Hi, it’s me, Adam, the ringleader of this circus. I usually get a couple of emails on ticket-sales day about HOW FAST THE TICKETS SELL OUT. So let me answer some of these FAQs. Afterward, I’m going to pass the mic to Josh Wigler, who has managed a (non-consecutive) SIX-PEAT in the 11 pop-ups we’ve had so far. He’s clearly onto a method.
Is it OK to bring my 2-year-old/friend/wife/mistress/parents-visiting-from-out-of-town/neighbor-kid-who-just-won’t-leave-me-alone? I don’t need to purchase a ticket for him/her/them, do I?
Think of the “ticket” as less a ticket for “admission” and more for the actual pizza. The ticket is a token you redeem for your pizza. If you want to split your pizza(s) howevermany ways, you are welcome to bring a friend or two or more. Just don’t go crazy. Our host restaurant, EMILY, only has about 35 seats.
I’ve been trying to buy tickets for the past three pop-ups, but when I log on at the exact time the tickets go on sale they are “unavailable.” Minutes later they are “sold out.” I see there is a strong demand, which is great, but I don’t see how it’s possible to ever get a ticket. Is there something I am missing?
First, I would like to say that I wish I had more tickets to sell. We’re pretty much at capacity right now, with 5 pizzas per seating. (Seatings happen every 20 minutes.) We cannot physically fit more pizzas in the oven than that while still maintaining food and service quality. So, yes, it is very much a question of supply and demand. Let me explain the Eventbrite ticketing terminology.…
Unavailable: When a buyer puts ticket(s) into her cart, she has 8 minutes to complete the purchase. During that time, the status for a given seating switches to “Unavailable.”
Sold out: Once all purchases for a given seating are successfully completed, the status switches over to Sold out. Which brings me to…
I’ve heard great things about your pizza and would love to come to your event, but unfortunately tickets were sold out in an hour. I was wondering if there is any kind of wait list or second round of tickets.
Thank you for the kind words! But first a correction: Tickets sell out in less than a minute. If you’re opening the email late in the day, after the sales have started, you’re probably already too late 🙁
But, to answer your actual question, there is no wait list. If anyone cancels and/or more tickets become available for any reason, I put them back into Eventbrite and then announce the availability on our Facebook.
And now, a word from SIX-PEATER Josh Wigler, who offers these tips on getting tickets:
My process is simple:
- Wait for the Margot’s Pizza ticket alert email
- Set alarm clock for two minutes before ticket sale time
- Open ticket sale page. Identify your preferred time slot of choice, and mentally prepare a back-up
- At the alarm, visit ticket sale page, and hit refresh over and over until the “QUANTITY” column changes from “N/A” to 1 or 2
- ATTACK! Select desired quantity and time slot (or back-up time slot if needed) and go!
- Input all your information inside the allotted 7-8 minutes
- Win Margot’s Pizza tickets, and subsequently, life
- Wait impatiently one week for crispy-cheese-crust goodness
Unwritten rule to all who attempt my methods: Defeat Josh Wigler in Mortal Kombat.
As a full-time freelance writer-person, I’m in front of my computer much more often than I would like, so it’s pretty easy to commit when I know the ticket sale is imminent.
OK, it’s me, Adam, back on the mic. I will reiterate what Josh says. To get the tickets, you should pre-load the link from the ticket-alert email. I actually attempt to “buy” tickets during each sale so I can see what the experience is like. When I use Josh’s method, more often than not I see the QUANTITY column change to “1” or “2” and remain selectable for ~20 seconds.
If you’ve been trying to get tickets and have been unsuccessful so far, if you haven’t tried Josh’s way, give it a shot.