Booking fees and ticket pricing: what UK event and ticket sellers must get right

If you sell tickets or run events in the UK, your booking fees are under more scrutiny than almost any other charge in any other sector. Ticketing is where the regulator started, and the numbers behind that decision are stark.

Here is what the price-transparency rules mean for you, in plain English.

Why ticketing is the regulator's top target

When the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched its first wave of investigations under its new powers, two of the eight companies it chose were ticketing platforms: StubHub and Viagogo. The concern in both cases is the same one that runs through this whole sector: mandatory additional charges applied when customers buy tickets, and whether those fees are shown upfront or added later.

The scale of the problem is why. Government research found that 93% of event-ticket businesses reviewed were using drip pricing, the highest rate of any sector studied. And the regulator has not stopped at the secondary market. In June 2026 the CMA opened an investigation into Ryanair over an £8 fee for a 'mandatory family seat', examining whether it was presented upfront or dripped in later in the booking process.

The message is clear: if your headline ticket price is not the price people actually pay, you are in the highest-risk category there is.

What the rule actually says

Since April 2025, the law requires that whenever you invite someone to buy, the first price they see must include every mandatory charge. For tickets, that means the booking fee, the service fee, the handling fee, anything a customer cannot avoid paying, has to be reflected in the price you advertise, not added at checkout.

This is the exact practice the AA was fined £4.2 million for in a different sector: a mandatory booking fee shown too late. Ticketing's booking fees are the same issue, and the CMA has made ticketing a priority.

The charges that catch ticket sellers out

Booking fees. The headline one. If every ticket carries a booking fee, advertising '£20' when the real cost is '£20 plus a £2.50 booking fee' is the problem. The total, including the fee, must be the price shown from the start.

Per-order service or transaction fees. If you charge a single fee per order rather than per ticket (common for events), you do not always have to bake it into each ticket's price, but you must show a running total that includes the fee and is visible throughout the booking, not just at the final screen. A clearly visible basket total that already includes the fee is the compliant approach.

Handling, delivery, or e-ticket fees. If a fee to receive the ticket is unavoidable, it counts toward the total and must be shown upfront.

Pre-ticked extras. Booking protection, insurance, donations. If any of these are pre-selected so the customer pays unless they untick, that is not allowed. They have to be genuinely optional and actively chosen.

What good looks like

Compliance does not mean dropping your fees. It means showing them from the first price. If your tickets carry a £2.50 booking fee, the price a customer sees first should reflect that, or, for per-order fees on multi-ticket purchases, a running total that includes the fee should be visible throughout the booking journey.

Given that 93% of the sector has been doing this wrong, getting it right is also a genuine differentiator. A customer who sees the real price upfront, with no nasty jump at checkout, is a customer more likely to trust you and complete the purchase.

How to check your own ticketing pricing

Go through your own booking flow as a customer. Ask:

Does the price I advertise include the booking fee, or does the fee appear at checkout? If I charge a per-order fee, is it visible in a running total throughout, or only at the end? Are handling or delivery fees shown upfront? Are any extras like booking protection pre-ticked?

If the number jumps between the ticket price you advertise and the total at checkout, that is a drip, and it is the single most scrutinised practice in your sector right now.

Check your ticketing site in about a minute

Total Price checks your public booking journey against these exact rules and gives you a plain-English report with a score and the specific issues to fix. For an event or ticket seller, that means flagging whether your booking fees, service charges, and extras are presented the way the law now requires.

Your first audit is free. Check your ticketing website now

This article is general information about UK price-transparency rules, not legal advice. It reflects the CMA's price transparency guidance (CMA209) and publicly announced investigations as of mid-2026. For advice on your specific situation, consult a qualified professional.