How to price tickets for your first event
3 min read
Start from your costs, not from what other promoters charge. A simple way to find a price that covers the night and still sells.
Most first-time organizers pick a price by looking at a similar event and knocking a few dollars off. It feels safe, but it skips the only question that matters: what does this night cost you, and how many people will realistically come? Work through it in that order and the price usually picks itself.
Add up what the night costs
Write down every cost you’ll pay whether ten people show up or two hundred. These are your fixed costs, and they set the floor for your ticket price.
- Venue rental or the minimum spend the venue asks for
- Talent: DJs, performers, speakers, plus travel if they’re coming from out of town
- Sound, lights and any gear you’re renting
- Security and door staff, which many venues in Canada require above a certain capacity
- Promotion: posters, paid social posts, a photographer
- Insurance or permits, if the venue or city asks for them
Be honest about attendance
Next, guess how many tickets you’ll sell, then cut that number by a third. First events almost always draw fewer people than the organizer expects, and a price that only works at a full room is a price that loses money. Divide your fixed costs by that cautious number. The result is your break-even price per ticket.
Use tiers to reward early buyers
One flat price gives nobody a reason to buy today. Two or three tiers do. A limited early bird a little under your break-even price gets the first sales in and gives you something to post about. General admission sits at your target price. A last-release or door price a few dollars higher nudges the undecided to buy ahead of time, which also makes your door faster.
- Early bird: a small batch, for example the first 50 tickets
- General: your target price, available until a set date
- Final release or door: a few dollars more
Decide who pays the service fee
Paid tickets carry a small per-ticket service fee. You can add it to the buyer’s total or cover it yourself so the price on the poster is the price people pay. If you cover it, build it into your break-even maths before you set the price, not after.
Round numbers sell
Prices like $20, $25 and $35 read faster on a phone than $23.50. Keep the maths on your side, then round to a number people can remember and repeat to their friends. All prices on the site are in Canadian dollars, so there’s no conversion to explain.
See exactly what the fee comes to on a few common ticket prices.
View pricing