Eventbrite has made official its intention to go public and sell $200 million worth of shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), planning on trading under the “EB” handle, according to multiple reports. The company has also announced a new pricing model that will mean higher service fees, according to details reported by techcrunch.com.
In a note to customers, the company announced payment processing fees would be reduced for many clients, dropping from 3 to 2.5 percent for “Essentials” package users. Fees for tickets are also dropping from .99 to .70 cents. To make up for those reductions, service fees are going up. Per TC:
The moves don’t really mean that Eventbrite is charging less. In fact, instead of charging one percent of every ticket price as a service fee, Eventbrite will now take a 2 percent cut, which should add up for organizers that use the service for bigger events. It’s also removing a service fee cap of $19.99 that it used to institute no matter how much an event organizer was charging.
“At Eventbrite we have always been committed to enabling event creators to deliver a diverse range of live experiences by offering a superior product at a fair price,” the company said in a statement. “The changes we announced today will mean lower ticket fees for the vast majority of our creators, and the millions of people that attend the events they plan, promote and produce each year. We succeed when our creators succeed and this change is indicative of a focus on ensuring we make the best decisions for the majority of our customers.”
The changes come quickly on the heels of reports that the company operated at a combined loss of more than $100 million over the last three years, as revealed by financial disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of the IPO. According to Billboard, the company posted losses of $40.4 million in 2016 and $38.5 million in 2017. So far this year, the company has lost $15.6 million, including more a $6.6 million loss over the hacking incident at subsidiary Ticketfly earlier this year.
“It’s a staggering amount of money they spend for the business they land,” said Iain Bluett with Atlanta ticketing companies Ticket Alternative and Freshtix told Billboard. “It’s similar to competing against Ticketmaster in the 2000s.”
The company has yet to announce a price per share. It is expected that the IPO will occur at some point in the fall of this year.
