A good event is not one ticket at one price. Some guests buy the moment it goes on sale, some want a table and a better spot, and your regulars expect to be recognised. When the ticket types are built right, the same night brings in more sales, a shorter queue at the door and the knowledge of who your guests actually are.
This guide covers how to build your ticket types, how to reward loyal customers, and how Cluby handles the nights that do not go to plan.
1. Choose the ticket types to match the event
In Cluby you can sell several ticket types for the same event. Each one gets its own price, quota, maximum per buyer and sales window. Ticket types work in recurring events too, so a weekly club night only has to be built once.
The most common ticket types and where they work:
| Ticket type | Where it works |
|---|---|
| Early bird | Brings in sales as soon as the event goes live. A limited quota and a short sales window create urgency. |
| Basic ticket | The event’s main ticket, on sale the whole time. |
| VIP | A table, a better spot or a drink included in the price. Raises the average spend without raising the price of the whole night. |
| Cloakroom | A cloakroom ticket bought in advance speeds up the queue at the door. |
Example: a club night. 50 early bird tickets for the first week, a basic ticket until the end, 20 VIP tickets with a table reservation, and a cloakroom ticket for anyone who wants one.
Example: a wine tasting. One basic ticket and a limited number of member tickets for loyal customers before the general sale.
Tip: set a maximum per buyer when capacity is small. The tickets then reach more customers, and every buyer joins your loyalty register.
2. Reward loyal customers with tickets of their own
Your loyal customers deserve something an occasional visitor does not get. In Cluby you can:
- give card holders a member price
- limit a ticket type to members only
- include the ticket in the member card at no extra cost
- give an individual member a ticket straight from their profile in Partner Hub
A member ticket is what makes a member card genuinely valuable. When a VIP card includes access to events, or a subscriber gets a ticket type of their own, the card is easier to sell and members stay with you longer. This is not about a discount — it is about what the membership is worth.
3. Steer the sale during the night
You do not have to watch ticket sales. In Partner Hub you can:
- put the whole sale on hold or end it early
- pause and hide a single ticket type, for example once the early bird quota is gone
- tell customers that tickets are still available at the door
When capacity fills up, the event is marked sold out in the app automatically. A sold-out badge doubles as marketing for the next night.
4. Handle changes without an email scramble
Things do not always go to plan. A band falls ill, the weather changes everything, or a performer is swapped. In Cluby the changes are handled from one place:
The event is postponed
leave the new date open or move the event straight to a new day. The tickets already bought move with it.
The event is cancelled
buyers are refunded automatically.
A single refund
refund one purchase or every purchase for the event straight from Partner Hub. The payment goes back to the customer’s original payment method.
The customer always sees the event’s current status in the app: sold out, postponed, or tickets available at the door. You do not have to answer the same question dozens of times.
5. Decide whether a ticket can be passed on
When a customer cannot make it, passing the ticket on fills the spot. In Cluby the transfer right can be limited per ticket type. You could allow VIP tickets to be transferred, for example, while the cloakroom ticket stays with its buyer. The customer passes the ticket to another Cluby user with a phone number, and the new ticket holder joins your loyalty register.
6. Make the door fast
At the door the ticket is activated in a view showing the event, the ticket, the guest and a counter. Your staff can see at a glance which ticket it is and how many guests are already inside. The activation is valid for 30 seconds, which reduces misuse.
7. Learn from every event
After the event, Partner Hub tells you what worked:
- ticket sales grouped by price
- when the tickets were bought, as a heatmap
- when the guests arrived
- the age and gender distribution of the buyers
- ticket holders filtered by whether the ticket was bought, transferred, received through a member card or given
That tells you whether the early bird works, when to send a reminder, and who to market the next event to. You can send a push message straight to the event’s ticket holders — a thank you and an invitation to the next night, for example.
Why ticket sales belong in your own loyalty programme
Every ticket buyer joins your loyalty programme. The restaurant pays no per-ticket sales commission, and the buyer is charged a service fee. Ticket revenue is settled once a month. Once a customer is in your register, you can invite them to the next night directly — no ad budget, no algorithm.
More than 10,000 events have been run through Cluby, and Samppalinna in Turku, for one, has sold over 44,000 tickets through it.
Start with your next event
Already a Cluby customer? Sign in to Partner Hub and add an early bird and a member ticket to your next event. It takes a few minutes.
Not using Cluby yet? Start for free or book a meeting. Cluby is free up to 100 members, and every feature is available right away. Read more about ticket sales and events.
