Understanding Event Capacity, Ticket Availability, and Ticket Groups
How Sticky Tickets' three capacity limits interact to control ticket sales
Sticky Tickets uses three related but different capacity settings. Understanding how they interact helps explain why ticket sales sometimes stop before an individual ticket type's capacity is reached.
The three capacity terms
- Event Capacity – the maximum number of tickets that can be sold across your entire event, regardless of ticket type.
- Tickets Available – the maximum number of tickets that can be sold for a specific ticket type.
- Ticket Group Capacity – a shared maximum across a group of ticket types, when multiple ticket types are linked together in a Ticket Group.
Whichever limit is reached first stops sales for the relevant ticket(s) — even if another limit hasn't been reached yet.
Example: Event Capacity vs. Tickets Available
| SETTINGS | VALUE |
| Event Capacity | 200 |
| Adult Ticket |
200 |
| Child Ticket | 200 |
| Concession Ticket |
200 |
Even though each ticket type is individually set to 200, Sticky Tickets won't sell more than 200 tickets in total across all three types combined, because the Event Capacity caps the whole event.
Example: Ticket Group Capacity
If Child and Concession tickets are linked in a Ticket Group with a combined capacity of 100, purchases across those two ticket types together can't exceed 100 — even though each individually shows availability of up to 200.
For full detail on setting up and using Ticket Groups, see our guide on Ticket Group Capacities.
How Sticky Tickets checks capacity
When a purchase is made, Sticky Tickets checks all three levels — the individual ticket type, any Ticket Group it belongs to, and the overall Event Capacity. If any one of these limits has been reached, the purchase can't be completed, even if the other limits still have room.
Most common scenarios and questions
Why did my tickets stop selling even though my ticket type still shows availability?
-
Another limit — either your Event Capacity or a Ticket Group Capacity — has likely been reached, even if the individual ticket type hasn't sold out.
Which capacity limit takes priority if they conflict?
-
None takes priority — whichever limit is reached first is the one that stops the sale.
Can I increase my event capacity after tickets have gone on sale?
-
Yes, you can update your Event Capacity at any time from the Edit Event page.
Need more help?
If you have any questions about capacity settings, contact our support team.