The add-ons feature allows you to offer your event attendees additional items or services, other than tickets, to customize their event experience and boost your event’s success and revenue.
Note: Add-ons can be physical items, such as t-shirts or parking passes, or additional services, such as workshops, VIP upgrades, food and drink packages, or other event extras.
During checkout, your add-ons will be displayed after the buyer selects their tickets. Buyers can then pay for their tickets and add-ons in one single transaction.
Add-ons can be made available for specific events, ticket types, and, for timed-entry events, specific timeslots. You can also set per-timeslot capacity for add-ons to help control availability and avoid overselling.
Tip: You can add options and pictures for your add-ons to help buyers pick the right add-on.
How to create an add-on
- Log in to your Universe account, go to your Dashboard page, and click the Add-ons tab.
- To create an add-on, click Create add-on and enter the details for your add-on. You can save the add-on as a draft or create it by clicking Create add-on at the bottom of the page.
When you create an add-on, you can add the following details:
1. Basic information
Use this section to create a name for your add-on and provide a description.
The description is a great place to explain what the add-on includes, how attendees will receive or redeem it, and where it can be picked up, if applicable.
You can also add a post-purchase add-on message to provide further clarification or additional information. This message will appear in the order confirmation email and on the add-on PDF.
2. Add-on details
We recommend adding a photo to help sell your add-on.
Note: The dimensions for your add-on photo should be a minimum of 100 x 100 px, with a maximum file size of 2 MB.
You can set a fixed or unlimited quantity of inventory for your add-ons. The available inventory will decrease automatically as add-ons are sold.
You can also choose whether or not to display a QR code on the add-on PDF. QR codes are useful for add-ons that need to be scanned or redeemed at a later time, such as parking passes, merchandise pickup, food and drink vouchers, or VIP upgrades.
If your add-on does not require future redemption, you can hide the QR code. This is best for add-ons that are fulfilled automatically, do not need to be scanned by staff, or are simply added to the buyer’s order for record-keeping purposes.
Note: Click Add Option to group different varieties of an add-on together. For example, you can add options to sell small, medium, and large t-shirts, or food and drink tokens that come in packs of 5, 10, or 15. Each option has its own inventory level to help ensure that you do not oversell a certain option.
3. Fees & Taxes
In this section, you can decide whether to absorb the Universe service fees or pass them on to the buyer.
Any event-specific taxes or additional fees that you previously created will not apply to your add-ons. Add any necessary taxes and/or additional fees for your add-ons in this section.
Warning: Charging taxes is at the sole discretion and responsibility of the event organizer. You are responsible for all local tax laws, and Universe does not withhold or remit taxes collected on your behalf.
4. Applicable Events, Ticket Types, and Timeslots
You can choose where your add-on should be available.
You can make your add-on available on all of your events in a specific currency, or you can make it available for one or more selected events.
For selected events, you can also control which ticket types and timeslots the add-on is available for.
For example, you can:
- Show VIP parking or VIP food and drink packages only to buyers who select a VIP ticket.
- Offer a bouquet of roses only for Valentine’s Day timeslots.
- Offer a brunch upgrade only for weekend timeslots between 10AM–2PM.
To configure an add-on for specific events, ticket types, or timeslots:
- In the Applicable Events and Ticket Types section, select the event you want the add-on to be available on.
- Click the dropdown arrow next to the event to reveal additional options.
- Select the ticket type(s) the add-on should be available for.
- In the Applicable Timeslots section, choose whether the add-on should apply to All timeslots or Specific timeslots.
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If you select Specific timeslots, click Add timeslots. A modal will open where you can select the date range, day of the week, and time range for the timeslots you want the add-on to apply to.
- Save or create your add-on.
An add-on will only appear during checkout when the buyer selects an eligible event, ticket type, and timeslot. If ticket types and specific timeslots are selected, the buyer’s selection must match both for the add-on to be shown.
Note: Selecting specific timeslots controls when the add-on appears during checkout. It does not set the number of add-ons available for each timeslot. To limit how many of an add-on can be sold per timeslot, use the per-timeslot capacity setting.
5. Set add-on capacity per timeslot
If your event uses timeslots, you can limit how many of an add-on can be sold for each timeslot.
Toggle on Limit available add-on quantity/timeslot if you’d like to set a per-timeslot capacity for your add-on.
After this is turned on, set a specific quantity for your add-on. For example, if the Parking Spot add-on has a per-timeslot capacity of 25, then each eligible timeslot will have 25 parking spots available for purchase.
Timeslot availability and timeslot capacity work together, but they control different things:
Timeslot availability controls which timeslots the add-on appears for.
Timeslot capacity controls how many of that add-on can be sold for each eligible timeslot.
You can use one or both settings depending on how you want to sell your add-on.
For example, you could make a brunch upgrade available only for weekend timeslots between 10AM–2PM, and also limit the brunch upgrade to 30 purchases per timeslot.
How to view your add-ons and add-on orders
After you have created your add-ons, you can view and manage them from the Add-ons section of your dashboard.
- Log in to your Universe account, go to your Dashboard page, and click the Add-ons tab.
You will see all your available add-ons, whether they are active or inactive, which events they are available on, and their current inventory level. Where applicable, you may also see the ticket types and timeslots the add-on is available for.
You can search by add-on or filter by event.
Note: You can filter your add-ons by selecting All, Active, or Inactive towards the top of the page.
You can view all add-on orders purchased by your attendees by clicking the Orders tab. From here, you can use the search bar to locate a buyer’s add-on order or filter orders by selecting All days, Past 7 days, or Past 30 days. You can also filter the status of each order by selecting All Statuses, Not redeemed, or Redeemed.
Note: To view a buyer’s add-on order or message the buyer, click the three dots beside the buyer you’d like to manage and select an option from the dropdown menu.
How to review the data collected for your add-on
You can review the data for your add-ons by downloading reports:
- For all add-ons purchased for a particular event, use the event-level add-ons report. The event-level orders report will also reflect how many add-ons were bought on each order.
- Use account-level reports, accessible through your dashboard, to see add-on sales across multiple events.
How to set team member permissions for add-ons
Team members on an account can only create and manage add-ons on behalf of the account holder if the Manage add-ons box is checked in the team member’s permissions settings.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’m a team member of an account but I do not have access to the add-ons screen. What should I do?
If you cannot see the add-ons screen, please ask the account holder to grant you the Manage add-ons permission.
Can I make an add-on available only for specific timeslots?
Yes. For timed-entry events, you can select the specific timeslots where an add-on should be available.
In the Applicable Timeslots section, select Specific timeslots, then click Add timeslots. From there, you can select the date range, day of the week, and time range for the timeslots you want the add-on to apply to.
Buyers will only see the add-on during checkout if they select one of the eligible timeslots.
Can I limit an add-on by both ticket type and timeslot?
Yes. You can make an add-on available only for specific ticket types, specific timeslots, or both.
For example, you could offer a brunch upgrade only to VIP ticket buyers who select weekend timeslots between 10AM–2PM.
What is the difference between selecting specific timeslots and limiting add-on quantity per timeslot?
Selecting specific timeslots controls when the add-on appears during checkout.
Limiting add-on quantity per timeslot controls how many of the add-on can be sold for each eligible timeslot.
For example, you could make a bouquet add-on available only for Valentine’s Day timeslots, and also limit the bouquet add-on to 50 purchases per timeslot.
Can I hide the QR code on an add-on?
Yes. You can choose whether or not to display a QR code on the add-on PDF.
We recommend displaying QR codes for add-ons that need to be scanned or redeemed later, such as parking passes, merchandise pickup, food and drink vouchers, or VIP upgrades.
You can hide the QR code for add-ons that do not require future redemption, such as add-ons that are fulfilled automatically or do not need to be scanned by staff.
Can add-ons have event-specific inventory?
At the moment, an add-on’s inventory is shared across all events it is attached to. For example, if you have a “T-shirt” add-on with 25 units attached to 5 events, all 5 of those events will have access to those 25 unique units.
If you would like each event to have its own separate inventory, you’ll need to create a separate add-on for each event.
For timed-entry events, you can also set an add-on capacity per timeslot. This allows you to control how many of an add-on can be sold for each timeslot on the selected event.
Can add-ons be bought separately?
At the moment, add-ons can only be purchased with a ticket.
If you have attendees who forgot to buy an add-on when they bought a ticket, you can create a free “Add-on Purchase” ticket type that would allow them to buy the add-on in a separate transaction.
How should attendees receive or redeem their add-on? Can add-ons be shipped?
The way add-ons are redeemed by the attendee will depend on the event and the event organizer. We recommend using the add-on description to explain the redemption process, whether it’s at the event entrance, at a specific pickup location, or somewhere else in the venue.
Universe does not support shipping add-ons. If an add-on must be shipped, we highly recommend collecting the necessary information at checkout so that you can ship the add-on to the customer.
Can add-ons be refunded or exchanged for a different add-on?
Similar to tickets, you can refund an entire order or refund an add-on itself from the event manager.
If an attendee bought the wrong add-on, that add-on cannot be exchanged directly on Universe. The add-on will need to be refunded, and the correct add-on can then be repurchased.
Can I sell add-ons without an event on Universe?
No. Universe is an events platform, so you will need to have a live event on Universe to sell add-ons.
What fees apply to add-on sales?
The same Universe service fee applies to your add-on sales as to your regular ticket sales. This includes the percentage-based fee and the flat rate per ticket fee. For more information on Universe fees, please see Universe pricing.