As an event organizer, the benefits of an online registration facility – widen your market reach, collect registrations directly online, accept payments in real time etc are undeniable. Despite these benefits, a common question amongst event organizers who are contemplating buying an online registration system is, ‘Do the benefits of having an online registration facility with an in-built payment gateway on your website outweigh the cost?'

Here are the some facts to help ease your decision making process:

Set Up Cost & Per Transaction Cost
There are two types of cost involved: one-time setup fee and ongoing costs – annual subscription fees and per transaction cost. These costs vary depending on the solution, the transaction volume, and the terms of your credit-card processing agreement. While, this may seem expensive, you should keep in mind that not all Online Registration Systems are exorbitantly priced and some companies are willing to negotiate on both - the set-up and per transaction cost.

Tip: What many event organizers do not realize is that the higher the volume the lower the cost i.e. if you are expecting a high volume of transactions for your event, you can opt for a lower per transaction cost scheme such as EventAvenue's Premium Scheme. This scheme has a higher setup cost but a lower per transaction cost which proves to be more cost effective in the long run.

Value Added Service Cost
The value added services offered by the Online Event Management Solutions are generally not free and the cost of utilizing these services is not displayed upfront. For example: Some Online Event Management Solutions charge a small fee if you want them to customize your registration pages. The good news is that many will willingly waive this fee if you agree to include their logo.

Reducing Current Cost
All these extra costs may be discouraging. However, you should keep in mind that an online registration system not only eliminates some of your current expenses but also some existing and time consuming problems. For example: Manpower. The online registration system eliminates the need to hire a staff to manage the registration process since the delegates register directly online. Thus, you reduce the amount of budget you allocate for salaries.

Eliminate Future Marketing Cost
A good online registration system stores all registrant and delegate information including the registrant's email ids. You can use the email ids stored in this database to run email-marketing campaigns for future events. This saves you the cost of purchasing an email database for future events.

Improving Efficiencies
In addition to the reduction in current costs, you will also see a reduction in data entry errors, fewer on-site registration requirements and savings in postage and printing costs. Moreover, an online registration system offers more timely and accurate reporting, which reduces overall costs.