Creating a seating plan

Reserved seating sells earlier (people buy certainty), prices higher (position has value), and costs more to run (maps, changes, support). The craft is knowing when it's worth it and building the map so it sells itself.

Reserved, GA, or hybrid?

• Reserve when position genuinely differs (theatre, comedy, classical) or your audience skews 40+ — certainty converts.
• GA when the floor is the point (gigs, club nights) — reserved seating there suppresses the atmosphere fans bought.
• Hybrid (reserved balcony + GA floor) captures both audiences and a price premium — the workhorse of mid-size venues.

Building the map

1. Start from the venue's real layout, sightlines walked not assumed — a seat behind a pillar sold as standard is a refund with a bad review attached.
2. Price by experience bands (2–4 tiers), not row-by-row micro-pricing that turns checkout into a spreadsheet.
3. Accessibility positions planned first, not left over: wheelchair spaces with companion seats in genuinely good positions, aisle-end options, clear notes on the page.
4. Hold house seats (4–10) for problems; releasing them at T-48h is your capacity, not the map's.

The fee trap specific to seating

Some platforms price reserved seating as a premium product — most famously, assigned-seat tickets consuming two credits on Ticket Tailor's model (making a 60p ticket 120p + VAT). At a 300-seat run, seat assignment can quietly double the platform bill versus GA. Ask specifically: 'does reserved seating cost more per ticket?' — then re-run the calculator at the real rate.

Operational notes

• Print the map at the door — reseating disputes are solved by paper, not by scrolling.
• Socially distanced or cabaret-table formats: sell tables as single products, not four seats — fewer baskets, fewer part-filled tables.
• Post-sale seat changes: allow them self-serve to a cutoff; every manual swap is support time you priced at zero.