How UK ticketing fees actually work.
This guide explains the fees you'll find on UK ticketing platforms, what each one is for, and how to compare them honestly. It's written for organisers trying to make a sensible decision, not for any one platform.
Last updated 28 April 2026.
To the best of our knowledge at the time of writing. Reviewed against current UK industry pricing and HMRC guidance.
There are usually four costs hidden in 'a small fee per ticket'.
1. The platform fee.
What you pay for the software
The platform fee is what the ticketing company charges to use its software: the seating plans, ticket delivery, scanning, reporting, and so on. It's usually a percentage of the ticket price plus a small fixed amount per ticket, e.g. '2% + 20p'. Some platforms instead charge a flat monthly or annual subscription, with little or no per-ticket fee.
- Per-ticket model: pay only when you sell, but cost scales with sales
- Subscription model: predictable monthly cost, but you pay even when nothing is selling
- Some platforms apply the platform fee to free tickets and reservations; some do not
- Watch for minimums. Small platform fees often have a "minimum 50p per ticket" floor that hits low-priced tickets hard
2. The payment processing fee.
What the card networks and processors charge
When a buyer pays by card, the card networks (Visa, Mastercard, Amex), the buyer's bank, and the payment processor (often Stripe) all take a small slice. This is the payment processing fee. UK card processing typically runs around 1.4 to 2.9 per cent plus a small fixed fee per transaction. Stripe's published UK pricing, for example, is 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards and 1.9% + 20p for premium UK cards (Stripe UK pricing). It exists regardless of which ticketing platform you use, because it's not the platform, it's the financial system. Some ticketing platforms quote a single all-in fee that bundles platform and processing; some list them separately.
3. Absorbed vs passed-on. Who actually pays?
The same fee, different visibility
Whichever model your platform uses, someone has to pay the fee. There are two ways to handle it: absorb it (the organiser receives less than the headline ticket price) or pass it on (the buyer pays the headline price plus the fee at checkout). Both are common. Absorbing keeps the headline price clean, useful if you've advertised a £10 ticket and don't want the checkout to read £10.65. Passing on protects organiser revenue, which is the right call for fundraisers and tight-margin productions. Most platforms let you choose, on a per-event or per-ticket basis.
Absorb
Buyer sees the headline price. Organiser receives the price minus the fee.
Pass on
Buyer sees the headline price plus the fee at checkout. Organiser receives the full headline price.
Mix
Some platforms let you absorb the platform fee but pass on payment processing. Read the small print.
A worked example. £10 ticket, absorb vs pass-on.
Pass-on: the buyer pays £11.30 at checkout. The organiser receives the full £10.00. The fee is visible, but headline price is preserved and your margin is intact.
Absorb: the buyer pays £10.00 at checkout. The organiser receives £8.70. Headline price stays clean, but you're now selling a £10 ticket for £8.70, a 13% cut against your margin.
Across 200 tickets that's the difference between £2,000 and £1,740. That's £260 that either came out of buyers' pockets or out of yours. Neither is wrong. But the choice should be deliberate, not a default you didn't notice.
A second example. Subscription vs per-ticket. At what volume does it flip?
Subscription platform: £40 per month flat, plus 20p per ticket.
Per-ticket platform: no subscription, 50p per ticket.
At 100 tickets per month: subscription = £40 + £20 = £60. Per-ticket = £50. Per-ticket wins by £10.
At 134 tickets per month: subscription = £40 + £26.80 = £66.80. Per-ticket = £67.00. Roughly the break-even.
At 500 tickets per month: subscription = £40 + £100 = £140. Per-ticket = £250. Subscription wins by £110.
Subscription pricing rewards volume. Per-ticket pricing rewards low-volume organisers: village halls running four events a year, schools running one Christmas show, choirs running two concerts. If the maths breaks before you start, it's the wrong shape.
A quick checkpoint.
Where this gets confusing.
Common mistakes when comparing UK ticketing fees
Most fee comparisons go wrong in the same five ways. Knowing the traps in advance makes the spreadsheet honest.
- Comparing percentages alone without checking per-ticket minimums. "2% + 50p minimum" sounds lower than "3% flat", but on a £5 ticket the 50p floor is a 10% cut, heavier than the headline.
- Assuming "free for organisers" means free. Most "free" platforms recover their costs through inflated payment processing fees. The cost is still there. It just sits inside the card fee instead of next to it.
- Forgetting the booking fee. Some platforms add a per-order booking fee at checkout on top of the per-ticket platform fee. Easy to miss because it doesn't show up until the customer hits pay.
- Choosing absorb without doing the maths. Absorbing keeps the headline price tidy but the cut comes straight off your margin. On thin-margin community events that 13% can be the difference between profit and loss.
- Comparing UK platforms to US headline rates. American "1.5% + $0.99" looks lower than UK pricing until you add UK card processing on top. UK pricing usually bundles closer to the all-in figure already.
4. When 'free' platforms aren't actually free.
What 'free' usually means in practice
A platform calling itself 'free' nearly always means one of three things. First: the platform fee is waived but you must take card payments through them, where their processing fee is set high enough to cover platform costs. Second: free for low-volume use, with a paid plan above a threshold. Third: genuinely free if you take payments yourself, with fees only on transactions you choose to process through the platform. The third is the most honest model. You pay only when you actively use the paid feature.
- Check whether you can use the platform without taking online card payments
- Check whether features (seating plans, scanning, reporting) are gated behind a paid plan
- Check whether the "free tier" cap is realistic for your event size
Five questions to ask before signing up to any UK ticketing platform.
2. Are there per-ticket fees on free tickets, comp tickets, or reservations?
3. Is there a minimum fee per ticket that hits low-priced tickets disproportionately?
4. Can I take payments outside the platform (cash, cheque, bank transfer, my own card reader) without losing access to seating plans, scanning, or reporting?
5. Are there setup fees, monthly subscriptions, or contracts that lock me in beyond a single event?
What kind of organiser are you? The right answer changes.
If you're an amateur dramatic society where members sell tickets to friends and family on behalf of the society, free reservations and offline payment workflows usually matter more than headline percentage rates. The total fee on tickets sold by Auntie Margaret in cash at the village shop should be zero. See amateur theatre ticketing.
If you're a village hall running four ticketed events a year, monthly subscription pricing breaks the maths before you start. You need per-ticket pricing or genuinely free for offline payments. See village hall ticketing.
If you're a school running a Christmas nativity for 240 children, per-ticket fees on staff comps and free children's tickets eat into the PTA before the fundraiser starts. Look for platforms that don't charge on free or zero-priced tickets. See school ticketing.
If you're a parish running a free carol service or a paid evensong, per-reservation fees on free events are the question that decides this. Most platforms charge anyway. See church ticketing.
If you're a choir or orchestra with members selling on behalf of the society, member-driven sales and offline cash handling matter more than online checkout slickness. See choir and orchestra ticketing.
Related guides
Sources & further reading
Payment processing
Stripe — UK pricing
