How to run a class waitlist that fills seats

A waitlist for classes fills seats when you switch it on before a class sells out and treat a long list as the signal to add another session. On ORYN Quest you turn it on per listing, and when a seat opens the next family in line gets a 24-hour hold.

Key takeaways

• Turn the waitlist on before the class is full, not after families start asking.
• Let the waitlist do the offering: an open seat goes to the next family in line, with a hold.
• A long waitlist is a request for another session. Add one.

Why a waitlist fills seats

When a class is full, a family who finds it has nowhere to go but somewhere else. A waitlist keeps that family with you. They've already picked your class, your time and your price; they're just waiting for room.

A waitlist can't promise a full class. What it does is make sure that when a seat opens, it's offered to a family who already wants it, instead of sitting empty while you try to fill it by hand.

When to open your waitlist

• Before the class fills. Switch it on when you set up the class, so the first family who finds it full can join straight away.
• On your busiest times. The class times that fill first for you are where a waitlist earns its keep.
• When you set a seat limit. A waitlist only matters once a class can fill, so it pairs with the total seats you set for the class.

How a waitlist works on ORYN Quest

• You turn it on per listing and set its maximum size, so one popular class can have a waitlist while others don't.
• When a seat opens, the next family in line gets a 24-hour hold on it.
• If they don't use the hold, it passes to the next family on its own. You don't chase anyone.
• What you see: each family's place in line, the parent's name and the child's first name. You don't get their contact details.

You set your own price for each booked seat, along with your schedule, capacity and availability.

Turn a long waitlist into a second session

A waitlist that keeps growing tells you something: families want this class at this time, and there's no room. The simplest fix is another session.

• Add a time slot next to the full one, or a whole term at once from a repeating pattern (weekly, every 2 weeks or monthly).
• Keep it repeating. A weekly class can keep going on its own: ORYN Quest adds new class times so there are always about 8 weeks of sessions ahead to book. You can stop repeating at any time, and existing bookings stay as they are.
• Raise the seats if your room and your staff allow it.

Make the class easy to say yes to

A family who joins your waitlist has read your class page. Make it worth waiting for: clear photos, the age range, the skill level and two or three sentences on what kids do, learn and bring, which show on the class page as its description.

Run kids' classes in Southern California? See how ORYN Quest works for vendors, see how classes in Los Angeles appear to families, or apply to join.