Early-bird pricing that works
Last updated August 27, 2026 · 1 min read
Early-bird pricing is a deadline rather than a discount. Done well, it converts the people who were always going to come, and early enough that their posts sell the rest of the room. Done badly, it sells the same tickets for less money.
Set the deadline before the price
Pick the date first. A good early-bird window closes ten to fourteen days before doors, which is long enough for buyers to make plans and short enough that the deadline feels real.
In The Marquee, an early-bird is a tier with a sales-end time. Create the tier, set the end, and the storefront stops selling it on the minute, so there is no manual switch to forget.
Price the gap, not the ticket
The number that matters is the gap between early-bird and general admission. Under 15% nobody hurries, and over 40% your general-admission price starts to look like a punishment.
A gap of 20 to 30% moves people without insulting the ones who buy later.
Cap it so it can sell out
Give the early-bird tier a quantity rather than an unlimited run. A tier that can sell out creates a second deadline, and "early-bird sold out" is a better announcement than "early-bird ends Friday" because it proves other people are coming.
A third of your room is a reasonable cap for a first event; a quarter once you have history.
Announce the close twice
Announce it once when there is a week left and once with twenty-four hours to go. Broadcast handles the second one to everyone who already has a ticket, so that they bring someone.
Set the announcement bar on your storefront to the same deadline. Anyone who lands from a link sees the clock without being told.