Zeffy Review – Is It Really Free for Ticketing and Events?

You’ve heard about Zeffy right? There has been a lot of talk in the nonprofit world about the site which bills itself as an “all-in-one fundraising platform with zero fees.” But is it really free? And does it really offer all of the services a nonprofit needs? Let’s take a look behind the hype with a Zeffy review of its pricing, tools, and support to see what the platform really has to offer.

What Is Zeffy?

Zeffy is a popular site used by many nonprofit organizations for their fundraising efforts. Its top claim is that it allows nonprofits to boost their fundraising totals with a “no fees” approach. That claim extends anything a nonprofit seemingly needs to use the platform for like:

• Collecting donations
• Selling tickets
• Managing a raffle
• Holding a lottery
• Selling items in a storefront

But what does that look like in reality? Let’s look at Zeffy’s impact on ticket events.

Zeffy’s wide-range of offerings eschew the discreet customization and focused service support that dedicated ticketing platforms provide. For example, on Zeffy you can sell tickets to an event, but that process is the same regardless of whether you are having a small social or hosting a multi-day music festival. The lack of scalability and flexibility give the organization limited options for sales and promotions. But it’s free right? Right?

How Zeffy Pricing Actually Works

Zeffy claims its services are “100% free” for nonprofits. According to their site, this even includes transaction costs and credit card processing fees. So how do they stay in business? Through supporters. Not their supporters, but yours.

At checkout, a customer will be prompted to add what Zeffy describes as a “tip” to their total amount. That is how they collect their money. Tips are optional but their default state is to be turned on so that they are effectively automatically added to the donation total. Ticket buyers who are moving quickly or who are not attuned to the purchasing process may not realize these additional charges hitting their account until it is too late.

And those Zeffy charges can be significant. The pre-set tip amount of 15% can drastically change the total amount a person might pay.

More that 15%

But the true cost of those tips is more than 15% (or whatever amount is pre-set). Studies have shown that unexpected add-on costs during checkout will cause 39% of potential ticket buyers to abandon their carts.

In addition to lost sales, nonprofits may find themselves managing trust concerns from consumers who feel the checkout process wasn’t as honest, straightforward and direct as it should have been.

But Is Zeffy Really Free?

Zeffy is free, as the saying goes, “in a manner of speaking.” As a non-profit organization hosting an event, you would not be paying anything for using the Zeffy platform. Your supporters who:

• Purchase tickets
• Sign up for a membership
• Buy merchandise through your online store
• Make a donation

or support you in other similar ways would potentially be paying for the service for you.

This add-on cost can not only crater your conversion rates, it can also affect your bottom line. If a person wants to support you with a $100 purchase, they may spend less in support dollars to ensure that their total at checkout is still only $100 once the tip has been added. In short, the tip process has the potential to drive down checkout totals.

Zeffy for Ticketing: Where It Falls Short

Many non-profit event organizers have turned to Zeffy as a platform to help sell tickets to fundraising events. While that is a service Zeffy provides, it’s not that platform’s primary function which leads to some significant limitations with their offering.

A platform that’s too general

The ticket selling component of Zeffy has limited integration options for host sites. This means that the people who come to your site to purchase tickets won’t have a seamless transaction experience which could cause some purchase hesitation over perceived security concerns.

Inflexability in the checkout process

The checkout process is Zeffy’s standard sales processing system. Its’ “one size fits all” sales approach does not meet the unique demands of the event ticket buying and selling process. It works best with very basic events. If there is any complexity to the event you are putting on or if there is a flexibility that’s needed in setting up ticket sales, Zeffy may not be able to represent the variables in your event’s process.

Narrow event marketing tools

The platform is more passive than others. Its marketing tools are regulated to emails, newsletters, and peer-to-peer campaigns. There’s not an active outreach solution to bring people in the area who are interested in the music/activities/discussions happening at your event, directly to the ticketing page.

If your nonprofit is just collecting donations, Zeffy might be a good solution. But if you are trying to plan a festival, concert, showcase, or other ticketed-event, you need a platform that was designed for pre, post, and day-of event success.

The Better Alternative for Ticketing

If your nonprofit is planning an event, consider using TicketsCandy. More than just a Zeffy alternative, TicketsCandy is a user-friendly, pure ticket selling platform. This means it has the tools and scale-potential to meet the unique needs of your event.

Expanded ticketing flexibility

TicketsCandy has over 1,000 customizable features like custom event pages, tracking offline payments, embedded widgets, site-specific taxes, private listings, and more. This platform is solely focused on event ticketing and supports a variety of ticketing options including add-ons, bundles, passes, donations, and memberships.

Built-in marketing tools

With TicketsCandy’s integrated marketing tools you won’t just be selling tickets, you’ll have everything you need for a stellar promotional campaign including tools for remarketing, cross-promotions, affiliates, reviews, and more.

Post sales support

TicketsCandy will be there to support you from the announcement of the event through the day of, with features like custom questions, smart rules, waivers, ticket scanning, ticket printing, remarketing, and automation integrations.

Combined, the tools and processes TicketsCandy offers have helped nonprofit event organizers increase ticket sales by 30%.

The lowest ticketing fees on the planet

Yes, one of the things that makes Zeffy attractive is its pricing model. But remember that their “free” system actually surprises ticket buyers with unexpected add-on costs at checkout. Those costs are also unpredictable because of the percentage-based way tips are structured. Thankfully for your organization, low, predictable, clean pricing is something TicketsCandy excels in.

With an industry-low 0.9% fee and no hidden add-on expenses or surprise costs at checkout, TicketsCandy has a fee structure that truly can’t be beat. It creates a clean, predictable checkout experience that helps build customer trust and improve conversion rates.

So although Zeffy bills itself as “free,” the percentage-based tips added during checkout can often result in buyers paying more overall than they would with TicketsCandy’s ultra-low 0.9% fee, even when Square processing costs are included.

More importantly, buyers know exactly what they are paying upfront. That reduces friction during checkout and helps create a smoother purchasing experience for your event attendees.

TicketsCandy has a ticket-selling cost structure that is not only conscious of consumer spending, but also respects the trust and confidence buyers expect during online purchases.

Zeffy or TicketsCandy?

Zeffy is a strong platform for direct fundraising efforts like donations, but if you’re planning a ticketed event, you’ll find more success with a Zeffy alternative like TicketsCandy.

Zeffy’s generalized approach to ticket sales can’t manage the unique nuances that a ticket-focused platform can offer. To provide people with the best ticket purchasing experience (which we know is a reflection on your event) you need a dedicated site like TicketsCandy.

TicketsCandy will give eventgoers a transparent, clean purchasing experience with clear pricing with fees that take a microscope to see. This approach has been shown to lead to a better checkout experience which results in a higher overall conversion rate.

FAQs

• What’s the real cost of Zeffy?

To the non-profit organization, Zeffy has no direct costs. But because of the way the platform solicits tips from users, the indirect cost of Zeffy can be lower conversion rates, broken trust with supporters, and lower total donation totals.

• Is Zeffy a “pure” ticketing platform?

Zeffy has the ability to sell tickets to an event but it was not built expressly for that purpose. TicketsCandy on the other hand is, first and foremost, a ticket sales platform for events which means it has more range and flexibility in its offerings.

• What are TicketsCandy’s fees?

The fees that are part of the TicketsCandy process are the lowest you’ll find anywhere in the industry – an incredibly small 0.9%.