Get started with TractorTix

Gather these once and the rest is smooth. Everything on this list goes to Stripe or Square, on their secure pages. TractorTix never sees your bank numbers or your ID.

What you will have at the end: your own ticket page with your farm's name on it, a link you can share anywhere, a QR sign for the gate, and a gate scanner on your phone. It looks like this:

TractorTix never holds your money. A payment company moves it from the visitor's card straight to your bank, and the 50¢ per online ticket is split off automatically. You need one of the two. Pick yours:

Have neither? Either one is free to open, with no monthly cost. Follow the Stripe steps below if you are starting from zero. It asks the most questions up front, and then it is done.

Setting up Stripe

1. Tap "Connect payments" in Setup. That opens Stripe's signup. It is free, and there is no monthly cost.
2. Enter your email and phone. Stripe texts a 6-digit code. Type it in to confirm it is you.
3. Tell Stripe about your farm. Business type (most farms pick Individual / Sole proprietor, or LLC if that is how you file), farm name, and address. A home address is fine; a PO Box is not. Under "what do you sell," pick admissions and tickets.
4. Add your bank account. Routing number and account number, both printed on any check. This is where your ticket money goes.
5. Verify your identity. Your legal name, exactly as it appears on your tax return, plus your date of birth and tax ID. Stripe may ask for a photo of your ID. That is normal, and it is how they keep accounts safe.
6. Review and finish. Check the details, tap submit, and you are back in TractorTix. Most farms are approved on the spot.

Setting up Square

1. Tap "Connect Square" in Setup. That opens Square's sign-in.
2. Sign in with your Square login. The same email and password you use at the gate.
3. Pick your farm's location. If Square asks which location, pick the farm. Most farms have just one.
4. Approve the connection. TractorTix can take online payments for you and read your daily totals for closeout. It cannot move your money or change your Square settings.
5. Done. You are back in TractorTix, ready to sell. Payouts arrive the way they already do from Square.

Starting Square from zero? Create the account on Square's site first: email, your farm's name and address, and your bank account. Finish the bank verification step. An account that has not finished verifying cannot collect your ticket money, and Square will not warn you loudly about it. Then come back and connect.

What changes at the gate? Nothing. Square keeps running your gate and concessions exactly like today. This only adds online tickets, and your closeout shows both together.

Do Step 1 in the app

Stuck on this step? Email [email protected] and a person will help.

This is what visitors see when they buy. Four things, all changeable later:

1. Farm name. Exactly as you want it on the page.
2. Town. So visitors know where they are going.
3. Your state. This one matters: your state sets your sales tax rate. Pick your state and TractorTix fills in the state base rate for you. If your county adds tax on top, raise the rate to the combined rate you already charge at the gate. The tax is collected for you on every online sale, the same as at your register.
4. Your link. The app makes it from your farm's name, like tractortix.com/harvest-hollow-farm. That is the address you will share in Step 4.

Do Step 2 in the app See a finished farm page

Stuck on this step? Email [email protected] and a person will help.

Add the days you are open and how many visitors you can take. Then set your tickets: name, price, and who it is for. Two choices in this step shape how your page sells, so here they are in plain words:

Choice 1: who pays the fees?

Every online sale carries card processing (2.9% + 30¢ per order) plus TractorTix's 50¢ per ticket. You pick where they show up. Same $22 ticket, both ways:

Neither is wrong. Fees on top keeps your full ticket price. Fees in the price gives visitors one clean number. You can switch any time in Setup, and gate sales are always free either way.

Choice 2: do you need timed tickets?

Regular admission is simple: the ticket is good any time that day. But some things run on a schedule. Hayrides, tours, and train rides leave at set times, and a seat is a seat. If that is you, mark that ticket "Timed," list the times, and set how many seats each time holds:

No timed rides? Leave it off. Most farms sell any-time tickets and nothing else.

Do Step 3 in the app

Stuck on this step? Email [email protected] and a person will help.

Your page is live. Now put it where your visitors already look:

1. Copy your link. Paste it in your Facebook posts and page, your Google listing, and your email signature. One link is the whole store.
2. Print your QR sign. Setup makes a gate sign with your farm's name and a QR code. Put it at the parking lot and the ticket window: visitors scan it and buy on their own phones, which keeps your gate line moving.
3. Have your own website? Setup gives you a short block of code under "Put tickets on your website." Paste it into your site's editor once, and visitors buy right on your page without leaving it.
4. Place a test order. Open your link on your own phone and buy a ticket, just like a visitor. You will see the checkout, get the ticket with its QR code, and watch it appear in your Orders. Two minutes, and you have seen the whole thing work before a real visitor does.

Do Step 4 in the app

Stuck on this step? Email [email protected] and a person will help.

1. Open Gate on any phone and sign in. The day's visitor list is already there.
2. Tap "Scan with camera" and point it at each ticket's QR code. A green check means they are in. A ticket scanned twice warns you and shows when it was first used.
3. No internet at the gate? The list lives on the phone, so scanning keeps working. Names and short codes on the ticket work too, if a phone dies.
4. Rain coming? The Rain Day Button on your Today page closes the day and tells your visitors, in one tap.