Waiting rooms for big on-sales

Why some events use one

When far more people want tickets than there are, letting everyone into checkout at once means crashes, sold-out errors mid-payment and bots getting there first. A waiting room lets people in a few at a time, so the site stays fast and everyone gets a real chance.

Organizers turn it on and choose when sales open and how many people get in each minute.

Random places before sales open

Join as soon as the event page shows the waiting room. Everyone there when sales open gets a random place in line, so arriving first, by hand or by script, gains nothing.

People who arrive after sales open join the back of the line in order.

Waiting your turn

The page shows how many people are ahead of you and roughly how long it will take, and updates by itself. Keep it open. If you’re away for more than two minutes, people behind you go ahead until you’re back. You don’t lose your place.

When it’s your turn

You get 15 minutes to choose your tickets and start checkout. Once you press Pay, your tickets are held for 30 minutes while you finish paying. If your 15 minutes run out first, you can rejoin the line at the back.

Per-buyer ticket limits still apply.

Extra protection on the busiest sales

Some waiting rooms also use Fair Access, where you confirm your email with a one-time code before joining. How Fair Access works.