Waitlists let attendees join a queue, receive an offer when tickets become available, and claim tickets within a timed window. Use them to capture demand and manage ticket releases.
These instructions apply to the current web Organizer Dashboard.
Enable or Disable a Waitlist
Open your Organizer Dashboard and select your event.
Go to Tickets and select the ticket type you want to update.
In Add or edit tickets, open the Waitlist tab.
Turn the Waitlist toggle on or off.
Click Save.
Repeat for each ticket type you want to update. You can also find the toggle under Ticket settings → Advanced settings.
Important: Turning waitlist off only prevents additional people from joining. It does not serve as a way to cancel existing offers or clear the queue.
Configure Waitlist Settings
Go to Tickets → select a ticket type → Waitlist.
Setting | What it means |
Current waitlist | The number of tickets currently requested on the waitlist. |
Tickets on offer | The number of tickets currently offered to waitlisted attendees. |
Offer response time | The time, in minutes, allowed to respond to an offer. The dashboard initially shows 30 minutes, but this is configurable. |
Max tickets per user | The per-user ticket limit. You can replace Unlimited with a specific limit. |
Click Save after making changes. Check the saved values before releasing tickets.
Waitlist settings in the Organizer Dashboard. The 15-minute response time and two-ticket limit shown below are examples, not required settings.
Release Tickets to the Waitlist
Open the ticket type’s Waitlist tab.
Under Release more tickets, enter the number of tickets you want to offer.
Click Release now.
Tickets are offered only to people on the current waitlist. Unmatched tickets are not released publicly. Use the Current waitlist and Tickets on offer counters to monitor releases.
Understand When “Join Waitlist” Appears
Enable Waitlist for the ticket type. Attendees will see Join Waitlist when that ticket type sells out. A sales cutoff alone does not activate the attendee-facing waitlist if tickets remain unsold.
The event must be published and must not have ended for attendees to use the signup flow.
Draft events display “This is a draft event.”
Ended events display “This event has ended.”
Does “Mark as sold out” start a waitlist?
No. Do not use “Mark as sold out” to activate a waitlist. In the current dashboard, enabling this manual toggle disabled waitlist, and re-enabling waitlist reopened the ticket for sale. This is different from a ticket tier selling out through purchases.
Can I set the ticket quantity to zero?
No. The current web ticket editor does not accept a quantity of 0; it requires at least 1. Do not use setting quantity to zero as a waitlist workaround. Contact Support if you need help configuring your ticket availability.
Understand the Queue and Offer Process
Attendees join the queue in signup order.
When a ticket becomes available, the next attendee in line receives an opportunity to claim it.
The attendee must complete their purchase before the offer expires.
If the offer expires, the opportunity moves to the next person in line.
Review Offer response time in the ticket type’s Waitlist tab rather than assuming every offer lasts 30 minutes. Posh manages the queue and timed offers. Organizers can also use Release more tickets to offer additional tickets to the current waitlist.
Monitor Waitlist Activity
Ticket-level activity
Open Tickets → select a ticket type → Waitlist to review Current waitlist and Tickets on offer.
Attendee-level activity
Open your event’s Attendees list. Hover over the list icon beside an attendee’s information to see whether they joined via the waitlist.
Ticket Returns and Inventory Considerations
Waitlist activity continues until event end. Tickets, including returned tickets, may be added to the waitlist pool while the event has not ended.
Attendees can return tickets to the waitlist. Organizers currently cannot disable attendee ticket returns separately from the waitlist feature.
Outstanding offers may temporarily exceed available inventory. Active offers are not revoked if ticket quantities are later reduced. Returned tickets can also contribute to this difference.
Ticket price changes can affect returns. If the current ticket price is lower than what an attendee originally paid, their ticket cannot be returned to the waitlist pool.
For more information, see Waitlist & Ticket Returns: A Guide for Attendees.
Meta Tracking
Waitlist activity is not tracked as a conversion event in Meta (Facebook/Instagram), including the Meta Pixel and Conversions API (CAPI).
Joining a waitlist does not count as a conversion.
Waitlist actions are not sent as events to Meta.
Meta tracking applies to Page View, Add to Cart, Checkout Started, and Purchase.
If a ticket is later purchased through a waitlist release, the purchase may still be tracked, but attribution may not fully reflect the original waitlist journey.
Best Practices
Choose ticket types intentionally. Enable waitlists where you want to capture demand and manage additional releases.
Save and verify. Check saved settings and the attendee-facing page before sharing waitlist instructions.
Set clear expectations. Explain that joining a waitlist does not guarantee a ticket and that offers have a limited response window.