With a waitlist enabled, latecomers can register their interest for tickets that have sold out, ready for you to offer tickets as they become available, whether through cancellations or up-scaling your venue.
You have the option to offer newly available tickets automatically or manually
Wait-listed guests take priority, meaning they'll get first access to any available tickets before the public!
How to enable a waitlist
You can enable a waitlist at any time for your event. After the event or a particular ticket type has sold out, newcomers will be prompted to "Join Waitlist".
Manage your event via the events tab
Navigate to manage attendees > waitlist via the left-hand menu bar
Toggle on enable waitlist
Enable the waitlist for:
When a ticket type sells out
When the total event capacity is reached
Select which ticket types a waitlist will appear for, leave blank for all tickets
Choose the max waitlist size and the time limit for a waitlist offer
Choose if you want to offer tickets automatically or manually (check out the difference below)
Click save
If a waitlist is not enabled for a particular ticket type or event, the ticket type will only appear as 'sold out' once it reaches its capacity.
There will be no prompt to 'join waitlist'.
Turn waitlist on when?
Both options are enabled by default and can be enabled at the same time:
Total event capacity has been reached
When your total event capacity has been reached, all ticket types will appear as 'sold out' with a prompt to "join waitlist" regardless of whether an individual ticket type has sold out
Ticket type has sold out
When an individual ticket type sells out it will appear as 'sold out' with a prompt to "join waitlist" regardless of whether the total event - or other ticket type - capacity has been reached
How to see who is on your waitlist
We ask guests to provide their Full Name, Email Address, Mobile, Ticket types they are interested in, and the number of tickets when joining the waitlist. To see a full list of guests on the waitlist and their information:
Click manage attendees > waitlist
Select the manage waitlist tab
In addition to their information, you can also check the status of your wait-listed guests:
Waiting - A guest has not been offered tickets
Notified - The offer email for tickets has been sent
Passed - The guest has declined to purchase tickets and selected "not interested" on their offer email
Interested - The guest has clicked "get tickets" on their offer email but has not completed a purchase
Purchased - The guest has successfully purchased tickets through their offer email
You will be notified via email when the first person joins a waitlist for an event
It is currently not possible to receive a notification each time someone joins the waitlist
Offering tickets through the waitlist and your ticket capacity
You must ensure that there is an available capacity for a particular ticket type or the total event before sending an offer of tickets.
Waitlisted guests who are sent offers for tickets can only purchase available tickets.
For example, if a ticket has sold 10/10 tickets it is still possible to send an offer email, however, this guest cannot purchase any ticket as there are none available
A waitlist will always be prioritised
If you cancel tickets or increase your ticket capacity, tickets will not be available to the public automatically if you have guests on your waitlist.
You can choose to offer tickets to those on the waitlist first.
Check the ticket status and ticket capacities for your ticket types
You can check the availability of tickets for all your ticket types before you start offering tickets.
Head to manage attendees > waitlist
Click check ticket status
You can also access the ticket status modal via the overview page.
This tool will tell you which tickets are:
ON SALE
SOLD OUT (and why is it sold out)
WAITLIST ON (i.e. accepting a waitlist)
READY TO OFFER (or AUTO OFFERING )
You should send offers to ticket types that have an on sale or ready to offer status only.
Ticket types marked as sold out means there are no tickets available.
You will need to either:
A. Ensure the cancellation of existing tickets to restock them
For example, if a buyer has requested to cancel their tickets
B. Increase your ticket capacity or total event capacity via the tickets > ticket types page
You will also need to increase a grouped capacity if you have used one
Waitlist offers and packaged tickets
Buyers can only purchase a package ticket when all tickets/ticket types in that package are available
For example, if your event is set to offer tickets automatically buyers interested in a “Table of 10” package would still be notified of available tickets but cannot purchase if your tickets offer email trigger is set to "3"
Consider if you want to enable a waitlist for your packaged tickets, or increase the trigger amount to ensure guests are only notified when enough tickets are available to buy a package
How to offer tickets to the waitlist automatically.
You can set the waitlist to send an offer of tickets automatically via email to the list of guests on your waitlist, reducing your admin.
Manage your event
Navigate to the manage attendees > waitlist page
Click settings
Set offer tickets to automatically
You can set the minimum number of tickets that must be available in order to trigger the first offer. The default is '3' tickets.
How the automatic offering of tickets works
Once the minimum number of tickets becomes available, an offer email is sent automatically to the first guest on the waitlist after 30 minutes.
For every 30 minutes thereafter, the next guest in line will be notified if tickets are still available.
Once an offer has been sent to all waitlisted guests, available tickets will be reopened to the public.
Guests will receive multiple offer emails if they click "get tickets" but do not complete a purchase
Tickets are not reserved - notified guests will need to purchase on a first-come-first-serve basis
You can also make manual offers of tickets at the same time
Ticket types will display the AUTO OFFERING status in the check ticket status tool
You cannot change the 30-minute interval for when tickets are offered. We recommend manually offering tickets if you want to notify multiple people quickly.
Waitlist in action for high-demand events
Setting a waitlist to offer automatically means you can reduce your admin checking for tickets and sending offers.
As soon as you cancel a ticket, we send an offer to the next person on your waitlist.
If you're expecting a sell-out and high demand for tickets, consider complimenting this tool by enabling the ability for buyers to refund/cancel their own tickets. Cancelled tickets are immediately restocked and offered to your waitlist.
How to offer tickets to the waitlist manually
You can choose to manually send offers of tickets to the waitlist and is recommended if you want to control who gets access to newly available tickets or send multiple offers of tickets at the same time.
To offer a ticket to a guest on the waitlist:
Navigate to manage attendees > waitlist
Select manage waitlist
Click the checkbox next to the name(s) you would like to offer tickets to. You can select multiple names at a time.
Reset your waitlist and offer all available tickets to the public
You have the option to put all available tickets back on sale, even if your waitlist has already been triggered.
This is a great option if you have:
Dramatically increased your ticket or total event capacity, or
Have more tickets available than guests on the waitlist, or
You made an error and have since updated your ticket capacity
To release all available tickets to the public:
Navigate to the manage waitlist page
Click put back on sale in the bottom right
Ticket sales will run until the ticket type or total event capacity sells out again and the waitlist is triggered
Put back on sale will release all available tickets for all ticket types
Clicking put back on sale will not notify your waitlisted guests of available tickets.
We recommend you manually send an 'offer' to all waitlisted guests, notifying them about available tickets.
They can still use their email offer link but will compete with the general public. Tickets are not reserved.
How to add guests to the waitlist manually
You can manually add guests to the waitlist if you have an external list of Names and Email Addresses
Navigate to the manage attendees > waitlist > manage waitlist page.
Click add attendees to waitlist
You will need to provide their Name and Email address
It is currently not possible to bulk upload multiple guests to the waitlist. These must be added individually.
You can only add a guest once to the waitlist using the same email address.
What emails does a guest receive when they join the waitlist?
A guest will receive a confirmation email letting them know they have joined the waitlist
A guest will receive an offer email that contains a unique "Get Tickets" link. They must use this link to access any tickets offered to them.
Commonly asked questions
If I increase my ticket capacity or cancel a ticket, will my tickets be released to the public?
No, the waitlist will always be respected meaning if you have guests on your waitlist then tickets that are made available by increasing the ticket capacity or cancellation will not automatically be offered to the public.
I have increased my ticket capacity but attendees are still prompted to join the waitlist
Your waitlist has been triggered and guests have joined the waitlist. The waitlist will always prioritise those on the waitlist. Newcomers will continue to see the option to "join waitlist" even after you change the event capacity or cancel tickets.
You can manually offer tickets to those on the waitlist or click put back on sale to reopen tickets to everyone.
I have offered tickets to my attendees, but they say the event/ticket type still appears as "sold out"
A guest must use the offer email sent to them which contains a unique link to reveal any available tickets.
If the ticket type a guest is trying to purchase via the waitlist offer email still appears as 'sold out' you must check that tickets are available.
You may need to increase your ticket and/or total event capacity via the tickets> ticket types page. Ensure you have also correctly cancelled any tickets to restock them. Check out our guide to help you here.
Make sure your tickets do not have a sold out override (via settings⚙️ > advanced settings) status or that there is no stop sales indicator for the event.
Why was my waitlist triggered when I can see that there are still tickets available?
If you have tickets available but your event/ticket type appears as "Sold out/Join waitlist" it is likely because at some point your event/ticket type sold out, the waitlist was triggered, and you currently have people sitting on the waitlist.
We will always respect those on the waitlist even if a ticket becomes available. You can offer a ticket manually or automatically to guests on the waitlist.
The most common scenario is that:
1. Your event 'sold out' when the last ticket was 'added-to-cart' by a potential buyer
2. The next person to come along was prompted to "join waitlist" as no tickets were available
3. The first buyer did not complete their purchase and the ticket was restocked
4. Your ticket type appears as "sold out" but there are tickets still available
5. The waitlist is respected and you can offer a ticket to the first person waiting
You can manually offer tickets, turn on automatic ticket offers, and/or put tickets back on sale
Will the waitlist oversell my event?
No, guests can only purchase available tickets and the waitlist will respect your event capacities. You must ensure there is adequate ticket capacity for a purchase to occur.
I've just enabled the waitlist on my sold out ticket types/event but it is not appearing
Please wait up to 2-5 minutes and refresh your event page for this change to occur.
Can I ask custom questions when someone joins the waitlist?
No, it is currently not possible to ask custom questions from guests joining the waitlist. You can use a third-party tool such as Google Docs to collect any rich data from your guests, before manually adding them to the waitlist if required.