Things to remember when testing your pricing setup
Pricing setups, whether done by Client Services or by yourself, must be tested and approved by you, the client. This is needed to ensure that your pricing functions exactly as you wish it to. Remember that in our system pricing is based on rules, and that different price terms can apply together to the same ticket. This is important to remember most specifically related to discounts, since you may not wish more than one discount to apply together on the same ticket.
- Test base prices first - create a ticket order as usual, pulling tickets to the show(s) and pricing you wish to test to ensure that each ticket comes up at the correct base price. (You needn't apply payment. Just verify the tickets price correctly.) See the ticket details for which discounts/price terms have applied to the ticket. If any error, make note of the price terms that DID apply.
- Test all person types - adults, students, seniors, etc are usually different prices so you need to ensure that pricing is set up for each of them correctly.
- Test in box office AND via public pages - if you have any different pricing for the two different sales methods be sure to test both methods.
- Test ALL discounts - you may have group discounts, coupon discounts, member discounts, subscriber additional ticket discounts, etc. Be sure to test all of them to be sure they function correctly.
- Test discounts IN COMBINATION - remember that discounts can apply together, such as group discount with a coupon discount, unless you specify them to not do so. Be sure to test these combinations. If you do not wish them to apply together then a pricing conflict will need to be set up between the two discounts. Also remember to test multiples of your discount, especially if they are or are not supposed to apply to multiple tickets.
- Test your fees - Clients often charge fees (per-ticket, per-order, per-exchange) to their patrons on ticket purchases. Be sure to test these as well in whatever sales method they should apply (online, box office, door sales, credit card, etc)
- Test subscription pricing - create a full subscription order to ensure the subscription discounts apply correctly. Do this for all variations of your subscription program. (this refers to subscriptions, not passes. Passes can be tested via retail screens).
Testing adjustable pricing based on rules
Often pricing is designed to automatically change based on date or time or some other rule. Examples might include a price increase in door sales mode, or a certain number of hours prior to performance. Some pricing is built to be staggered with an early purchase discounted amount, then regular price. Pricing also might be based on membership, donation amount, or inclusion in a list. These situations all need to be tested as well.
- Test pricing that is time/date specific - If your pricing is set to increase a number of hours prior to performance, then you can build a bogus performance (marked not avail online) that is within that time frame. Then test ticket pricing. If your pricing is designed to change based on date, this is harder to test. You can either wait and test the change the morning of the designated date, or you can set the date to today and test, then set the date back to the date it should change.
- Test pricing in door sales mode - If you have pricing that is linked to door sales mode, then you can test this by purchasing tickets with CASH in door sales mode. After you complete the purchase return to the door sales screen and delete the purchase.
- Test pricing that is linked to membership - do a test transaction donation under your own name to establish the donation or membership, then test pricing to be sure the automated discount applies correctly. (See Test Transactions for details)
- Test pricing that is linked to list inclusion - add your own patron acct to the list, then test pricing.
Once you have thoroughly tested your pricing, please sign off in the help desk issue opened regarding pricing, if we did the pricing setup for you. Then you can close the help desk issue. (NOTE: This sign-off approval is required when we set up pricing for you, as mistakes in pricing are your responsibility.)
For additional information on pricing setup see Introduction to Pricing. Many of our clients do not set up their own pricing. In this case just submit the complete details of your pricing needs via your help desk and we can set it up for you. Remember to include details of pricing conflicts needed between discounts, etc. If you would like to learn to build your own pricing, please review the Pricing help documents first, and then contact us for training on pricing. You can view your pricing screens now, but edit ability will be granted after you go through training.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: It is your responsibility to make sure prices are correct prior to making tickets available to your patrons, whether setup by you or by our staff. This includes base prices, discounts and per ticket or order fees, as well as combinations of pricing. We recommend that you always thoroughly test your pricing, both online as well as from your internal box office screen, to ensure pricing is as expected. You are responsible for any errors in pricing, Arts People will not be held responsible for issues that occur with your payment processing due to incorrect pricing setup.