Looking to simplify how you release tickets in stages? Auto Release Tickets automates the process of moving through ticket price tiers as each one sells out, with no need for manual updates or timed scheduling.
Whether you're offering Early Bird, Second Release, or Full Price tickets, the feature works the same way: as one tier sells out, the next one activates automatically. Customers see just one active ticket option online at a time, which keeps the booking flow simple and encourages early purchase.
For reserved seating events, this means the same seats stay on sale throughout the release flow, with only the price changing as each tier sells out. (Auto Release Tickets is not designed to release separate sections of seating one after another.)
How it works
You set up a separate ticket allocation for each price tier and define the order they should activate in. Each allocation in the flow is:
- Tagged with 'dynamic'
- Assigned a priority value to determine the order of sale (the higher the number, the higher the priority in the release flow)
- Marked as active (only for the first allocation)
As one allocation sells out, the system automatically activates the next one based on the priority you've set. There’s no need to update settings manually - the process happens automatically behind the scenes.
Things to note
- Only the current active allocation will be visible online to customers.
- The Box Office will always see all allocations, regardless of their active state, to give your team full flexibility. When an allocation sells out, no more tickets can be sold from it.
- Any allocations not tagged with 'dynamic' will not be included in the Auto Release logic, but you must still make them available for sale by manually ticking the active box.
- For reserved seating events, all seats to be included in the Auto Release flow must be in an open allocation, i.e., NOT in an Assigned allocation.
- For reserved seating events, any seats to be excluded from the flow (like restricted view seats that are a set view) must be in an Assigned & Exclusive allocation and not tagged with dynamic.
Important
Auto Release Tickets only works within a single master allocation. It will not activate allocations across multiple master allocations/ticket zones.
Before you start
Enable the "yield management" setting
First, you need to enable the Auto Release feature.
1. Go to Settings > General Settings.
2. Find the "yield_management" setting and tick to enable.
3. Click Save to update.
Your account is now ready for using Auto Release Tickets. Please note that all ticket allocations will now display an active/inactive indicator in Box Office and an 'Active' checkbox in the allocation setup.
New 'Active' checkbox on Ticket Allocations
All Ticket Allocations now have an Active checkbox, plus a green (active) or grey (inactive) indicator in both your allocation set-up list and Box Office view. Allocations must be active to be sold. New allocations are active by default – untick only if the allocation is part of a later Auto Release flow.
Set up your pricing schemes
Make sure you have a separate Pricing Scheme and Ticket Price for each price stage you want to offer.
- These must be created individually - do not include multiple prices in a single pricing scheme or the feature will not work.
- Make sure the Ticket Price Name makes sense to the customer in the context of multiple price releases.
For example, a four-stage setup might look like this:
| Stage | Pricing Scheme | Ticket Price | Ticket Allocation | Ticket Quantity Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Early Bird | Early Bird | £15 | Early Bird | 50 |
| 2. Second Release | Second Release | £18 | Second Release | 50 |
| 3. Third Release | Third Release | £20 | Third Release | 40 |
| 4. Full Price | Full Price | £22 | Full Price | 60 |
How to set up Auto Release Tickets
- Unreserved seating events set-up
- Unreserved seating events - see it in action
- Reserved seating events set-up
- Reserved seating events - see it in action
Unreserved seating events
Set up your first Auto Release Ticket Allocation
First, we are going to create the Ticket Allocation for the initial release of tickets, so available for sale right away and likely at the cheapest price.
1. Go to Manage > Shows and navigate to the Ticket Allocations page.
2. Create Add New+ to create your first Ticket Allocation (or use the default allocation that's already there).
3. Give the allocation a Name.
4. Set the Size of how many tickets should be available in this allocation/release.
5. Set the allocation level as Public.
6. Select the first/cheapest Pricing Scheme.
7. In the Priority field, enter the highest number in your sequence (e.g. 99).
8. In the Tags field, add the tag 'dynamic'.
9. Tick the Active checkbox.
10. Click Add Ticket Allocation to save.
Set up the subsequent Auto Release Ticket Allocations
Now we want to create the next allocation(s), i.e., the one(s) you want to become active after the first sells out.
1. Still in Manage > Ticket Allocations...
2. Click Add New+ to create your second allocation.
3. Give the allocation a Name.
4. Set the Size of how many tickets should be available in this allocation/release.
5. Set the allocation level as Public.
6. Select the second/second-cheapest Pricing Scheme.
7. In the Priority field, enter the second-highest number in your sequence (e.g. 98).
8. In the Tags field, add the tag 'dynamic'.
9. Leave the Active checkbox unticked. This will be automatically ticked when the higher priority allocation sells out.
10. Click Add Ticket Allocation to save.
11. Repeat steps 1 to 11 for all remaining allocations in the Auto Release sequence.
Don't Forget!
Any Box Office, reserved, or agent allocations not included in the Auto Release flow should be created as normal. Just make sure the Active checkbox is ticked to make them available for sale.
Checklist for Unreserved Auto Release setup
- Every allocation included in the Auto Release flow has a Priority number, ordered from highest to lowest.
- Every allocation has the 'dynamic' tag.
- Only the first allocation in the Auto Release sequence has the Active box ticked. All others should remain unticked until the system activates them.
- Any Box Office, reserved, or agent allocations not included in the Auto Release flow are set up in the standard way with Active ticked.
Example Set-Up (Unreserved)
The first allocation (active)
1. This is the number and the price of the first release of tickets.
2. This is the first allocation we want to be on sale, so we've added the highest Priority in the sequence (99).
3. This allocation should be included in the Auto-Release, so we've added the Tag 'dynamic'.
4. This is the first allocation we want to be on sale, so the Active checkbox is ticked.
5. We know this allocation is active by the green indicator.
Subsequent allocations (inactive)
1. This is the number and the price of the third release of tickets.
2. This is the third allocation we want to be on sale, so we've added the third-highest Priority in the sequence (97).
3. This allocation should be included in the Auto-Release, so we've added the Tag 'dynamic'.
4. We know this allocation is inactive by the grey indicator.
(This is a later allocation and not the first allocation we want to be on sale, so the Active checkbox is not ticked.)
Allocations outside of the Auto Release flow
1. This allocation is not to be included in the Auto-Release, so the Active checkbox is ticked, because we want it to be available for sale right now.
2. We know this allocation is active by the green indicator.
(This allocation is not to be included in the Auto-Release, so it does not have the 'dynamic' Tag on it.)
See it in action (Unreserved)
Online
On your Ticketsolve website, only the active allocation(s) are available for customers to purchase from. In this example, our first allocation has sold out, so the second allocation is now available, which is our Second Release price:
Box Office
At the Box Office, all allocations will be available to sell from to allow flexibility, but the active allocations are clearly indicated with the green indicator.
In this example, our first allocation sold out, the Second Release allocation (and the Comp) allocation are active, as indicated by the green indicator. The next allocations are visible, but inactive as indicated by the grey indicator:
Reserved seating events
Auto Release works on reserved seating events by applying the flow to any seats not in an assigned & exclusive allocation. To work, your setup should be:
- Seats to be included in the Auto Release flow - in open allocations which are not Assigned or Exclusive
- Seats not to be included in the Auto Release flow are siphoned off by putting them into their own Assigned & Exclusive allocations.
Set up your first Auto Release Ticket Allocation
First, we are going to create the Ticket Allocation for the initial release of tickets, so they are available for sale right away and likely at the cheapest price.
1. Go to Manage > Shows and navigate to the Ticket Allocations page.
2. Create Add New+ to create your Ticket Allocation (or use the default allocation that's already there).
3. Give the allocation a Name.
4. Make sure the allocation is not assigned.
5. Set the Size of how many tickets should be available in this allocation/release.
6. Set the allocation level as Public.
7. Select the first/cheapest Pricing Scheme.
8. In the Priority field, enter the highest number in your sequence (e.g. 99).
9. In the Tags field, add the tag 'dynamic'.
10. Tick the Active checkbox.
11. Click Add Ticket Allocation to save.
Set up the subsequent Auto Release Ticket Allocations
Now we want to create the next allocation(s), i.e., the one(s) you want to become active after the first sells out.
1. Still in Manage > Ticket Allocations.
2. Create Add New+ to create your second allocation.
3. Give the allocation a Name.
4. Make sure the allocation is not assigned.
5. Set the Size of how many tickets should be available in this allocation/release.
6. Set the allocation level as Public.
7. Select the second/second-cheapest Pricing Scheme.
8. In the Priority field, enter the second-highest number in your sequence (e.g. 98).
9. In the Tags field, add the tag 'dynamic'.
10. Leave the Active checkbox unticked. This will be automatically ticked when the higher priority allocation sells out.
11. Click Add Ticket Allocation to save.
12. Repeat steps 1 to 8 for all remaining allocations in the Auto Release sequence.
Set up any seats to be excluded from the Auto Release in Assigned & Exclusive Ticket Allocations
Lastly, we need to siphon off any seats that should be excluded from the Auto Release by putting them into Assigned & Exclusive allocations. This would be for seats that have a set price, such as restricted view, reserved, or agent seats being sold elsewhere.
1. Still in Manage > Ticket Allocations...
2. Click Add New+ to create a new allocation.
3. Give the allocation a Name.
4. Toggle Assigned and Exclusive to on.
5. Set the Allocation Level, Pricing Scheme and Priority as you need.
6. Tick the Active checkbox as you want the allocation to be available for sale.
7. Click Add Ticket Allocation to save.
8. Go into the Seat Editor tab to assign the required seats to this allocation. Any seats you assign will be excluded from the Auto Release flow.
9. Repeat steps 1 to 8 for all remaining allocations in the Auto Release sequence.
Example Set-Up (Reserved)
The first allocation (active)
1. The allocation is open and is not Assigned or Exclusive.
2. This is the number and the price of the first release of tickets.
3. This is the first allocation we want to be on sale, so we've added the highest Priority in the sequence (99).
4. This allocation should be included in the Auto-Release, so we've added the Tag 'dynamic'.
5. This is the first allocation we want to be on sale, so the Active checkbox is ticked.
6. We know this allocation is active by the green indicator.
Subsequent allocations (inactive)
1. The allocation is open and is not Assigned or Exclusive.
2. This is the number and the price of the second release of tickets.
3. This is the third allocation we want to be on sale, so we've added the second-highest Priority in the sequence (98).
4. This allocation should be included in the Auto-Release, so we've added the Tag 'dynamic'.
5. We know this allocation is inactive by the grey indicator.
(This is a later allocation and not the first allocation we want to be on sale, so the Active checkbox is not ticked.)
Allocations outside of the Auto Release flow
1. This allocation is to be excluded from the Auto-Release, so it is Assigned & Exclusive, with six seats assigned to it.
2. This allocation is not to be included in the Auto-Release, so the Active checkbox is ticked, because we want it to be available for sale right now.
3. We know this allocation is active by the green indicator.
(This allocation is not to be included in the Auto-Release, so it does not have the 'dynamic' Tag on it.)
See it in action (Reserved)
Online
On your Ticketsolve website, only the active allocation(s) are available for customers to purchase from. In this example, our first allocation with the Early Bird price and our excluded Restricted View allocation are available:
Box Office
At the Box Office, all allocations will be available to sell from to allow flexibility, but the active allocations are clearly indicated with the green indicator.
In this example, our first Early Bird allocation and the Restricted View allocation are active, as indicated by the green indicator. The next allocations are visible, but inactive as indicated by the grey indicator:
Note
In the auto-release flow, if an allocation has sold out and the next one has been activated, refunding tickets from the earlier allocation will reactivate it. Both allocations will then be active and available for sale until one of them sells out again.
If you want to keep only the later allocation on sale, you can manually set the earlier one to inactive to remove it from sale. If those refunded tickets are unreserved, add the remaining availability to the next allocation so the count stays accurate.
Comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.