There are three reasons for a ticket with RESERVED status:
Free tickets have been sent but not yet downloaded.
Tickets are reserved via the reservation module.
Tickets are pending payment.
Free tickets have been sent but not yet downloaded
Guest tickets are RESERVED when they are sent via Contacts or the Guest Import - Send invite. The moment the 'Yes, I will attend' button is clicked by the recipient, the ticket gets the status SOLD. Until then, the status will remain RESERVED. To ensure that tickets do not remain on RESERVED for too long and (therefore) cannot be sold, you can specify a Ticket Expiry Date.
Tickets are reserved via the reservation module
Tickets can be reserved with the Stager reservation module. For example, these tickets are collected at the box office half an hour before the start of the event. Until then, the tickets will remain in RESERVED status. If the tickets are not picked up in time, they will be released for sale again. You can set the time at which the tickets should be collected via Settings - Ticketing - Ticketing defaults.
Tickets are pending payment
A visitor is in the ticket shop, completing the payment process. Tickets are given the RESERVED status from the moment a ticket is placed in the shopping cart until the payment is completed. When the payment is completed, the ticket gets the status SOLD.
A timer is placed in the ticket shop, which indicates how much time is left to pay for the order. This is 15 minutes: and each time there is a change in the order, 15 minutes is added. Banks and credit card companies can take much longer than 15 minutes to approve, which is why we hold a reservation for a bit longer. If the payment trickles in later, we can still send the tickets.
If logged-in visitors do not complete an order for whatever reason, tickets with RESERVED status will remain in the overview of Tickets - Ticket Management for a maximum of 40 minutes. The tickets will be released after 40 minutes at the latest.
Release of tickets when the event sells out
Tickets are not held for long when an event is about to sell out. When 70% of the tickets have been sold and a payment has not been completed after 15 minutes, RESERVED tickets are released for new visitors. If the visitor pays after these 15 minutes, they receive a message that the order was paid too late, and that the purchase amount will be refunded to the bank account used.