Exchange Tickets lets staff move a patron's existing tickets to a different performance, seat, or ticket type directly from the order page.
Tickets can even be exchanged into a different production. If the new tickets cost more or less than the originals, the difference can be collected or refunded as part of the exchange.
What Exchanges Can Do
With Exchange Tickets, you can:
Move tickets to any performance that's currently open for online sales, including a different production.
Switch between reserved seating and general admission when available.
Change ticket tiers.
Select new reserved seats.
See the price difference before confirming the exchange.
Collect additional payment when the new tickets cost more.
Refund the difference when the new tickets cost less.
Optionally charge or waive an exchange fee if your organization has one configured.ge the tickets.
How to Access Exchange Tickets
Open the patron's order from All Orders or Event Orders.
Find the Order Items section.
Locate the performance containing the tickets you want to move.
Click Exchange Tickets.
The exchange window opens directly on the order page.
If Exchange Tickets is greyed out, see the Troubleshooting section below. Common reasons include an incomplete order, a reconciled performance, or a payout that has already been issued.
Picking the New Tickets
The exchange window displays the tickets on the selected performance with the prompt:
Select the tickets you wish to exchange
For each ticket you want to move:
Click Exchange next to the ticket.
Under Event name, select the destination performance. Every eligible performance currently open for online sales appears in the list.
If the destination offers multiple seating types, select Reserved Seating or General Seating.
Choose the new Ticket tier.
For reserved seating, select the new seat on the seating chart and choose its tier.
Click Next.
The ticket row will update to show the original ticket details crossed out, with the new performance, seat, and/or tier displayed underneath.
Repeat these steps for each ticket you're exchanging.
Changed Your Mind?
Click Revert on an individual ticket's row to undo the staged exchange for that ticket.
â ď¸ Reserved Seat Selection
Each ticket needs its own destination seat. If two tickets in the same exchange are assigned to the same reserved seat, the exchange can't continue until you choose a different seat for one of them.
Understanding the Price Difference
Once at least one ticket is staged for exchange, a summary appears.
Depending on the exchange, it may include:
New ticket total
Less original paid
Sales tax difference
Exchange fee
The final amount due or refund due
What happens next depends on whether the new tickets cost more, less, or the same as the originals.
When the Patron Owes More: "Amount Due"
If the new tickets cost more:
Review the Amount due.
Click Collect Payment.
You'll be taken to the Box Office checkout with the payment options already open.
Collect the full difference using:
Cash
Check
Credit Card
Terminal
Once payment succeeds, the exchange is completed.
The full difference must be collected. Partial payment isn't available for an exchange.
Payment Protection: The exchange doesn't happen until payment is successful. If a card declines or checkout is canceled, the patron's original tickets remain unchanged.
Waiving the Price Increase
Don't want to charge the patron the difference?
Click Free exchange.
The tickets will move to their new destination, but no payment will be collected for the price increase.
Credit Card Fees: When the price difference is paid by Credit Card or Terminal, the applicable patron credit card fee is added to the increase. At checkout, the charge appears as Exchange price difference.
When the Patron Is Owed Money: "Refund Due"
If the new tickets cost less than the originals, the exchange summary displays Refund Due.
The primary action button will show the refund method based on how the original purchase was paid:
Refund Cash
Refund Credit Card
Refund Check
Refund Comp
Clicking the applicable refund button:
Refunds the price difference to the original payment method.
Completes the ticket exchange.
Split or Multiple Payment Methods
If the order was paid using split payment or multiple payment methods, the one-click refund option isn't available.
The refund button will be greyed out and a message will explain why.
Instead, click Exchange without Refund to move the tickets, then handle the refund separately.
When It's an Even Swap: "Difference: $0.00"
If the old and new tickets have the same value, no payment or refund is necessary.
Click Save and exchange to complete the exchange.
No money moves.
Exchange Fees
If your organization has an exchange fee configured, a Charge exchange fee toggle appears above the exchange summary whenever an exchange is staged.
Exchange fees are configured under:
Settings â Custom Fees
The fee must have Exchange selected as what it applies to.
How the Exchange Fee Works
Charge exchange fee is turned on by default.
Turn the toggle off to waive the fee for that individual exchange.
The fee is included when calculating the final exchange total.
An exchange fee can turn an otherwise even swap into an Amount Due.
After the exchange, the fee appears as its own Exchange Fee line in the order's Financial Summary.
What the Order Shows After an Exchange
After a successful exchange, you'll see an Exchange completed confirmation.
The order page will also update to document what changed.
Ticket Details
The ticket card displays:
The new performance.
The new seat, when applicable.
The new ticket tier.
An Exchanged chip.
An Exchanged From note showing the original ticket information.
Order History
Order History receives a new Exchanged entry showing the ticket's From and To details.
Depending on the exchange, you'll also see:
The payment collected for a price increase.
The refund issued for a price decrease.
A No Price Difference chip when no money moved.
A refund generated as part of an exchange doesn't change the overall order status. A standard exchange with a refund will not cause the order to display as Partially Refunded.
Troubleshooting
"Exchange Tickets" Is Greyed Out
Check whether:
The order isn't Completed. Reserved or partially paid orders can't be exchanged.
The performance has already been reconciled.
A payout has already been issued for the order's payment.
If one of these conditions applies, Exchange Tickets won't be available.
I Can Collect Payments and Refunds on Some Organizations but Not Others
The full exchange experienceâincluding collecting price differences and issuing refundsârequires the organization to process payments through Stripe Connect.
Organizations that don't use Stripe Connect receive an even-swap-only exchange experience without price handling.
"Seat A1 is already selected for another ticket in this exchange."
Two tickets in the current exchange have been assigned to the same destination seat.
Select a different seat for one of the tickets, then continue.
"Cannot load events for exchange."
The list of eligible destination events failed to load.
Close the exchange window and try again.
"Exchange payment failed"
The payment for the price difference wasn't successful.
The original order and tickets remain unchanged.
Resolve the payment issue, then try the exchange again.
The "Next" Button Won't Enable
Make sure you've selected all required information for the new ticket:
A destination performance.
A ticket tier.
A seat, when exchanging into reserved seating.
Also check the destination ticket tier's price.
If the tier has no price configured and displays "â", the exchange can't be saved for that ticket.
Quick Reference
Action | What It Does |
Collect Payment | Patron owes more. Opens checkout to collect the full price difference. |
Free exchange | Patron owes more, but you're waiving the difference. Tickets move without a charge. |
Refund Cash / Credit Card / Check / Comp | Patron is owed money. Refunds the difference and completes the exchange. |
Exchange without Refund | Moves the tickets without issuing the refund. Use when the one-click refund isn't available. |
Save and exchange | Completes an even swap when no money needs to move. |
Charge exchange fee | Controls whether the organization's configured exchange fee is charged. It's on by default when a fee is available. |
No Price Difference | Appears in Order History when an exchange was completed without any money moving. |
An exchange isn't final until you complete the final exchange action or successfully collect the required payment. Until then, the patron's original tickets remain intact.