Organizer guide: How to enable and configure ticket exchanges
Event organizers can enable the Exchange module to allow ticket buyers, or staff only, to exchange tickets for another event. Showpass supports two exchange flows:
- Item-by-item exchanges (the buyer selects which specific tickets or products in their order to swap)
- Full-order exchanges (the entire order is exchanged together)
Exchange settings can be applied globally at the organization level or individually per event.
In this article, you will learn:
- How to enable the Exchange module at the organization level
- How to set visibility rules and time restrictions
- What your ticket buyers will experience during an exchange
- How customer-initiated and box office exchanges differ
- When an order is exchanged as a whole instead of item by item
- What to expect during the transition to itemized fee calculations
- How to configure event-specific exchange settings
Enable the Exchange module (organization level)
- Go to your Showpass Dashboard and open the Organization Info section from the pop-out menu.
- Select Enabled Modules from the left-hand menu.
- Find the checkbox labelled Exchanges and mark it to activate the module.
Choose exchange visibility type
Select who should be able to process exchanges:
- Box Office + Public: staff, ticket sellers, and ticket buyers can process exchanges.
- Box Office Only: only staff and sellers can initiate exchanges. Ticket buyers cannot.
- Public Only: only ticket buyers can exchange tickets. Staff and sellers cannot.
Set exchange time restrictions
- Use the Exchange Time Restriction setting to define how many hours before the event an exchange can be processed.
- For example, entering 24 means ticket buyers must exchange at least 24 hours before their event begins.
Click Save Changes to apply your organization-level settings.
What your ticket buyers will experience
Once exchanges are enabled, your ticket buyers will see an Exchange tickets option in their order. From there:
- They review the exchange terms (equal-or-greater value, non-refundable donations and gift cards, the exchangeable-until date based on the cutoff you set).
- They choose what to exchange. Most orders allow item-by-item exchanges, including tickets, products, and add-ons. Some orders are exchanged as a whole (see below for why).
- Showpass calculates an exchange credit and applies it to their account for one hour.
- The buyer browses your other events, picks new tickets or products of equal or greater value, and applies the credit at checkout.
- If the new selection costs more, they pay the difference. Once checkout is complete, the original tickets are voided.
- If the buyer changes their mind before completing checkout, they can click Cancel exchange in the banner at the top of the page to settle the credit and return their original tickets to their previous state.
Exchanges work on desktop, mobile web, and in the Showpass mobile app. The steps are the same in each.
Donations, gift cards, complimentary tickets, transferred tickets, and free tickets cannot be exchanged.
Customer-initiated vs box office exchanges
The exchange experience differs slightly depending on who starts it:
- Customer-initiated: the buyer must be logged into the Showpass account used for the original purchase. If the order is eligible for item-by-item exchange, the buyer can pick which specific tickets or products to swap.
- Box office: your staff can process exchanges on behalf of buyers who do not have a Showpass account. In those cases, the exchange falls back to the full-order flow, even when the order would otherwise be eligible for item-by-item exchange. Item-by-item selection is only available when a buyer account is on the order.
This means the same order can behave differently depending on whether it is processed at the box office for a guest checkout, or initiated by a logged-in buyer.
When an order is exchanged as a whole instead of item by item
Most orders can be exchanged item by item, but a few specific cases route to the full-order flow instead. The buyer can still exchange the order, it just has to be exchanged together.
Item-by-item exchange is not available when:
- A discount was applied to the order. If the order used a fixed-amount discount, or a percentage discount that applied to the whole order (rather than individual tickets), the order needs to be exchanged together.
- The tickets are part of a package or bundle. Package tickets are sold as a set, so they need to stay together during an exchange.
- The order is a group sale. Group sale pricing is set for the whole order, so individual tickets cannot be exchanged independently.
- The buyer purchased without a Showpass account (including box office orders for guest checkouts).
Showpass picks the right flow automatically based on the order.
During the transition to itemized fee calculations
Showpass recently moved to itemized fee calculations, where fees and taxes are calculated per item rather than across the whole basket. For recurring events that were on sale before the change, this creates a temporary crossover period where some occurrences still use the old calculation and later occurrences use the new one.
If a buyer tries to exchange tickets across that crossover (for example, swapping an early date for a later one in the same recurring event series), the totals may be off by a few cents and prevent the exchange from completing.
This only affects a narrow set of cases on recurring events, and we expect it to be fully resolved by early August 2026. If a buyer of yours hits this, they can contact Showpass support with their order number and the team will resolve it.
Mixed calculation baskets
A related error can come up when a buyer tries to apply exchange credit to a cart that contains a mix of items: some using itemized calculations and some still using legacy. The credit cannot be applied cleanly across both calculation methods in one transaction, so the exchange will not complete.
The fix is to process the items in separate transactions, one calculation method at a time. If your buyer is hitting this, direct them to Showpass support and the team will help split the transaction.
Apply exchange settings at the event level
You can override the default exchange settings for individual events:
- Navigate to the specific event in your dashboard and click Edit.
- In the left-hand menu, select Advanced Options.
- Enter the number of hours before the event when exchanges are allowed (e.g., 24).
- Click Save to apply the settings for that event.
Note: Event-level settings will override the organization-level default for that event only.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to do anything to enable item-by-item exchanges?
No. Once you have enabled the Exchange module, Showpass automatically routes each order to the right exchange flow based on what is in it. There is no separate setting for item-by-item exchanges.
Are products and add-ons exchangeable too?
Yes. Products and add-ons follow the same exchange rules as tickets. If the order is eligible for item-by-item exchange, they can be swapped individually. Otherwise the whole order is exchanged together. Exchanging a ticket on its own will not automatically exchange add-ons on the same order.
Can memberships be exchanged?
Yes, memberships and renewals can be exchanged using the same flow, but only when the membership is "unused". Scanning a ticket, transferring a ticket, redeeming a discount benefit, or using a scan benefit all count as used. Exchanging a membership voids the original and creates a new membership, which means year-over-year reporting for that member may show as a new purchase rather than a renewal, and the original seat becomes available for public sale.
How long does a buyer's exchange credit last?
One hour from the moment the exchange is initiated. If the buyer does not complete a new purchase in that window, the exchange is cancelled and the original tickets stay valid.
Can a buyer exchange tickets for an event from a different organizer?
No. Exchange credit can only be used for events offered by your organization.
What if my buyer wants to downgrade to a cheaper ticket?
By default, exchanges are only allowed for tickets of equal or greater value. If you need to support downgrades for a specific case, contact Showpass support.
Why does an exchange behave differently when my box office processes it vs. when the buyer does it themselves?
Customer-initiated exchanges require a Showpass account, which unlocks item-by-item exchange when the order is eligible. Box office staff can process exchanges for buyers without a Showpass account, but those exchanges fall back to the full-order flow.
Why was my buyer's order exchanged as a whole instead of item by item?
This usually means a discount was applied to the order, the tickets were part of a package, the order was a group sale, or the buyer was not logged into a Showpass account.
A buyer is seeing a small ($0.01) error when trying to exchange. What is happening?
This is most often related to the transition between legacy and itemized fee calculations on recurring events. More on the transition period. Direct the buyer to Showpass support with their order number and the team can resolve it.
Why is the exchange failing when the cart has both itemized and legacy items?
The credit cannot be applied cleanly across two calculation methods in one transaction. The fix is to process the items in separate transactions, one calculation method at a time. Direct the buyer to Showpass support and the team will help split it up.
Will exchanges appear in my reporting?
Yes. Exchanges appear in the same sales and invoice reports you already use. Reporting has not changed with the move to itemized exchanges.
Can my buyer exchange tickets from the Showpass mobile app?
Yes. The exchange flow works the same way in the Showpass mobile app, on mobile web, and on desktop.
Are you a ticket buyer looking to exchange your tickets? Click here for step-by-step instructions.
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