Business generated is accurately reflected by % to my busines

I'm sure I'm over complicating the whole thing.... please help

[Silverback Grrr]

I'm looking for a way to insure that business generated via my site is accurately reflected by commission paid to my business.

I plan to launch a website for my events/bookings company in the coming months.. But I'm not web-smart at all so I'll be getting a designer to deal with the tech aspects.

Basically my question is about online ticket purchase & bookings.

My company will have a commission based agreements with businesses offering an event or booking or ticket of any kind., i would like visitors to my website to be able to book tickets but I'm concerned about date clashes as it wouldn't be us directly offering an event or service or ticket.

I'm also concern is about My customers/visitors finding an event or booking or ticket of any kind. via my website but making the booking directly with the provider or a better placed competitor... and my business not getting its %..

As a good amount of booking will be done my site anyway, it would be ideal for payment for the bookings to somehow go via my site - directly to the providers site or bank account but with some for of reference & record. (still keeping the user with in my website & using my booking form)

Is there one piece of software that i can use with my bookings form that will allow linking with providers bookings forms?

I'm sure I must be over complicating the whole thing and there is some very simple way of insuring that any business generated via my site is accurately reflected by commission paid to my business.

But as i said I'm not very web-smart.

I would very much appreciate you're help, even its just to tell me what that process is called in tech terms.

Cheers mate.

[LifeinAsia]

I'm concerned about date clashes as it wouldn't be us directly offering an event or service or ticket.

You'll either need to setup some sort of interface with your partners (see my response to your other post) or negotiate blocks of tickets with your partners (the same way some major travel booking sites/agents get clocks of rooms from hotels).

I'm also concern is about My customers/visitors finding an event or booking or ticket of any kind. via my website but making the booking directly with the provider or a better placed competitor... and my business not getting its %..

If they don't make the purchase through you, why should you get a commission? That's the nature of the game. People by their very nature are going to comparison shop. If you're not going to have the best price, you'll need to make sure you have some other value-added services that make people buy from you. But that's more of a business model issue than a programming/design issue.

it would be ideal for payment for the bookings to somehow go via my site - directly to the providers site or bank account but with some for of reference & record. (still keeping the user with in my website & using my booking form)

So you'll need credit card processing, merchant account, etc. You'll have to negotiate with your partners directly about electronic transfers to their bank accounts. Most likely, they'll prefer you cutting them a check unless/until your volume gets way up there.

Is there one piece of software that i can use with my bookings form that will allow linking with providers bookings forms?

Doubtful- see my other post.

I'm sure I must be over complicating the whole thing

If anything, I think you're over-simplifying everything. I'm not sure that you appreciate the scale of the project that you're discussing.

Some major red flags I see:
* "I'm not web-smart" (not the first statement one likes to hear when discussing an e-commerce project)
* "getting a designer to deal with the tech aspects" (designers rarely know the technical side, as techies rarely understand design)
* trying to find a one-size-fits-all software application for something this complex (even if it did exist, it would still require quite a bit of customization and would most likely cost a large amount up front or on an ongoing basis)

[Silverback Grrr]

Thanks for responding Life.,

Its true I'm events, music & media based not technical at all.

The scale of the whole project is mammoth and ecommerce just one aspect of the wider business., my guy is more tech than design based if that helps.. From my understanding www's with real world presence tend to do better.. and i don't see my not been e-smart as a problem.. that's what staff are for right?

customers who use the site will for the most part be regular users & members who in some cases have already been using the events service for years and fairly loyal to the brand.

we plan to set up credit card processing, merchant account for the events(around 300 per year..) that we currently host in venues across central London & gig's for our musicians & artists.. but I'd like our members to be able to book a restaurant or day outings or skydiving through us.

For events & bookings that we don't directly facilitate we would not be charging any more than the source purchase point as commission rates would have already been arranged. the main purposes for keeping users/members with-in the site are logging purchase's made via our site and to give users/members an impression of been able to use us a center point for their needs.

In the U.K we have a website called ticket master..http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/
do you think the project could be simplified by negotiating some kind of internal ticket master link with-in my site.

and what about a paypal link to the bookings/event hosts account?

what specs shall i give my tech guy? and any idea on what sort of cost we'd be looking at?

you're input is much appreciated!

[LifeinAsia]

my guy is more tech than design based if that helps.

Yep- it certainly does! :)

do you think the project could be simplified by negotiating some kind of internal ticket master link with-in my site.

Do you mean trying to license their software? No idea- you'd have to talk to them about it. I rather doubt it though, nor do I think it would be cheap if they did go for it.

and what about a paypal link to the bookings/event hosts account?

That's something you'd have to work out with your partners.

what specs shall i give my tech guy? and any idea on what sort of cost we'd be looking at?

That's sort of like asking "How long is string?" :)

Probably the simplest way is to negotiate blocks from your partners (e.g., 10 tickets to Event X, 2 tables at 7:00 at Restaurant Y, etc.) that revert back to the partner at a certain time if not reserved. (For the even example, you get a guaranteed 5 tickets to sell. If you don't sell them 24 hours before the event, they are returned to your partner.) Then you create your own scheduling program to make sure you only sell inventory that you have. If your partners are savy (don't count on it), you can create an intranet where they can logon and add/delete inventory as needed.

For more big ticket/open ended items (like skydiving), it's more of an on-request basis. The customer makes a request through your site, then your staff checks for availability with the partner before confirming/declining the customer's request. This can be automated somewhat- a reservation request can trigger and e-mail or fax to the partner. The partner then replies to the e-mail (not recommended), logs onto the intranet, or faxes back a reply.