How to sell tickets for a workshop without ticketing software
A pottery evening for twelve or a one-day copywriting workshop for twenty doesn't need ticketing software. It needs a page that answers every question before someone pays, a checkout that stops at the number of places, an attendee list, and a confirmation with the practical details. Anticode does the page; your payment provider does the selling and the list.
What to settle first
- Capacity
- The number of seats, materials or wheels you have. This number has to be enforced at checkout, because the website can't count.
- Dates
- One date or a series. Each date is a separate thing to sell and to fill.
- Price and what it includes
- Materials, lunch, a recording, take-home work.
- Cancellation terms
- Until when can someone get a refund or move to another date, and what happens if you cancel.
- Access
- Step-free entry, parking, what to wear, what to bring, how to find the room.
Setting up the checkout
Your Anticode site takes payment through a payment link from your own provider: Stripe Payment Links, PayPal, Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy, Shopify or Whop. The account has one payment link, so every buy button opens the same checkout. For a single workshop date that's straightforward. For several dates, make the link a page at your provider that lists each date as its own product or option, each with its own quantity, so a buyer picks the date there.
Check your provider's options for limiting quantity before you choose it. If it can stop sales at a set number, use that. If it can't, close sales by hand when you reach capacity, and say on the page that places are confirmed by email.
The sequence
- Create the product or products at your provider, one per date, with the capacity and price, and ask the checkout for the buyer's name, email and any access needs or dietary requirements it lets you collect.
- Build the workshop page. Ask Anticode for "a workshop page for a beginners' wheel-throwing evening, with what's included, dates, the teacher, location, FAQ and a buy button". Ask for the cancellation terms and access details to be added, then refine the wording in the visual editor.
- Add the checkout address in Connectors so the buy button opens it.
- Add a contact form for questions from people not ready to buy; connect it to Slack, Telegram or email so you answer quickly.
- Publish and buy a place yourself with a discount code, to see the buyer's path and the receipt.
- Send your own confirmation to each buyer within a day: date, time, address, what to bring, the cancellation terms and your phone number. Anticode doesn't send it.
- Two days before, export the attendee list from your provider and send a reminder from your email tool.
Writing the page so it sells
People hesitate over workshops for practical reasons, not the price. A good page shows photos of the room and of finished work, says exactly what a beginner will leave with, names the teacher with one line of experience, and answers the awkward questions: Can I come alone? Is it suitable for left-handers? Can I bring a friend who isn't booking? Put the number of places in plain words ("twelve places per evening") so the size feels small and real.
What goes wrong
| Problem | Remedy |
|---|---|
| Thirteen people paid for twelve places | Enforce capacity at the provider, or offer the extra person a later date or a refund at once |
| Someone can't come | Apply your published terms; offering a transfer to another date keeps the money and the goodwill |
| A date sells out and others don't | Mark the full date as sold out on the page with a change request, so people don't click through to disappointment |
| Questions arrive after the reminder | Add the answers to the FAQ for the next run |
How you know it worked
Every attendee in the room is on the provider's list, every one received your confirmation, and nobody arrived at the wrong door. After the event, the questions you were asked twice are on the page for next time.
Limits
Anticode has no ticketing: no seat counts, QR tickets, check-in, waitlists or automatic confirmations. Payments and attendee details live at your provider; Anticode never sees them. The booking calendar takes one booking per slot, so it suits one-to-one sessions rather than a room of twelve. See taking class bookings online, the workshop landing page builder and payment links.
Questions people ask
Can I sell tickets for a workshop with several dates from one page?
Yes. Point the single payment link at a page at your provider that lists each date, each with its own quantity.
Will buyers get an automatic confirmation?
Your payment provider sends its receipt. The confirmation with directions and what to bring comes from you.
Can I see who has booked in Anticode?
No. Buyers pay at your provider, so the attendee list is in its dashboard.