In 2023, more than 300 haunt and fall events used TicketSignup’s free platform to sell tickets, market their events, and manage on site check-ins and ticket sales. This blog shares haunt stats from the top 20 haunts that used TicketSignup in 2023.
How Much Do Haunt Tickets Cost?
$29
Average haunt ticket price
13%
Percentage of haunts used automated price increases
2.6
Average number of tickets per cart
Dynamic pricing strategies help haunts optimize revenue and meet demand. Ticket prices vary based on factors such as peak dates, popular time slots, and the type of ticket purchased. The calendar below shows the average ticket price by date (we omitted nights when there was not significant attendance).
Thursday nights were the lowest average ticket price at $19, while Saturday nights were the highest average ticket price at $31. The two highest average ticket price nights? Friday the 13th and Halloween.
The average number of tickets per cart was 2.6. With TicketSignup’s per cart (not per ticket) fees, attendees pay less in fees. This gives haunts more room to generate revenue by increasing fees and keeping the difference, or pass on the savings to their customers.
Customer Spotlight
Terror on the Farm at Ashland Berry Farm leverages pricing as a powerful marketing tool. They deeply discount tickets on nights with lighter attendance and charge more on busy nights.
They use tiles (in addition to a calendar picker) to better feature pricing for each night. In addition to adding variable pricing each night, they brand their discounts. For example, Boo for Two on Monday October 30th discounts tickets to just $20 but requires each attendee to purchase 2 tickets at a time. For haunts that are limited to a certain number of attendees on busy nights, selling more tickets on lighter nights can increase revenue.
What Were the Most Popular Haunt Nights?
Saturday 10/21
Highest Attendance Night
38%
Of Attendees Went to Haunts on Saturday
73%
Of Haunts Use Time Slots
Saturday nights are the most popular time to attend a haunt. That correlates to the average higher ticket price for Saturday nights. The next most popular night to attend was Friday, followed by Sunday and Thursday. The chart below shows the proportional attendance across these four days for the month of October.
Product Feature
Over 73% of haunts used time slots in 2023. Setting up time slots allows for differentiated pricing, as well as better attendee throughput with flexible caps.
TicketSignup is working hard on a next-generation timed ticketing platform, available for haunts and escape rooms later in 2024. Our patent-pending calendar UI makes it easy to set up and manage tickets across multiple dates and time slots. Rules make it easy to set caps and pricing, with options to override for higher or lower caps/prices for a date, ticket type, or specific time slot(s).
When Do Attendees Buy Tickets?
14.66%
Tickets purchased in September
19%
Tickets purchased on a Saturday
7:00 – 8:00 PM
Most popular time to buy a haunt ticket
While many haunt tickets are purchased the day of the event, significant sales happen before haunts even open. This year, nearly 15% of haunt sales occurred in September. Not only does this bring in revenue ahead of opening night, it also helps promote haunts via word of mouth.
We also looked at the time of day when people purchased tickets. The highest concentration of ticket sales happened between 7:00 and 8:00 PM.
How Do Attendees Buy Tickets?
78%
Website traffic is from mobile devices
84%
Mobile traffic is from Apple devices
24.5%
Purchases used Apple Pay to check out
From free mobile-optimized websites to Apple Pay, TicketSignup is a mobile-first platform. Approximately 78% of all traffic to haunt websites comes from mobile devices. Of that mobile traffic, 84% is from Apple devices. This drives the high rate of attendees checking out with Apple Pay. Nearly a quarter of all ticket purchases in October 2023 checked out with Apple Pay! Haunts need a mobile-first platform to convert website visitors to attendees and make it easy for people to find information and buy tickets.
TicketSignup’s mobile-first features aren’t limited to websites and purchases. Apple Wallet makes tickets available for quick check-in and automated notifications. Share via text on websites and the confirmation page makes it easy for people to text their friends to join them at haunts.
Marketing Haunts
$12
Average coupon discount amount
$227.89
Ticket sales per $1 refunded via Referral Rewards
507+ Million
Free Emails sent via TicketSignup in 2023
From social media and digital ads to SEO and local news coverage, haunts rely on diversified marketing strategies to sell more tickets. Many haunts leverage Google Analytics 4 and TicketInsights to track the ROI of their marketing spend.
While we don’t have full insight into how haunts spend ad dollars on external platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok, there are some free and very powerful marketing tools available to any haunt using TicketSignup.
4.9% of all haunt ticket purchases used a coupon. The average discount amount per cart was $12. Time and quantity-limited coupons help create a sense of urgency to buy tickets.
Referral Rewards turn attendees into ambassadors for your haunt. Automate refunds when they refer a set number of tickets – with $228 in ticket sales per $1 in refunds issued, it’s the best ROI for haunt marketing!
Since January, events have sent more than 500 million emails for free on TicketSignup. No more paying for Constant Contact or Mailchimp – plus import unlimited lists and use automated lists of ticket purchasers!
Reddit Ads
We did a small experiment to test out Reddit Ads this haunt season. We spent $1,000 running ads in October for two haunts (Panic Point in NC and Scaregrounds PDX in OR).
Reddit Stats
– 411,538 Impressions
– 1,566 Clicks
We used TicketSignup’s custom source tracking to determine whether these clicks immediately converted to ticket sales (last touch attribution, no cookies stored). Only 6 tickets were directly purchased from the ads, although the actual number is likely higher but occurred later.
We liked the easy interface of Reddit Ads and the great customer service. There were also a fair amount of click throughs. However, the ROI was nowhere near TicketSignup’s free marketing tools.
Making More Money with Add-Ons
33%
Of haunts sold add-ons
$4.5
Additional revenue per ticket when add-ons were offered
21.5%
Ticket purchasers added store items when available
From additional paintballs to haunt swag, haunts used TicketSignup’s store feature to sell add-ons and drive additional revenue per ticket sold. With options to sell items in the purchase path as well as from a standalone store, attendees could easily add additional items and experiences to their carts.
In addition to selling items online, haunts were able to use the TicketSignup App to fulfill add-on orders and sell additional items on-site via Point of Sale.
What About Bad Weather?
10,643
Attendees transferred tickets to a different date/time slot
.71%
Percentage of ticket sales refunded
.01%
Percentage of transactions resulting in a chargeback
Many haunts are outdoors. Despite “rain or shine” policies, there are sometimes nights when haunts need to cancel. Instead of refunding attendees or dealing with significant chargebacks, most haunts use TicketSignup’s self-serve ticket transfers to send that night’s attendees an email with a unique link to transfer their own tickets to a different date.
TicketSignup’s flexible self-serve transfers mean haunts don’t waste money on refunds and chargebacks. Although many haunts had one or a couple cancelled nights due to weather, just .71% of all ticket sales were refunded. Furthermore, the chargeback rate was only 0.1%. Nearly 50% of these chargebacks have already been reversed thanks to TicketSignup. We fight chargebacks on behalf of events, meaning haunts don’t spend time on chargebacks AND they benefit from fewer chargebacks plus higher win rates.
Check-In Stats
100%
Haunts used TicketSignup’s CheckIn App
93.3%
Tickets scanned with TicketSignup CheckIn App
6.7%
No show rate
Every haunt used TicketSignup’s CheckIn App to check-in tickets. Over 93% of purchased tickets were scanned via TicketSignup’s app. The 6.7% that weren’t scanned? The majority were no shows. While there are still some haunts that don’t sell tickets online, the 6.7% no show rate underscores the importance on online sales – that’s money haunts without online tickets would otherwise not get.
In addition to scanning tickets, the Ticket App can also be used to sell tickets on site via Point of Sale. However, most haunts choose to post QR codes so that attendees can easily scan and buy on site without waiting in line.
Favorite Ticket App Features
- Scan QR Codes or search by name to pull up ticket purchase
- Set up different configurations – from displays to actions and permissions – based on staff role
- Fulfill and sell add-ons, in addition to tickets
- Continue to check-in tickets even if there are connectivity breaks – the Ticket App syncs when there’s an available signal
- On Site Waiver Mode (perfect for Escape Rooms!)
Attraction CheckIn
Some haunts want to validate tickets per attraction. TicketSignup’s bundles allow haunts to automatically include attractions with each ticket. The Ticket App can then be configured to fulfill attractions. In the video, the Ticket App is set up to only show the Slayer attraction. Staff scan tickets and fulfill the Slayer attraction as attendees enter the line. The same process repeats at each attraction so that each attendee experiences each attraction one time.