Selling Tickets Online: Three Options to Consider
When you’re ready to sell event tickets online, there are several ways to get started. Choosing the right option depends on how much time and money you’re able to invest.
1) Sell Tickets Through Your Own Website & Merchant Account
Some organizations still choose to build a custom ticketing solution directly into their website. This option can be time-consuming and costly, but it does give you full control over your event management process.
- Setup & Costs:
- You’ll need to hire a consultant or developer to add secure shopping functionality, which can cost thousands of dollars and take months (or longer) to finalize.
- You’ll also need a merchant account with a gateway that connects your site to a credit card processor. Expect fees around 3% to 5% plus $0.20–$0.30 per transaction, plus a monthly gateway fee.
- Pros:
- Fully customized experience.
- Your customers will not pay a ticketing service fee.
- Cons:
- Higher upfront costs and longer implementation time.
- Ongoing monthly and per-transaction fees.
2) Sell Tickets Online With PayPal
Another option is to use PayPal’s “payment button” to process ticket sales. This approach allows you to list your event details on your website, then link to PayPal for the actual payment.
- Setup & Costs:
- PayPal charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
- You’ll need to customize PayPal’s form and payment button for each event.
- Pros:
- Straightforward to set up.
- Familiar brand for buyers.
- Cons:
- Frustrating user experience as PayPal asks all buyers to create an account
- Buyers leave your site to pay.
- Many transactions are declined.
- Limited customization for branding and event details.
- Potential account holds: PayPal may reserve your funds until after your event if they detect higher risk.
3) Sell Tickets Online with a Ticketing Platform
For most event organizers—especially those who need a quick, cost-effective setup—a dedicated ticketing service is the easiest solution. Platforms like Ticketstripe allow you to create and customize an event page in minutes, start selling tickets and donations, and receive funds immediately after each sale.
- Setup & Costs:
- Free to create your account.
- Free for organizers because fees are passed to the buyer—unless you choose to absorb them into your ticket price.
- Connect to your own Stripe or PayPal account.
- Pros:
- Easy, fast setup with no design or coding required.
- Personalized and embeddable event pages that keep your branding consistent.
- Customizable checkout to collect attendee information.
- Immediate funding.
- Cons:
- Some organizers prefer more direct control through their own website—but for most, the built-in features of a ticketing platform streamline everything.
Ready to Start Selling?
If you want to get your event online quickly without a major upfront investment, give Ticketstripe a try. With the ability to customize pages, event management and promotional tools at your fingertips, and around-the-clock support, why not create a free account today? Best of all, you can be up and running in minutes—no complicated integrations or hidden fees.
Create Your Free Ticketstripe Account and see how easy it is to sell tickets online for your next event!