone who ever shows up here from any distance is Always at least 15 minutes late.
"Timed Tickets?" hahahahah!
What does it finally cost the haunt per/ticket to do things this way?
This season Jessica began a really smart ticket /reservation policy. she leaves from 7pm to 7:30 open for walk-ups (who probably just drove for several hours to get here, no scheduled reservations til 7:30, this seems to keep everyone more happy.
i would have thought after seeing so many with reservations get ahead of them, that many would be doing reservations the following season, but maybe not?
In some ways reservations have cost us business because some people think that they absolutely NEED a reservation to even get in here!?
This has never been the case. we get customers in the house here and there between reservations .