StubHub UK has been instructed to refund more than 50,000 customers and pay a £900,000 fine for failing to disclose total ticket costs upfront.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) estimates each customer will receive an average refund of £10, following a comprehensive investigation into the platform’s pricing practices.
StubHub UK will contact affected fans to arrange refunds. The company attributes the hidden fees to an isolated platform error that caused some charges to appear only at checkout.
In its statement, StubHub International confirmed that its UK service is designed to display all fees at the outset, and that the issue has been promptly corrected, with automatic refunds for all impacted customers.
The £900,000 fine comes as the CMA reviews online pricing practices, including the now-prohibited technique of drip pricing, which introduces additional fees later in the buying process.
Drip pricing misleads consumers by presenting a lower apparent price initially, only to reveal higher costs at checkout.
“Charging hidden fees is illegal and unfair to consumers,” said Emma Cochrane, executive director of consumer protection at the CMA. “It undermines trust in online markets and must be addressed.”
Between 6 April and 7 December of last year, the CMA identified that StubHub UK added mandatory delivery and service fees only at the final checkout stage, which were unavoidable by the customer.
The regulator noted that StubHub UK admitted to violating the law and received a 40% reduction on its financial penalty. The firm has also taken measures to prevent recurrence of this conduct.
StubHub UK has been contacted for comment.
“Ensuring transparency on costs is essential,” Cochrane added. “Businesses that fail to do so should face regulatory action.”
Previously, the CMA investigated a range of companies, including Viagogo, AA Driving School, BSM Driving School, Gold’s Gym, Wayfair, Appliances Direct, and Marks Electrical, for practices such as pressure selling, drip pricing, and misleading countdown timers.
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, introduced last year, empowers the CMA to enforce consumer laws and levy fines up to 10% of a company’s global turnover.
The CMA also announced an ongoing investigation into Viagogo’s fee presentation, with an update expected later this summer.
In March, the CMA ordered the owners of the AA and BSM driving schools to issue refunds to more than 80,000 learners after failing to disclose the full price for lessons upfront.
Consumer group Which? praised the CMA’s action, noting it exemplifies the importance of using regulatory powers to recover funds for consumers and penalize deceptive practices.