Eventbrite ticket fees for organizers
For US events Eventbrite charges a service fee of 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket, calculated on the ticket price, and payment processing of 2.9% on the total order, including service fees and tax (Eventbrite pricing, Eventbrite’s Ticketing Fees). Free tickets pay nothing.
| One ticket | They pay | Fees | Fee rate | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15 · buyer pays fees | $17.85 | $0.00 | 0.00% | $15.00 |
| $15 · I absorb fees | $15.00 | $2.79 | 18.6% | $12.21 |
| $50 · buyer pays fees | $55.20 | $0.00 | 0.00% | $50.00 |
| $50 · I absorb fees | $50.00 | $5.09 | 10.2% | $44.91 |
| $150 · buyer pays fees | $161.90 | $0.00 | 0.00% | $150.00 |
The $1.79 is what makes cheap tickets feel expensive: on a $15 ticket the buyer pays $17.85, 19% on top.
Eventbrite Ticket Fees: Pass Them On or Absorb Them?
Passing fees to buyers is Eventbrite’s default and keeps your price clean. Absorbing them makes the checkout total match your poster, at the cost of roughly 10% of a $50 ticket.
Our take: for low-price community events, absorb and round your price up, because a $1.79-per-ticket surprise at checkout loses more sales than it saves. For premium tickets, pass them on; the percentage is small next to the price.
A full event: 200 tickets at $25
With fees passed on, 200 buyers pay $5,704.78 in total and you receive $5,000: Eventbrite’s service fees come to $544 and processing to $160.78. If you absorb them, buyers pay exactly $5,000 and you receive $4,311. That difference, $689, is the real price of an all-inclusive ticket. Price $28 instead of $25 and absorb, and buyers pay a clean $28 while you receive about $4,872 for 200 tickets (Eventbrite pricing).
Plan fees are separate: publishing on the Free plan costs nothing; paid Organizer plans add a publishing fee but keep the same ticketing fees.
Selling tickets through your own site instead? Compare card fees with the Stripe fee calculator or Square.