Registration Time Limit (session lifespan)

Why Setting a Registration Time Limit is Important

It’s essential to set a time limit between the moment an attendee selects a ticket or begins registration and when they complete their purchase. This time limit offers several key benefits:

1. Inventory Management
   For events with limited seating or capacity, a time limit ensures tickets aren’t held indefinitely by attendees who may not complete their purchase. This helps organizers effectively manage ticket inventory and predict attendance more accurately.
2. Fairness and Availability
   Enforcing a time limit ensures tickets remain available to all attendees on a first-come, first-served basis. It prevents individuals from holding tickets in their cart indefinitely, giving others a fair opportunity to attend.
3. Streamlined Registration Process
   A time limit reduces the risk of abandoned carts or incomplete registrations by encouraging attendees to act promptly. This creates a smoother registration process and makes event planning easier for organizers.
4. Revenue Collection
   Setting a time limit ensures timely revenue collection, which is crucial for covering event expenses like venue rental, catering, and other operational costs. It helps maintain the event's financial viability and overall success.
5. Creating Urgency
   A time limit encourages attendees to complete their registration by creating a sense of urgency. Without a deadline, attendees may delay or forget to finalize their purchase, potentially lowering attendance and impacting the event's success.

How to Set the Registration Time Limit in Event Espresso

Event Espresso offers a default 1-hour time limit for completing registration, which can be adjusted to suit your needs. This time frame can range from 5 minutes to 2 hours. If an attendee doesn’t complete their registration within this period, their selected ticket(s) will be released back into the pool for others to purchase.

To adjust the registration time limit (Session Lifespan):

1. Navigate to Event Espresso > Registration Forms > Reg Settings tab > Session Settings > Session Lifespan.
2. Adjust the timeframe to your preference within the available range.

Special Considerations When Using PayPal

When using PayPal with Event Espresso, incomplete transactions are automatically canceled after 1 hour to free up tickets for other registrants. This often happens if a registrant delays payment through PayPal.

While PayPal itself doesn’t impose time limits, Event Espresso prioritizes ticket availability within capacity constraints. This can occasionally lead to a mismatch where the attendee's registration is canceled in Event Espresso but the payment is still processed by PayPal.

If this occurs:

• You can manually mark the registration as Approved in Event Espresso.
• Then, resend the related confirmation messages to the attendee.

By setting appropriate time limits, you can ensure a smooth registration process while maintaining fairness and efficiency for your event.