Waitlists
When every ticket is gone, customers can join your event's waitlist. Freed tickets are offered to them automatically, oldest first.
For hostsLast updated
On this page
Waitlists switch on by themselves when your event sells out — there's nothing to set up. When tickets free up, ShowTix emails the people waiting, oldest first. You can see who's waiting on your event's Waitlist tab.
How customers join#
When every ticket pool on your event has sold out, the ticket box on your event page changes to "This event is currently sold out" with Join Waitlist. Customers leave their name, email and phone number.
While any pool still has tickets, the waitlist isn't offered — customers just buy the tickets that are left. For the customer's side, see Waitlists.
Seeing who's waiting#
Open your event → Waitlist. You'll see:
On the waitlist, Waiting and Notified totals.
A list of customers, oldest first — the order they'll be offered tickets — with Customer, Phone, Joined and Status (Waiting or Notified).
The Waitlist tab is view-only.
When waitlisted customers are notified#
Customers on the waitlist are emailed automatically whenever capacity frees up on your event:
| What happens | Example |
|---|---|
| You add capacity | You raise a pool's quantity on the Tickets tab. |
| A ticket is refunded | You refund a ticket or approve a refund request. |
| An unpaid hold expires | A customer reserved tickets at checkout but didn't pay in time. |
ShowTix works out how many places are free, then emails that many people from the top of the list. If three places open up, the three oldest waiting customers are emailed. Nobody is emailed twice.
What the email says#
"Tickets just released for (event)" — "Good news — tickets became available…", the event details and a Get tickets link to your event page, then: "First come, first served. Grab yours before (time) — after that they may go to the next person in line." That time is 24 hours after the email is sent.
Tickets aren't held for the people emailed. The link goes to your normal event page, so anyone — including other customers — can buy the freed tickets first. A notified customer stays marked Notified whether or not they buy.
Releasing more tickets on purpose#
There's no Release button. To offer more tickets to your waitlist, raise the quantity of the sold-out pool on the Tickets tab — the waitlist is emailed straight away for the new places. See Ticket types and pricing.
Partners and webhooks#
If you use the Partner API, every automatic release sends a waitlist.released webhook. See Webhooks.
What's not available yet#
Choosing who on the list gets offered tickets, or emailing the list yourself.
Removing someone from the waitlist.
Holding tickets for the people you notify.
Exporting the waitlist.
Was this article helpful?