Refunds and cancellations

Refunds are up to you as the host. Customers can ask for one from their order, you approve or decline it on your event's Refunds tab, and approved refunds go back to the customer's original payment method. You can also refund a ticket yourself, or cancel the whole event and refund everyone in one go.

A refund returns the ticket price, not the booking fee. Every refund window has an Also refund the booking fee option. Tick it to give the customer everything they paid — you'll be out of pocket by the fee, because booking fees aren't returned to ShowTix. See Booking fees on refunds.

Refund requests from customers#

Customers request a refund from their order page, optionally with a reason. You're emailed "New refund request for (event)" with the customer's email, the order and their reason. A customer can have one pending request per order.

Open your event → Refunds. The list starts on Pending; switch to Approved, Declined or All with the menu. Each request shows the Buyer and order, Reason, Paid, Requested and Status.

Approving a request#

Choose Approve. The window shows what the customer gets back and what comes off your payout. Tick Also refund the booking fee if you want to return that too, then Approve & refund. This:

• refunds the whole order — the ticket prices (plus the booking fee if you ticked it), less anything you've already refunded on it;

• cancels the order's tickets, so they no longer scan at the door;

• emails the customer that their refund is approved, with the amount and whether the booking fee was included.

It can't be undone. If the payment provider rejects the refund, you'll see "The refund didn't go through", nothing is refunded, and the request stays Pending so you can try again.

Declining a request#

Choose Decline, add an optional Note to buyer (optional), then Decline request. The customer is emailed that their refund wasn't approved, with your note. Their tickets stay valid and no payment is touched.

Refunding a single ticket#

To refund one ticket from an order, or give part of the money back:

1. Find the ticket

   Open your event → Reporting → Issued tickets. Search for the customer.

2. Choose Refund

   Choose Refund on their ticket. The Refund ticket window shows what they paid, the booking fee and how much can still be refunded. The amount starts at the ticket price excluding the booking fee — lower it for a partial refund, or tick Also refund the booking fee to refund up to everything they paid.

3. Keep or cancel the ticket

   Invalidate the ticket (it can no longer be scanned at the door) is on by default. Turn it off if you're giving money back but the customer is still coming (for example, a goodwill partial refund).

4. Confirm

   Choose Refund $X. The money goes back to the original payment method in one transaction.

You can't refund more than the ticket price (or, with the booking fee ticked, more than the customer paid). Refunding from Reporting doesn't email the customer — let them know yourself.

Cancelling an event#

If your event isn't going ahead, cancel it and refund everyone at once:

1. Open the Danger zone

   Your event → Settings → Danger zone → Cancel & refund.

2. Read the summary

   The window shows how many paid orders will be refunded and what customers get back. Each order is refunded the ticket price. Tick Also refund the booking fees to refund everything customers paid — the window shows how much you'll be out of pocket. Your choice applies to every order.

3. Type CANCEL

   Type CANCEL in the box, then choose Cancel & refund all. Choose Keep event to back out.

What happens next:

• The event is marked cancelled and taken off sale and off the public site.

• Every paid order is refunded to its original payment method.

• Each customer gets one email: "(event) has been cancelled — you've been refunded", with the amount, whether the booking fee was included, and "card refunds usually land within 5–10 business days".

• Customers with free orders get an email saying their tickets have been cancelled.

• A results window lists each order. If any refunds failed, you'll see "Some refunds didn't go through" — those customers haven't been refunded or emailed yet.

Retrying failed refunds#

Go back to Settings → Danger zone and choose Retry refunds. Only orders that weren't refunded are processed — nobody is refunded twice. If you tick Also refund the booking fees on a retry, orders already refunded get just their booking fee back.

Postponing or changing an event#

There's no separate "postpone" or "reschedule" action, and a live event's date and venue can't be changed from Settings yet — contact support@showtix.com.au to move them (see Editing details later). Then tell ticket holders with Announce — changes don't email customers on their own. Customers who can't make the new date can request a refund from their order, and you approve it on the Refunds tab.

Booking fees on refunds#

By default a refund returns the ticket price excluding the booking fee — the part of the sale that's yours — so a refund never costs you more than you earned. If you also refund the booking fee, the customer gets back everything they paid and you're out of pocket by the fee: booking fees aren't returned to ShowTix.

Promo-code orders work the same way on the discounted price the customer actually paid. Every refund window shows the exact amounts before you confirm.

See Fees explained for how the booking fee is worked out.

Refunds made before your payout settles come straight off it. If your payout has already been paid and you need to refund, contact support@showtix.com.au first. See Payouts.

Refunds and your waitlist#

Refunding a ticket frees its place. If your event has a waitlist, the people waiting are emailed automatically. See Waitlists.

Your refund policy#

ShowTix doesn't set a refund policy for your event. Customers see a request option on their order, and you decide case by case. Our terms say tickets are refunded if an event is cancelled. If you have your own policy (for example, no refunds within 48 hours of the event), put it in your event description and in your note when you decline.