Thread: Paypal vs. EventBrite vs. other ticket sellers

For those among you who host events, what do you use to collect money? I need to sell tickets for Raks Nativity. Last year, I used Paypal buttons, and had to manage all the ticket information myself. I have seen services like EventBrite and I'm trying to figure out what they really add for me. Are they worth the cost?

Brown Paper Tickets is another one to research. I prefer them over the other companies, especially if you are just selling show tickets.

Brown Paper Tickets - The fair-trade ticketing company.

Brown Paper Tickets - The fair-trade ticketing company.

Avoid Paypal like it is the plague. Their policies are actually very unfriendly to events, and if they figure out that you are selling tickets, it'll be trouble. Ask Chuck of Tribal Fest.

Originally Posted by Samira_dncr

Avoid Paypal like it is the plague. Their policies are actually very unfriendly to events, and if they figure out that you are selling tickets, it'll be trouble. Ask Chuck of Tribal Fest.

Do they have a policy against ticket sales? That seems awfully strange.

Their policy is that they won't release the funds until AFTER the event is over. So you can sell tickets, but you cannot use the money from those ticket sales to fund your event. Chuck had more than 10K held by Paypal. They did eventually get the money, but they had to do some juggling to cover expenses (such as deposits, etc) that have to be paid before the event.

I can understand it. How many fly-by-night local concert planners out there have sold tickets to a concert/event and then bailed with the money. It happens far too often. It's problematic enough that even with a long history in business, it was a challenge to get approved for a merchant account if we mention the words "tickets". Conference packages were much more palatable.