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Accept Pre-Registrations with a Card on File

Allow people to hold or reserve tickets with a card on file that you can charge later, or screen attendees prior to accepting payments

Katie Runyan avatar
Written by Katie Runyan
Updated this week

Pre-registration offers a convenient way for attendees to sign up for your event without immediate payment. By utilizing pre-registration, you can collect necessary information and secure credit card details from attendees, charging them only after you have approved their applications. This feature is particularly beneficial in situations where there is a chance that your event might not take place, such as due to weather conditions or permitting issues. This feature is also useful when you want to personally review and approve people prior to accepting and completing their order.

With pre-registration, each order's status is marked as "Pre-Registration" until you choose to approve their order, at which point their card will be charged. You have the flexibility to approve orders collectively on a specific date or manage approvals individually at your convenience.

Note: When the Pre-Register feature is enabled, memberships on our Membership Manager feature cannot be purchased.

In addition, Pre-Registration is not compatible with pages processing in CAD, GBP, Euros, or SEK.

Pre-Registration Pricing: $0.99 per ticket submitted through Pre-Registration. This fee applies whether or not the order is approved β€” even if you choose not to accept an application, the $0.99 fee per ticket still applies. When using Pre-Registration, you will be asked to put a credit/debit card on file (if you haven't already). That card will be charged once every 30 days for the number of people who pre-register during that timeframe.

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Enable Pre-Registration

  • From the Pages screen, click the pencil icon on the page for which you'd like to enable Pre-Registration

  • Scroll down to the Billing Information section

  • Hover your mouse over the Payment Method field, and click the pencil icon

  • Toggle Allow Pre Registration to On

  • Customize the label, if desired

  • If you only want to allow people to pre-register for your event, toggle Allow Credit Card (and any other payment methods) to Off

  • Click Done

  • Click Save Now in the upper-right corner of your page to save your changes. Click Publish to publish these changes to your live page


Customize Pre-Registration Messages

When attendees pre-register for your event, we display a message on the ticketing page and the confirmation page telling the attendee that they are reserving their spot for your event, but their order is not complete and their card will not be charged until a later time. Users can customize this pre-registration message if desired.

  • From the Page builder, hover your mouse over Settings in the top menu bar

  • Select Pre-Registration from the dropdown

  • Customize your text and formatting in the text fields on this page


Attendee Experience

When an attendee pre-registers for your event, they initially visit your event ticketing page and fill out all of the required event data and billing information.

When they select the Pre-Registration payment option, they will see a message notifying them that they are pre-registering for the event, and their card will not be charged until a later time. Once they submit their order, our system will perform a $1 pre-authorization to verify their billing details are valid. This $1 pre-authorization will fall off their bank statement within 24 hours.

Pro Tip: Attendees won't receive a ticket until their pre-registration is completed. After a user approves the pre-registration, the attendee's credit card will be charged, and they will receive a confirmation email with their ticket(s).


Edit a Pre-Registration

Pre-registrations can be edited if needed before completing the order. By editing a pre-registration, our system will update the final amount that will be charged.

  • From the Pages screen, click the Orders tab from the top menu bar

  • If desired, filter the status by Pre Registrations to make searching easier

  • Search for the attendee's name, order number, or billing email in the search box

  • Click the pencil icon next to the order you want to edit

  • Make your necessary changes, and click Save Changes

  • If you would to complete the order, click Complete Order on the right-hand side


Complete Your Pre-Registrations

When you complete the pre-registration(s), our system will send you an email notifying you of which orders have been completed and whether any credit cards were declined. After a pre-registration is completed, the attendee's credit card will be charged, and they will receive a confirmation email with their ticket(s). TicketSpice will then record the order as "Completed" in the system and update any reporting to reflect the order's new status. Users can choose to complete pre-registrations individually or complete multiple pre-registrations at once.

Complete Pre-Registrations Individually

  • Click the Orders tab from the top menu bar

  • Click Pre-Registrations

  • Search for the attendee's name, order number, or billing email in the search box

  • Click Complete next to the order you want to complete

  • Click Yes to confirm you would like to complete the order

Complete Multiple Pre-Registrations at Once

  • Click the Registrations tab from the top menu bar

  • Click Pre-Registrations

  • Click the checkbox next to the pre-registrations you want to complete, or click the Complete All checkbox next to the Names field

  • Select Complete Selected on the top right-hand corner


Managing Declines

If an order declines, we will send the attendee an email with a link to update their card on file so they can complete their order for your event. If the attendee uses this link to update their card on file, our system immediately attempts to charge the new card.

Pro Tip: If the attendee does not update their card after their card is declined, TicketSpice will attempt to run the same card on file again two more times every other day. Each time the card is declined, our system sends an email to the attendee with a link inviting them to update their credit card details.This link expires in 72 hours.

After the third declined attempt, TicketSpice will stop attempting to charge the card on file, and the order will remain in a Pre-Registered state until a user cancels their order, or the attendee provides updated card information.

Update an Attendee's Billing Information in TicketSpice

If the attendee would prefer to contact you to give their contact information, or if the update link is now expired, a user can update the attendee's billing information in TicketSpice itself.

  • To update a pre-registered attendee's billing information, click the Registrations tab from the top menu bar

  • Click Pre-Registrations

  • Find the order, and click Update Card

  • Enter their updated information and save


Pre-Registration Analytics and Reporting

Once the order is submitted, this order can be viewed under the Orders Tab in the main page navigation bar. The order is in a "Pre-Registered" status until a user on the account completes it. Any Pre-Registrations that are not completed will appear under the "Pre-Registered" status in your reports.

Page Analytics

You can quickly see how many orders have pre-registrants have signed up and see your potential revenue on the Page Analytics screen.

Pro Tip: Any Pre-Registrations will not contribute to the completed orders, the revenue or completed number of tickets until they have been marked as complete. Once you complete a pre-registration, this order will now contribute to the completed ticket count and revenue for the event.

In addition, Pre-Registrations cannot be scanned in with the Scanning App until their order has been Completed.

  • On the Pages screen, our system will list pre-registrations separately

    • If using the Block display, the system will list the pre-registrations and the potential sales from these pre-registrations under the lines for completed gross revenue and completed tickets

    • If using the In-Line display, the system will list the completed revenue and ticket count on the left, and the pre-registration revenue and ticket count on the right

  • On the Analytics for the page, our system will add a line for any pending revenue for your Pre-Registrations


FAQs

Is Pre-Registration compatible with International currencies?

Pre-Registration is not currently available on pages processing in CAD, GBP, Euros, or SEK.

How do I cancel a Pre-Registration?

Canceling a pre-registration will open a spot on your ticketing page if you have limited inventory for your event.

  • Click the Registrations tab from the top menu bar

  • Search for the attendee's name, order number, or billing email in the search box

  • Click the eye icon next to the order you want to cancel

  • Select Cancel Order

  • Select the Option(s) you would like to cancel, and select if you would like to send the attendee a cancellation notice

  • Click the checkbox confirming your decision to cancel the order

  • Click Cancel Order

Does the Pre-Registration feature deduct inventory from inventory, session and merchandise capacities, etc?

Yes, if you have limited capacity or supply limits set, a pre-registration order will deduct from the available inventory. Merchandise inventory will also be deducted if there is a limited supply.

Example: Your event is selling 25 VIP spots and accepting Pre-Registrations only. The first 25 people to sign up for this VIP option will be pre-registered for it, selling it out. No one else would be able to pre-register for this option unless a user later cancels orders from the Pre-Registration list.

If I later decide that I want to switch my page to accept live sales, what do I do?

If you later decide that you want to switch your page to accept live sales and charge/complete a person's order immediately upon purchasing tickets for your event, we recommend doing the following:

  • Complete any Pre-Registrations you have already received

  • From there, go to the Pages screen, and click the pencil icon on the page for which you'd like to enable Pre-Registration

  • Scroll down to the Billing Information section

  • Hover your mouse over the Payment Method field, and click the pencil icon

  • Toggle Allow Pre Registration to Off

  • Toggle Allow Credit Card (and offline payments if desired) to On

  • Click Done

  • Click Save Now in the upper-right corner of your page to save your changes. Click Publish to publish these changes to your live page

Can I only require attendees to pre-register when they select a specific ticket level?

Yes, you can definitely configure your page to only require attendees to pre-register on a specific ticket level using the Pre-Registration option and Actions.

  • Go to the Pages screen, and click the pencil icon on the page for which you'd like to enable Pre-Registration

  • Scroll down to the Billing Information section

  • Hover your mouse over the Payment Method field, and click the pencil icon

  • Toggle Allow Pre Registration to On

  • Customize the label, if desired

  • Click Done

  • From the Page Builder, click the Actions tab in the top menu bar

  • Click Create Your First Action, or click the + icon on your action if you already have actions on your page

  • On the left-hand side, select the ticket level for which you want to require pre-registration

  • Select Is Selected

  • On the right-hand side, find and select Show

  • Scroll to bottom of your available fields and select Pre Register

  • Click the + option on the right-hand side to add another action

  • Find and select Hide

  • Scroll to the bottom of your available fields and select Credit Card (and any other payment methods)

  • Click Save Action

  • Click Save Now in the upper-right corner of your page to save your changes. Click Publish to publish these changes to your live page

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