The problem
End-of-season presentation nights, race nights and Christmas socials are sold by team managers taking cash, with the caterer asking for numbers nobody has. With 3 events a year of about 150 tickets, collecting money and keeping lists takes about 12 hours an event, 36 hours a year, 3 hours a month averaged out.
What the AI does
Ticket Tailor is an online ticketing system with no monthly fee. Its UK pricing page lists pay as you go at $0.80£0.60€0.71A$1.15C$1.13 per paid ticket plus VAT, card payments through your own Stripe, PayPal or Square account, a free check-in app for the door, and the option to add a booking fee so buyers cover the fees. Set each event up with its capacity, adult and junior prices and a meal choice question, share the link in the club's channels, and the caterer gets numbers from the sales list. Volunteers scan tickets on their phones at the door.
A worked example
A rugby club in Gloucester holds a junior presentation day, a senior awards dinner and a Christmas social, about 450 tickets a year at $20£15€18A$29C$28 on average, mostly in about 200 orders.
Before
About 12 hours an event collecting cash and keeping lists: 36 hours a year
After
About 1 hour an event setting up and checking sales: 3 hours a year
What it's worth
About $55£41€49A$79C$77 a month in volunteer time saved, averaged over the year, against $0£0€0A$0C$0 to $52£39€46A$75C$73 a month in fees. 33 hours a year saved (36 minus 3), 2.75 hours a month, valued at an assumed $20£15€18A$29C$28 an hour. Fees for 450 tickets: $431£324€386A$622C$609 to Ticket Tailor (60p plus VAT each) and about $188£141€168A$271C$265 to Stripe (1.5% of $8,978£6,750€8,033A$12,960C$12,690 plus 20p on 200 orders), $618£465€553A$893C$874 a year, about $52£39€46A$75C$73 a month, or nothing to the club if buyers pay a booking fee.
How to set it up
- Sign up for Ticket Tailor and connect the club's own Stripe, PayPal or Square account.
- Create each event with its capacity, prices and any meal choices the caterer needs.
- Decide whether to add a booking fee to cover costs, and show it before checkout.
- Share the link through the club's usual channels with a closing date for meal orders.
- Install the free check-in app on two volunteers' phones and test scanning before the night.
What goes wrong
- Card processing fees come from Stripe, PayPal or Square on top of Ticket Tailor's ticket fee.
- Free tickets, such as for juniors at the presentation day, cost nothing up to 5,000 a year, but still collect only the details you need.
- Check the venue capacity and your license for alcohol and late events before setting numbers.
- Write a refund policy on the event page before sales open.