When a show is sold out, buyers can join its waitlist from the event page. If seats come back, Noctern holds them for the first person in line whose party fits and emails them a private link to buy. Nobody races anybody: the seats are held for that one person until they buy, say no, or the offer runs out.
Joining
On a sold-out show's page, under SOLD OUT, buyers see Join the waitlist. They give their name, email and party size (up to your per-order ticket limit) and tick a box agreeing to emails about this waitlist only. No account is needed.
They then get a Confirm your spot email. They are in line only once they confirm, and the line is in the order people confirmed. Someone who never confirms is never offered seats, and their request is removed after 48 hours, so a made-up email address can never tie up seats. The email also has a Leave the waitlist link.
Each email address can join a show's waitlist once. A second try with the same email is politely refused. A show's waitlist takes up to 500 people.
The form only appears while buyers see the show as sold out. When the show goes back on sale it disappears, and the people already on the list stay on it.
When seats come back
Any seat that frees up on a sold-out show goes to the waitlist first, before general sale: a refund, a released box office hold, or an offer someone declined or let run out.
Noctern walks the list in the order people confirmed and offers the seats to the first person whose party fits:
- they are offered exactly their party size. If 4 seats come back and the first person wants 2, they get 2 and the other 2 go on to the next person who fits
- someone whose party does not fit (they want 4, only 2 came back) is skipped and keeps their place in line
- on a seating chart, a party is only offered seats that sit together: side by side in one row, or at one table or booth
- seats that nobody on the list fits yet are held for the waitlist for up to 30 minutes, so seats freed one at a time (refunds are per ticket) can add up to a waiting party. On the box office seat map they show as held, labelled Waitlist pool with the time they are released. If they add up to a party in that time, that person is offered them; if not, they go back on general sale
- nothing is held for the waitlist when nobody is waiting, or within 2 hours of showtime: freed seats go straight back on sale
The offer
The person offered seats gets an email listing the seats and the price: the normal online price and fees, nothing extra. The seats are held for them for 2 hours, or 15 minutes when the show starts within 3 hours.
Their private link opens a page with Buy these seats and No thanks. Buying takes them through the normal online checkout for exactly those seats. The link cannot be used for other seats or more seats, and once used it cannot be opened in a different browser.
If they choose No thanks or the offer runs out, the seats are released and offered to the next person who fits. Each person gets one offer: someone who let an offer run out is not offered seats again.
While an offer is open, the held seats count as taken, so the show stays sold out and nobody else can buy them.
The Waitlist panel in the box office
Open a show in Box Office and expand Waitlist to see the line in order: name, email, party size, status and, for an open offer, the seats and when the offer ends. People who have not confirmed their email yet show as Not confirmed, after everyone in line. A long list shows 100 at a time; Show more loads the next 100.
- Resend offer emails the same open offer again, for someone who cannot find the email.
- Remove takes someone off the list. If they had an open offer, it is withdrawn and the seats go to the next person.
The box office can still sell any available seats as usual. Seats held for a waitlist offer show as held.
If you choose Mark as sold out while seats are still left, those seats are not handed to the waitlist. The waitlist only receives seats that come back on a show that really sold out.