Understanding ticket fees

Overview

Between the price your guests pay and the amount that lands in your account, there are fees. How high they are depends less on the percentage in the ad than on how the building blocks work together. This guide takes a ticket fee apart and shows you how to compare offers.

The building blocks

Most ticketing providers combine some of these parts:

• A percentage of the ticket price, sometimes of the price before VAT.
• A fixed amount per ticket.
• A service fee per order, however many tickets are in it.
• A minimum or maximum fee per ticket.
• Payment processing: card fees are either included or charged on top.
• VAT on the fee: for associations and small businesses that can't deduct input VAT, it is a real cost.

Then there are questions that cost nothing but tie up money: when do you get paid, and does the provider hold back a reserve until after the event?

Who pays the fee

There are two models:

• Added on top: the fee comes on top of the ticket price, and guests pay more than the price you set.
• Taken off: guests pay the price you set, and the fee comes off your revenue.

On price display, Austrian law says: prices for consumers must be shown including VAT and all other levies and surcharges (§ 9 (1) PrAG, the Price Marking Act). A surcharge for a particular payment method, such as card payment, is not allowed (§ 56 (3) ZaDiG 2018, the Payment Services Act).

How Gathermatter charges

Free: 4% + €0.10 per paid ticket, at least €0.35. Payment fee included.

Pro: No platform fee up to €50,000.00 in ticket revenue per subscription year, then 1% on revenue above it €69.00 a month or €490.00 per subscription year. Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay: 1.5% + €0.25; EPS: 1.6% + €0.25; each plus a 20% cost share

The pricing page shows the new conditions for new spaces. Its calculator uses those published conditions. Set your ticket price and expected sales there.

Comparing providers

Compare providers on the same basket: the same ticket price, the same number of tickets, the same number of orders. For each provider, check:

• Which of the building blocks above does it charge, and what base does it take the percentage of?
• Are card fees included?
• Does VAT come on top of its fee, and can you deduct it as input VAT?
• Do guests pay the price you set, or more?
• When do you get your money, and is there a reserve?

The pricing page compares Gathermatter with providers that publish their prices on exactly these points, with a source and a date for every figure.

With Gathermatter

• You see the fees you paid under Finance › Documents, in the fee statements and in every payout statement.
• The guide Payouts, receipts and the cash register explains how payouts work.
• The fees per ticket are also in the template from the guide Budget and P&L.

Sources

• Preisauszeichnungsgesetz § 9 (gross prices)
• Zahlungsdienstegesetz 2018 § 56 (charges for payment instruments)
• Gathermatter pricing

Compare your fees

Under Finance › Fees we reprice your orders from the last twelve months using your current tier and original baskets. The comparison starts with the full Pro allowance each subscription year. Refunded ticket revenue does not consume it. Subscription and refund costs are outside the comparison.

Examples show up to five of your ticket prices, each for one ticket and one card payment. Without sales, you see five examples. Gift-card orders use the fee on the paid remainder.

For your actual allowance in the current subscription year, only ticket revenue after the switch to the new conditions counts. The next subscription year counts in full.