So it would need to support pulling data from other API where I can check if the hotel room is available, commissions, my own checkout flow using stripe etc. This is a TON of work. And it has to be customisable. I have searched forum to see the best options I have to bring this functionality to life.
ZeroCode has a template called Eventy and while it does support the front-end, nobody knows how good this is working on backend. They also confirmed they do not support custom checkout system, but instead redirect to Stripe Checkout.
Apart from that there are not so many options and you have to build everything from scratch.
On the other hand, there are also some hidden issues that only show-up at scale which @gf_wolfer mentioned in previous posts.
Or all kinds of tradeoffs when using bubble. Like lack of native functionality to support repeating events - you have install various plugins to get the job done. I barely got this repeating events functionality to work. So I fear that ticketing selling system is going to be a nightmare.
Maybe you could chip in @gf_wolfer and share your thoughts on the subject:
Is it worth building such ticketing system using bubble?
If yes, then what would be the fastest way you recommend to build such a system?
How long would it take to build ticketing system like that (months, year)?
If no, how would you build it differently? Maybe a custom-build system using Node.js/React that then offers API to communicate with Bubble app once the user finished the purchase?
100% better than not building a system or overthinking this drawback. I think Bubble works great for these types of transactional marketplaces.
With that said, if you know for sure your first users will be selling out their events within minutes of releasing tickets than I would not recommend it because of the race condition issue I’ve brought up before. Unless events always sell out in minutes, then you could offer a Waiting Room feature like Ticketmaster
98% of the time my Bubble app works perfect, but to cover the other 2% I tell my customers to set the supply of tickets slightly lower than capacity for high demand events, and then release the extra spots to the first people on a waitlist to make sure they do not oversell.
PS - if any Bubble wizard thinks they can solve this checkout race condition issue, I would generously pay for a solution and share how to do it for the community.
The fastest way to build the system would likely be to hire a quality developer or agency.
Time to develop is hard to say and depends on the exact feature set (every feature needs to be written out, hard to know from just sentences like ‘interact with this api’), ux requirements and developer proficiency & availability. All that said, it could be somewhere from a month to 4 months I would say. And then no software is really ever ‘finished’, so there would likely be continual development needed once users get using it
