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Checkout reservation periods

Why your event may temporarily show as sold out even if there is a space available

Anni avatar
Written by Anni
Updated over a week ago

When a customer starts a booking on your public page, their spot is temporarily held until they complete the booking or the reservation period expires. This prevents double-booking and ensures the space isn't taken by someone else before the original customer finishes their transaction.

This article covers:


How to set the reservation period

šŸ’” The default checkout reservation period is 15 minutes.

To change this:

  1. Select Settings then Booking preferences from the left-hand menu on your account.

  2. Select Edit next to Booking:

    Booking preferences screen with an arrow pointing at the 'Edit' button

  3. Enter your preferred period into the Reserved for x minutes field:

    Booking settings pointing at the minutes field within the booking reservation period settings

  4. Select Save to save your changes.

Checkout period example

The checkout reservation period doesn't start until the customer selects Book now:

If you set your checkout reservation period to '15 minutes,' once the customer selects Book now, they have 15 minutes to complete their booking. If they don't complete the booking, the space will become available for others to book again after 15 minutes.

Ticket Closure and Checkout Reservation

  • If you've set a ticket to close at a specific time, but a customer adds it to their basket beforehand, they can still complete the booking within the checkout reservation period.

  • For example, if a ticket closes at 2 p.m. and a customer adds it at 1:58 p.m. with a 15-minute reservation period, they have until 2:13 p.m. to finish booking.

  • The checkout reservation period cannot exceed 120 minutes.


Events appearing as fully booked

When a customer starts a booking, a 'checkout' reservation temporarily holds a space in the event. If only one spot remains and a customer adds it to their basket, the event may appear 'sold out' on your schedule page, even though the space hasn't been confirmed yet.

This will resolve itself when:

  • The customer completes the booking, or

  • The checkout reservation period expires, and the space is released.

If you have the Waiting list feature enabled, the system also holds available spaces until everyone on the list has been contacted.

Reviewing checkout bookings

There are 3 different ways to find incomplete checkout bookings:

  1. Dashboard: The 'Checkout' tab.

  2. Bookings tab: Using the 'Checkout' filter.

  3. Attendee list: Using the bookings list.

1. Via the Dashboard

To find checkout bookings via the dashboard:

  1. Select Dashboard from the left-hand menu on your account.

  2. Under Latest booking activity, select Checkout:

2. Via the Bookings tab

To find checkout bookings via the dashboard:

  1. Select Bookings from the left-hand menu.

  2. Tick theĀ CheckoutĀ checkbox and any other additional filters, thenĀ SearchĀ to generate the search results:

    Bookings tab with an arrow pointing at the 'Checkout' checkbox

3. Via the attendee list

To find checkout bookings via the attendee list:

  1. Open your Scheduling page.

  2. For single dates, select the event from your schedule, then the Attendees button:

    Scheduling page with an arrow pointing at the 'Attendees' button


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  3. For course dates, select the course from the schedule, then the attendee icon next to the date:

    Scheduling page with an arrow pointing at the attendee icon next to the date


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  4. Select the Options drop-down menu, then View bookings list:

    Attendee list with an arrow pointing at the 'View bookings list' option

  5. Selecting View bookings list opens the bookings tab with a filtered view, only showing booking information for the event you selected.

  6. Under Attendance status, deselect Complete and select Checkout, then Search:

    Bookings tab with the attendance status section highlighted


Completing a booking on behalf of a customer

If needed, you (the admin) can complete a checkout booking on behalf of a customer. To do this:

  1. Select the Bookings tab from the left-hand menu on your account.

  2. Find and open the booking from the list.

  3. Select Complete this booking within the booking:

    Screenshot of booking with an arrow pointing at the 'Complete this booking' option under 'Options', highlighting to users where to click to complete the booking on behalf of the customer.

  4. This forces the booking into a "Completed" status. If payment is required, it will be marked as 'Pay later.'

šŸ’” Completing a checkout booking on behalf of a customer may not be possible if:

  • The booking form hasn't been filled out, or

  • The ticket allocation form is incomplete.

In these cases, the customer must start a new booking.


šŸ’¬ Any questions or feedback? There are two ways to get in touch:

Thank you! šŸ•ŗ

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