Kiosks: Self-Service In-Person Ticket Sales for Organisers
Overview
Sometimes people want to buy a ticket in person: at the door, in your foyer, or on their way past. A kiosk lets them do that on their own, without you staffing a box office. It is a locked-down tablet running your Seaty page, paired with a card reader, that shows your events and takes card payments in person.
At its simplest, a kiosk answers one question: How do I sell tickets in person without putting a member of staff behind a till?
Kiosks are a Seaty-managed service. They are available to organisations, but Seaty must enable, provide and set up each kiosk before it can be used. You cannot switch a kiosk on or configure the hardware yourself.
Who uses this: Organisation administrators who want an unattended, in-person sales point. Your customers use the kiosk itself; no account or app is needed.
Key capabilities:
- Sell tickets in person without staffing a box office
- Customers browse your events, choose tickets, and pay by card at the reader
- Tickets are emailed to the customer, or printed on the spot if the kiosk has a printer
- An optional ticket printer prints the tickets and a receipt at the kiosk
- Print any order's tickets to a kiosk's printer from your admin, wherever you are
- Card payments only, so there is no cash to handle or reconcile
- Takings arrive alongside your other Seaty card sales
- Seaty provides, sets up and monitors the hardware for you
How It Works
At a glance: Seaty sets up a kiosk for you; customers use it to buy tickets in person and pay by card; you see each kiosk and its status in your organisation admin.
1. Seaty enables and sets up your kiosk
Because kiosks are a managed service, the first step is to ask for one. Contact Support@Seaty.co.uk to arrange a kiosk. Seaty turns kiosks on for your organisation, provides the tablet and card reader (a secure, hard-wired reader such as a WisePad), links the reader to your Seaty payments, and configures the device so it is locked to your organisation's events.
Why does Seaty set it up? The kiosk pairs a locked-down device with a card reader and your payment account. Getting that link right is what keeps in-person payments secure, so Seaty handles it rather than leaving it to you to configure.
2. Place the kiosk in your venue
Put the kiosk somewhere with mains power and a reliable internet connection. It shows your What's On page and stays locked to your organisation, so a customer can only browse and buy your events.
3. Customers buy tickets in person
A customer walks up, browses your events, chooses their tickets, gives an email address (or, if the kiosk has a printer, chooses to print instead), and pays by card at the reader. Their tickets are emailed or printed there and then, and the kiosk clears itself for the next person.
4. You manage and monitor from your admin
Once a kiosk is set up, the Kiosks section in your organisation admin lists each kiosk, the reader assigned to it, and when it was last active. You can rename, enable, disable or remove a kiosk. Seaty also monitors kiosk health and is alerted if a kiosk that has been trading goes quiet.
Think of it this way:
- A kiosk is a self-service box office that never needs a member of staff behind it
- The card reader is the till: payment happens in person, by card
- Seaty owns the hardware and its setup; you own the events and the takings
Who Does What
Kiosks are a shared arrangement. This table makes clear who is responsible for each part.
| Task | Who handles it |
|---|---|
| Enabling kiosks for your organisation | Seaty |
| Providing the tablet, card reader and any optional ticket printer | Seaty |
| Linking the reader to your payments and configuring the device | Seaty |
| Monitoring kiosk health and alerting on problems | Seaty |
| Placing the kiosk and providing power and internet | You |
| Choosing which events are on sale (your What's On) | You |
| Managing kiosks in your admin (rename, enable, disable, remove) | You |
| Refunds and order management | You, as with any order |
Payments and Fees
Kiosk payments are always in-person card payments taken at the reader. There is no cash handling and no online card entry.
A few things are always true for a kiosk sale:
- The fee is always absorbed. "Absorb fees" is the only option for in-person sales: the fee is never added on top for the customer. Whatever price shows on the kiosk screen is exactly what the customer pays, plus anything they choose to add such as a donation or Gift Aid.
- In-person rates are much lower. Seaty's fees for in-person card payments are much lower than the normal online rates, because taking a card in person costs less to process.
Why is the fee always absorbed? A card machine cannot add a fee at the moment of payment the way an online checkout can, so in-person sales always absorb it. This keeps the price the customer sees on screen exactly what they are charged.
There are two ways your kiosk can be set up, which affects where the money goes and the exact rate:
- Seaty managed (the default) — Seaty collects the payment and settles it to you alongside your other Seaty funds, the same way your online sales work by default.
- Your own Stripe account — if you connect your own Stripe account, the money lands directly with you and the in-person fee is cheaper again.
Contact Seaty for current in-person rates for each option.
Tickets, Printing and Email
- By default, tickets are emailed. The customer enters an email address and their tickets arrive in their inbox.
- If the kiosk has a printer, the customer can choose to print their tickets there and then instead. A short receipt with the order summary prints alongside the tickets.
- If a printer is fitted but cannot be reached when the order is placed, the kiosk automatically switches that customer to email, so a customer is never left without their tickets.
- For safety on an unattended public device, the kiosk does not display a ticket barcode on screen. A customer who chooses email opens their confirmation on their own phone to show their ticket.
Why no barcode on screen? A kiosk sits in a public space with nobody watching it. Showing a scannable ticket on the shared screen would be a risk, so tickets are printed at the kiosk or sent to the customer's own inbox instead.
Do I need a printer? No. Tickets are emailed by default and that is all most kiosks need. A printer is an optional extra Seaty can fit if you want customers to walk away with a paper ticket and receipt.
Printing to a kiosk from your admin
A kiosk's printer is not only for self-service sales. From your organisation admin you can send any order's tickets to a kiosk's printer, wherever you happen to be. Open the order and choose Print: you can pick a kiosk printer, which prints on that kiosk's thermal receipt printer at the venue, or Print on this device, which uses your own browser and an ordinary office printer. Kiosk printers only appear as an option for staff who can manage the organisation's orders; the browser option is always available. Whichever you last used is remembered for next time.
This is useful when a booking was made somewhere other than the kiosk. A customer who booked online or over the phone can collect a printed ticket from your desk, and you can reprint a ticket that was lost or damaged, without the customer needing to touch the kiosk themselves.
The kiosk does the printing, so it needs to be online. If it is reachable, the tickets print straight away; if it happens to be offline, the job waits and prints as soon as the kiosk is back, so nothing is lost. Printing an order to a kiosk printer is limited to staff with permission to manage your organisation's orders. You can also send a test print to any printer from the Printers section of your admin to check it is working.
Between Customers
The kiosk clears each customer's session before the next person uses it. No email address, name or order details carry over, so one customer can never see or resume another customer's purchase.
Getting Ready for a Kiosk
Before Seaty sets one up, it helps to have:
- A location with mains power and a reliable internet connection (a stable WiFi signal in the spot where the kiosk will live)
- A decision on which events you want on sale (the kiosk shows your organisation's What's On)
- A point of contact who can position the device and keep an eye on it during opening hours
When you are ready, email Support@Seaty.co.uk and Seaty will arrange the rest.
Common Questions
Getting a Kiosk
Can I set up a kiosk myself?
No. Kiosks are a managed service. Contact Support@Seaty.co.uk and Seaty will enable kiosks for your organisation and provide and set up the hardware for you.
What hardware do I need to buy?
Seaty provides the tablet and the card reader. You provide the location, mains power and internet.
How much does it cost?
Contact Support@Seaty.co.uk. Pricing depends on your setup, so Seaty will discuss it with you when you arrange a kiosk.
Payments
Can customers pay by cash?
No. Kiosk payments are card only, taken in person at the reader.
Can I pass the card fee on to customers at the kiosk?
No. "Absorb fees" is the only option for in-person sales, so the fee is never added on top and the customer pays exactly the price shown. Seaty's in-person rates are much lower than the normal online rates.
Do I need my own Stripe account?
No. By default, Seaty collects your kiosk takings for you and settles them with your other Seaty funds. Connecting your own Stripe account is optional; it sends the money directly to you and makes the in-person fee cheaper again.
Can I use the kiosk's card reader from another device or at a box office?
No. A kiosk's card reader is wired to the kiosk and only takes payments there. It is typically a WisePad: a secure, low-cost reader well suited to a fixed self-service point, but bound to the kiosk it is attached to. If you also want staff to take card payments from their own phone, tablet or laptop, use a versatile internet card reader such as the Stripe Reader S700, which can be driven from any device.
Using It
Do customers need the Seaty app or an account?
No. Their tickets are emailed to them, or printed at the kiosk if it has a printer. No app or account is needed either way.
Can the kiosk print tickets?
Only if it has a printer. Seaty can fit an optional ticket printer to a kiosk. When one is fitted, customers can choose to print their tickets at the kiosk instead of having them emailed, and a short receipt prints with them. Without a printer, tickets are emailed. If a fitted printer cannot be reached at the moment of sale, the kiosk emails the tickets instead so the customer always gets them.
Can I print an order's tickets to a kiosk's printer from my computer?
Yes, if the kiosk has a printer. From an order in your admin, choose Print and pick the kiosk printer; the tickets and a short receipt print at that kiosk. It is handy for a booking made online or over the phone, and for reprinting a lost ticket, without the customer needing to be at the kiosk. The kiosk does the printing, so the job prints straight away if the kiosk is online, or as soon as it is back online if not. This is limited to staff with permission to manage your organisation's orders.
How does a customer show their ticket at the door?
Either the printed ticket from the kiosk, or the confirmation email on their own phone. The kiosk never shows a barcode on its own screen.
Can a customer buy for more than one event?
Yes. They browse your What's On and can pick any event you have on sale.
Running It
How do I know a kiosk is working?
The Kiosks section in your admin shows when each kiosk was last active. Seaty also monitors kiosk health and is alerted if a kiosk that has been trading goes quiet, so problems can be caught quickly.
What happens if the internet drops?
The kiosk shows a "connection lost" message and recovers automatically when the connection returns. A payment that is already in progress is protected.
How do I refund a kiosk sale?
Exactly like any other order, from your admin. See Cancelling and Refunding.
Can I turn a kiosk off for a while?
Yes. Disable it in the Kiosks section of your admin, or contact Support@Seaty.co.uk if you want the hardware collected or paused.
Kiosks vs Scanning Devices
How is a kiosk different from a scanning device?
A kiosk is a self-service point where customers buy tickets and pay by card. A scanning device is a phone or tablet your staff use to check tickets at the door. They solve different jobs and can be used together.