Ticket Waitlisting

The waitlist feature allows guests to join a queue for sold-out tickets/offers and receive a time-limited purchase opportunity when inventory opens.

Prerequisites

Before guests can join a waitlist:

Campaign-level waitlist must be enabled.
Waitlist must also be enabled on each specific ticket/offer you want eligible.
The ticket/offer must be sold out (or effectively full, including reserved waitlist quantity).

Configuration

1) Campaign-level settings

In campaign edit/manage, use the Ticket/Offer Waitlist settings card:

Enable Waitlist
- Turns waitlist on for the campaign.
Waitlist Mode
- Auto (FIFO): first in line gets next offer automatically.
- Manual: admin chooses who gets offers.
Offer Expiry (hours)
- Time window for guest to complete purchase after offer is sent.

2) Ticket/offer-level setting

Each ticket/offer must have waitlist enabled in its own edit settings.
If this is not set, guests will not get a waitlist option for that item even if campaign waitlist is on.

Guest Lifecycle (Public Side)

1) Guest sees “Join Waitlist”

When a waitlist-enabled ticket/offer is sold out, guest can open the waitlist flow.

2) Guest submits waitlist form

Guest provides:

First name
Last name
Email
Optional phone
Quantity (1–10)

System behavior:

Prevents duplicate active entries for same email + same ticket (if already Waiting or Offered).
Assigns queue position (FIFO).
Creates entry with status Waiting.

3) Immediate confirmations sent

After joining:

- Guest email confirmation sent
- Guest SMS confirmation sent (if phone provided)
- Organizer notification email sent with:
  - Guest name/email
  - Ticket name
  - Quantity requested
  - Current waiting count for that ticket

Admin Lifecycle (Operations)

1) Waitlist dashboard

Admins can view waitlist entries and summary counts by status

2) Send Offer (manual action)

From a Waiting entry, admin can send offer:

Entry becomes Offered
Expiry timestamp set using campaign expiry hours

Guest receives:

Offer email with purchase link
Offer SMS (if phone exists), including expiry and purchase URL

3) Expire Offer (manual action)

For an Offered entry:

Status becomes Expired
In Auto mode, next Waiting entry is automatically offered

4) Cancel Entry (manual action)

For a waitlist entry:

Status becomes Cancelled
If entry was Offered, reserved quantity is released
In Auto mode, next Waiting entry is auto-offered

Purchase / Conversion Lifecycle

When guest checks out using the waitlist token:

System validates token against an Offered waitlist entry.
Availability checks allow purchase for that waitlisted ticket.
On successful donation/checkout, waitlist entry status becomes Converted

Automated Expiration Job

A scheduled job runs every 5 minutes to process expired offers:

Finds entries still Offered past OfferExpiresAt
Marks them Expired
Releases reserved quantity
If campaign is Auto mode, promotes next Waiting entry to Offered and reserves quantity

Where waitlist information is visible

Admin-facing

- Campaign edit/manage page
  - Waitlist settings card (enable/mode/expiry)
- Waitlist dashboard
  - Status counts + detailed table
  - Actions: Send Offer, Expire, Remove
- Campaign summary context
  - Waiting count is loaded when waitlist is enabled

Guest-facing

- Offers experience
  - “Join Waitlist” option on sold-out waitlist-enabled items
- Public waitlist page/form
  - Ticket selection + guest info + quantity
- Post-submit confirmation state
  - “You’re on the Waitlist” confirmation message
- Offer communications
  - Email/SMS with time-limited checkout link

Communications/notifications

Guest join confirmation email
Guest join SMS (optional)
Organizer “new waitlist signup” email
Guest offer email (with expiry + link)
Guest offer SMS (optional, with expiry + link)

Status Definitions

Waiting: In queue, no active offer yet

Offered: Offer sent, seat/quantity reserved temporarily

Converted: Purchase completed via waitlist token

Expired: Offer window ended without purchase

Cancelled: Removed by admin (or explicit cancellation flow)

Best Practices

Use Auto mode for high-volume events to keep queue moving.
Keep expiry short enough to avoid inventory lock (common: 12–24 hours).
Always enable waitlist per ticket/offer (not only campaign-level).
Monitor Offered and Expired counts to tune expiry settings.

Troubleshooting

Guest says “already on waitlist”
They already have active Waiting/Offered entry for that same ticket and email.

No one can join waitlist
Check campaign-level and per-ticket waitlist flags.

Offer sent but no purchase happened
Verify expiry window; expired offers are auto-processed and passed onward in Auto mode.