Help CenterLearn
Box OfficeVenue Admin

When the internet is down you can still take cards for tickets you held for offline sale. The card is read now and charged later, when the connection comes back.

Before doors

  • In the Stripe Dashboard, offline mode must be on for the venue's Location (Terminal → Configurations).
  • While the internet is still up, open Sell offline → Card and pick your card reader once. A WisePOS E card reader must have connected while online in the last 24 hours.
  • Tap to Pay on iPhone works with no Wi-Fi only if Stripe has enabled offline Tap to Pay for your account. Tap to Pay on Android needs the internet.

Selling

  1. Sell offline → choose the quantity → Card.
  2. Choose Tap to Pay or your WisePOS E. The WisePOS E needs the venue Wi-Fi, even if the internet is down.
  3. Tap Charge. The amount is the ticket price plus tax (and the day-of-show upcharge when it applies). You can't type an amount.
  4. The screen shows OFFLINE — card will be charged later. Print the tickets as usual; they are valid right away.

Limits: offline card sales over the venue limit (usually $250) are refused. So are sales while a stored payment is more than 7 days old, or when the reader hasn't been online for 25 days. The screen tells you why. Swiped cards, Interac and cards that need a PIN can't be taken offline.

Afterwards

  • Stored payments are sent to Stripe automatically when the connection is back. Keep the phone and the card reader on.
  • Never uninstall the app or clear its data while payments are stored. Check Diagnostics → Stored card payments first.
  • If a bank declines a stored payment, a red banner lists it (name, amount, time). The ticket is not cancelled. Tell the box office manager, then tap Acknowledge. Declined offline payments can't be recovered by Stripe.
  • Offline card payments can't be refunded until they have been sent to Stripe.

Reconciling offline card sales (venue admins)

Noctern records every offline card sale the moment it uploads — even one that later turns out to have been declined once forwarded, or that Noctern couldn't verify against Stripe right away. Tickets are never voided automatically. A sale that needs a decision shows up in two places:

  • Admin → Box Office → Incomplete Orders, under "Offline card sales needing attention" — one card per sale, with the patron, amount, ticket(s), and why it needs attention (declined, or a verification mismatch).
  • A daily email to the venue's event address, batching everything still open into one message, so a quiet night doesn't mean a flood of one-off emails.

For each one, choose:

  • Mark collected — record how the money actually came in (cash, check, or another card run separately). This replaces the failed card attempt with the real tender, so reports and the accounting journal show what actually happened.
  • Write off — the venue is not collecting this money. A reason is required, and it's recorded in the venue's activity log.

A sale sitting in "needs attention" with no PaymentIntent yet (still forwarding) is normal and not something to act on — only a genuinely declined or mismatched sale needs a decision.

Try it yourself

From the web admin, open AdminBox OfficeIncomplete Orders and look for the "Offline card sales needing attention" section — it's empty when nothing needs a decision.

Was this helpful?

Related topics

  • Selling From an Offline AllocationPre-claim a block of tickets before doors so cash sales keep working with no venue network
  • Day-of-Show UpchargeAdd a flat per-ticket amount for tickets bought on the day of the performance, exempt tiers or categories like Student, and let the box office waive it with a reason

Last verified: 2026-09-13