Frequently Asked Questions
Account Setup
The virtual online box office is where your patrons will access your ticketing page to purchase tickets. The administrative portal is the “back-end” of your website, where you can not only manage all of the tickets sold, run reports, handle exchanges, view patrons, do reprints, etc, but also use the point of sale tool to sell and scan tickets in person.
We’ll work around your schedule! Normally, it takes about 3-5 business days depending on the complexity of your seating chart, but if you need it set up sooner than that, we will try to accommodate you! You can request an expedited setup if you need to be set up urgently. Be sure to note your on sale date when filling out our signup form.
Client Support
In order to keep up with the needs of clients in different time zones, we don’t keep standard business hours, but we do work 7 days a week, around the clock! We guarentee that a team member will be available on show nights, should you have an urgent issue that needs immediate attention. There is a phone extension you can call if you have a show emergency, and you will get an immediate response from our team!
Discounts and Promotions
Yes! A promo code is a coupon code entered by a patron at checkout for a specified discount on their ticket order. You can customize promo codes to be used for special marketing promotions such as buy one get one free or 50% off when a full price is purchased. These can also be used for comp (complimentary) tickets for staff, VIPS, etc. You can even set your own restrictions on how many times the code can be used!
Easy and simple! You can generate a link for patrons to use, giving them advance access to ticket sales before the general public. Or you can create a code that patrons enter into a field on your online box office, before beginning ticket selection/purchase. With the code, you can determine a start/end date, and set any limitations and restrictions that you need!
Equipment
The scanners are simple and easy to use! You simply plug the scanner into your laptop, make sure your cursor is in the scan field and scan the barcode. If the page turns green the ticket is good to go, if it turns red the ticket has either been scanned already, is for the wrong date or is counterfeit.
Patron FAQs
Sure! If you let us know the name of the organization, and the name and email address used to purchase the tickets, we would be happy to re-send the email! You can always log into your user account to re-print your tickets as well. Once you log in, on the top right you will see an icon of a ticket. Click that, select “My Account”, and then “View Past Ticket Orders”. From there you can click on your order, and select to download to pdf.
Most likely you purchased a ticket through our system for your local school or dance studio’s recent event. BookTix is an online ticketing vendor – we help schools, theater companies, dance studios, and other organizations sell tickets to their shows and events. If you can’t recall purchasing tickets to an event recently, you can reach out to us with your name, charge amount and date, and we can look up the charge for you. Send us an email at help@booktix.ca.
Payment and Reports
Yes – We’re happy to process an early payment for a portion of your proceeds before a show closes to help our organizations with cash flow, if preferred. This must be requested, and 20% of your balance will be reserved for any refunds/charges that may be needed. We are happy to process one early payment, any additional early payments may incur a small charge.
Pricing and Fees
Clearly the many other ticket companies in the market wouldn’t be in business if they didn’t offer a good system, but our approach to ticketing is very unique. First off, our mission, above even making money, is helping educational theater thrive. We have an outstanding team ready to overdeliver on making sure your ticketing is successful and easy. We are genuinely invested in each and every one of your events – from start to finish. We have a system that is not only powerful, but is safe and secure. We could show off an impressive resume (such as handling the International Thespian Festival’s ticketing or our many national endorsements, etc.) but it’s actually solving our clients’ needs and making sure they feel supported, that gives us the competitive edge. When you succeed, we succeed.
There are NO startup costs and no hidden costs. Besides the service fee on credit card purchases, all cash tickets and comp tickets are FREE. If you choose to do an entirely free event, there will be no fees attached.
You are only charged for tickets you actually sell, not that you hold or reserve. We do not charge for reprints or tickets printed for will call pick up. If you choose to use other features in our system such as season packages, items, donations, there are also nominal fees which cover credit card processing.
Other fees you could encounter – should you choose to enable refunds/voids/exchanges (our default policy is no refunds no exchanges but we leave it up to you) – exchanges are only $0.10, though refunds will incur higher fees.
Selling Tickets
We get a huge surge in patrons when we open sales, how can I be confident your system won’t crash?
Not to worry! We are in the business of providing top quality ticketing, and our infrastructure is built to sustain the demand of ticket rushes. If you are expecting an unusual surge of demand when you open sales, we just ask that you let us know when you open sales so we can actively monitor the system during the first few minutes to ensure amazing service for all patrons.
Of course! Any time a ticket is purchased with a credit card (whether online, or in person at the box office), the patron pays a per ticket service fee. Service fees can also be incorporated into the price so it is not seen by patrons. All cash and comp tickets are free. You are only charged for tickets you actually sell, not that you hold or reserve. We do not charge for reprints or tickets printed for will call pick up.
While our system is user friendly, we recognize that not everyone is computer savvy! For patrons who are not comfortable making online purchases, you can always use the Point of Sale tool for any in-person sales (cash, check, or credit card)! You can even create patron accounts for a patron, if they have difficulty setting this up.
No special equipment! You just need a computer with Internet access! All the tools you need are within your BookTix administrative portal. If you will be printing tickets, you will need a Dymo LabelWriter 450/550 series printer. However, if you don’t have a Dymo printer you can printer PDF tickets using any standard ink jet printer and paper.
Not at all. We host the virtual box office on our servers. We give the theater a link to a page that is themed to look like it is part of the organization’s website for a seamless integrated experience. While it’s easiest to include a “buy tickets now” link off your site, you can always place the link on your social media pages or in an email blast or even on a poster.
System Features
Yes, you can! You can use our “Items” feature to pre-sell things such as bouquets of flowers and T-Shirts from your Patron Portal! You can also choose to have the items appear as an add-on option in the cart when certain performances are selected. You can even use the Point of Sale tool to sell items and concessions on show nights!
Venues and Seating Charts
Hybrid seating is where some sections are reserved (patrons select a specific row and seat number), and other sections are general admission (open seating). For example, you may want the whole theater to be general admission since you rarely sell out, but want a few rows in the front reserved for your loyal patrons who want an actual seat. Or, you always sell out in a reserved scenario, but want a General Admission student only section, so they can sit with their friends without preplanning.