Online Ticket Purchase Option ~ Is it worth it?

[Empressnightshade]

I just spoke with and received info from Extremetix, Inc about their Online ticketing service.

It seems good, but our tickets are only $10. To pass the ticketing fee on to the customer probably wouldn't get people to purchase online and if we took the hit from the fee, it would lower our ticket price more than I would desire. PLUS there's the credit card fee.

For those who use this service, how do you make it work for you? How do you draw the customers to purchase online?

[Empressnightshade]

Oh, come on!

Is there no one willing to write about their online ticket experiences here? Larry? I KNOW you have experience.
Kelly?
bhays?

Anyone?

[Mr Nightmarez]

I'm attempting it this year... but I have NO experience from past... :roll:
Sorry....

Still debating on WHO to go with ... so I was watching this topic :wink:

[SpFXChic]

We're currently exploring all of the options, as well.

[Spookyfinder]

We distributed coupons through McDonalds and Halloween Express stores. The coupons had a $1.00 off value, however, if they make their purchase online and enter the coupon code specified on the coupon, they receive an additional $1.00 discount. Of course, the discount is only valid early in the season and then on Thursday, typically slower, nights. We split the fee with the customer so that they are only hit with a $1.00 convenience fee. Make sure to point out on your web site that by purchasing their ticket online they avoid having to wait in 2 lines, the ticket window line and the line to get in. Also, go ahead and set up a ticket option for VIP, RIP, FastPass, or whatever you want to call it and charge more for that. You'll be surprised how many people want to plan their evening schedule and prefer to not wait in a long line. We used Extremetix (ClicknPrint) last year and they were awesome! They even set up a survey that the individuals purchasing online tickets fill out to help us better understand our audience demographics. The key to a survey though is to keep it as short as possible. People have a very short attention span when it comes to surveys. :wink: We're using ClicknPrint services again this year as well. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any additional questions. :wink:

Kel

[HMS]

If selling your tickets directly is a viable option contact me about the creditcard processing portion.

ONLINE / MAIL ORDER credit card rates
Qualified rate 2.29%
Transaction Fee $0.28
Statement Fee $10.00 (during open months - reduced to $5.00 during "out of season" months)
Gateway we recommend is USA ePay (www.usaepay.com)
Activation fee - waived for haunters (this is an industry we are actively promoting to and are reducing fees and waiving set-up costs)

If you decide to take credit cards at the haunt itself let me know...

Qualified rate 1.64%
Transaction Fee $0.19
Statement Fee $10.00 (during open months - reduced to $5.00 during "out of season" months)
Steve

[Ken Spriggs]

EMP

OK

Screampass is who we have been with since they started...they started most of these other companies in the haunt ticket deal also.

Emp let's put it this way...in todays world of NO TIME FOR ANYTHING....if you have the button on your site for the customers to buy tickets...they will just because they can.

The fee's? Ticketmaster and all the other ticket companies do it....it is for the simplicity and easy of surfing and buying.

Over the past 4 years....our sales have gone up 10-15% annually.

To us it was pretty easy to do ...and it offered the customer an option.

But it also controls our VIP ticket sales....Nice when you have a 2-3 hour wait on some nights

[Empressnightshade]

Re: EMP

Emp let's put it this way...in todays world of NO TIME FOR ANYTHING....if you have the button on your site for the customers to buy tickets...they will just because they can.

Ken,
someone on another forum gave me the suggestion of using Paypal as a way of guests purchasing our VIP tickets. The Suggestee has used this method and it has proven to work great for them.
OH, did I neglect to mention that we're only going to be selling our VIP tickets online and not our general admission tickets? I even have it plastered on all our tools of advertisement. I'm really trying to push these passes.

I've been doing some updating to our site and will soon have it up and running, but after several days of research, I decided that Paypal's method is the best and most economical choice for us this year. It's easy and we won't be under the gun to sell a certain amount to fulfill someone else's quota. All the VIP clerk will have to do is print out a daily sheet of who has purchased, check valid picture ID and voila, they're in.

BTW, Ken....
I like when you call me "Emp." :lol:

[pdsnoz]

It seems good, but our tickets are only $10. To pass the ticketing fee on to the customer probably wouldn't get people to purchase online and if we took the hit from the fee, it would lower our ticket price more than I would desire.

We had $10 ticket prices last year, and when we were deciding if it would be worth it to try online ticketing, we came to the conclusion, that we did NOT want to pass the buck onto the customer, and if we took the loss ourselves, it would take 250 online tickets purchased to "break even".

We also decided to advertise the whole "skip the line" thing, and they had the option to buy the "fast pass" ticket.

All in all, we ended up selling around 750 online tickets, which were mostly the fast-pass tickets, and made some money off the idea.

My opinion, definitaly worth it, regardless of ticket price.

[pdsnoz]

By the way,

We use Extremetix Inc.

[drfrightner]

On line tickets...don't get me started. Screampass if you ask me is a rip off...they charge WAY TOO much and don't really do anything for it. I know several haunts who have OPTED out of their contract with them because they failed to deliver all the extra benefits they promised.

You will not be successful selling online tickets if Screampass charges YOUR customers a 2 or 3 dollar service charge and then turns around and charges you 5 to 10% of the transaction and then on top of that charges YOU a buck a ticket...again a rip off!

What I find crazy about Screampass is they're all over the planet...one major haunt who they want in the program gets tons of money up front, lower percentage fees, blah, blah, whiile the smaller haunts pay out the nose.

If they're going to sell tickets online for your business you should DEMAND the same transaction rate of an online merchent account. From what I understand Click N Print is cheaper and I would use them anyday of the week before I paid those outragous fees.

I personally sell tickets on line myself...its easy, simple and I save myself THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of dollars. I do NOT charge my customers a fee therefore I sell more tickets. I pay something like 20 cents per transaction and around 1.7% gross sale.

Headless Horseman sells tickets on line themselves as well and THEY DO charge a transaction FEE but THEY keep it...LOL. If you can sell the ticket online yourself and you charge a servie fee and lets say you sell 10,000 tickets on line then thats an additional $20,000.00 in YOUR pocket.

We could do that as well but thats not my goal...

Right now my goal is to build my online ticket sales up to 50% of my business, meaning if I sell 60,000 tickets next year I want 30,000 of them to be bought online.

WHY?

1) Less money in my ticket booth. Less chance for error, theft, etc.

2) I know how many people are attending.

3) Build up direct leads to sell to customers next year.

4) No Refund...they buy the ticket on impulse so now they have to use it.

This is my goal and I hope to get my online tickets up to 50% of my businesss...so I'm not charging my customers a service fee. One of these days I might just do this however it won't be until I've got atleast half my customers buying online.

You can sell tickets online yourself, its easy, its simple, and you'll make more money and sell more tickets. However again if it where me I'd use Click-N-Print over Screampass.

If you're happy with Screampass good for you keep them as your online ticket option. I'm personally happy with selling them myself so I'll stay that route.

Larry

[Empressnightshade]

Larry,

charging our customers a fee and then charging us a fee as well is the reason I turned down the idea of using an online ticket company.

But, I feel like a failure because we haven't sold one single ticket yet. Is it too early? Am I doing it wrong?

[Jim Warfield]

Empress, Only dare to compare your haunted activities to other's on a very small level, your main "competitor" should be the house and business YOU had and did last season.
I have always thought that for numerous reasons we really can't compare and compete with one another so we have to be only competeing with ourselves.
People hear great complimentary things about a haunt, like mine, they come here and maybe hate it because under the wide and loose definition (multi-facetted and also flexible) my efforts did not measure up to their expectations. The next person raves to the heavans that it was the best thing since sliced bread that wasn't sliced by Jack-The -Ripper!
So it goes.
This is also the same factor that makes it so incredibly difficult to ever give anyone else accurate information as far as forecasting another haunt's $ucce$$ or failure as meaured by mere money.

[Empressnightshade]

Thanks, Jim!

You're absolutely correct. I should be competing against my ownself and what I did last season.

[drfrightner]

Empress,

Its a case of double dipping...the only one really making money on the deal is the company selling the tickets.

They charge you, they charge the customer and what do they do ... nothing if you ask me. You send them the customer and you get nothing but charged. Ticketmaster sells tickets for Madonna on their site now that makes it worth it, but as it stands YOU the haunt OWNER are sending THEM the traffic not the other way around.

Anyway...

You can do it yourself its not hard!

Larry