Openstage's box office tool lets you sell tickets directly to fans, retain all ticketing data, and keep fees to a minimum. It is ideal for VIP upgrades to existing shows, intimate events, and pop-ups. Using the Audience Builder, you can offer core fans first access to VIP tickets before the general on-sale.
Setup
Connect Stripe
Stripe must be connected before you can take ticket payments.
Navigate to Settings > Artist Settings > Payments and Billing.
Click Connect Stripe under the Ticket Payments heading.
Once Stripe is connected, you can create your first box office.
🟢 Top tip: Use a separate box office per campaign to keep ticket sales clearly tracked and attributed.
Create a box office and your first event
Navigate to Engage > Tickets.
Create and name your box office.
Click to create your first event and fill in the event details:
Event name
Correspondence email address - for fan queries and refunds
Event location
Ticket PIN - used for ticket scanning at the door
Sold-out URL - displayed when the event sells out
Donation collection preference - requires Stripe to be connected
Show or hide dates on the box office page
QR codes - set to true
Fan information collection - location, date of birth (for age-restricted events), and phone number
🟡 Please note: Save your progress before navigating away from any tab. Unsaved changes will be lost.
⚪ Note: Openstage does not collect proof of age. For age-restricted events, age verification must be carried out on the door.
Design your event
Customize how your box office page looks by adding:
Event image
Thumbnail image
Background image
Optional thank you video
Page content
Email content including ticket information
🟢 Top tip: Use the Duplicate button next to Save to clone an event. This is useful for multi-date shows - build out one event fully including ticket types and prices, then clone it and update the specifics for each date.
Event Times
If your event is reoccurring, add the times and dates in this section. If your events differ between dates, such as event info or ticket types, build separate events rather than adding multiple event times and dates.
Ticket Types
Click Add New Ticket Type and give it a name - for example, General Admission or Standing.
Fill in the details for each ticket type:
Ticket name and description
Number of tickets available for that type
Maximum tickets per order
Ticket price
Booking fee - a minimum of 9% is recommended to cover Openstage and Stripe fees
Add ticket content including an image and copy.
Fan names on tickets
Enable fan name collection to create a fan profile for each name assigned to a ticket. All names are added to your door list automatically, allowing for accurate attendance tracking and smoother ticket validation at the door.
Once tickets are on sale, each ticket type displays Confirmed, Unconfirmed (in basket), and Cancelled ticket counts.
🟢 Top tip: Run a test event before going on sale to familiarize yourself with the fan journey through your Openstage box office.
Publish
When you are ready to go on sale, publish your event from the main event screen. Share the ticket link with fans via broadcasts, Posts, and your Fan HQ.
Ticket scanning
Tickets include a QR code that can be scanned using any phone camera.
The first time a team member scans a ticket, they are prompted to enter the Ticket PIN set for that event.
Once entered, the PIN does not need to be re-entered for subsequent scans in the same session.
A green popup confirms a Valid Ticket.
A yellow popup indicates a Used Ticket - the code has already been scanned.
🟡 Please note: Do not use Incognito or Private browsing mode for ticket scanning. Private mode prevents the session from being saved, and the PIN will be required again for every scan.
Refunds
Navigate to Confirmed Tickets within the relevant event.
Find the fan's name and click on one of their tickets.
Click on their order number.
Click the URL next to View in Stripe to open the Stripe billing portal.
Refund the appropriate amount in Stripe.
Return to your Openstage box office, click on the ticket, and toggle the ticket status to Cancelled.
Repeat for each ticket in the order that requires cancellation.
Cancelled tickets are returned to your available inventory automatically.
⚪ Note: See Stripe's refund guide for help processing refunds in Stripe. Always cancel the corresponding tickets in your Openstage box office as well - a Stripe refund alone does not update the ticket status in Openstage.
🟢 Top tip: Use All Orders in the left-hand panel to search for specific orders by fan name or order number. This covers orders across all events, not just the one currently open.
Reports and Downloads
Navigate to Reports and Downloads in the left-hand panel of any event to view sales for the last 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days. From here you can also:
Print a door list - useful as a backup if wifi is unavailable for scanning
Download order reports in various formats, including customer details, order details, and links to corresponding Stripe transactions
⚪ Note: Clicking Reports and Downloads from the event list page shows sales across all events. Opening it from within a specific event shows data for that event only.