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On an event with a published seat map, checkout swaps the usual ticket quantity selector for a seat picker. Everything after the seats are chosen — attendee details, promo codes, payment — works as it does for any other event. Knowing what buyers go through helps you draw a map that is easy to buy from, and helps you answer the questions that come in.
Screenshot coming soon. This flow needs a live order or a device we could not reach when these docs were captured. The steps below are written from the product as it behaves today; the illustration will follow.

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Picking seats

The buyer sees your map with the stage, entrances, and labels you drew, and a key under it showing each ticket category with its price and color. The seat list shows No seats selected until the first pick, then a count such as 2 seats selected with each seat’s section, row, seat number, and price.

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Seat colors

Available seats wear the color of their ticket category. Every other state overrides the category color, so a buyer can never mistake a sold seat for a cheap one.

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Standing areas

A standing section appears as one dashed shape showing its price and how many spots are left, such as 120 of 200 available. The buyer adds or removes spots with the plus and minus buttons rather than clicking individual seats.

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Find best seats

Above the map, buyers can let TixFix choose for them.
  1. Choose how many Seats they need.
  2. If the event has more than one ticket category, optionally choose a Category, or leave it on Any category.
  3. Click Find best seats.
TixFix looks for a run of seats together in one row, and among the rows that can seat the party it prefers the one nearest the stage. If no row is long enough, it falls back to the free seats closest to the stage. This also gives buyers who cannot use the map a way to buy.

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Seat holds

The moment a buyer picks a seat, TixFix holds it for them so nobody else can take it while they check out.
  • A hold lasts 5 minutes. A countdown shows how long is left, and it turns red in the last two minutes.
  • Payment gets extra time. When the buyer starts paying, TixFix extends the hold so the card charge can finish. The buyer does not see this as a second countdown.
  • An order holds at most 6 seats. A buyer who tries to add a seventh sees That is the most seats one order can have (6). Remove one to choose another.
  • Reloading or opening a second tab is safe. The hold belongs to the browser session, so the same seats and the same countdown come back.
  • Leaving checkout releases the seats. If the release does not go through, for example because the buyer lost signal, the seats are freed automatically when the hold runs out.

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When a hold runs out

The seats are released back to the map. The buyer sees Your hold expired and the seats were released., and a Your hold expired notice above their seat list reads The seat you picked is back on sale. or Those 3 seats are back on sale. If nobody else has taken them, the buyer can pick them again. A seat whose hold has expired shows as available to everyone straight away, even before the automatic cleanup runs.

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When someone else got there first

If two buyers click the same seat within moments of each other, one wins. The other sees the seat change to its real state on the map and can choose another. The map refreshes every few seconds, so seats that other buyers pick or release show up without a reload.
A hold is not a purchase. A seat held by a buyer who never pays goes back on sale after 5 minutes, so an abandoned checkout never locks a seat away for good.

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After payment

Paying turns the held seats into sold seats. It is the point of no return for those seats: another buyer can no longer take them, and they show as Sold on your map. If a hold was somehow lost during the card charge, TixFix refunds the whole payment, the order fails, and the buyer is told. No ticket is issued and no confirmation email goes out for a seat they did not get. Each ticket carries its seat for good:
  • On the web ticket card and the order confirmation page, as Section · Row · Seat, for example Balcony · Row C · Seat 12. A round table or standing area has no row, so those read Table 4 · Seat 3 or Floor · Seat 37.
  • On the Apple Wallet pass, in the same form.
The seat is stored on the ticket itself. Republishing the map, removing your reserved seating access, or turning seating off on the event never changes a ticket that has already been sold.

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Free events

Free events can use reserved seating too. Buyers pick seats and go through the same holds, but no payment step runs, so there is nothing to refund if a hold is lost.

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Next step

Learn how to manage a seated event once tickets start selling.