How to Sell Tickets Online in Europe: 2026 Guide for Organisers
How to sell tickets online in Europe in 2026: choose a platform type, compare fees in EUR, pick payment methods, run QR check-in and stay compliant.
Eventoren Editorial Team12 min read
To sell tickets online in Europe, you pick a ticketing platform, create your event with ticket types and capacities, share the shop link and scan QR codes at the door. The platform takes the payment, emails the e-tickets and pays you out, usually after the event. Your margin and workload depend on the platform type, the fee per ticket including processing and VAT, the payment methods your audience expects, and a few EU consumer rules. This guide covers setup to payout, as of November 2026.
Key takeaways
- Three platform types exist: marketplaces (reach, less control), white-label or bring-your-own-payment tools (control, more setup) and all-inclusive self-service platforms (fast, one fee).
- On a €20 ticket, organiser-absorbed fees range from about €0.68 to €2.37 across the platforms we checked. Always compare including payment processing and VAT (as of November 2026).
- Payment habits differ by country: Bancontact in Belgium, iDEAL (now moving to Wero) in the Netherlands, BLIK in Poland, cards and wallets everywhere.
- Dated event tickets carry no 14-day right of withdrawal in the EU (CRD Art. 16(l)), but you must refund if you cancel.
- Show the total price including mandatory fees from the first price you display. Late-added fees count as drip pricing.
What does "selling tickets online" actually involve?
Online ticketing means that guests buy admission through a web shop, pay digitally and receive a unique e-ticket, usually a PDF or wallet pass with a QR code. The organiser sets prices and capacities, sees sales live and scans tickets at the entrance.
A ticketing platform bundles five jobs: the shop page, payment processing, ticket delivery, attendee management and check-in. Some add marketing, seat maps, box-office tills or resale.
Selling in advance gives you three things a door-only event cannot:
- Planning certainty. You know weeks ahead whether to book the bigger room or add security staff.
- Committed revenue. Rain on the night hurts the bar, not the ticket income.
- Less cash. No float, no counting at 2 a.m.
Which type of ticketing platform fits your event?
There are three broad models. They differ in who owns the customer relationship, who handles payments and how much you set up yourself.
| Platform type | How it works | Strengths | Trade-offs | Examples (as of November 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marketplace | Your event is listed in the platform's discovery app or network | Extra reach from people browsing events | Buyer data and branding sit partly with the platform; fees often passed to buyers | Eventbrite (claims 89 M monthly users), EVENTIM.Light with the optional EVENTIM network (+10 % presale fee) |
| White-label or bring-your-own-payments | You run the shop under your brand and connect your own Stripe, PayPal or Mollie account | Full branding, money lands directly in your payment account | You sign and manage a payment contract, carry chargeback risk, pay two bills | pretix Hosted, Ticket Tailor (white label €45/month), vivenu (enterprise) |
| All-inclusive self-service | You create the event and share the shop link; payment processing is part of one fee | Live within hours, one fee, no payment contract | Feature set fixed by the provider | Eventoren, Weezevent, Weeztix, Billetto, EVENTIM.Light own shop |
Most clubs, schools, promoters and small venues start best with an all-inclusive platform. Marketplaces pay off when discovery matters, such as for workshops in big cities. Bring-your-own-payment tools suit organisers with a finance team, high ticket prices or many free tickets. Our ticketing platform fee comparison puts 18 fee variants side by side, and Eventbrite alternatives in Europe covers switching away from the best-known marketplace.
How much does it cost to sell tickets online in Europe?
Almost every platform charges per paid ticket, usually a percentage plus a fixed amount. What matters is whether payment processing and VAT on the fee are inside that number.
The table shows the fee per €20 ticket when you absorb it, from public pricing pages. Net fees are grossed up at 19 % German VAT; for bring-your-own-payment tools we add Stripe's EEA card rate of 1.5 % + €0.25. As of November 2026, one ticket per order, standard EU consumer card.
| Provider (variant) | Formula (p = ticket price) | Fee on €20 | Processing included? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eventfrog Free (tickets up to €50) | (0.19 + 0.019p) × 1.19 | €0.68 | no, charged on top |
| Eventbrite, Netherlands payout (Essentials) | 0.02p + 0.49 | €0.89 | treated as included |
| Weezevent | max(0.025p, €0.99) | €0.99 | yes |
| Eventbrite, Germany payout (Essentials) | 0.055p | €1.10 | treated as included; VAT status unverified |
| Eventoren | 0.039p + 0.49 | €1.27 | yes, VAT included too |
| EVENTIM.Light (own shop) | 0.035p + 0.99 | €1.69 | yes |
| Eventbrite, Ireland payout | 0.059p + 0.79 | €1.97 | treated as included |
| TicketPAY (with its processing) | see comparison guide | €2.37 | optional |
Eventfrog Free, Weezevent and Eventbrite for Dutch payouts are cheaper than Eventoren at this price. Eventbrite's fees depend on the payout country, so Dutch and German organisers pay different rates for the same event.
Watch for extras outside the headline fee: surcharges for PayPal, Klarna, Amex or non-EEA cards, monthly plans (for example Eventbrite Premium at €59/month), refund fees and fees for early payouts.
Who pays the fee: you or the buyer?
You can absorb the fee (you receive less) or pass it on as a booking fee (you receive the full price). Both are legal if the buyer sees the total price including every unavoidable fee from the start. See how to price event tickets.
Worked example: a 250-ticket concert in Vienna
An example calculation with Eventoren's terms (as of November 2026): a choir sells 250 tickets at €20 for a concert in Vienna.
| Item | Organiser absorbs fee | Buyer pays fee |
|---|---|---|
| Price the guest pays | €20.00 | €21.27 |
| Fee per ticket (3.9 % of €20 + €0.49) | €1.27 | €1.27 (paid by guest) |
| Ticket revenue (250 × €20) | €5,000.00 | €5,000.00 |
| Total fees | €317.50 | €0.00 |
| Payout to the organiser | €4,682.50 | €5,000.00 |
If the choir is VAT-registered, VAT is still due from that payout. Concert admission in Austria carries a reduced 13 % rate, so €2.30 of each €20 ticket is VAT (20 − 20 ÷ 1.13). VAT on physical admission is due where the event takes place, so a German promoter selling a Vienna show owes Austrian VAT. Rates by country are in VAT on event tickets in Europe.
Which payment methods do buyers expect in each country?
Cards plus Apple Pay and Google Pay cover most mobile ticket purchases, but each market has a local favourite. The shares below are estimates from Ecommerce News Europe (updated 10 March 2026): the share of online shoppers naming a method as preferred, multiple answers possible, for e-commerce in general, not tickets.
| Country | Local method to know | Estimated preference |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | Bancontact | 73 % |
| Netherlands | iDEAL, migrating to Wero since 26 Oct 2026 | 66 % |
| Germany | PayPal, invoice, SEPA direct debit, Wero | PayPal 67 % |
| France | Cartes Bancaires (co-badged cards) | cards 71 % |
| Poland | BLIK | not published |
| Spain | Bizum | not published |
| Ireland, Austria, Italy | cards and wallets; Satispay in Italy | not published |
See payment methods for ticket buyers in Europe for costs, chargebacks and Wero.
Step by step: from event setup to payout
These nine steps apply to almost any platform.
1. Fix the basics
Set date, times, venue and the maximum capacity allowed by your venue contract and safety rules. Capacity caps all ticket allocations.
2. Choose a platform and get verified
Reputable platforms check identity, bank account and, for associations, the register entry before sales start. Allow a few days.
3. Create the event page
Title, description, image, venue and times, plus what's included, age limits, accessibility and directions.
4. Set ticket types and capacities
Create one ticket type per price group, each with its own allocation, such as "Early bird – 100 tickets", "Regular" and "Concession". Read early bird tickets for tier strategies.
5. Check prices and legal texts
Show the total price, your organiser details, the no-withdrawal notice and your cancellation policy.
6. Make a test purchase
Buy a ticket on your phone and check the email, PDF, QR code, price and invoice.
7. Publish and promote
Share the link on your website, social channels, messenger groups and newsletter.
8. Prepare the door
Decide who scans and what happens when a ticket isn't found. See QR code ticket check-in without an app for a full door plan, and box office and door sales for selling on the night.
9. Reconcile and get paid
Export sales and match the payout to your sales report.
Which EU rules apply to online ticket sales in 2026?
This guide is not legal or tax advice. National rules differ, but these EU-wide basics apply as of November 2026:
| Topic | What applies | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Right of withdrawal | None for "services related to leisure activities" with a specific date. Tell buyers before they order | Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU, Art. 16(l) |
| Total price | Show the price including all unavoidable fees. Revealing fees only at the last step (drip pricing) is a misleading practice | Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC (misleading omission) |
| Price reductions | An announced reduction must refer to the lowest price of the prior 30 days | Price Indication Directive 98/6/EC, Art. 6a |
| Payment surcharges | You may not charge consumers more than your cost for a payment method; no surcharges at all on consumer cards and SEPA payments | CRD Art. 19; PSD2 Art. 62(4) |
| Accessibility | Online ticket shops for consumers must be accessible since 28 June 2025. Microenterprises providing services (fewer than 10 staff and ≤ €2 M turnover or balance sheet) are exempt | European Accessibility Act, Directive (EU) 2019/882 |
| Bot resale | Reselling tickets bought with bots that bypass purchase limits is banned | UCPD Annex I, No. 23a |
What's coming: the European Commission announced its Digital Fairness Act proposal for late 2026; as of early November 2026, no legal text had been published. It is expected to address drip pricing, "from" prices and personalised pricing, applying from end-2028 at the earliest, according to law firms. National resale rules already exist, for example in Ireland, France, Italy and Belgium. The UK government has announced a resale price cap, but it is not law yet.
How does check-in work on the day?
Every e-ticket carries a unique QR code. The scan checks whether it is valid and unused, so a forwarded screenshot gets in only once.
- One scanner per entrance, plus a spare phone and power bank
- Manual code entry as a fallback for cracked or dim screens
- An exported attendee list in case the venue Wi-Fi fails
- A guest list with quotas for artists, press and helpers
- A rule for rejected scans: who decides, where the guest waits
How to do this with Eventoren
Eventoren is a self-service ticketing platform for events sold in euros. Its interface is in German, it fits organisers in the euro area, especially in Germany, Austria and the wider DACH region, and the organiser contract is governed by German law. Associations, companies, schools and private individuals can sign up, and every organisation is checked and approved before sales start.
You create ticket types with their own capacity and a per-order limit (default 10). Early bird works as a separate, limited ticket type. Buyers check out as guests without an account and pay by card (Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express), Apple Pay or Google Pay where the device supports them, Klarna, SEPA direct debit or Bancontact. Tickets arrive by email as a PDF with a QR code.
The fee is 3.9 % of the gross ticket price plus €0.49 per paid ticket, including VAT and payment processing. There's no base fee, no minimum and no minimum term, and free tickets cost nothing. At onboarding you decide whether buyers or you pay the fee. Helpers scan with shareable browser links on their phones, with no app but with internet. The payout reaches your IBAN by the 7th bank working day after the event at the latest.
Limits: no seat maps, no native app, no waitlist, no PayPal or iDEAL, and EUR only.
Frequently asked questions
How do I sell tickets online for my event?
Sign up with a ticketing platform, get verified, create the event with ticket types and capacities, and share the shop link. Buyers pay online and get a QR e-ticket. You scan at the door and are paid after the event.
Can I sell tickets online without fees?
For paid tickets, not entirely: payment processing always costs something. You can pass the fee to buyers if the total price shows from the start. Free tickets are free at most platforms, including Eventoren.
Do ticket buyers in the EU have a 14-day right of withdrawal?
No, not for dated leisure events: Article 16(l) of the Consumer Rights Directive excludes them. If you cancel, buyers get their money back.
When do I get the money from my ticket sales?
EVENTIM.Light settles within 5 working days after the event is marked complete, Weezevent pays every 15 days, and Eventoren by the 7th bank working day after the event. With pretix or Ticket Tailor, your own payment provider's schedule applies.
Can I sell tickets for an event in another EU country?
Yes. Your platform must sell in the event's currency and offer local payment methods. Admission to physical events is taxed in the country where the event takes place.
Sources
- Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights (consolidated)
- Directive (EU) 2019/2161 (Omnibus Directive)
- Directive (EU) 2015/2366 (PSD2)
- European Commission: European Accessibility Act
- VAT Directive 2006/112/EC (consolidated, Art. 53/54)
- Eventbrite: ticketing fees by country
- EVENTIM.Light pricing
- Eventfrog pricing
- Weezevent pricing
- TicketPAY price list (1 Oct 2026)
- Ticket Tailor pricing
- Stripe pricing (Ireland)
- Ecommerce News Europe: online payment methods in Europe
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