Setting up entry fees and payment options

You can charge entry fees for your calls or keep them free. Here's how to configure each option.

Entry fee options

When creating or editing a call, expand the Entry Fees section and choose your entry fee type.

Free entry

No payment required. Artists submit and their entry is marked as Submitted immediately.

Paid entry (PayPal)

Artists pay through PayPal before their entry is marked as Submitted. You connect PayPal once in your gallery preferences, and every paid call you set up uses that account automatically — there's no per-call button code to copy.

To set up paid entry through PayPal:

1. Go to Preferences and add your gallery's PayPal email address in the Payments & Notifications section. See Connect your PayPal account to EntryThingy for the full walkthrough.
2. On any paid call, set the entry fee type to Paid Entry.
3. Fill in the payment fields:
4. Base Entry Fee — the standard fee charged on every entry.
5. Pricing options (a disclosure under the base fee) — optional add-ons:
   • Add per piece pricing — an additional amount charged for each piece in an entry, on top of the base fee.
   • Offer different pricing tiers (e.g. members vs. non-members) — up to two dropdown choices artists pick from at checkout.

How it works for artists:

• Artist completes their application and clicks Submit.
• They see a PayPal payment button right on the submission page — they can pay with PayPal, debit, or credit card without leaving EntryThingy.
• After payment clears, their entry is automatically marked as Submitted and you're notified by email.

Already have older calls with PayPal button code on them? Once you've connected your PayPal email, those calls automatically switch to the new flow on the next submission. Open each one and confirm the Base Entry Fee and any Pricing options (per-piece pricing, member/non-member tiers) are filled in correctly — the new flow reads from those fields, not from the saved button code.

Paid entry (Square)

Galleries that already use Square (for in-person sales, an online storefront, or anywhere else) can route entry-fee payments through Square instead of PayPal. The setup mirrors PayPal — connect once, configure fees per call.

To set up paid entry through Square:

1. Go to Preferences → Payments & Integrations and click Connect via Square. You'll be redirected to Square to approve the connection, then back to EntryThingy.
2. On any paid call, set the entry fee type to Paid Entry and choose Square in the payment provider toggle. (You can also click Connect via Square directly from the Entry Fees section if you haven't connected yet.)
3. Fill in the same payment fields as PayPal:
4. Base Entry Fee — the standard fee charged on every entry.
5. Pricing options — optional add-ons:
   • Add per piece pricing — additional amount per piece on top of the base fee.
   • Offer different pricing tiers (e.g. members vs. non-members) — up to two dropdown choices artists pick from at checkout.

How it works for artists:

• Artist completes their application and clicks Submit.
• They see a "Pay Entry Fee" button that opens Square's hosted checkout in a new page.
• They pay with credit or debit card. After payment clears, their entry is automatically marked as Submitted and you're notified by email.

Where the money goes: directly to your connected Square account. EntryThingy never holds your funds.

Refunds: issued through your Square Dashboard. EntryThingy doesn't process refunds for either provider — see Entry fee refunds for galleries.

For the full walkthrough, see Connect your Square account.

Off-platform payment

For organizations that collect payments outside of EntryThingy — by check, bank transfer, at the door, or through another system.

To set up off-platform payments:

1. Set the entry fee type to Off-Platform.
2. Enter the fee amount.
3. Add payment instructions explaining how artists should pay (e.g., "Mail a check to..." or "Pay at the front desk when you drop off work").

How it works for artists:

• Artist completes their application and clicks Submit.
• They see the fee amount and your payment instructions.
• Their entry status shows as Not Submitted until you manually confirm payment.

How to confirm payment:

• Go to the entry in your Entries list.
• Change the entry status from Not Submitted to Submitted (or Fee Paid).
• You can do this individually or in bulk for multiple entries.

See Accepting payments outside EntryThingy for more details.

Coupon codes

You can create discount codes for any paid call. Coupons are configured directly in the Entry Fees section, below the fee fields. See Using Coupon Codes for Paid Calls for setup instructions.

Need help?

If you have questions about configuring entry fees, contact us at hello@entrythingy.com.