Choose your vendor carefully (unless you are a do-it-yourself programmer, in which case you're in for a huge headache). Some online tickets sales vendors are flaky about paying you. And of course there's a service charge which you'll most likely have to eat. Stay away from anyone who requires a minimum monthly fee, since as a choral group you'll probably have some months with no sales.

 

I'd recommend getting a list of clients from any vendor you're considering and actually contacting the clients and asking them what their experience is.

Patrick, we've used a company called Vendini and have been very pleased.  Worth Googling.

 

Tom

 

 

Could be a complicated question, or a very simple one, depending on what you want to do. Assuming that you have a website that is your focus for marketing/promotion (pointed to by your print, radio, email blasts, and other electronic/social media), ticket SALES can be run through your website with a variety of service vendors. You might want that vendor to provide all of the information for your patrons -- including prices, seating charts, programs and notes, audio or video clips, links to guest artists, bios, etc. -- or you might have all of that information on your own website and just have the sales portion run through the vendor.

 

It is pretty well documented that having online sales usually increases total sales significantly. With most vendors you can decide whether your group absorbs the service charge portion (and raises your ticket price accordingly), or whether it shows up as an added service charge for your patrons. If you are able to budget around $300-400 per year for the service, consider PayPal, which makes it possible to use the either PayPal or the four major credit cards for the transactions. There is a monthly charge (are you non-profit?), and a small percentage charge for each sale. The net proceeds are available to you whenever you decide -- transferred to an account that you designate. Worth checking out. (You can also use this in connection with your website to sell CDs and other promotional items, souvenir programs, special event tickets, and collect donations, as well as collect from advertisers and sponsors.)

 

Part of the issue is how you want to distribute the actual tickets: print at home, mailed, pick up at the door, etc. That can complicate things considerably.

 

Depending on the size of your operations (now and projected), you may also be looking for a way to maintain a comprehensive database of ticket purchasers, sponsors, donors, advertisers, etc. That may guide you to a different approach -- which will still most have a ticket sales component connected with the major charge cards.

 

You may also be able to connect and collaborate with other organizations in your area to consolidate several efforts through one source. Also worth considering.

 

Best of luck

 

Charles Q. Sullivan

cqsmusic(a)hotmail.com

 

 

We have had good success using PayPal, via our own website (which automatically shuts off the purchase links at midnight the night before a concert.)

 

But our tickets are general seating.  If you are selling specific seats, you may want to go a different route.

 

Since we also sell CDs and take donations online, we are able to use PayPal for everything, and that convenience is nice.

 

Did you have any specific questions about online ticket sales?  Percentage of folks who buy online? When do they buy? Service fees? etc....

 

Spence Whitehead

Marketing Chair, Atlanta Sacred Chorale

 

I'll second the recommendation for Vendini. One of my non-profit ensembles has been using their services very happily for years; the other has until recently been winging it with Paypal. There's just no comparison---Paypal is a terrific all-purpose service, but the folks at Vendini have taken the time and trouble to develop (and continually upgrade) a system specifically designed for performing-arts organizations. It's proven cost-effective for us, and everyone from the webmaster to the treasurer is grateful for the ease and convenience Vendini offers. They're not paying me to say any of this, by the way; I'm glad to put in a good word for a good product. Best of luck!