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Easy On-Line Event Ticketing?

Posted by timothy on from the graveyard-tours-free-to-all-takers dept.

Ronster writes "Dear /.ers (slash-daughters?) I am looking for an elegant online solution to a real-world annoyance. I lead regular tours of my local cemetery, which I enjoy immensely. However, I hate the administration - can you recommend an on-line service, or some software (ideally open source) that I could host on my website, that would allow people to register for these tours, perhaps issue them with a ticket, and even let them cancel their reservation, all without allowing the total number of reservations for each event becoming more than, say, 25? Thanks."

3 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. some thoughts... by ubiquitin · · Score: 3, Informative

    Cancelling the registrations is the hard part, as it means that an individual would have to be able to log back in. This means that the ticket-holder needs to have some password or other unique method for doing so. Perhaps consider handling this with a special cancellation link with a per-user hash that gets emailed to each ticket holder along with their confirmation. This requires email integration, not impossible obviously, but something that you'll want to give architectural consideration. If you come up with a detailed specification for your project submit it with your contact information to contact.phpconsulting.com, and I'll quote you on it.

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  2. Re:Not sure of any open source software but... by venomkid · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Define "couple hours"... because from what this person's asking, it could get pretty complex. Any time a calendar's involved, things can get pretty hairy pretty quickly with business rules, open days, etc. Not to mention setting up a system so they can return to the site and cancel (registration? some kind of random # on the ticket?) And if registering involves paying a fee of any kind...

    The way I see it, you might be able to design this in a "couple hours". Coding, testing...

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  3. Brown Paper Tickets by km790816 · · Score: 5, Informative
    http://www.brownpapertickets.com/producers.html

    The story: hippy response to TicketBastard.

    Free to set up events. No min or max. Many options for different prices, etc. They even handle mailing the tickets. They take a small % off the top of each ticket to cover their costs.

    In their own words:
    The only fair-trade ticketing service!

    Ticket buyers and event organizers have been held hostage by ticketing companies long enough. Our mission is to keep as much money in everyone's pockets as possible. That way, producers can put on more shows, performers can earn a better living, and ticket buyers can see more shows! That's what building a community is about.

    * Our service fees are the lowest in the industry (99 and 2.5%) - no kick back fees or mystery charges. Ever.
    * Charter Not-Just-For-Profit company, 5-star rating
    * At least 5% of our profits are donated back where they were earned to create more community

    You almost feel good about buying tickets from them. Crazy...
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    A speech...