5 Mistakes First-Time Event Organisers Make (and How to Avoid Them)

Running your first event is exciting. It's also one of those things where you don't know what you don't know — until something goes wrong at 7pm on the night.

The good news is that most first-timer mistakes are entirely avoidable. They come up again and again, and they're all fixable with a bit of planning. Here are the five most common ones, and how to dodge them.

1. Not having a refund policy

This is the one that catches people out most. You sell 200 tickets, and then a week before the event you get a flood of refund requests. Maybe the weather forecast looks grim. Maybe a competing event popped up. Maybe people just changed their minds.

Without a clear refund policy, you're stuck making it up on the spot — and that leads to awkward conversations, negative reviews, and lost trust.

How to avoid it

Set your refund policy before you sell a single ticket, and make it visible on your event listing. You've got three sensible options:

• Full refunds up to X days before the event — the most fan-friendly option. 7 days is a common cutoff.
• No refunds, but transferable tickets — fans can't get their money back, but they can pass the ticket to a friend. This protects your revenue while keeping fans happy.
• No refunds — fine for cheaper tickets and events with high demand, but be upfront about it.

Whatever you choose, state it clearly. Fans are far more understanding of a "no refunds" policy that's stated upfront than one that appears only when they ask for their money back.

2. Underpricing tickets

First-time organisers almost always price too low. It comes from a good place — you want people to come, and you're not confident enough to charge what the event is worth. But underpricing creates real problems.

When your ticket price barely covers your costs, one unexpected expense (a sound system hire, a cleaning fee, a last-minute venue change) can turn a successful-feeling event into a financial loss.

How to avoid it

Work backwards from your costs, not forwards from what you think people will pay.

Step 1: Add up every cost — venue hire, equipment, insurance, staff, cleaning, marketing, ticketing fees.

Step 2: Divide by your realistic attendance number (not your optimistic one — if the venue holds 200, plan for 150).

Step 3: Add a 20-30% margin. This isn't greed — it's the buffer that keeps you running events instead of giving up after one.

Step 4: Check it against similar events in your area. If your price is dramatically higher, you might need to cut costs. If it's dramatically lower, you're probably undercharging.

Use tiered pricing to your advantage

Early bird tickets let you offer a lower price to early buyers while keeping your standard price where it needs to be. Group discounts can also help shift tickets without slashing your headline price.

The psychology is important: a £12 ticket that was £10 during early bird feels like a deal. A £10 ticket that was always £10 feels like its true value — and if you ever need to raise it, fans will push back.

3. Ignoring marketing until the last minute

This is the "build it and they will come" fallacy. You spend weeks planning the event, perfecting the lineup, designing the flyer — and then post about it three days before and wonder why tickets aren't moving.

Marketing isn't a single push at the end. It's a drumbeat that starts the moment your event is announced.

How to avoid it

Start promoting the moment your tickets go live. Here's a simple timeline:

• 4-6 weeks before: Announce the event, open early bird sales. Post on all your channels.
• 3-4 weeks before: Share behind-the-scenes content. Reveal vendors, artists, or highlights one at a time.
• 2 weeks before: Early bird deadline. Create urgency (if genuine). Share any social proof — tickets sold, people excited.
• 1 week before: Practical info push. Remind people what they're in for. Final call for tickets.

And don't just post once per phase. Repeat yourself. Most of your followers won't see your first post — Instagram's algorithm shows your content to roughly 5-10% of your audience. You need to say it several times for the message to land.

4. Choosing a platform based on name recognition, not value

"We'll just use Eventbrite" is the default for most first-time organisers. It's the name everyone knows. But "well-known" and "best value" are very different things.

On a £10 ticket, Eventbrite takes 12.9% in fees. On a 200-ticket event, that's over £250 going to the platform — for a service that doesn't include any marketing help, shows competitor events on your page, and holds your money for 5-7 days after the event.

How to avoid it

Compare at least three platforms before committing. The things that actually matter for a first-time organiser are:

• Fees — the percentage and any fixed per-ticket charges. Calculate the total cost on your expected ticket volume.
• Marketing support — does the platform help promote your event, or do you do all the work?
• Payout timing — can you access your money before the event, or are you waiting days or weeks?
• Audience ownership — do fans follow you, or the platform? Can you contact your attendees for future events?
• Ease of use — can you get an event live in under 15 minutes?

The right platform for a 10,000-person festival isn't necessarily the right platform for a 150-person comedy night. Choose the tool that fits your scale.

5. Not collecting attendee data for future events

Your first event isn't just a one-off — it's the start of your audience. Every person who buys a ticket is someone who might come to your next event, bring friends, and become a regular.

But too many first-time organisers treat ticket sales as a transaction and nothing more. They don't collect emails, they don't encourage people to follow them, and when it's time to promote their second event they're starting from scratch.

How to avoid it

Think about your attendee data from day one:

• Use a platform where fans follow you — so they get notified about your future events automatically. This is much more reliable than hoping they'll see your Instagram post.
• Collect emails — either through your ticketing platform or a simple sign-up at the door. An email list you own is the most reliable way to reach your audience.
• Export your data — make sure you can download your attendee list as a CSV. Some platforms restrict this or make it difficult. If you can't export your data, you don't really own it.
• Send a follow-up — after the event, email your attendees. Thank them, share photos, and tell them about your next event. The conversion rate from "attended one event" to "bought tickets for the next" is remarkably high.

Building an audience is a compound effect. Your second event is easier than your first. Your fifth is easier than your second. But only if you've been collecting and nurturing your fan base from the start.

The common thread

Look at these five mistakes together and a pattern emerges: they're all about planning ahead rather than reacting in the moment. Set your refund policy before you sell tickets. Price based on costs, not feelings. Market from day one, not the last week. Choose your platform on value, not familiarity. And treat every ticket buyer as the start of a long-term relationship.

None of this is complicated. It just requires thinking about your event as a business, even if it doesn't feel like one yet.