Peter Marklund

Peter Marklund's Home

Thu Dec 04 2008 10:47:29 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Introducing Simple Signup - Easier Event Signups and Payments

Simple Signup is a web application that I've been working on for a while now that makes it easier for event organizers to accept signups and payments. Bodil Abelsson, who is now my business partner, approached me about a year ago with the idea and it made sense to me right away, especially since I had needed a service like this myself. If you think about it, being able to accept signups and payments is quite a common need in everything from private parties, concerts, sports, conferences, courses, and club memberships. Maintaining attendee lists and matching them up with payments made to your bank account can be quite a hassle. It is time consuming and error prone. One would expect there to be any number of established websites by now that solve this problem. However, there really isn't. Many small organizers still handle payments and signups manually. Some of the medium size organizers have systems that they have developed themselves and that are specialized for their niche. However there aren't that many services out there that recognize the generic nature of the problem. There is some competition in Germany and the US but we seem to be the first service of this kind in Sweden.

The swedish version of Simple Signup (simplesignup.se) was launched quietly this summer. This was followed by a recent launch of the english version (simpleeventsignup.com) along with the ability to accept payments via Paypal. Swedish event organizers don't need a Paypal account but instead typically choose to have payments handled by Simple Signup. This works by having the attendee pay us via our Payment Provider Payex by credit card (VISA or MasterCard). We then transfer the money directly to the organizers bank account. To be able to cover credit card and bank fees we charge a 4% signup fee (at least 10 SEK).

We are continually improving the site and have plans to partner up with other websites that provide services related to events. I'll have more to say about this soon. One of the bigger and more important features that we will be adding is the ability for the event organizer to design their own signup page.

We still have a long way to go, but at least I think we are off to a good start. If you have any feedback, positive or negative, it is always greatly appreciated.