How to create complimentary (free) ticket types and enable via a Secret Shop

Introduction

This is the recommended method for creating complimentary (free) tickets.

By creating new ticket types and enabling via a Secret Shop, each ticket has its own name, ticket ID, and price, which allows for better tracking and reporting compared to other methods (such as using the free Tickets module without creating new ticket types, which, while quicker, simply converts a full-priced ticket to $0). Common reasons for issuing free tickets include, but are not limited to:

  • Providing Sponsors with free tickets to an event
  • Providing Companion Card holders with free tickets to an event
  • Providing Staff or Volunteers with free tickets to an event

Note: Creating free tickets does not generate a checkout, deposit a cash flow or create a transaction. This means that you will not be able to access specific functions such as extra fields for transactions or the generation of an order confirmation page. If you are expecting an incoming payment or you have already received money, it is recommended to create an internal transaction. No Customer charges or system charges are incurred when issuing free tickets.

Summary

The process is straightforward and broken down into 3 simple steps:

  1. Create your ticket types in the main event, ensuring they are not visible to the public.
  2. Create and configure a Secret Shop
  3. Issue tickets via the Ticket Module by selecting the Secret Shop event instead of the main event or via a bulk upload and including the undershopID.

Help Guide

For the purpose of this help article, we’ve outlined steps using the following scenario:

  • We want to create two complimentary ticket types: Sponsor Ticket and Player Pass
  • Our venue capacity is 500, so tickets must be capped in line with the main event capacity
  • We want these tickets hidden from the public
  • Tickets will be issued internally, individually on demand

Step 1 - Create your ticket types in the main event

  1. Open your event (click Events module in the main account menu to find your events)
  2. Click Ticket Categories (via the event menu)
  3. Click + Add Ticket Type in the relevant category (see below if pop up appears)
  4. Name each ticket, set the ticket type volume, and assign the price as $0.
  5. Important: ensure tickets are toggled OFF here (deactivated in the main event)
  6. Click Save

Consider the category volume and whether the new ticket types should count toward this capacity. You can also check the maximum event ticket volume by clicking Sales, this shows the total number of tickets available across all categories.

If you already have existing Secret Shops for this event, a pop-up will appear asking whether you want the new ticket to be available or disabled. If you don’t want it to be available by default in all shops, click Disable on All Shops. You can then enable it in the relevant shops as needed.

Step 2 - Create a Secret Shop and/or assign tickets in an exsisting Secret Shop

  1. Whilst still remaining in the Main event, click Secret Shops (via the event menu). Any existing Secret Shops for this event will be displayed here.
  2. Click Add Secret Shop to create a new one
  3. By default, a New Secret Shop will appear in the list, click the 3 dot menu, click Edit to open the Secret Shop Settings
  4. All available settings can be accessed and configured from the top menu, in our example we have:

Information & Sales Tab

    • Named the shop
    • Added a secret shop description (optional)
    • Set the Sales Start and End date & time
    • Set the maximum number of tickets available for issuance via this secret shop
    • Set Inventory Strategy to: Capped by Event (our venue capacity is 500, so tickets must be capped in line with the main event capacity)
    • Set the maximum number of tickets per order
    • Click Save

Ticket Catgeories Tab

When creating a secret shop, it inherits the ticket type settings that were active in the regular event at the time the secret shop was created. Any subsequent changes in the event regarding ticket type name, description, activation, price, and volume will not be automatically updated in the secret shop and will need to be adjusted manually.

For this example, we only want to display complimentary ticket types in the Secret Shop. As a first step, click Disable All Ticket Types—this will switch everything off, allowing you to easily enable only the tickets you need.

    • Click Disable all Ticket Types
    • Click the category name to open the drop down list of available tickets.
    • Toggle ON (activate) the required tickets (example: Sponsor Ticket & Player Pass)
    • Click Save

Step 3 - Issue tickets via the Tickets Module or Bulk Ticket upload

Refer to our related articles (links are also provided at the bottom of this page).


Step by Step Guide - Images

Step 1.

Step 2

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