"Just send a message if you're coming"
That is how most small events run their guest list: a message in the group chat, a Facebook event with thumbs-ups, an email saying "let us know if you'll be there". And every organiser knows how it ends: forty people said yes, twenty-five showed up. Or worse — sixty showed up, and the room was licensed for fifty.
The problem is not that people are unreliable. The problem is that a thumbs-up costs nothing. Someone who never clicked anything except "interested" has nothing to cancel either.
A ticket changes that — and it does not have to cost anything.
A ticket is a commitment
Someone who gets hold of a ticket has done something: filled in a form, received a confirmation, got a QR code in their inbox that ends up in their calendar or wallet. Psychologically, that is a world away from a thumbs-up. You have something in hand — and something you have in hand, you do not let slip so easily.
It works both ways. The visitor who holds a ticket feels a gentle obligation to show up (or to cancel properly, freeing the spot). And the visitor who does not have one yet sees something else: this event is real, there is a fixed number of places, and they can run out.
Scarcity is not a trick — it is simply true
FOMO has a bad reputation, but at events the scarcity is usually just real: the room has a maximum, the parade has a fence, the workshop has twelve chairs. A ticketing system makes that reality visible. "8 places left" does something that "let us know if you're coming" never will — and sold out is the best advertisement your next event can get.
Try doing that without a ticketing system ("full is full!") and you have no counter, no waitlist and no idea when the moment has arrived.
You look professional — even with three volunteers
Your own ticket page, a tidy confirmation email with a QR code, a smooth check-in at the door: to the visitor it feels like an organisation that has its act together. Nobody sees that behind it is a treasurer doing this on a Tuesday evening. That is exactly the point.
And that first small event that ran like clockwork? That is why people trust your next one — and bring their friends.
You know who is inside. And who is still coming.
This is the difference organisers only feel on the night itself. With a paper guest list you know, at best, who once said "yes". With tickets and a QR scanner you know live how many people are inside, how many are still on their way and when the peak has passed.
That is useful for catering and bar staffing. But sometimes it is more than useful:
- Venues regularly require it. A hall or location wants to know how many people are coming and who is inside — for fire safety, and because their licence has a maximum. "We track it with tickets and a scanner" is an answer that makes a venue manager happy.
- Permits ask for it. Events with a municipal permit often come with a maximum attendance and an obligation to manage it. A ticketing system with capacity per ticket type and a live check-in count is that management — airtight and provable afterwards.
- In an evacuation or incident you do not want to guess how many people were inside. You want to know.
What about RSVP?
RSVP is not wrong — it is just half the job. An RSVP records an intention; a ticket organises everything that follows: the confirmation, the reminder sitting in the wallet, the capacity guard, the check-in, the count, the waitlist when it is full. For the visitor the difference is two taps; for the organiser it is a different event.
What does that cost, for such a small event?
At MijnEvent: nothing, as long as your tickets are free. Free tickets are completely fee-free — no price, no service fee, however long your guest list. If you do sell tickets, you pay a flat low amount per sold ticket and the revenue lands directly in your own bank account.
Creating your own event page takes ten minutes. The QR scanner is an ordinary phone. And your next "just send a message" event? It simply has tickets.
Ready to try it? Create your first event — no subscription needed.