Lawsuit Claims StubHub Tricks Customers Into Overpaying for Tickets

A lawsuit filed by Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb claims ticket reseller StubHub hid the actual cost of event tickets until its customers checked out, tricking them into overpaying for tickets.

The lawsuit states that the company used “unfair and deceptive” practices as customers checked out of its website. “This consumer protection enforcement case seeks to remedy and end StubHub’s unfair and deceptive practice of charging hidden junk fees to consumers who purchase tickets on its website and mobile application. StubHub uses digital ‘dark patterns,’ online practices that trick or manipulate consumers into making choices they would not otherwise make, to obscure the true price of tickets, influencing consumers to buy tickets at higher prices and preventing consumers from comparison shopping.”

It continues, “Rather than allowing consumers to make informed decisions by providing clear, upfront disclosures of the true price of tickets that StubHub offers, the company engages in a series of deceptive, manipulative, and unfair practices. StubHub uses a classic bait-and-switch scheme commonly known as ‘drip pricing’ — a practice of advertising only part of a product’s price and then revealing other charges
later as the consumer goes through the buying process.”

Live event ticket resale platform StubHub was accused in a lawsuit by the District of Columbia attorney general of duping customers and inflating ticket prices with hidden fees @MikeScarcella https://t.co/twuSPyfhWg pic.twitter.com/w75oyp9AUB

— Reuters Legal (@ReutersLegal) August 1, 2024

Since 2015, StubHub has sold nearly 5 million tickets to D.C. consumers, with hidden fees estimated at $118 million, according to the lawsuit. The attorney general’s office explained that from 2014 to 2015, StubHub used “all-in pricing,” in which the advertised price included mandatory fees. The complaint says the company found that if it hid fees until the end of the checkout, consumers were more likely to buy tickets and purchase them at the higher prices.

CNN reported that StubHub’s deputy general counsel, John Lawrence, claims the company is “committed to creating a transparent, secure and competitive marketplace to benefit consumers.”

“We are disappointed that the DC Attorney General is targeting StubHub when our user experience is consistent with the law, our competitors’ practices, and the broader e-commerce sector,” Lawrence said. “We strongly support federal and state solutions that enhance existing laws to empower consumers, such as requiring all-in pricing uniformly across platforms.”

Ticket fees were also part of a sweeping antitrust lawsuit the Justice Department filed against Ticketmaster and its parent company in May. Reuters reports StubHub has requested a separate consumer class action suit that accused the company of the same practices be dismissed by a California judge.