Selling Reserved Seats
To sell reserved seats in Hi.Events, attach a seat map to your event and link a ticket to each price band. Buyers then pick their seats on the map, or ask for the best available, and the seat is printed on their ticket.
Reserved seating is in early access. Email [email protected] and we'll turn it on for you.
How to Get There
- Open your event
- Click Seating in the left sidebar (under Setup & Design)
You need at least one seat map first. See Designing Seat Maps.
Attaching a Seat Map
- Under Choose a seat map for this event, pick a map
- Click Attach seat map
The event gets its own copy of the map, so editing it here never changes your other events. Click Edit this event’s seat map to adjust the copy, for example to remove seats for one night only.
Seats that are already sold or held can’t be removed or moved to another band, but you can rename them.
If you later change the original seat map, the event shows The venue seat map has changed. Click Review changes to see what’s different, then Apply changes if you want them.
Linking Tickets to Bands
Under Tickets for each band, choose one or more tickets for every band. Buyers choosing a seat in a band can buy any ticket linked to it.
- Several tickets in one band. Link Adult and Concession to the same band and buyers pick the ticket type for each seat.
- Price per band. Each ticket keeps its own price. Click Change price here to charge more or less in one band without editing the ticket.
- Quantity comes from the map. Linked tickets are sold by seat, so the quantity set on the ticket is ignored.
Only tickets can be seated, and a ticket that’s already been sold without a seat can’t be linked, so link tickets before you open sales. The page warns you about any band without a ticket.
Click Save tickets when you’re done.
Selection Rules
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Don’t let buyers leave a single empty seat | Stops a buyer stranding one seat between their seats and a taken seat or the end of a row. A single seat is still allowed when there’s no other way to seat the party. |
| Maximum seats per order | Caps how many seats one order can hold, from 1 to 100. Leave it on No limit otherwise. |
| Let buyers change their seat after booking | Buyers can move to a free seat in the same band from their order page, up until the event starts. |
Click Save rules to apply them.
What Buyers See
On a desktop, the map appears on the event page under Choose your seats, with Bigger map to open it full screen. On a phone, buyers tap Choose seats to open the map full screen. There’s a List view for anyone who would rather scroll rows than zoom.
Buyers can:
- Tap seats to add them to the order, or use Not sure where to sit?: choose how many seats they need and click Find seats to get the best seats nearest the stage, side by side wherever possible
- See wheelchair spaces and companion seats marked on the map, with an explanation before they choose one. A companion seat can only be booked together with a wheelchair space
- Read any seat notes, such as “Restricted view”
If someone takes a seat while a buyer is choosing, the buyer is told and can ask Hi.Events to find similar seats. Seats are held for as long as checkout is open, which is the Order timeout in your event settings (15 minutes unless you change it). If the order expires or is cancelled, the seats go back on sale.
The seat appears on the ticket, in the confirmation emails, in the attendee list and in attendee exports. The seat map also works in the ticket widget on your own site.
Recurring Events
A recurring event uses one seat map, and every date sells its own seats. A seat sold for Friday is still free on Saturday.
Removing the Seat Map
Click Remove seat map to go back to selling tickets by quantity. You can’t remove it while seats are sold or held on an upcoming date.
Tips
- Test the buyer view with a test order before you open sales
- Turn on the single empty seat rule for theatres and concerts, where a stranded seat rarely sells
- Duplicating an event with its tickets copies its seat map and band links too
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