Open Forum

I am interested in using one of the online ticket sales services advertised in Teaching Theatre and in ads on this website. I have seen Showtix4u and BookTix and I have looked at their websites. Both sound really great but there are a few minor differences in their pricing and services. 

I am in a small town school district and our stage is in a gym with folding chairs and bleachers for seats (we can seat about 400 per show). It is possible for me to have an assigned seating arrangement with the folding chairs but not sure I want to go that route and may stick with general seating, but there is some appeal to having assigned seats. I could do a hybrid seating (assigned for chairs and general for bleachers) but I wonder if that might get too confusing for the patrons.

I'm really looking to make ticket sales easier (so I'm not constantly interrupted all day by students and patrons wanting to purchase tickets and so that I have better tracking of sales). Just not sure if doing online sales will help this or not.

Could those of you who have used one or both of these companies please let me know your experience? Is one better than the other? Is the free equipment from BookTix really worth paying a bit more per ticket? What was good? What issues did you have? Did patrons have a problem paying more for the convenience of online sales? Any other advice you have? You can email me if you would rather not post in this thread. My email is amyloves2teach@gmail.com. 

THANKS!!

------------------------------
Amy Williams
District Librarian/Theater Teacher
Thespian Troupe #8881
Auburn High School
Auburn, IL
------------------------------

Hello

We used to have paper tickets and I agree, it's a hassle.  We use ludus.com for our online sales.  I have really enjoyed the freedom it has given me.  There is no fee for schools when you sign up; the fee passed on to purchasers is minimal. The customer service is amazing and they have live chat which I have utilized multiple times this year. There was a little pushback from families the first show but after that no one complained. To avoid complaints about the fee, I offered a "presale" price for online tickets and an "at the door" price which was higher than the online price including the fee. This really helped stifle any complaints.

Good luck!

------------------------------
Amanda Dierking
Drama Director
Minneola Charter School
Minneola FL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-22-2019 12:59
From: Amy Williams
Subject: Online Ticket Sales

I am interested in using one of the online ticket sales services advertised in Teaching Theatre and in ads on this website. I have seen Showtix4u and BookTix and I have looked at their websites. Both sound really great but there are a few minor differences in their pricing and services.

I am in a small town school district and our stage is in a gym with folding chairs and bleachers for seats (we can seat about 400 per show). It is possible for me to have an assigned seating arrangement with the folding chairs but not sure I want to go that route and may stick with general seating, but there is some appeal to having assigned seats. I could do a hybrid seating (assigned for chairs and general for bleachers) but I wonder if that might get too confusing for the patrons.

I'm really looking to make ticket sales easier (so I'm not constantly interrupted all day by students and patrons wanting to purchase tickets and so that I have better tracking of sales). Just not sure if doing online sales will help this or not.

Could those of you who have used one or both of these companies please let me know your experience? Is one better than the other? Is the free equipment from BookTix really worth paying a bit more per ticket? What was good? What issues did you have? Did patrons have a problem paying more for the convenience of online sales? Any other advice you have? You can email me if you would rather not post in this thread. My email is amyloves2teach@gmail.com.

THANKS!!

------------------------------
Amy Williams
District Librarian/Theater Teacher
Thespian Troupe #8881
Auburn High School
Auburn, IL
------------------------------

We use Ludus as well. It is a fantastic platform with great customer service.

---------------------------------
Christopher Gagnon
Director of Theatre
Terre Haute South Vigo High School
Terre Haute IN
---------------------------------



Original Message:
Sent: 05-23-2019
From: Amanda Dierking
Subject: RE: Online Ticket Sales

Hello

We used to have paper tickets and I agree, it's a hassle.  We use ludus.com for our online sales.  I have really enjoyed the freedom it has given me.  There is no fee for schools when you sign up; the fee passed on to purchasers is minimal. The customer service is amazing and they have live chat which I have utilized multiple times this year. There was a little pushback from families the first show but after that no one complained. To avoid complaints about the fee, I offered a "presale" price for online tickets and an "at the door" price which was higher than the online price including the fee. This really helped stifle any complaints.

Good luck!

------------------------------
Amanda Dierking
Drama Director
Minneola Charter School
Minneola FL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-22-2019 12:59
From: Amy Williams
Subject: Online Ticket Sales

I am interested in using one of the online ticket sales services advertised in Teaching Theatre and in ads on this website. I have seen Showtix4u and BookTix and I have looked at their websites. Both sound really great but there are a few minor differences in their pricing and services.

I am in a small town school district and our stage is in a gym with folding chairs and bleachers for seats (we can seat about 400 per show). It is possible for me to have an assigned seating arrangement with the folding chairs but not sure I want to go that route and may stick with general seating, but there is some appeal to having assigned seats. I could do a hybrid seating (assigned for chairs and general for bleachers) but I wonder if that might get too confusing for the patrons.

I'm really looking to make ticket sales easier (so I'm not constantly interrupted all day by students and patrons wanting to purchase tickets and so that I have better tracking of sales). Just not sure if doing online sales will help this or not.

Could those of you who have used one or both of these companies please let me know your experience? Is one better than the other? Is the free equipment from BookTix really worth paying a bit more per ticket? What was good? What issues did you have? Did patrons have a problem paying more for the convenience of online sales? Any other advice you have? You can email me if you would rather not post in this thread. My email is amyloves2teach@gmail.com.

THANKS!!

------------------------------
Amy Williams
District Librarian/Theater Teacher
Thespian Troupe #8881
Auburn High School
Auburn, IL
------------------------------

I use BookTix and I love it! I built the ticket fee into the ticket price so the patron doesn't see it as a "fee" it's just the total price of the ticket. I have a folding chair theater too and I do a hybrid of a few rows of reserved seats and the rest general admission. You do need to have ushers to help people find their seats especially when you first do the change. It is so nice to have the sales online now. We still offer in person sales, but for fewer days and shorter time frames. The tracking system online is great to see trends in ticket sales. I haven't had any issues with using this system. I purchased additional ticket scanner and ticket printers because I found that having just one wasn't enough. They were very affordable on amazon prime. The only thing I have trouble with is remembering to check how much ticket stock we have left and ordering in enough time to get it in. I think most people prefer to purchase tickets online these days.

------------------------------
Kristi Jacobs-Stanley
Louisiana Co-Chapter Director
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-22-2019 12:59
From: Amy Williams
Subject: Online Ticket Sales

I am interested in using one of the online ticket sales services advertised in Teaching Theatre and in ads on this website. I have seen Showtix4u and BookTix and I have looked at their websites. Both sound really great but there are a few minor differences in their pricing and services.

I am in a small town school district and our stage is in a gym with folding chairs and bleachers for seats (we can seat about 400 per show). It is possible for me to have an assigned seating arrangement with the folding chairs but not sure I want to go that route and may stick with general seating, but there is some appeal to having assigned seats. I could do a hybrid seating (assigned for chairs and general for bleachers) but I wonder if that might get too confusing for the patrons.

I'm really looking to make ticket sales easier (so I'm not constantly interrupted all day by students and patrons wanting to purchase tickets and so that I have better tracking of sales). Just not sure if doing online sales will help this or not.

Could those of you who have used one or both of these companies please let me know your experience? Is one better than the other? Is the free equipment from BookTix really worth paying a bit more per ticket? What was good? What issues did you have? Did patrons have a problem paying more for the convenience of online sales? Any other advice you have? You can email me if you would rather not post in this thread. My email is amyloves2teach@gmail.com.

THANKS!!

------------------------------
Amy Williams
District Librarian/Theater Teacher
Thespian Troupe #8881
Auburn High School
Auburn, IL
------------------------------