How To Boost Early Ticket Sales for Live Events In A Time Of Uncertainty

Planning for the future feels like a luxury lost in 2020. Between travel restrictions and inconsistent rules across the country, knowing what we’ll be doing for the rest of the year has become a guessing game — a challenge that event organisers know all too well. Even as parts of Australia start opening up and allowing events to resume, we are living in a dynamic situation that changes fast. This, understandably, is going to make fans nervous about buying tickets to live events again. 

But that doesn’t mean you should stop trying to plan live events or selling tickets as early as possible. You just need to make sure your fans feel confident when buying a ticket to your next event or gig. Here are two important considerations for locking in ticket sales after lockdown is lifted. 

Fans need flexibility to feel confident in buying tickets again

While most people are itching to socialise at events again, many will be cautious about committing to a date. Whether they’ve already missed out on refunds for previous events or felt the sting of going back into lockdown when things were looking up — fans are nervous. Flexibility with ticketing is going to be the key to winning them back. 

Tixel can help events offer better flexibility with less reliance on refunds. If your event dates need to shift to accommodate changing restrictions, offering a fair resale option will allow fans to buy and sell tickets if new dates don’t suit them. It’s also a good incentive for anyone feeling unwell or testing positive to recoup their money, rather than showing up to your event and risking the spread of infection. 

Our Co-Founder, Jason Webb explains. “Tixel gives fans the confidence to buy tickets early, knowing a safe resale market will open up closer to the event if their plans change, or if you need to reschedule to a date that no longer suits them”, says Webb. “In the past we’ve seen legitimate resale provide a big boost in early ticket sales for our event partners and we expect this kind of flexibility and protection to be a key consideration for fans choosing whether to commit to ticket purchases as events start to return to Australia.” 

Fans need to be protected from a rise in online scams

COVID Safe events may mean smaller events. With tight restrictions on gatherings, reducing your capacity could mean a lot of your fans are missing out on tickets and turn to platforms like Facebook and Gumtree in an attempt to access sold out events or shows. This poses a huge risk to fans potentially being scammed or buying invalid tickets, further shaking their confidence in returning to paid live events.  

Ticket fraud, scalping, and online scams have been a problem for a long time — but the COVID health crisis has seen the problem deepen. With everything now taking place online, there has been a sharp rise in scams and events are not immune. By partnering with an official ticket reseller like Tixel, your fans can join a waitlist to receive alerts when spare tickets become available. You’ll also make sure you get accurate contact details for compliance by creating a legitimate ticket transfer, rather than the details of the original ticket holder. 

Connect your next live gig or event with Tixel
For more information on how Tixel can protect your fans and offer better protection and flexibility through ticket resale, check out our Tixel Partners page for details or to get in touch.

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