How to price your event passes: early bird, couple, group and season passes
Simple pricing that sells: how to set single, couple, group, VIP and season pass prices for your Garba night, concert or show, with early-bird prices and group offers.
Price too high and people wait. Price too low and you can’t cover your costs. Start from what the event costs you, then use different passes to give every kind of buyer a reason to book now.
Start with your costs
Add up everything the event costs: venue, artists, sound, security, decoration and printing. Divide that by the number of passes you’re fairly sure you’ll sell (not the ground’s full capacity). That’s your break-even price. Anything above it is surplus for your Mandal, or profit.
For example, if a night costs ₹1,50,000 and you’re confident of 500 paying guests, you break even at ₹300 a pass. Use your own numbers.
Pass types that work
- Single pass: your basic price for one person.
- Couple pass: one QR code for two people, priced a little below two singles (for example ₹550 instead of ₹600).
- Group pass: one QR code for a family or friend group of 4 or 5, with a bigger saving.
- VIP pass: a better area, seats or a faster entry, at a clear premium. Keep the number small.
- Season pass: valid for all nights, with one entry each night. Pricing it at about half of what all the nights would cost rewards your regulars.
- Free passes for children or guests, so they’re still counted at the gate.
Three or four pass types are enough. Too many choices make people stop and think, and some never come back to book.
Use early-bird prices
An early-bird price is a lower price that ends on a date you choose. After that date the regular price applies automatically. It brings money in early, when you need it for advances, and shows you early how sales are going.
- Keep the saving clear: 15% to 25% off works well.
- Give it a real end date and announce it: “Early-bird price ends Sunday”.
- Remind people 2 days before it ends.
Offers that bring in groups
- Buy X, get Y free: for example buy 4, get 1 free, so the fifth friend comes free.
- Group discount: a percentage off when someone books 5 or more passes.
- Promo codes: a percentage or a rupee amount off, with dates and a limit on how many bookings can use it. Give each promoter or Garba class its own code, and you’ll see who sold what.
Set limits
- Set how many passes of each type you sell, so you never sell more than the ground can hold.
- Set the most passes one booking can have, so nobody buys in bulk to resell.
Mistakes to avoid
- Cutting prices in the last days. Early buyers feel cheated, and next year everyone waits. Use group offers instead.
- Hidden extras. Attendees pay the price you set: My Event Booker adds no booking fee for them.
- Forgetting the platform fee. On paid bookings the fee is 5%, so include it in your costs. Free passes carry no fee.
Should we charge for children?
Many Mandals keep small children free and charge from a set age. Add a free children’s pass so they’re counted at the gate.
Can we stop selling one pass type?
Yes. Pause it any time and start selling again later. Passes already sold still work at the gate.