The booking fee: the buyer pays it, or you do
A fee on top, a fee built into the price, or no fee at all: what each looks like at checkout, the arithmetic for a whole show, and the emails each one brings.
Aug 25, 2026 · 5 min read
The poster says $20. A parent buys four tickets, gets to the last screen, and sees $84. Ten minutes later you have an email with the subject line "Hidden fees??", and they're not entirely wrong. You didn't hide anything. You just showed them the full price last.
Selling tickets online costs money, and someone pays it. The only real decision is who, and how plainly you say so. It's worth settling before fall shows go on sale, because changing it halfway through a run looks worse than any choice you could have made.
What it actually costs to sell a ticket
Most of it is the card fee. Stripe's standard rate is 2.9% plus 30¢ for each payment, and your ticketing software may take a small share of its own on top.
Work it through for a family of four at $20 a ticket:
- The order is $80.
- The card fee is 2.9% of $80 ($2.32) plus 30¢: $2.62.
- Add a software fee of, say, 0.2% (16¢), and the order costs $2.78 to sell. About 70¢ a ticket.
A single $20 ticket costs more per seat, because the 30¢ lands on one ticket instead of four: about 92¢.
For a whole show, say 300 seats at $20, sold in orders of about four, that's roughly $210 on $6,000 of tickets. Not nothing, and not ruinous. The question is whose $210 it is.
Three ways to handle it
On top. The ticket is $20, and a booking fee of $1 a ticket is added at checkout. Buyers see $20 on the poster and $21 a seat at the end.
Built in. The ticket is $21, and that's what everyone pays. There's no fee line, because the cost is in the price.
Absorbed. The ticket is $20, buyers pay $20, and the $210 comes out of the show's takings.
Here's what each looks like to that family of four, before any tax:
| Way | The page says | They pay |
|---|---|---|
| On top | $20 + $1 fee | $84 |
| Built in | $21 | $84 |
| Absorbed | $20 | $80 |
The first two bring in exactly the same money. The difference is entirely in how it feels, and the fee on top feels worse every time, because the number at the end isn't the number they were promised.
The rules on advertised prices
There's also a reason beyond feelings. Regulators in both Canada and the US have been firm about "drip pricing": advertising one price and adding mandatory fees later in checkout. The details differ between the two countries, and they've changed in recent years, especially for live-event tickets. Check the current rules with the Competition Bureau in Canada or the FTC in the US, or ask whoever does your accounts.
The safe habit is simple: wherever you show a price, show what a buyer will really pay. If there's a booking fee, it's in the price on the poster, the email and the event page, not a surprise on the last screen. Tax can usually still be added at the end, but check that too.
The arithmetic of each choice
A fee on top covers your costs exactly and keeps your ticket price looking round. But a $1 fee on a $20 ticket is 5%, which is more than it costs you. That's fine, but be ready to say what it's for. The fee is charged by card too, so it carries its own 2.9%: a dollar a ticket nets you about 97¢.
Built in is the cleanest. Pick a price that covers the cost and is still a round number: $21 is fine, $22 gives you room for the single-seat buyers and a few refunds. Nobody has ever emailed a studio to complain that a ticket cost what it said it cost.
Absorbing costs you 3 to 4% of ticket sales. For a free or very cheap event it's often the only sensible answer: a $2 booking fee on a $5 community showcase ticket is an insult. For a recital where families are already paying a costume fee and a recital fee, absorbing it is a small kindness that's noticed.
The complaints, and what to say
Whatever you choose, three questions come in every season. Have the answers ready.
"What's this fee for?" If you charge one, say it plainly:
The $1 booking fee on each ticket covers the card processing and the ticketing system, so the ticket price itself goes to the show. You won't pay it on tickets bought at the door.
"Do I get the fee back?" Decide now and put it in the event description. A fair rule: if you cancel the show, everything comes back, fees included. If a buyer returns a ticket, the ticket price comes back and the fee doesn't, because the card fee on it was already paid and usually isn't returned to you either.
"Why is there a fee on free tickets?" There shouldn't be. A booking fee belongs on paid tickets only. If your event has free child tickets alongside $20 adult ones, charge the fee on the adults.
What to choose
For a recital or showcase where nearly every buyer is one of your families, build it in or absorb it. They're your customers all year, and the goodwill is worth more than the $210.
For a theatre company selling to the public, a booking fee is normal, but show it in the advertised price from the start. "$20 + $1 booking fee" on the poster gets no angry emails. A surprise $1 on the last screen gets plenty.
In Caletan
In Caletan, you choose for each event: you pay the fees, or buyers pay a booking fee you set on each paid ticket. Buyers see it at checkout before they pay, and tickets sold at the door carry none. Refunding one ticket keeps its booking fee; cancelling a show refunds every order in full, fees included. See events and shows, and our pricing for what each plan costs.
