Guide
How to sell tickets at the door without a card reader
You do not need rented hardware to sell walk-in tickets. A phone, a staff link and a clear process at the door are enough to take cash, comps and card payments, and to keep the door count right.
Updated
Decide what the door will accept
- Cash: fastest for small amounts; count the float before doors and again at close.
- Complimentary tickets: for guests, performers and sponsors, recorded so the headcount stays honest.
- Card on the buyer’s own phone: show a QR code, they pay on their phone and receive their ticket.
- Tap to Pay on your phone (coming soon to the EventVidia app): the buyer taps a contactless card or phone wallet on the back of yours.
Use the same screen for scanning and selling
If door sales live in a separate tool, your headcount is wrong all night. In EventVidia the staff scanner link opens a “Sell walk-in” screen: walk-ins are admitted the moment they pay, and the numbers every door phone shows include them.
Protect the door link
Anyone holding a door link can use it. Share it only with your team, rotate it if it leaks, and for larger events turn on “Require sign-in to scan” so only people on the show’s team, signed in, can scan or sell.
Close out the night
- Card sales made through EventVidia are paid out with your online tickets.
- Cash stays with you: reconcile it against the cash sales the door screen recorded.
- Download the door list if you need a record of who came in.
Questions
What is the cheapest way to take card payments at the door?
Let buyers pay on their own phone from a QR code: no hardware, and the same booking fee as online (5.4% + $0.30, minimum $0.80).
Can I sell at the door if the Wi-Fi is down?
Scanning continues offline, but taking a card payment needs a connection. Keep cash as the fallback.