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Comps and the guest list

Issue free guest-list tickets from the Guest list tab — paste names and emails, pick a ticket type, and each guest is emailed their own ticket.

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Open your event → Guest list → Issue comp tickets. Pick a ticket type, paste your guests (one per line) and choose Issue. Each guest gets a free ($0) ticket by email with their own QR code.

Before you start#

You need at least one ticket type on the Tickets tab. Until then the Guest list tab shows "Add a ticket type on the Tickets tab before issuing comps." See Ticket types and pricing.

You don't need a special "comp" ticket type — any ticket type works, and the guest pays nothing. If you want comps to stand out in reports, add a separate ticket type such as "Guest list" and keep it off your public page with Show to customers timing (see Hiding a ticket type).

Issue comp tickets#

  1. Choose a ticket type

    Use Ticket type. Each option shows the pool and ticket type, with how many are left (or "unlimited").

  2. Add a note (optional)

    Anything in Note to guests (optional) appears in the guest's email under "From the organiser" — for example "See you at the door!".

  3. Paste your guests

    Add one guest per line in Guests — one per line. The label counts how many it has detected. Any of these formats work:

    text
    Ada Lovelace <ada@example.com>
bo@example.com, Bo Guest
charlie@example.com

    Blank lines are ignored, and a line without an email address is skipped. Each line is one ticket — to give someone two tickets, add them on two lines.

  4. Issue

    Choose Issue N comps. A message confirms how many were issued.

What guests receive#

Each guest is emailed "You're on the guest list for (event)". It shows the event details, your note, a View your ticket button and "Show the QR code on your ticket page at the door." The ticket page has their QR code, the same as a paid ticket.

Capacity#

Comps count against capacity. A comp takes a place in the ticket type's pool exactly like a sale, so it can never oversell the event.

If there isn't room for everyone you pasted, the guests that fit are issued and the rest are listed in an error message with the reason:

Reason shownWhat it means
no capacity leftThe pool is full. Raise the pool's quantity on Tickets, or pick another ticket type.
missing emailThe line had no email address.
invalid emailThe email address isn't valid.
could not be issuedSomething else went wrong — try that guest again.

Guests who failed weren't issued anything, so you can fix the lines and issue them again without creating duplicates.

The guest list table#

Under the form, Guest list · N lists every comp ticket for the event with the guest, Ticket type, Issued time and Status — pending until they arrive, checked in once they're scanned, or cancelled if the ticket was voided.

Comp guests also appear on the Check-ins tab and in the Attendees CSV export, where the Comp column says Yes and Order Ref says Comp. See Attendees and exports.

Money#

Comp tickets cost the guest nothing, carry no booking fee, and add nothing to your payout. See Payouts.

Things you can't do yet#

  • Cancel a single comp. There's no button to void a comp ticket in the web console yet. Contact support@showtix.com.au if you need one cancelled.

  • Resend a comp email. The guest list has no resend button, and the Resend button on Reporting is for paid orders. Ask the guest to check their spam folder first, or contact support.

Cancelling the whole event refunds paying customers and emails them, but guest-list guests have no order, so they aren't emailed. Send them an update from the Announce tab first. See Refunds and cancellations.

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