Absorb vs pass-through fees
TimbaTicket charges a per-ticket platform fee for using the service. How this fee is handled depends on your fee policy setting.
The two policies
Absorb (default)
With absorb, the platform fee is deducted from your proceeds. The buyer pays exactly the ticket price you set.
Example: A £15 ticket on the START plan (£0.60 per-ticket fee):
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Buyer pays | £15.00 |
| Platform fee | −£0.60 |
| You receive | £14.40 |
Pass-through
With pass-through, the fee is added on top of the ticket price. The buyer pays the ticket price plus the fee.
Example: The same £15 ticket on the START plan:
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Ticket price | £15.00 |
| Platform fee | +£0.60 |
| Buyer pays | £15.60 |
| You receive | £15.00 |
Per-ticket fees by plan
The fee amount depends on your plan:
| Plan | Monthly cost | Per-ticket fee |
|---|---|---|
| START | £0 | £0.60 |
| GROW | £29 | £0.45 |
| PRO | £99 | £0.35 |
There is no free-ticket allowance — every ticket sold incurs a fee.
How to set your fee policy
You can set the fee policy in two places:
- Per event — go to the event's Reports tab → Advanced Settings card → Booking fee on this event dropdown. Options: "Follow organisation setting" (default), "Absorbed by organiser", or "Added to buyer's price"
- Organisation-wide — go to Settings in the main nav to set a default for all events
The per-event override takes precedence over the organisation default. If neither is set, the policy defaults to absorb.
What buyers see
On the public event page, a fee disclosure appears only when the organiser has connected their own Square account. It shows the per-ticket fee amount and whether it is absorbed or passed through.
At checkout, the fee is itemised in the price breakdown so the buyer knows exactly what they are paying.
Square fee cap
Square limits the total platform fee that can be charged per transaction. The fee cannot exceed 90% of the ticket price for tickets £4 or above, or 60% for tickets under £4. This is a Square-imposed limit, not a TimbaTicket restriction.
Changing the policy after sales
You can change the fee policy at any time, but it only affects future purchases. Existing orders are not retroactively adjusted.
If you change from absorb to pass-through (or vice versa) after tickets are on sale, the public page will update to reflect the new policy for the next buyer, but previous buyers keep their original price.