How to price a ticket
Last updated August 27, 2026 · 1 min read
Most first events are priced by looking at what someone else charges. That number carries their costs, their room, and their reputation rather than yours, so work it out from your own floor instead.
Start at the break-even
Add up everything that happens whether or not anyone comes: room, sound, security, artists, and insurance. Divide by a realistic attendance, which is not capacity, and for a first event is not more than half of it.
That number is your floor. Anything below it means you are paying for the privilege of hosting.
Add the fees you pay
Card processing and the platform fee come off each ticket. Price with them in mind, or decide deliberately to absorb them.
Absorbing fees is a real option and it makes the number on the poster the number at checkout, which reduces abandoned carts.
Then look at the market
Now compare with comparable nights in your city. If your floor is above the going rate, the answer is a cheaper room or a bigger one, and never a price nobody will pay.