Fair drops
When a popular event opens registration or ticket sales at a set time, it usually runs a fair drop. Instead of the spots going to whoever has the fastest connection or clicks a few milliseconds earlier, they’re drawn at random among everyone who showed up in time. It still takes some commitment, since you have to be there in the two minutes before the opening, but being fast doesn’t help.
You’ll recognise a drop on the event page: before the opening it counts down to “Drop opens in”, and during the entry window the button reads Enter the Drop.
How it works
Entries open 2 minutes before the opening
For an event opening at 18:00, you can enter from 17:58:00. Entering early or late in the window makes no difference. Everyone who enters is in the same draw.
Entries close 30 seconds before the opening
At 17:59:30 the window closes and the draw runs. Spots or tickets are handed out in random order among everyone who entered.
You get your result right away
Your result appears on the page within a few seconds, and you get an email either way. This all happens before 18:00, so you know where you stand before sales or registration open.
Whatever is left opens at the opening time
If fewer people entered than there are spots, everyone who entered gets one, and the rest go on sale at 18:00 first come, first served, as usual. If the drop took everything, the event page says so, so you don’t have to wait for the opening to find out.
Entering
Ticketed events. Enter from the checkout page: pick the ticket type you want and press Enter the drop. You enter for one ticket of one type; if you’d rather have a different type, you can switch your entry until entries close. If you win a paid ticket, it’s reserved for you and you pay the usual way within the payment window, and we email you a payment link too. If there are tickets left after the drop, you can buy more at the opening like anyone else.
Registration events. Enter by submitting the normal registration form during the entry window; the submit button turns into Enter the Drop. If the event asks for a CV, documents or answers to questions, you can fill in the form ahead of time, and the last step counts down to when you can submit. If you’re drawn, you’re registered (and pay first, if the event costs something). If you’re not drawn, you land on the waitlist in draw order, and anyone who registers after the opening joins the waitlist behind you. If someone who was drawn doesn’t pay in time, their spot goes to the next person on the waitlist. Offers in the first three hours after the opening have to be paid within an hour, so keep an eye on your email.
You need to be signed in to enter, and each person can enter once per drop.
Good to know
- Sign in before the window opens. Signing in in the middle of the two minutes costs you time you don’t need to lose.
- One device is enough. Multiple devices or tabs don’t give you more chances, since each account has one entry.
- Your eligibility counts at entry. Membership requirements and any other event restrictions apply to entering, just as they do to registering or buying.