Event setup

Offer member pricing and members-only Events

Sell one event at two prices with a discounted member price for wine club members or tagged guest groups, or make an Event exclusively for members with verification at checkout.

Updated 2026-07-06

CoverCount Events can sell the same ticket at two prices — a public price for everyone and a discounted price for wine club members or another guest group you define. Events can also be members-only, where the event page is public but only verified members can buy tickets.

Both features use the same idea: guests do not log in, enter a code, or click a verify button. They fill out the normal registration form, and CoverCount verifies membership automatically at checkout using the email and phone number they enter.

Use member pricing when members should get a better price but everyone is welcome. Use a members-only event when the event itself is a member benefit — a club pickup party, an allocation dinner, a members-only release tasting.

Two Prices, One Event

For an event open to everyone, the Tickets step lets you enable Eligible group pricing:

  • Price — what the public pays.
  • Eligible price — what verified members of your chosen group pay. It can be discounted or 0 for free member tickets.
  • Group label — the guest-facing name of the group, such as Club Members or Wine Club Members.

Guests who verify as members are charged the eligible price. Guests who do not verify simply pay the public price — they are never blocked, and they never see an error. A member paying $0 skips card payment entirely; a discounted paid ticket checks out normally.

Capacity is shared. Member and public tickets sell from the same event capacity, so a sold-out event is sold out for everyone.

Members-Only Events

When an event should be exclusively for members, choose Club members only as the audience. The event stays visible on your public event listing — that visibility is good marketing for the club — but there are no public tickets.

On the public page, guests see a banner: "Exclusively for Club Members" (or whatever group label you chose), with a note that membership is verified at checkout. You can choose whether the member ticket price is shown publicly or kept private.

When a guest who is not a verified member tries to register, checkout stops with a clear message asking them to double-check their details or contact the venue. Verified members register normally.

How Membership Is Verified

Choose an eligibility source for the group:

  • Club integration — CoverCount checks for an active wine club membership through a connected club integration such as Commerce7 or Vinoshipper, matched by the email or phone number the guest enters at checkout. Memberships that are cancelled or on hold do not qualify. If more than one integration is connected, an active membership in any of them qualifies.
  • Guest tag — CoverCount matches the guest to your guest list by email or phone and checks for a tag you choose, such as Club Member, VIP, or Founders List. This works for any group you maintain yourself, with or without a club platform.

Guest-tag verification only matches guests who already exist in your guest list with that tag. If you maintain the list manually, keep it current before opening member sales.

Verification runs when the guest submits the registration — there is no separate membership step in the guest flow.

Choose How The Member Price Appears

For each eligible group, choose a public display mode:

  • Show savings — the public page says members may save a specific amount after verification.
  • Show price — the public page shows the actual member price.
  • Note only — the public page says members may be eligible for special pricing, without numbers.

Showing the member price or savings on a public event doubles as club marketing: non-members see exactly what membership is worth.

Selling At The Door

Staff can still register walk-ins against a member ticket when it is warranted — for example, a member whose email on file does not match. Selecting a member ticket for a walk-in is a manager-level override and is recorded with a reason, so the discount stays controlled.

Pricing, Tax, And Receipts

Member tickets behave like any other ticket at checkout:

  • Tax, required service charges, and optional gratuity apply the same way at the member price.
  • The price the guest actually paid is snapshotted on the registration, so receipts and reports stay accurate even if you change prices later.
  • Refund and sales cutoffs apply equally to member and public tickets.

For the base pricing setup, see Set event pricing, tax, service charges, and gratuity.

Members-Only Is Not The Same As Unlisted

An unlisted event hides the page from your public listing but lets anyone with the link register. A members-only event is the opposite: the page is public, but registration is gated by real membership verification.

Use unlisted for soft launches and limited distribution. Use members-only when the gate needs to be enforced, not just implied. For visibility options, see Publish, unlist, or hide an Event.

Test With A Member And A Non-Member

Before publishing:

  • Register using a known member's email or phone and confirm the member price is applied.
  • Register using an unknown email and confirm the public price applies — or, for a members-only event, confirm checkout is refused with the expected message.
  • Confirm the public page shows the pricing note you intended.
  • Confirm the confirmation email receipt shows the price actually paid.

For the full pre-launch checklist, see Test an Event before publishing.

Good Uses

  • Club pickup party: free member tickets, no public tickets (members-only).
  • Release dinner: $95 public, $75 member price, savings shown publicly.
  • Library tasting: members-only with the price hidden from non-members.
  • Community class: $40 public, free for a Neighbors tagged group.