A $30 ticket does not necessarily bring $30 into your bank account. The ticketing service fee and payment processing affect the sale. Refunds can leave costs behind, and ticket revenue may not be available to pay your venue as soon as a customer books.
Who pays the fees matters too. Adding them at checkout raises the customer's total. Absorbing them keeps the ticket price unchanged but reduces your proceeds. Neither approach removes the cost; it changes where that cost appears.
With Gomry, the standard USD service fee is 3.9% plus $0.79 per paid ticket, with payment processing charged separately. There is no monthly platform fee, and free events are free. Below is what that means for a workshop selling 40 tickets at $30, alongside the other providers’ payment models, refunds and bank payouts.
What goes into the cost of a ticket sale?
The service fee pays for the ticketing platform. It can include a percentage of the ticket price, a fixed amount per ticket or a charge against prepaid ticket credits. Some platforms also offer a subscription that changes the per-sale rate.
Payment processing is the separate cost of collecting the money. Its amount depends on the provider and payment method. A ticketing rate that says “plus processing” is not the final transaction charge.
The distinction becomes important when customers buy several tickets together. A per-ticket charge applies to each place sold. A per-order charge applies to the purchase as a whole. Four tickets bought in one order and four tickets bought separately can therefore produce different processing costs, even when the ticket prices are identical.
Tax, currency conversion and optional paid services can add further costs where they apply. They should not be folded into an unexplained “platform fee.” A useful cost breakdown shows the ticket value, service fee and processing separately, then any other applicable charges.
Gomry's service fee for 40 tickets
A workshop selling 40 tickets at $30 has $1,200 in ticket face value. At Gomry's standard USD rate, the service fee is $78.40:
| Service fee component | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage charge | $1,200 × 3.9% | $46.80 |
| Per-ticket charge | 40 × $0.79 | $31.60 |
| Total Gomry service fee | $46.80 + $31.60 | $78.40 |
The percentage is calculated on the ticket's face value, with $0.79 added per paid ticket. The service fee is the same whether the buyer pays it or the organizer absorbs it.
If your business absorbs the service fee, $1,121.60 remains from the $1,200 in ticket sales before payment processing and any other applicable charges. That figure is not a final payout. If buyers pay the service fee, it is added at checkout instead of being deducted from the ticket's face value.
This is an illustration of the standard USD service fee, not a customer revenue result. It excludes processing, tax, refunds and optional services. Gomry's introductory first Pro month has a service rate of 2.49% plus $0.79 per paid ticket, also plus processing. The pricing page explains the published rates. Organizations selling at volume can discuss custom pricing with Gomry.
Adding fees at checkout or including them in the ticket price
With buyer-paid fees, a $30 ticket costs the buyer more than $30 once applicable charges are added. In Gomry this is the default service-fee arrangement. The face-value price and the amount collected at checkout are different numbers.
When the organizer absorbs the fees, the buyer pays the $30 ticket price and the charges reduce the organizer's proceeds. This can suit an offer advertised at a single price, provided any applicable taxes and pricing requirements are handled correctly.
The practical difference is visible in both the customer experience and your budget. Passing on fees preserves more of the ticket's face value for the business; absorbing them means that the ticket price must cover those costs as well as the event itself. The final amount shown before payment should make the arrangement clear to the buyer.
How event payment platforms charge
Event payment platforms use different combinations of service fees, processing and subscriptions. These are the payment models behind the headline prices, rather than a ranking of the cheapest provider.
Eventbrite charges fees on paid tickets, with service fees and payment processing where applicable. Organizers can pass ticketing fees to buyers or absorb them. Its ticketing offer also includes a discovery marketplace, so the purchase decision involves where customers find the event as well as the cost of checkout. The Eventbrite alternatives guide covers that distinction.
Ticket Tailor offers pay-as-you-sell ticketing charges and prepaid ticket credits. Online payments are handled through a connected payment processor, such as Stripe, PayPal or Square, whose charges are additional. Prepaying for ticket credits changes the ticketing cost; it does not cover processing.
Gomry has no monthly platform subscription. Its Standard online service fee is 3.9% of the ticket’s face value plus $0.79 per paid ticket in USD; payment processing is additional. The fixed component follows the ticket currency. The worked example above shows how those components apply when the organizer absorbs the service fee. For in-person sales, Tap to Pay has its own transaction rate and device, account and market conditions; it does not use the online per-ticket example.
Humanitix lists a service charge per paid ticket and a separate processing charge on its US pricing page. Its free-event model does not make paid ticket sales free. The Humanitix alternatives guide looks at the event workflows alongside its payment model.
Luma has a free plan with a platform fee on paid events and a paid Plus plan with a 0% platform fee. Stripe processing still applies. The subscription becomes another cost in the decision, rather than a reason to treat each sale as having no fees. The Luma alternatives guide covers the broader product differences.
These structures behave differently as ticket prices and sales volumes change. A fixed per-ticket charge represents a larger share of a low-price ticket; a percentage charge increases with the ticket price. Subscription and prepaid-credit models add a commitment that a pay-per-sale model does not. The relevant total is the one for your market, account and expected sales, including processing.
What a refund changes
A refunded ticket reverses revenue, but the amount received by the participant depends on who bears the refund fees. In Gomry, the participant receives a full refund when the organization bears those fees; when the participant bears them, the refund is partial. The refund amount and its cost to the organizer are therefore different figures.
For a workshop, the result is that a canceled place can leave a cost even after the customer's refund has been resolved. The original ticket value, refund amount and retained charges are separate parts of the payment record. A refund should not be treated as if the purchase never happened.
Partial refunds add another distinction: the customer receives part of the payment back, while the record still needs to show the amount retained and any fees that remain. Clear refund terms help customers understand what they will receive and help your team explain the transaction without reconstructing it from messages.
When ticket revenue reaches your bank
In Gomry, money becoming available in your balance, a payout being processed and funds arriving in your bank are separate stages. Ticket proceeds are usually available after the event, although some funds may be released earlier as the event approaches.
Once a payout is requested, the business terms describe processing as generally taking one to two business days unless a separate written arrangement applies. Bank receipt takes additional time. Account checks, the payout method and any holds can affect the timing.
This matters when venue deposits or supplier invoices are due before the event. A completed ticket sale is not the same as money available in your bank. Your cash plan needs to reflect when the proceeds can actually be withdrawn and received, rather than assuming that every sale immediately funds the next expense.
Connecting a ticket sale to the money received
The order tells your team what the customer bought. The payment record shows what was collected and refunded. The payout shows what was transferred to the bank. These records describe different stages of the same sale.
A difference between ticket revenue and the bank deposit can come from service fees, processing, refunds, disputes, currency conversion or the timing of a payout. Keeping those amounts separate makes the difference explainable. Gomry's Payments dashboard offers PDF, Excel and CSV exports. These are records from Payments, not a substitute for the bank statement showing when a payout was received.
For integrations, Gomry's API and webhook guide explains how to retrieve payment information and why a payment notification should be checked against the payment record. A notification is not a substitute for the transaction details used in reconciliation.
For a booking with a deposit and later balance, the payment plans guide explains the accounting records to retain and how an installment agreement differs from provider-financed buy-now-pay-later.