Event Ticket Price & Break-even Calculator (with ticketing fees)
What buyers pay, what you keep per ticket and how many tickets cover the event.
Try before you buy.
- Free preview: the break-even number of tickets in full, with the first rows of each table (up to 3) and the first step of the working; every other figure is hidden.
- Locked until you unlock it: download and copy.
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Per ticket
Profit at each attendance level
How this was calculated
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Results are estimates for general information and planning, not financial advice. Banks and institutions may calculate differently (rounding, fees, rate changes). Confirm figures with your lender or a qualified adviser before deciding.
How this tool is checked
- Based on
- the method set out under ‘How the fees are worked out’.
- Sources
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This guide cites 4 sources, among them:
- Tests
- 16 automated tests check its results.
- Found an error?
- Report a problem or write to support@mysmartcopilot.com, with what you entered and the result you expected.
About the Event Ticket Price & Break-even Calculator (with ticketing fees)
Set ticket prices that cover the event. Enter the fixed costs (venue, sound, speakers, marketing), the cost of each attendee (catering, badges) and your ticket types — early bird, standard, VIP, group — with their prices and the tickets you expect to sell. Choose the ticketing platform: Eventbrite’s published fees in the United States or Australia, Ticket Tailor’s per-ticket fee with a payment processor, or your own platform’s rates — and whether buyers pay the fees or you absorb them, with the tax on tickets.
The calculator shows what buyers pay and what you receive for each ticket type, the break-even number of tickets in your mix of types, the one price that would break even if everyone paid it, and the profit at each attendance level from a quarter of the expected sales to one and a half times. Each fee preset carries a version label and every figure in it can be edited. Without a pass the free preview shows the break-even number of tickets in full, with the first rows of each table; the other figures, the copy and the CSV need a Pro pass.
How to use it
- Choose the currency, then enter the event’s fixed costs and its cost per attendee.
- List the ticket types: name, price, the tickets you expect to sell, how many people one ticket admits (4 for a group ticket of four) and any extra cost of that ticket.
- Pick the platform to fill in its fees, or enter your own: the platform’s percentage and amount per paid ticket, any tax on its fee, and the payment processor’s percentage and amount per order. Choose whether buyers pay the fees or you absorb them.
- Enter the tax on tickets, if you charge it, and whether your prices include it.
- Read the break-even, the table per ticket and the profit at each attendance level. Copy the summary or download the CSV with a Pro pass or after unlocking this result; the free preview shows the break-even.
Examples
Service fee 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket · payment processing 2.9% per order · no tax
The buyer pays $28.52 ($25 + $2.72 service + $0.80 processing) and you receive $25.00; absorbing the fees, you would receive $21.55
Fixed costs $5,000 · $12 an attendee · 100 early bird at $20, 200 standard at $30, 30 VIP at $75 (+$15 each), 10 group tickets of 4 at $100 · Eventbrite US, fees passed on
340 tickets, 370 attendees · you receive $11,250 · costs $9,890 · profit $1,360 · break-even 268 tickets (292 attendees) · one price for everyone that breaks even: $25.52 (buyers pay $29.07)
£15 ticket · £0.60 + 20% VAT per ticket · Stripe UK 1.5% + 20p per order · 2 tickets an order
Fees £0.72 + £0.33: you receive £13.95 of each £15 ticket
Common uses
- Pricing a conference, a workshop or a concert so that the expected sales cover the costs.
- Deciding whether to pass the ticketing fees on to buyers or to absorb them in the price.
- Comparing early-bird, VIP and group prices by what each one actually brings in.
- Seeing how the profit changes if only half the expected tickets sell.
The fee presets
Each preset fills in what the platform publishes on its own pricing page; the version label (preset v1) changes when its figures change, and an edited preset is labelled “edited”.
- Eventbrite, United States: a service fee of 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket and payment processing of 2.9% per order; buyers pay them unless you choose to absorb them (Eventbrite pricing).
- Eventbrite, Australia: a service fee of 5.35% + A$1.19 per paid ticket; the Australian page lists no separate processing fee (Eventbrite Australia pricing).
- Ticket Tailor, pay as you go: £0.60 per ticket plus VAT, and your first 5 ticket sales carry no Ticket Tailor fee (Ticket Tailor pricing). Ticket Tailor does not process payments: your processor’s fee comes on top — the preset uses Stripe’s standard rate for UK cards, 1.5% + 20p (Stripe UK pricing).
For another country, plan or platform, choose “Another platform or my own rates” and enter the figures from your account.
How the fees are worked out
Per ticket, rounded to the cent as platforms charge them:
- platform fee = (fee % × ticket price with its tax + fee per ticket) × (1 + tax on the fee)
- processing = processing % × what the buyer pays + fee per order ÷ tickets per order
- fees passed on: the buyer pays the price with its tax, the platform fee and the processing; you receive the price without its tax
- fees absorbed: the buyer pays the price with its tax; you receive the price without its tax, less both fees
The percentages are worked out on the ticket’s price with its tax — the price itself when it includes the tax, the price plus the tax when the tax is added at checkout. Platforms do not all charge their percentages on the same base, so check a fee statement from your own account when the cents matter.
The break-even
Each ticket contributes what you receive for it less its costs: the cost per attendee for every person it admits and its extra cost. The break-even number of tickets is the fixed costs ÷ the average contribution of a ticket in your expected mix, rounded up: in the example, $5,000 ÷ $18.71 = 268 tickets. One price for everyone is the price at which the expected attendance covers every cost if each person paid it, solved with the fees included.
Limitations
- Fees differ by country, plan and payment method, and platforms change them; the presets are the published standard rates, so check your own account.
- Refunds, chargebacks, payout fees and currency conversion are not included.
- When buyers pay the fees, the processor’s percentage on its own fee is left out, a fraction of a cent per ticket.
- The tax on tickets is the rate you enter: the page does not decide which rate applies to your event.
Privacy
On this device: nothing is sent
Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.
Frequently asked questions
What do I get without a pass?
Without a pass, Event Ticket Price & Break-even Calculator (with ticketing fees) shows the break-even number of tickets in full, with the first rows of each table (up to 3) and the first step of the working; every other figure is hidden. Until you unlock it, the result can’t be downloaded or copied. A Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass, a one-time payment that never renews, unlocks the full result. The pricing page lists the passes and their prices.
What are Eventbrite’s fees?
In the United States Eventbrite publishes a service fee of 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket and payment processing of 2.9% per order; in Australia a service fee of 5.35% + A$1.19 per paid ticket. Buyers pay them unless you choose to absorb them. Other countries and plans have their own rates: enter them as your own.
Should I pass the fees on to buyers or absorb them?
Passing them on keeps the whole ticket price for you but makes the price at checkout higher than the one advertised; absorbing them keeps the price simple and costs you the fees. Compare the two with the switch: on a $25 ticket with Eventbrite’s US fees you keep $25.00 or $21.55.
How many tickets do I need to sell to break even?
The fixed costs divided by what an average ticket brings in after its own costs. With $5,000 of fixed costs and an average of $18.71 per ticket, that is 268 tickets; the page works out the average from your mix of ticket types.
Do I charge sales tax or VAT on tickets?
That depends on where the event is and who runs it. Enter the rate you charge and whether your prices include it; the tax is passed on to the tax authority, so it is not part of what you receive.
What does “preset v1” mean?
The version of the preset’s figures. When a platform changes its published fees, the preset gets a new version, so a summary or CSV you keep shows which figures it used. If you change a figure, the label says “edited”.