Brown Paper Tickets

3.7 (38)
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Ticketing & event registration platform for event organizers

Overall rating

3.7 /5
(38)
Value for Money
3.8/5
Features
3.8/5
Ease of Use
3.8/5
Customer Support
3.6/5
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38 Reviews

Ayano
Ayano
Overall rating
  • Industry: Nonprofit Organization Management
  • Company size: Self Employed
  • Used Monthly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

Simple platform for event needs

Reviewed on 2021/12/15

It has been great! Very simple and straight-forward, which is good for my clients who may not be so...

It has been great! Very simple and straight-forward, which is good for my clients who may not be so tech-savvy.

Pros

I really like the "fair-trade" model that Brown Paper Tickets embodies. Being in community development work, I like to source equitable tools and software for my engagements.

Cons

The interface of the BPT website could be improved. It has an old-style look to it that may not be appealing to all users.

Alternatives Considered

Eventbrite and Meta for Business

Reasons for Choosing Brown Paper Tickets

We wanted to try something new and go with a more grassroots-based platform

Switched From

Eventbrite

Reasons for Switching to Brown Paper Tickets

Again, wanted to go with a more grassroots platform
Overall rating
  • Industry: Entertainment
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Brown Paper Tickets is Great for Free Events

Reviewed on 2024/11/16

Brown Paper Tickets is simple to use and fast to set up.

Brown Paper Tickets is simple to use and fast to set up.

Pros

Great free-to-create platform for all my free event needs!

Cons

When I do paid events I wish the final payout happened immediately.

Alternatives Considered

Eventbrite

Reasons for Switching to Brown Paper Tickets

Some of my clients are more familiar with Brown Paper Tickets.
Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Arts & Crafts
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

Our organization is being ripped off.

Reviewed on 2023/10/04

Was OK until this summer. We have not been paid the $1000 in revenue for our June 2023 concert. ...

Was OK until this summer. We have not been paid the $1000 in revenue for our June 2023 concert. We have contacted BPT and also events.com, which acquired BPT earlier this year. We are VERY unhappy because we are a small organization and can't afford to lose that much money.

Pros

It was relatively easy to use and not too expensive.

Cons

Difficult to set up season ticket event. Phone support is non-existent.

Nicole
Nicole
Overall rating
  • Industry: Nonprofit Organization Management
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Excellent choice for free online events

Reviewed on 2022/03/15

Overall, Brown Paper Tickets is easy to use but not customize.

Overall, Brown Paper Tickets is easy to use but not customize.

Pros

I appreciate that brown paper tickets doesn’t charge if you are not selling tickets.

Cons

It was sometimes difficult to find specific event data or make customer reports.

Alternatives Considered

Eventbrite

Reasons for Choosing Brown Paper Tickets

We needed a free ticketing option since we were not charging for our event.

Switched From

Ticket Tailor

Reasons for Switching to Brown Paper Tickets

Brown paper tickets was quicker to set up and free to use!
Blake
Blake
Overall rating
  • Industry: Nonprofit Organization Management
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Perfect for small-budget nonprofits

Reviewed on 2021/11/04

Pros

It's safe to say that BPT has stayed true to its mission from the beginning: providing low-cost ticketing and event management that's suitable for student groups and low-budget nonprofit organizations. It's simple, effective, and we've never had a complaint about the UX.

Cons

It would be interesting to see their branding / user-flow updated to something similar to Eventbrite, but I'm almost hesitant to say that because it's almost nostalgic at this point.

Alternatives Considered

Eventbrite

Reasons for Switching to Brown Paper Tickets

It's much cheaper.
Sarah
Overall rating
  • Industry: Nonprofit Organization Management
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

Beware the gross negligence, you won't get your funds :(

Reviewed on 2021/01/08

We became customers of Brown Paper Tickets in 2008, using their services to sell tickets to our...

We became customers of Brown Paper Tickets in 2008, using their services to sell tickets to our public tours. In 2020, we continued to use them and were lucky to safely remain open and hold our tours. Brown Paper Tickets has withheld over $30,000 of our ticket sales for tours from July through September, none of which were cancelled. We have gotten no response from them despite countless attempts to reach them, begging for an answer as to when we will get our funds. We are a small non-profit historic site, and our staff worked hard to bring in that income that we so heavily rely on. Brown Paper Tickets has been grossly negligent, and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone anywhere. We have since ceased all ticket sales through them and are shopping for an alternative.

Pros

I loved their customer service team until they laid them all off. They used to be so wonderfully helpful and kind, always available. Now they shut down the phone lines and refuse to provide answers.

Cons

It was complicated to set up for our needs at times, and was too time consuming / not very customizable.

Alternatives Considered

SimpleTix, Eventbrite and FareHarbor

Reasons for Switching to Brown Paper Tickets

Initially, we were delighted to support an underdog.
Daniel
Overall rating
  • Industry: Performing Arts
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 5.0 /10

Like everything but the payout

Reviewed on 2019/09/02

People in Minneapolis/St. Paul know BPT because so many small theatres are using them. I can see...

People in Minneapolis/St. Paul know BPT because so many small theatres are using them. I can see why. Overall, I would recommend it, but make sure your organization has no cash flow worries.

Pros

The fees are low, it's easy to use, you get good information about ticket buyers that helps create an e-mail list

Cons

Slow payout. I have to pay artists and venue, and BPT just takes forever to get the money to me.

Alternatives Considered

AudienceView

Reasons for Switching to Brown Paper Tickets

Cost, recommendations from other small theatres in the area
Dan
Dan
Overall rating
  • Industry: Performing Arts
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

Brown Paper Tickets has not paid me for our ticket sales.

Reviewed on 2022/07/15

Brown Paper Tickets, to be honest, was fine. Until the pandemic hit. They had promptly mailed me...

Brown Paper Tickets, to be honest, was fine. Until the pandemic hit. They had promptly mailed me checks totaling $2640. Then emailed me, (due to the pandemic onslaught of cancellations) that these checks could not be cashed. I still have the checks, and have kicked myself for not cashing them sooner. It was a difficult time for most of us, and I understood. But now, more than 2 1/2 years later, they have not acknowledged any of my emails, other than by form emails.
Over the last several years, I have seen them begin to operate again. I am going to see a friend's show next week that is ticketed through BPT.
All I can say is, WHAT IS GOING ON? They seem to have decided that in the post-pandemic USA, debts are no longer owed.
WA state actually filed a lawsuit against them and a settlement was reached. ALL creditors were supposed to be paid, across the country. But I have not been paid or acknowledged. They apparently think they can get away with this. I'm just a small voice here, but I say: let's NOT let them get away with this.

Pros

Given the situation, this is not really relevant. However, I'd say, AT THE TIME I was using them (before the payment that never happened), their customer service was very friendly and helpful.

Cons

Now it seems impossible to get anyone on the phone—so what I liked before has changed dramatically.

Colleen
Colleen
Overall rating
  • Industry: Marketing & Advertising
  • Company size: 201–500 Employees
  • Used for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Cheaper than many alternatives, and easy to use

Reviewed on 2020/10/11

Pros

Very easy to use and implement. We used to sell event tickets right off our website using a more manual process, and when exploring options Brown Paper Tickets was recommended to us. After looking into it we decided to try it out on a free event. That went so well we started using it for paid events as well.

We recently held an event with different t time options and their customer service was extremely helpful in walking us through getting our event set up correctly.

Cons

Interface/look of the site is a little dated. I wish you could customize it a little bit more.

Alternatives Considered

Eventbrite

Reasons for Switching to Brown Paper Tickets

Cheaper for what we were looking for.
Kelli
Kelli
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Love BPT, especially in the virtual world

Reviewed on 2021/11/10

I started using BPT after a bad experience with a larger event management/ticketing system. BPT...

I started using BPT after a bad experience with a larger event management/ticketing system. BPT answered my emails, provided great support for us as event managers and for clients.

Pros

I really appreciate that the BPT app/software allows me to collect information about attendees, easily duplicate events, and provides a unique URL for each event.

Cons

Found it a little clunky when we had to refund after an event cancellation.

Chris
Overall rating
  • Industry: Performing Arts
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 1.0 /10

BPT review

Reviewed on 2023/01/23

Our initial (and majority) experience with BPT was good. They were responsive to our needs. I’m...

Our initial (and majority) experience with BPT was good. They were responsive to our needs. I’m 2020, that all changed. They took back a payment that was owed us for a show and then took over 2 years to repay. We ceased using them in that time.

Pros

The software was easy to use and intuitive. The layout was not showy but gave us all we needed.

Cons

The overall look of the site was nothing to write home about.

Margaret
Margaret
Overall rating
  • Industry: Hospitality
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Daily for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Brown Paper Tickets is easy to use!

Reviewed on 2018/02/08

I got an easy to use software that can set me up in minutes!

I got an easy to use software that can set me up in minutes!

Pros

I'm a tour operator and I use Brown Paper Tickets to schedule tours. They make it so easy to schedule multiple events and it's also easy to go in and block out certain days. They've also kept me on my game by making sure everything is correct. Great help desk.

Cons

Brown Paper Tickets is a little messy visually. I realize it's a back-end made for utility, but it can be a bit confusing the first time you try to enter information.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Entertainment
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

I love BPT!

Reviewed on 2020/04/02

Great! No complaints at all, and to be honest I think they are one of the best options there is.

Great! No complaints at all, and to be honest I think they are one of the best options there is.

Pros

BPT has truly democratized ticket sales – I've been using them for close to ten years, if not slightly longer, and they've never let me down.

Cons

Having used BPT for near a decade, I can honestly say I've never been disappointed by their offering.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Used for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Socially/environmentally responsible and great customer service, even if it is a small company.

Reviewed on 2017/11/29

Pros

The customer service was excellent and personal. They are socially and environmentally responsible and are as up-to-date as any big competitor.

Cons

They require too many pieces of information to complete an event. I honestly don't have much to complain about with BPT. Seriously.

Erlinda
Overall rating
  • Industry: Religious Institutions
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Your Ticket, Please!

Reviewed on 2020/12/30

We have used Brown Paper Tickets for concerts, theatrical productions, and fundraisers. Everything...

We have used Brown Paper Tickets for concerts, theatrical productions, and fundraisers. Everything has been smooth sailing. When I have a question, they cheerfully answer and guide me.

Pros

I LOVE everything about Brown Paper Tickets. Posting an event! Setting up Payments! Publicity! Customer Service! The ease of getting the payments! I like working WITH them so much that when a competitor solicits our business, I gladly say, "We work with Brown Paper Tickets, and have to reason to change." I like them that much.

Cons

Since the stupid pandemic, we have not had any events. Planning for the future, someone told me that Brown Paper Tickets has fallen on rough times. I sure hope that isn't true.

NAJJA E
Overall rating
  • Industry: Nonprofit Organization Management
  • Company size: Self Employed
  • Used for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

They handle all the ticketing and tracking for my fundraising events.

Reviewed on 2018/07/13

I go to the site, build my fundraising event, and it goes live after it is reviewed and approved by...

I go to the site, build my fundraising event, and it goes live after it is reviewed and approved by Brown Paper Tickets. They handle everything. And, they provide periodic email notification of the progress of your ticket donations.

Pros

The program is easy to build your promotional material for your event. Once it is loaded, you can access multiple links for access to your event from different venues, such as website, Facebook, Twitter, electronic newsletter, etc. It's great!

Cons

I struggled a bit with the proper language to use as a nonprofit organization. For instance, we should avoid using "ticket sales" and present "suggested donation" instead. Brown Paper Tickets had a limited selection. After discussing this with them, they helped me work out the best solution, which was "admission donation"

Marianne
Overall rating
  • Industry: Entertainment
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

Do Not Use

Reviewed on 2021/10/20

I used Brown Paper Tickets services for my one act play festival, Women At Play(s), which promotes...

I used Brown Paper Tickets services for my one act play festival, Women At Play(s), which promotes women in the arts as well as diversity in MARCH 2020. They still have not given me all the ticket money that my audience members paid to see my show. I made numerous phone calls and sent emails with only an automated reply. I filed a complaint with the state of Washington which mandated them to pay. And I am still waiting for my money. Please be warned.

Pros

Nothing, I would not use this product. There are no pros.

Cons

They owe me the money from their service they claim to do.

Beth Ann
Overall rating
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support

The best for Physical Tickets!

Reviewed on 2014/05/05

Ease of Use got 4 stars only because they have some really great functions/features that take a...

Ease of Use got 4 stars only because they have some really great functions/features that take a little bit of dedication to get down. But their customer service is AMAZING.

The price is a little high, especially compared to other non-profit ticket sellers, but it's because they mail out within 48 hours customizable tickets to each purchaser. So far the only reasonably priced non-profit focused ticketing solution I've found who does that and it's an absolute must for our event.

Response from Brown Paper Tickets

Hi, Beth Ann -- Thank you so much for your great review.

I just wanted to share -- our .99 plus 3.5% fee is actually the lowest in the entire ticketing industry. It may not appear that way because we are a bit "too transparent" and we include/pay for the ticket buyer's credit card fee in that 3.5%. Other companies claim a lower percentage ticketing fee, and then actually CHARGE a "hidden" fee that they will then tell you goes to credit card processing -- usually 2-5% per ticket, on top of the fee they advertise. We also give back 2.5% of our ticketing fee if you use PayPal or your own credit card processor.

As a Not-Just-For-Profit, we ensure that the highest percentage of funds from donors and supporters goes to your cause, while other ticketing companies take more from your donors in profits. In addition, we offer free online fundraising with zero website fees -- while other online fundraising websites take an average of 5% of every donation for their profits.

Craig
Overall rating
  • Industry: Entertainment
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

A Simple and Effective Ticket Manager

Reviewed on 2019/10/03

We only use BPT for certain events, but have had good success with it. It is easy to check sales,...

We only use BPT for certain events, but have had good success with it. It is easy to check sales, set a cut off time to stop selling tickets, and print out a list of attendees.

Pros

They put a very reasonable fee on tickets sales, which is good for the artist and the consumer. It is also easy to set up your event.

Cons

The UI is a little messy and confusing, at least on the consumer end. However, BPT has been good with fixing issues when a customer makes a mistake.

Response from Brown Paper Tickets

Thank you so much for reviewing us and for your feedback!

Philip
Overall rating
  • Industry: Performing Arts
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

First time user of the product

Reviewed on 2022/01/27

Generally, it's a great low-cost alternative, especially for non-profit arts organizations like...

Generally, it's a great low-cost alternative, especially for non-profit arts organizations like ourselves.

Pros

Ramping up for the first time with BPT wasn't terribly difficult. The event creation software was pretty intuitive, and robust.

Cons

The reporting section and tracking transactions, in particular, weren't as easy as I'd hoped. And not very intuitive.

Linda
Overall rating
  • Industry: Fund-Raising
  • Company size: 201–500 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

BPT holds on to money collected

Reviewed on 2020/07/07

NOT HAPPY! I know now that they do not respond well during a crisis.

NOT HAPPY! I know now that they do not respond well during a crisis.

Pros

it's WAS user friendly. too bad they are not.

Cons

After having to cancel our Event for March 19th, 2020 because of COVID-19 communication with BPT has been bad. Also, They have been sitting on our event funds that were collected. I have sent several e-mails and called to be redirected to email the BPTsupport team and the support team does not respond.

Our Event was canceled, however, our scholarship commitments to students were not. We have been waiting for the funds collected for over 4 months.

Ellie
Ellie
Overall rating
  • Industry: Nonprofit Organization Management
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Great, pared down product

Reviewed on 2021/06/16

It was mostly positive. We are changing to a product that has more features.

It was mostly positive. We are changing to a product that has more features.

Pros

This product is affordable and fairly easy to use. I like how you can share your event with their larger community for more potential ticket sales.

Cons

There are no bells and whistles with this product which isn't necessarily a terrible thing. I would like to see integrations with different CRMs.

Sarah
Overall rating
  • Industry: Events Services
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

Brown Paper Tickets refuses to pay customers for events.

Reviewed on 2021/01/24

ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED

ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED

Pros

Easy to set up an event. Widget I could incorporate on website. Used for events for 7 years with no problems until 2020.

Cons

Our event was set to occur in March 2020. It was held with no problem (online), but Brown Paper Tickets has refused to pay the tickets it collected.

Seth
Overall rating
  • Industry: Entertainment
  • Company size: Self Employed
  • Used for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Sell your show!

Reviewed on 2021/04/29

Totally perfect for selling tickets to a show! Very easy to set up.

Totally perfect for selling tickets to a show! Very easy to set up.

Pros

Brown Paper Tickets is a great low-cost way of selling tickets to your show. They only add a tiny fee, and you can choose to let the audience pay it.

Cons

I don't think there was anything I disliked about using this site. It was really a great experience.

Bonnie
Overall rating
  • Industry: Events Services
  • Company size: Self Employed
  • Used Weekly for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

They Hold Your Money & Do Not Offer Solutions/Communication

Reviewed on 2020/03/18

Horrifying. After being issued an email on 3/6 stating that the check was being processed for...

Horrifying. After being issued an email on 3/6 stating that the check was being processed for ticket revenue for a tour on 2/29, I still had not received as of 3/16. So I called and was told that the check was probably mailed on 3/9 and to be patient. I said "probably" is not good enough, so the agent agreed to call me back after she checked with accounting. Today I heard nothing, so called again. I was met with "Oh didn't you get our email, we stopped payment on checks." After 45 minutes I finally spoke to a "manager" and she told me that I needed to have empathy for BPT - they were doing the best they can right now with COVID-19. I guess withholding other peoples money is doing the best you can, huh BPT? The best they can offer is maybe starting to process checks in 14-21 days. Don't trust these people with your ticket revenue! They have no respect for the non-profits and other event producers they work with. Shameful.

Pros

Nothing about Brown paper Tickets. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Cons

They are not honest, and do not communicate.