Ticketflap Hopes to Change the Face of Online Ticketing
29-9-15
By: Meaghan McGurgan
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Chris and Martin of Ticketflap, fresh off their Heckler win for Best Ticketing Provider. I was pleased to know these guys and see we have a company in Hong Kong that appreciates the talent in our city. Ticketflap holds an ethical view of selling tickets but keeps the fees affordable for the event organizer.
Ticketing is, arguably, one of the most important aspect of arts administration. If the tickets don't sell, the theatre closes. It is how you reap the fruit of your labour, it is how you bring the budget to black, and it is sometimes really difficult. Ticketflap hopes to make life easier for everyone. They have a background in event planning, music and theatre and they knew the frustrations of bureaucratic red tape. They knew there had to be a simpler way to sell and buy tickets in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a digitalized city with 70% of citizens owning tablets and 95% of citizens owning smart phones; so they planned a mission to make digital ticketing easy to use for both the person purchasing the ticket and the event planner.
There is no flat fee to set up – what you sell, they take a small percentage, simple as that. Ticketflap charges 3.5% of the ticket price plus a 3.5% credit card payment processing fee. At this % rate Ticketflap are slightly cheaper than Eventbrite for ticket prices below HKD 775. If your ticket price is above this point, they are more than happy to discuss. For charity events, Ticketflap has a charity rate of 4%, which just about covers their costs.
They also actively promote your events: through social media, their 57,000 strong EDM database and press channels, unlike other ticketing companies who simply put your event on their site and let you do all the work. The team at Ticketflap seems invested in every show being a success. "We want- no, need your events to succeed!" says Chris Poon enthusiastically.
Paying online with credit cards in America is really quite easy. Most people get a debit card for their ebank account with the Visa logo on it but in Hong Kong many people don't have that option, especially the elderly or students. Ticketflap has the most inclusive payment options of all the online ticketing companies on the market currently, all the major credit cards, PPS, American Express, AliPay and UnionPay; they have also recently added the ubiquitous Octopus card.
"We believe the advancement of technology should make the world a better place," says director Martin Haigh. "As an e-ticket vendor, our product is extremely eco-friendly. We have also been heavily involved with environmental protection NGOs like Hong Kong Shark Foundation, Hands on Hong Kong… Save trees, go e-tickets!"
And if your event is free, it's free to use Ticketflap. They encourage all theatre companies and artists to give them a shout out or ask any questions via their emails martin.haigh@ticketflap.com or chris.poon@ticketflap.com. They're a wealth of info on ticketing and event planning on Hong Kong and seem honestly invested in everyone succeeding and doing their best. Support a local business and make the switch to online ticketing-it's non-exclusive, what do you have to lose?
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