TicketLeap, the Philadelphia-based provider of Internet ticketing services for event organizers, recently launched a product that turns any Internet-enabled computer with a browser into a functional box-office ticketing system. The new product, dubbed Anywhere, allows organizers of events – big or small – to facilitate the online handling of ticket sales at the venue door or when talking to customers on the phone.
While there are many companies offering online ticketing services to organizers (full disclosure: I’m a partner at Oxynade, which also markets an e-ticketing solution), TicketLeaps claims to be the first one that provides its customers with a way to use their own computers to sell tickets at their events. It does acknowledge however that there may sometimes be extra equipment needed too (think bar-code scanners or printers) and thus offers a way for their customers to rent it directly from them in case they don’t own any.
The cloud-based Anywhere software service includes ticket barcode scanning, the ability for customers to choose their exact seat and support for all sorts of venue customization. TicketLeaps charges a ’small fee’, although it’s unclear exactly how much, for every ticket that gets sold through the platform and says most organizers opt to simply charge the extra fee to the patron. The company expects most ticketing solutions to follow suit and eventually live in the cloud as well.
“It’s only a matter of time before every ticket you buy comes from web-based ticketing software like this,” TicketLeap CEO Chris Stanchak says. “There’s really no comparison when it comes to cost, convenience and flexibility.”
TicketLeap was started by Stanchak as a recent Wharton graduate back in 2003. In July 2008, the company raised its first round of financing: $2 million from MentorTech Ventures and Ben Franklin Technology Partners.
LiveNation/Ticketmaster use of TicketLeap as an example to show there is enough competition in the market to warrant their merger in 4…3…2…1…
Great tools really. It is quite important for people like me to carry whole office with you.
This is great, but if they really want to make money they need to turn this into a cutting edge Ticketing system for venues and teams. Every since Ticketmaster bought its only real competitor in the market Paciolan there has been no competition. And the sports teams / venues I talk to all hate TM’s solution. It is very dated currently not even using cookies to track conversion sources!
Anyways, nice to see a new player even if I think they are playing in the wrong game.
Big thanks for the article and the comments.
I just want to add a small clarification on TicketLeap’s pricing: Our fees are between $1-$2 per ticket, depending on the price of the ticket, and there are no setup fees to get started.
These fees are among the lowest in the industry, and we’re able to keep them this low in part because our platform is entirely web-based.
For god’s sake: “cloud-based”? Can you drop the meaningless buzzwords please? Jeez.
Ummm… saying cloud was a quick way to get the point across, it’s hosted online. Cloud is packed with meaning, because otherwise you’d have to use two or three more words to get the same point across, and that point is a meaningful.
Excellent company, great idea. I enjoy this kind of innovation and wish them the best.
I know it seems easy: Have an event – just print some tickets! But what about accounting, checking tickets, choosing seats, setting prices, refunds, duplicates, or changes in venue?
TicketLeap really simplifies the ticketing process, and they are a great Philly company too!
e-Register (www.e-registernow.com) also does something very similar.
They are an internet master merchant based out of Canada that process real-time credit card payments. If your company has a merchant account you can use their services to sell your tickets anywhere.
They even have an iPhone app that will allow you to sell tickets on the spot and charge people with their credit-card numbers. (it’s called “iTouch 2 Pay” and is on the appstore. Free demo available http://www.itouch2pay.com )
They also allow customers to buy their own tickets while waiting in line at a concert using their iPhones or Blackberry’s.
great idea. Neat solution. I guess next one should be an iPhone App . A user buys a ticket , pays through CC and the ticket is delivered to iPhone from which user can take a printout or the ticket is scanned directly from the iPhone
Looks like this cool cloud-based service will be at the forefront of the game-changing democratizing of ticket sales, something a lot of people have been looking for.
It has to be said that the Philly startup scene is really jumping these days. And now we know that if they sell tickets to watch, there’s a cool alternative to LN/TM that can handle it just fine.
geekevaluation – e-Registernow allows you to do that.
You pay for the ticket using your iphone or bb and when you come up to the gate they scan your iphone which displays a picture of a barcode.
this is how I got my ticket for the Toronto autoshow this year!
express pay at the gate!
100+ other online ticketing companies are doing the same thing, how is it different, just because they are calling DIY ticket box they are on Techcrunch? How dumb it is to cover this as some kind of innovation in the market place, web based ticketing has been there for decades!
Can you please write a list down with 100+ online ticketing companies websites that do barcode scanning for example?