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How to Cancel Tickets and Issue Refunds as an Organiser

Process organiser-initiated refunds, manage purchaser refund requests, and understand the fee implications before you start.

Ticket purchaser? If you're looking to request a refund for tickets you've purchased, this article is not for you. See: Request a refund for your Sticky Tickets order.

Before you start

⚠️ Your event must be Live to process refunds. Refunds and cancellations cannot be processed if your event is Pending, Scheduled, or Completed. If your event is currently paused, you must resume it before processing refunds.

Need to prevent new ticket sales while issuing refunds? Set the Stop Selling Date to a past date before resuming the event. This keeps refund access enabled while blocking new purchases.

Non-refundable fee: A 1.5% merchant and administration fee (or $1.00 — whichever is greater) is retained per transaction. This applies to all refunds and cannot be waived. When processing a refund you can choose to:

  • Absorb the fee as the organiser — the fee is deducted from your ticket sales balance (or charged to your card if the balance is insufficient)
  • Pass the fee to the ticket purchaser — the refund amount is reduced by the fee

Part 1 — Organiser-initiated refund or cancellation

Use this when you want to cancel a ticket or issue a refund directly — either on your own initiative, or when a ticket purchaser has contacted you directly and you've agreed to cancel and refund their ticket.

Step 1 — Open your event

  1. Log in and go to My Events.
  2. Open the event you want to manage.

Step 2 — Locate the order

  1. Click the Sales List tab.
  2. Find the order by searching for the order number or ticket purchaser's name.
  3. Click the order number to open the Order Details page.

Step 3 — Start the refund

  1. Click the Refund / Cancel Tickets button.
  2. Select the ticket(s) you want to refund or cancel.
  3. Click Next.

Step 4 — Choose the refund type

OPTION WHAT IT DOES
Partial Refund Refunds the ticket amount minus the 1.5% (or $1.00) fee. The fee is passed to the ticket purchaser — they receive less than the full amount.
Full refund Refunds the full ticket amount to the ticket purchaser. The 1.5% (or $1.00) fee is deducted from your ticket sales balance — or charged to your card if your sales balance is insufficient.

Step 5 — Confirm the refund to process it.

The ticket purchaser will automatically receive an email confirmation. Refunds typically take 2–3 business days to appear on the ticket purchaser's card.

Part 2 — Managing purchaser refund requests

Use this when a ticket purchaser has submitted a refund request through their Sticky Tickets account.

How to access refund requests

  1. Go to My Events.
  2. Click the Transactions tab in the left panel.
  3. Click Refund/Xfer Requests.

Processing Refund through Refund Transfer Request tab and approving it

Pending requests are listed here. Each request shows the order number and purchaser's details.

To approve a request

  1. Locate the request in the Pending list and click Approve.
  2. Review the request summary. Confirm the details are correct.
  3. Enter your Sticky Tickets account password.
  4. Add an optional message to the ticket purchaser — this will be included in the confirmation email they receive.
  5. Click Approve to process the refund.

To decline a request

  1. Locate the request in the list and click Decline.
  2. Select the appropriate reason from the list.
  3. Click Confirm — the ticket purchaser will receive an email with the decline reason.

 

Important notes

  • Refunds typically take 2–3 business days to appear on the ticket purchaser's card.
  • Ticket purchasers automatically receive an email confirmation when a refund is approved or declined.
  • If the refund amount exceeds your available ticket sales balance, you may be prompted to provide card details to cover the difference.

Australian Consumer Law: Under the Australian Consumer Law, ticket purchasers may be entitled to refunds if services do not meet consumer guarantees. These rights apply regardless of your event's refund settings and cannot be waived.

Most Common Scenarios and Questions

I can't find the Refund / Cancel Tickets button.

  • Check that your event status is Live. If the event is paused, resume it first. If the event is Completed or Cancelled, refunds cannot be processed through the event editor — contact our support team.

The refund amount is coming out of my balance unexpectedly.

  • If you selected Full refund, the 1.5% (or $1.00) fee is deducted from your ticket sales balance rather than from the ticket purchaser's refund. If your balance is insufficient to cover the fee, your card will be charged. Consider using a partial refund to pass the fee to the ticket purchaser instead.

I need to pause new ticket sales while processing refunds.

  • Set the Stop Selling Date to a past date in the ticket settings. Then resume the event. This prevents new purchases while keeping refund access enabled.

Can I refund only some tickets in an order, not all of them?

  • Yes — in Step 2 of the refund process, you can select individual tickets from an order rather than refunding the entire order.

Will the ticket purchaser be notified automatically?

  • Yes — ticket purchasers receive an automatic email confirmation when a refund is approved or when their request is declined.

What if I process a refund but the funds don't appear on the purchaser's card within 2–3 business days?

  • Ask the ticket purchaser to check with their bank. If the issue persists, contact our support team with the order number.

Can I process refunds for offline sales?

  • Offline sale refunds are handled by the organiser directly, outside the Sticky Tickets platform. Contact the ticket purchaser to arrange the refund and then cancel the offline order in Sticky Tickets to keep your records accurate.

Need more help?

If you need help processing refunds or cancellations, contact our support team.