Latest news with #allinpricing
The Independent
13-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Ticketmaster promises to display extra fees more clearly
Ticketmaster has pledged to display all-in ticket pricing upfront as a new federal rule cracking down on hidden fees comes into effect. The Biden administration 's ban on so-called "junk fees" began Monday, targeting industries like ticketing, hospitality, and vacation rentals. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the rule in December, requiring businesses to disclose processing, cleaning, and other supplementary charges upfront. Ticketmaster, frequently criticized for its opaque pricing practices, confirmed it would comply with the new regulation and expressed agreement with the FTC's action. 'Ticketmaster has long advocated for all-in pricing to become the nationwide standard so fans can easily compare prices across all ticketing sites,' Ticketmaster Chief Operating Officer Michael Wichser said in a statement. Ticketmaster said it will also tell customers where they are in line when they log in to buy tickets to an event. It will also give real-time updates to customers whose wait times exceed 30 minutes, letting them know ticket price ranges, availability and whether new event dates have been added. Ticketmaster, which is owned by Beverly Hills, California-based concert promoter Live Nation, is the world's largest ticket seller, processing 500 million tickets each year in more than 30 countries. Around 70% of tickets for major concert venues in the U.S. are sold through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster said Monday's changes would bring North America in line with the rest of the world, where full ticket prices typically are displayed as soon as customers start shopping. SeatGeek, a platform for buying and selling original and resale tickets, said it also updated its features Monday to make 'all-in pricing the default' setting. 'Fans deserve pricing that's clear from the start,' said SeatGeek CEO Jack Groetzinger said. "We're proud to roll this out across our platform and encouraged to see the industry move in this direction.' Ticketmaster has been in the hot seat since 2022, when its site crashed during a presale event for Taylor Swift's upcoming stadium tour. The company said its site was overwhelmed by both fans and attacks from bots, which were posing as consumers in order to scoop up tickets and sell them on secondary sites. Thousands of people lost tickets after waiting for hours in an online queue. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly that drives up U.S. ticket prices and asking a court to break them up. That case is ongoing. President Donald Trump is also eyeing the industry. In March, he signed an executive order that he said would help curb ticket scalping and bring 'commonsense' changes to the way live events are priced. Under the order, the FTC must ensure 'price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process' and take enforcement to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct. 'Anyone who's bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years — no matter what your politics are — knows that it's a conundrum,' said Kid Rock, who joined Trump in the Oval Office as Trump signed the order.
Gizmodo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
Do Prices on Ticketmaster Suddenly Seem Much Higher? You're Not Alone.
For years now, the Ticketmaster experience has been defined by hitting the checkout button and seeing the price of your ticket purchase jump, sometimes nearly double, thanks to so-called 'service fees.' Finally, that is going to change. No, Ticketmaster isn't getting rid of the service charges. But it will now display the full cost of the purchase, fees included, from the very start of your transaction. In a blog post, Ticketmaster announced its so-called 'all-in pricing,' which starts Monday, May 12. 'With All In Prices, you'll be able to find tickets within your budget right away, with no surprises at checkout. That's because you'll see the cost of your ticket—including fees, before taxes—from the moment you start shopping for any Ticketmaster event in the US,' the company said. Why is Ticketmaster introducing its new pricing that transparently reflects the actual cost of tickets? To hear Ticketmaster's version of events, this is something it has wanted all along. 'We're all in on putting fans first. We've long advocated for all-in pricing laws worldwide, and support a consistent ticket-buying experience for fans,' the company claimed in a blog post. There is something quite funny about Ticketmaster turning this into some sort of new feature and positioning itself as being pro-consumer, as if someone forced it to operate with hidden fees that only appear at checkout all this time. Ticketing fees have been an issue for a long time, with Ticketmaster being one of the biggest culprits. A 2018 Government Accountability Office report found that service fees hit ticket buyers with costs that add, on average, 27% to 31% of the advertised ticket price to their final purchase. When the Biden administration started pursuing its crackdown on junk fees, Ticketmaster promised to go along with the changes—but spent more of its efforts skirting and fighting them. Per the Washington Post, the ticketing giant started showing the full purchase price on tickets only for shows at Live Nation venues, a company Ticketmaster merged with back in 2010. The company also ramped up its lobbying spending as soon as the junk fee rules started to be discussed. That doesn't exactly seem like the kind of thing a company that has always wanted price transparency would do. Instead, the explanation for Ticketmaster's 'All In Pricing,' the groundbreaking concept of showing what things cost, is much simpler. The Federal Trade Commission's 'Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees,' which requires businesses to 'clearly and conspicuously' display the total price with fees included from the jump, went into effect on May 12. Weird how that needed to become the law of the land for Ticketmaster to actually do the thing it claims it has long supported.
The Independent
12-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
As Biden-era 'junk fee' rule takes effect, Ticketmaster says it will display fees more clearly
As a Biden administration ban on so-called 'junk fees' took effect Monday, Ticketmaster said it would start displaying the full price of a ticket as soon as consumers begin shopping. Ticketmaster, long a subject of complaints about its hidden fees, was among those targeted by the new rule, which was announced in December by the Federal Trade Commission. The rule requires ticket sellers, hotels, vacation rental platforms and others to disclose processing fees, cleaning fees and other charges up front. Ticketmaster said it agreed with the FTC's action. 'Ticketmaster has long advocated for all-in pricing to become the nationwide standard so fans can easily compare prices across all ticketing sites,' Ticketmaster Chief Operating Officer Michael Wichser said in a statement. Ticketmaster said it will also tell customers where they are in line when they log in to buy tickets to an event. It will also give real-time updates to customers whose wait times exceed 30 minutes, letting them know ticket price ranges, availability and whether new event dates have been added. Ticketmaster, which is owned by Beverly Hills, California-based concert promoter Live Nation, is the world's largest ticket seller, processing 500 million tickets each year in more than 30 countries. Around 70% of tickets for major concert venues in the U.S. are sold through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster said Monday's changes would bring North America in line with the rest of the world, where full ticket prices typically are displayed as soon as customers start shopping. SeatGeek, a platform for buying and selling original and resale tickets, said it also updated its features Monday to make 'all-in pricing the default' setting. 'Fans deserve pricing that's clear from the start,' said SeatGeek CEO Jack Groetzinger said. "We're proud to roll this out across our platform and encouraged to see the industry move in this direction.' It has been in the hot seat since 2022, when its site crashed during a presale event for Taylor Swift's upcoming stadium tour. The company said its site was overwhelmed by both fans and attacks from bots, which were posing as consumers in order to scoop up tickets and sell them on secondary sites. Thousands of people lost tickets after waiting for hours in an online queue. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly that drives up U.S. ticket prices and asking a court to break them up. That case is ongoing. President Donald Trump is also eyeing the industry. In March, he signed an executive order that he said would help curb ticket scalping and bring 'commonsense' changes to the way live events are priced. Under the order, the FTC must ensure 'price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process' and take enforcement to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct. 'Anyone who's bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years — no matter what your politics are — knows that it's a conundrum,' said Kid Rock, who joined Trump in the Oval Office as Trump signed the order.
CBS News
12-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Ticketmaster begins up-front ticket pricing as Biden admin "junk fee" ban takes effect
As a Biden administration ban on so-called "junk fees" took effect Monday, Ticketmaster said it will start displaying the full price of a ticket as soon as consumers begin shopping. Ticketmaster, long a subject of complaints about its hidden fees, was among those targeted by the new rule, which was announced in December by the Federal Trade Commission. The rule requires ticket sellers, hotels, vacation rental platforms and others to disclose processing fees, cleaning fees and other charges up front. Ticketmaster said Monday it commended the FTC's action. "Ticketmaster has long advocated for all-in pricing to become the nationwide standard so fans can easily compare prices across all ticketing sites," Ticketmaster Chief Operating Officer Michael Wichser said in a statement. Additional improvements Ticketmaster said it will also tell shoppers where they are in line when they log in to buy tickets to an event. It will also give real-time updates to customers whose wait times exceed 30 minutes, letting them know ticket price ranges, availability and whether new event dates have been added. Ticketmaster, which is owned by Beverly Hills, California-based concert promoter Live Nation, is the world's largest ticket seller, processing 500 million tickets each year in more than 30 countries. Around 70% of tickets for major concert venues in the U.S. are sold through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster said Monday's changes will bring North America in line with the rest of the world, where the full ticket price was already displayed as soon as customers started shopping. Cracking down on bots The company also says it plans to step up its fight against ticket bots, or automated software used by resellers to bulk-buy mass quantities of tickets. Complaints about these systems came to a head during the November 2022 presale to Taylor Swift's Eras tour, when its site crashed during a presale event for Taylor Swift's upcoming stadium tour. The company at the time said its site was overwhelmed by both fans and attacks from bots, which were posing as consumers in order to scoop up tickets and sell them on secondary sites. Thousands of people lost tickets after waiting for hours in an online queue. "We now block an average of 200 million bot attempts every day, stopping them from stealing tickets meant for real fans," Ticketmaster said in a statement. "In 2024 alone, we blocked over 53 billion bot attacks, a more than 5x increase from 2019." Monopoly trial Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly that drives up U.S. ticket prices and asking a court to break them up. That case is ongoing. President Donald Trump is also eyeing the industry. In March, he signed an executive order that he said will help curb ticket scalping and bring "commonsense" changes to the way live events are priced. Under the order, the FTC must ensure "price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process" and take enforcement to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct. "Anyone who's bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years — no matter what your politics are — knows that it's a conundrum," said Kid Rock, who joined Mr. Trump in the Oval Office as Mr. Trump signed the order.
Globe and Mail
12-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
As Biden-era ‘junk fee' rule takes effect, Ticketmaster says it will display fees more clearly
As a Biden administration ban on so-called 'junk fees' took effect Monday, Ticketmaster said it will start displaying the full price of a ticket as soon as consumers begin shopping. Ticketmaster, long a subject of complaints about its hidden fees, was among those targeted by the new rule, which was announced in December by the Federal Trade Commission. The rule requires ticket sellers, hotels, vacation rental platforms and others to disclose processing fees, cleaning fees and other charges up front. Ticketmaster said Monday it commended the FTC's action. 'Ticketmaster has long advocated for all-in pricing to become the nationwide standard so fans can easily compare prices across all ticketing sites,' Ticketmaster Chief Operating Officer Michael Wichser said in a statement. Ticketmaster said it will also tell shoppers where they are in line when they log in to buy tickets to an event. It will also give real-time updates to customers whose wait times exceed 30 minutes, letting them know ticket price ranges, availability and whether new event dates have been added. Ticketmaster, which is owned by Beverly Hills, California-based concert promoter Live Nation, is the world's largest ticket seller, processing 500 million tickets each year in more than 30 countries. Around 70% of tickets for major concert venues in the U.S. are sold through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster said Monday's changes will bring North America in line with the rest of the world, where the full ticket price was already displayed as soon as customers started shopping. It has been in the hot seat since 2022, when its site crashed during a presale event for Taylor Swift's upcoming stadium tour. The company said its site was overwhelmed by both fans and attacks from bots, which were posing as consumers in order to scoop up tickets and sell them on secondary sites. Thousands of people lost tickets after waiting for hours in an online queue. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly that drives up U.S. ticket prices and asking a court to break them up. That case is ongoing. President Donald Trump is also eyeing the industry. In March, he signed an executive order that he said will help curb ticket scalping and bring 'common sense' changes to the way live events are priced. Under the order, the FTC must ensure 'price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process' and take enforcement to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct. 'Anyone who's bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years – no matter what your politics are – knows that it's a conundrum,' said Kid Rock, who joined Trump in the Oval Office as Trump signed the order.
