How ticketing fees work, and who pays what
Before you choose a ticketing platform, know every fee between a buyer's card and your bank. There are usually three, and different people pay them.
1. The ticket price (and GST)
You set the ticket price. If you are registered for GST, 10% is added at checkout and the receipt is a tax invoice. If you are not, nothing is added. GST you collect is not income: you report it to the ATO.
2. The booking fee
Most platforms charge the buyer a booking fee for taking the order and issuing the tickets. It is separate from your ticket price, and the buyer sees it before they pay.
Platforms work it out in different ways:
- A fee per ticket grows with every ticket in the order.
- A percentage fee grows with your ticket price.
- A flat fee per order stays the same, however many tickets are in it.
GATE98 charges one flat booking fee per order. See pricing for the amount.
3. The card processing fee
Every card payment costs something to process. With GATE98, you pay the card fee out of each payment. Stripe, our payment provider, works it out on the whole payment, including the booking fee, because it does not split a payment by who receives what.
What GATE98 charges you
Some platforms also take a share of your ticket sales. GATE98 does not. Its income is the booking fee, which your buyer pays on top of your ticket price, so GATE98 charges you nothing. You still pay the card fee.
Working out what you receive
An example with two tickets at $30.00, at the rates on our pricing page when we wrote this:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Ticket sales | $60.00 |
| Booking fee (paid by the buyer) | added on top |
| Card processing fee | taken from the payment |
| GATE98 charges you | $0.00 |
To skip the sums, use the fee calculator. It shows what your buyer pays and what lands in your account as you type.
Questions to ask any platform
- Who pays the booking fee, and does it grow with the number of tickets?
- Does the platform also take a share of my ticket sales?
- Is there a monthly or setup fee?
- Is the money paid into my own account, or does the platform hold it?
- What happens to the fees if I cancel the event?
Fees can change. The fee when an order is placed is the one that applies to it. For GATE98's rules, read our Organiser Terms and Refund Policy.