PassMarket Is Shutting Down — How to Choose Your Next Platform and Migrate
Hello, this is Ando from TIMEWELL.
On December 17, 2025, LY Corporation (formerly LINE Yahoo) announced that PassMarket, its digital ticketing service operated under the Yahoo! JAPAN brand, would shut down on June 30, 2026. At 3.564% (tax included), PassMarket had one of the lowest transaction fees in the industry. It was used by everyone from small workshop organizers to large-scale festival promoters, and frankly, nothing else came close at that price point.
Three months have passed since the announcement, and three months remain until shutdown. If you're an organizer who keeps meaning to deal with it but hasn't gotten around to choosing a replacement, you're not alone. I've been hearing the same question from multiple organizers lately: "So where should I actually go?" This article covers the full picture: backing up your data, choosing a migration destination, and the actual steps to make the switch.
The Shutdown Timeline and the Real Deadline
The first thing to understand is that "the service ends June 30" and "you must do everything by June 30" are not the same thing. LY Corporation's official blog post [1] lays out a schedule with several grace periods.
| Date | What Happens |
|---|---|
| December 18, 2025 | Permanent ticket validity/duration settings disabled |
| June 30, 2026 | PassMarket shuts down (event creation, sales, and hosting end) |
| August 31, 2026 | Admin tools access deadline (data downloads still available) |
| September 1, 2026+ | Purchase history and admin dashboard become permanently inaccessible |
The easy-to-miss detail here is that August 31 is the true deadline for data. The service itself stops on June 30, but the admin tools remain accessible through August. So attendee list downloads and survey data exports are possible until late August. That said, interpreting this as "I still have time" is risky.
Here's why. PassMarket's messaging feature, the only way to directly contact past attendees, will almost certainly go offline when the service ends on June 30. Once you lose the ability to message attendees about the migration, the relationships you've built through the platform are effectively severed. Contacting your attendees should be your top priority, ahead of data downloads.
One more thing. PassMarket's privacy policy does not disclose attendee email addresses to organizers. The downloadable attendee list (Excel format) includes names, ticket types, order numbers, prices, and check-in status, but not email addresses. If you collected email addresses through PassMarket's survey feature, that CSV is your most valuable asset for reconnecting with attendees after migration. Download it now. Don't wait until August.
Looking to optimize community management?
We have prepared materials on BASE best practices and success stories.
What to Do Before You Migrate
Before you start comparing alternative services, there are tasks with hard deadlines. Data you can export from PassMarket will become permanently unavailable once those deadlines pass. Handle these four items as soon as possible.
Notify attendees about the migration (by June 30, highest priority). Use PassMarket's messaging feature to tell all past attendees where you're moving. This is the only channel that lets you reach them directly. Keep it simple: PassMarket is ending, future events will be on a new platform, here's the link. Three points, one message. Note that the "Order List" for checking attendee info is only available for about four days after each event ends, so be especially careful if you have upcoming events.
Download attendee lists (by August 31). In the event management menu, select "Download Attendee List" to get an Excel file. This feature is PC-only. No email addresses are included, as mentioned above, but it's still worth saving for attendee counts and ticket sales records.
Download survey data (by August 31). If you used the survey feature, export the response data as CSV. For organizers who included email addresses in their surveys, this CSV becomes the foundation for post-migration communication.
Back up event pages (by June 30, recommended). PassMarket has no bulk export function for event pages. You'll need to manually screenshot or copy event titles, descriptions, images, and ticket configurations. Tedious, yes. But you'll thank yourself when rebuilding event pages on your new platform and asking, "What did I write last time?" Don't forget screenshots of your sales and payout history.
What Actually Matters When Choosing a Replacement
When looking for a PassMarket alternative, most organizers start by comparing transaction fees. I get it. PassMarket's 3.564% was genuinely exceptional. But I wouldn't recommend choosing your next platform on fees alone.
The reason is straightforward: no service currently matches PassMarket's 3.564%. Fees will go up no matter where you move. Given that, the more productive question is: "What do I gain in exchange for the higher fee?"
Here are the five factors I think matter most.
Total cost. Look beyond the headline fee percentage. Factor in per-ticket flat fees (like the "99 yen per ticket" charges some platforms levy) and monthly subscriptions. This is especially important for low-priced tickets in the 1,000 to 2,000 yen range, where a flat fee per ticket has an outsized impact. A 99-yen flat fee on a 5,000-yen ticket alone adds roughly 2% to your effective rate.
Payment method coverage. Visa and Mastercard support is a given. In the Japanese market, JCB support is effectively mandatory. JCB accounts for about 22% of domestic credit card usage [2]. Not supporting JCB means potentially losing one in five would-be attendees.
Attendee management and data flexibility. CSV exports of attendee lists, tagging, re-engagement messaging to past attendees, and import support for data from PassMarket. These features determine how smooth your migration will be and how efficiently you can operate afterward.
Day-of-event operations. Every platform offers QR check-in now, but the depth varies. Venue-specific and session-specific real-time attendance tracking, smartphone wallet ticket support (TIMEWELL BASE and Doorkeeper support Apple Wallet). If you run large events, check the granularity of these features.
Post-event follow-up. I believe the real work of an event happens after the event itself. Post-event surveys, thank-you emails, announcements for the next event. Whether you can handle this flow smoothly directly affects your repeat attendance rate. PassMarket was weak in this area, so a migration is a good opportunity to level up.
Comparing the Major Alternatives
Let's look at the numbers. Here are the three services most commonly mentioned as PassMarket replacements: TIMEWELL BASE, Peatix, and Doorkeeper.
| Feature | PassMarket (ref.) | TIMEWELL BASE | Peatix | Doorkeeper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup fee | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Monthly fee | ¥0 | ¥0+ | ¥0 | ¥1,650+ (tax incl.) |
| Transaction fee | 3.564% | 4.8% | 4.9% + ¥99/ticket | 2.5% + ¥99/ticket + Stripe 3.6% |
| Effective rate* | 3.564% (ending) | 4.8% | 6.88%+ | 8.08%+ |
| JCB support | Yes | Yes (via Stripe) | Yes | Yes (via Stripe, config required) |
| Attendee data export | Yes (Excel) | Yes (CSV, all plans) | Yes | Yes |
| QR check-in | Yes | Yes (venue-specific, real-time stats) | Yes | Yes |
| Community features | No | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| Email campaigns | Limited | Yes (all plans, Free uses per-send pricing) | Yes | Yes |
| Lottery events | Yes | Yes (fair algorithm, waitlist promotion) | Limited (paid option, currently suspended) | No |
| AI features | No | Yes | No | No |
| Free event fee | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
*Effective rate calculated for 100 tickets at ¥5,000 each
On fees alone, TIMEWELL BASE at 4.8% is the closest to PassMarket. Peatix charges 4.9% plus a flat ¥99 per ticket, bringing the effective rate to 6.88%. Doorkeeper's ticket fee is lower at 2.5%, but Stripe's processing fee (approximately 3.6%) is charged separately, and a monthly subscription of ¥1,650 or more is required.
To put this in concrete terms, here's a simulation for an organizer running one event per month at ¥5,000 per ticket with 100 attendees (¥500,000 in revenue), 12 times a year.
| Service | Monthly fee | Fee per event | Annual total cost | Annual net revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PassMarket (ref.) | ¥0 | ¥17,820 | ¥213,840 | ¥5,786,160 |
| TIMEWELL BASE (Free) | ¥0 | ¥24,000 | ¥288,000 | ¥5,712,000 |
| Peatix | ¥0 | ¥34,400 | ¥412,800 | ¥5,587,200 |
| Doorkeeper (Starter) | ¥1,650 | ¥40,400 | ¥504,600 | ¥5,495,400 |
Switching from PassMarket to TIMEWELL BASE adds about ¥74,000 per year, or roughly ¥6,200 per month. The gap with Peatix is about ¥125,000 per year, and with Doorkeeper it's about ¥217,000.
Personally, I think ¥74,000 a year is a reasonable trade for community management, AI-assisted event creation, and a fair lottery system that PassMarket never had. If you only run small free events once a month, every platform charges zero fees anyway, so just pick whichever feels easiest to use.
Step-by-Step Migration to TIMEWELL BASE
Once you've chosen your destination, it's time to do the actual migration. Here's the process using TIMEWELL BASE as an example. The general flow applies regardless of which platform you choose.
Step 1. Create an account (about 2 minutes). Go to TIMEWELL BASE and sign up with your email. Set your organization name and logo, and you're ready. The Free plan has no setup or monthly fees. Think of it as a test drive.
Step 2. Create an event (about 10 minutes). Using the information you backed up from PassMarket, build your event page. Set the title, description, ticket types, capacity, and registration deadline. TIMEWELL BASE has an AI assistant that can suggest titles and descriptions based on your event details. The AI flyer generator can also create promotional images for social media. Tasks that used to be entirely manual on PassMarket get noticeably faster.
Step 3. Notify your existing attendees. This is the most critical step in the migration. Use multiple channels. First priority is PassMarket's messaging feature (available until June 30) to directly contact past attendees. That's the only way to reach them through PassMarket. In parallel, post on social media, update your website, and send emails to addresses you collected through surveys.
The message doesn't need to be elaborate. "PassMarket is ending in June. Future events will be held on [platform name]. Sign up for the next event here: [URL]." That's enough. What matters is sending it soon.
Step 4. Start operating. Run one event on the new platform. QR check-in, attendee management, email campaigns. You'll feel the difference from PassMarket immediately. The community features in particular are a game-changer for organizers who want to build ongoing relationships with attendees rather than treating each event as a one-off.
Three Months Left: Turn the Migration into an Upgrade
PassMarket shutting down is, honestly, bad news. A 3.564% fee rate may never come around again. But looking back, PassMarket was a simple, focused service: ticket sales and check-in management. No community features, limited post-event follow-up, not much design flexibility for event pages.
That's why I'd encourage you to think of this migration not as a forced move, but as a chance to upgrade how you run events. A few percentage points more in fees buys you AI-powered event page creation, community-driven repeat attendance, and fair lottery systems for large-scale events. Things that simply weren't possible on PassMarket.
But above all else, get the attendee notification done before June 30. Data can be downloaded later. Relationships with attendees, once broken, don't come back. Even if you haven't decided on a platform yet, at least tell your attendees that PassMarket is ending and how they can stay in touch with you. That alone dramatically reduces migration risk.
TIMEWELL BASE offers a Free plan with zero setup and zero monthly fees. Create a test event and see how it feels.
References
[1] PassMarket Official Blog. "Important Notice: PassMarket Service Termination." https://blog-passmarket.yahoo.co.jp/archives/post_15.html (2025-12-17)
[2] JCB. "Comprehensive Survey on Credit Cards, FY2025." https://www.jcb.co.jp/; theapps.jp "Credit Card Ownership Rates" https://theapps.jp/media/3557 (2025)
[3] Peatix Official. "Peatix Pricing." https://services.peatix.com/ja/pricing (accessed 2026-03-23)
[4] Doorkeeper Official. "Pricing Plans." https://www.doorkeeper.jp/pricing (accessed 2026-03-23)
[5] TIMEWELL BASE Official. "Pricing Plans." https://timewell.jp/base (accessed 2026-03-23)