Ticketmaster’s hidden junk fees junked for the time being

Finally, some good news—well, for now. Earlier today, the Federal Trade Commission finalized a rule that requires companies like Ticketmaster to tell consumers what they’re paying for. The Junk Fees Rule prohibits “bait-and-switch pricing” that hides total prices for live-event tickets and hotels. For our purposes, this is mainly about Ticketmaster, which owns a monopoly share of the ticket-buying market and has, for years, hidden many of the fees they require consumers to pay. This ruling doesn’t ban Ticketmaster from charging the fees; instead, it requires the company to offer some transparency over what it’s charging. These “convenience” fees jack the advertised price up, forcing consumers to pay more than expected. Under the new rule, when Ticketmaster charges a “facility fee,” it has to tell us.

“People deserve to know up-front what they’re being asked to pay—without worrying that they’ll later be saddled with mysterious fees that they haven’t budgeted for and can’t avoid,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan. “The FTC’s rule will put an end to junk fees around live event tickets, hotels, and vacation rentals, saving Americans billions of dollars and millions of hours in wasted time. I urge enforcers to continue cracking down on these unlawful fees and encourage state and federal policymakers to build on this success with legislation that bans unfair and deceptive junk fees across the economy.”

However, the rule won’t take effect until well into the next term. So, while we celebrate the opportunity to enjoy a more transparent purchasing journey, it likely won’t last. The Junk Fees Rule passed on a four-to-one vote, with the only dissent coming from incoming agency chair Andrew Ferguson. Ferguson made a name for himself in October by complaining that Kamala Harris’ SNL appearance violated the Equal Time Rule. So we should enjoy having those fees disclosed while we can because, in his dissenting opinion, Ferguson argued that the “Biden-Harris FTC is over” and that their reign of terror “has hindered economic growth and increased costs to the American consumer.” Anyway, he’ll probably hide the fees again. After all, it’s those hidden fees, the ones our founders fought and died for, that made America the bastion of consumer protections we know and love.