Getting started

Popup Pal has three kinds of people: organisers (you), traders who take stalls at your events, and buyers who purchase tickets. Only the first two ever sign in — buyers manage everything through a secure link, so there is no account wall between your audience and a ticket.

1. Get your invite and create your account

Organiser accounts are invite-only: request access and we’ll email an invite, usually within a day. Then go to the sign-in page and enter the email address the invite went to — we send a 6-digit code, so there is no password to invent. You can also continue with Google or Apple. Verify your email before you plan to publish anything or take money; publishing and payment actions require a verified address.

2. Create your business

Your business is your organiser profile: name, description, logo and category (market, fair, show or exhibition — or something else). It gets a public page listing your published events, and it is the thing your team members join. You can invite teammates as admins (full event control) or staff (day-of tools like scanning and box office).

3. Connect Stripe

Paid ticket sales use your own connected Stripe account. Setup takes a few minutes; see Connect Stripe & get paid. You can build your event first and connect Stripe later, but you’ll need it before selling paid tickets.

4. Choose a plan if you collect stall fees online

Ticketing needs no plan. Collecting pitch or exhibitor fees online does — so pick the plan whose capacity fits how you run: how many events you have on the go at once, how many stall places you confirm on each, and how many people are on your team. Every plan includes every feature; only event series (Pro and up) and Pay by Bank (Max) are plan-dependent. Popup Pal takes 0% of stall money on every plan; Stripe’s processing on those payments is charged separately, at cost, to your own account. See Plans, limits & billing for what counts as an active event, and pricing for the current figures.

5. Build and publish your event

Add dates, venue and ticket types, switch on stall applications if your event has traders, then publish. Your event page goes live at its own link, ready to share. The full walkthrough is in Create your first event.

What it costs

Paid tickets carry a 4.5% + 59p + VAT per-ticket fee with card processing included, on every plan and with no plan at all; free tickets carry no ticket fee. Plans are a flat monthly or annual price, excluding VAT, and they are what lets you collect stall fees online — Popup Pal takes 0% of stall money, and Stripe’s processing fee on those payments is charged to your own Stripe account at Stripe’s rates. See pricing for current plan prices and the ticket fee calculator, and Plans, limits & billing for how the capacities work.