How to run a Black Friday ticket sale

1. Decide what is on sale and for how long

A Black Friday sale works best when it is short and clear. Before you touch any settings, write down three things:

• Which event and which tickets. An event that is still a few months away gains the most: early sales pay deposits and show you demand. You can put all tickets on sale or only some ticket types.
• How big the deal is. A percent off (20% off) works across all prices. A fixed amount ($10 off) reads well on one higher priced ticket. Check that the discounted price still covers your costs with the ticket pricing calculator and the break-even calculator.
• When it starts and ends. Black Friday only, the weekend through Cyber Monday, or the whole week. Pick an exact end time, not just a day.

Swarmtix has three tools for this, and you can mix them: a cheaper ticket type with an end date, a discount (with a code or shown to everyone), and an access code that unlocks a hidden ticket. The sections below show when to use each.

2. Add a Black Friday ticket type with a sales end date

The simplest sale is its own ticket type. Each ticket type in Swarmtix has its own name, description, price and quantity, and its own sales start and end dates.

• Name it so buyers see the deal, for example "Black Friday early bird".
• Set a lower price and a quantity, so it can sell out.
• Set the sales start to when your sale opens and the sales end to when it closes. The ticket type then appears and disappears on its own.
• Set the sales start of your regular ticket to the moment the Black Friday ticket ends, so there is always one price on sale.

This is the classic early bird pricing setup, with a Black Friday name and a short window. The creating an event guide shows where the ticket settings are.

3. Create a discount code with start and end dates

A coded discount only works when the buyer types the code at checkout. It suits a deal you share with a list: your newsletter, your social followers or a partner.

• Open your event, go to Discounts / Access Codes, click Add New and pick Coded Discount.
• Enter a short code such as BLACKFRIDAY. Codes are not case sensitive.
• Choose a percent or a fixed amount, and all tickets or only some ticket types.
• Set the start date and the end date, so the code works only during your sale. Add a usage limit if you want the first 50 buyers only.
• Use the Share icon to copy a link that opens your event with the code already applied. Put that link in your emails and posts.

Discounts can't be edited after you create them. Check the dates and the amount before your sale starts; to change one, delete it and create it again. The promo codes guide covers every setting.

4. Or show the discount to everyone, with no code

A public discount is shown on your event page automatically, so every visitor sees the deal without a code. Use it when you want the sale to work for people who find your event on their own, for example through search or a shared link.

• In Discounts / Access Codes, click Add New and pick Public Discount.
• Give it a name that appears on the event page, such as "Black Friday: 20% off".
• Set the amount, the ticket types it applies to, a usage limit if you want one, and the start and end dates.

Use a public discount or a coded one for the same tickets, not both, so buyers don't wonder which deal they got.

5. Give past attendees first access with an access code

Your past attendees are the people most likely to buy again. Reward them with a deal nobody else sees:

• Create a ticket type at the Black Friday price and turn on Only Available with Access Code. It stays hidden on the event page.
• In Discounts / Access Codes, add an Access to Hidden Tickets code and pick that ticket type.
• Send the code to past attendees only. Give the ticket type a start date a day before the public sale, and they get first pick.

An access code unlocks the ticket; it does not change the price. The price is the one you set on the hidden ticket type. A direct checkout link takes buyers straight to checkout with the ticket picked.

6. Set a clear end time, and say it

A deadline is what makes a sale work, but only if buyers trust it.

• Put the end date and time on every ticket type and discount in the sale, so the deal stops on its own.
• Dates follow your event's timezone. Check the timezone in your event settings before the sale starts.
• Write the exact end in your event description, emails and posts: "Black Friday price ends Monday at 11:59 pm Eastern".
• When it ends, let it end. Bringing the same deal back next week teaches buyers to wait.

7. Tell past attendees first

Most Black Friday sales come from people who already know you. Before the sale, get your list ready:

• Open the attendee list of your past events in the Swarmtix dashboard and export it to CSV or Excel.
• Load it into the email tool you already use, and only email people who agreed to hear from you.
• Send one email when the sale opens, with the share link or the access code, and one short reminder on the last day with the end time.

Keep the email short: what the event is, the deal, the link and when it ends. Use the same words on your event page. The event description template helps with the page itself.

8. Do the fee math on the sale price

Swarmtix charges $0.99 + 1.5% per paid ticket. Free tickets are free. Stripe's card processing fee is extra and depends on your Stripe account. The fee is worked out on the price the buyer pays after the discount, and a ticket discounted to 0 adds no fee.

An example with a $40 ticket, when you absorb the fee:

Check the card fee for your country with the Stripe fee calculator, and see Swarmtix pricing for the full details. Ticket money goes to your own Stripe account, so sale revenue reaches you as you sell.