How to sell event tickets online in India (with UPI and WhatsApp passes)
A step-by-step guide for Garba Mandals, comedy clubs, workshop hosts and every event organizer: a booking page, UPI payments to your own account, passes on WhatsApp and QR entry at the gate.
Many events in India still run on paper passes, cash at the gate and a notebook of names. It works until the night gets busy: queues grow, someone photocopies a pass, cash goes missing and nobody knows how many people are really coming. Selling online fixes most of this, and today it costs almost nothing to start.
Here is how to do it, whether you run a Navratri Mandal, a stand-up night, a dance workshop or a college fest.
What you actually need
- A booking page people can open from WhatsApp or Instagram, with your events, dates and prices.
- A way to take payment that people already trust: UPI for most, cards for some.
- Passes that can’t be faked: one QR code per pass, checked at the gate.
- A simple gate check your volunteers can run on their own phones.
Step 1: Create your booking page
On My Event Booker you sign up with your WhatsApp number, your organization’s name and city, and what kind of events you run. Your page is ready straight away at an address like myeventbooker.com/m/your-name. You can add your logo, banner, brand colour, about text and questions & answers, so it looks like yours.
Step 2: Add your event and passes
Add the date, time and venue, then the passes you sell (see how to price them). A few kinds that work well:
- Early-bird prices that change on a date you choose, to get people booking early.
- Group passes: one QR lets 2, 4 or more people in (couples, families, friend groups).
- Season passes valid for several nights, with one entry each night.
- Time slots for workshops or shows that run more than once a day (see how).
- Offers and promo codes: “Buy 2 Get 1 Free”, group discounts, or a code for each promoter so you see who sold what.
Step 3: Choose how you get paid
There are two ways, and you can use both:
- UPI straight to your account. People pay your own UPI ID with PhonePe, Google Pay or Paytm, and you confirm the payment. The money never passes through anyone else.
- Online checkout with your own Razorpay account. Payments are confirmed automatically and passes go out instantly.
Starting out? Use UPI. Almost everyone has a UPI app, and there is no payment gateway to apply for. See how UPI payments work.
Step 4: Share your page
Post your link in WhatsApp groups and on Instagram, put the ready-made poster with its QR code on your WhatsApp Status, and print it for shops, society notice boards and your gate, so people can book on the spot. Every pass is sent to the buyer’s WhatsApp, and they can open it again any time from My Passes.
Step 5: Check passes at the gate
Add your volunteers as gate staff with their number and a PIN, and choose the gates they work. They open the scanner on their phone and scan each QR code. A pass works once; a second scan shows it was already used, with the time and gate. Season passes work once a day.
What it costs
There is no setup fee and no monthly fee. You pay 5% only on paid bookings, and free events cost nothing. See pricing for the details.
Tips that help sales
- Open bookings 2 to 3 weeks before the event, with an early-bird price for the first week.
- Share the link again 3 to 4 days before, and on the day.
- Put the poster on your WhatsApp Status the evening before each night.
- Answer common questions (parking, refunds, dress code) on your page, so people book without waiting for a reply.
- More ideas: how to promote your event on WhatsApp and Instagram.
Do I need a company or a GST number?
No. You can start as an individual with your own UPI ID.
Do my attendees need to install an app?
No. They book on a web page from their phone, and their pass comes on WhatsApp.
Can I sell at the gate too?
Yes. Print your page’s QR code at the gate: people scan it, book and walk in with their pass.