WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The attorney general for Washington, D.C., sued StubHub on Wednesday, accusing the ticket resale platform of advertising deceptively low prices and then ramping up prices with extra fees.
The practice known as 鈥渄rip pricing鈥 violates in the nation鈥檚 capital, Attorney General Brian Schwalb said.
鈥淪tubHub intentionally hides the true price to boost profits at its customers鈥 expense,鈥 he said in a statement.
The company said it is disappointed to be targeted, maintaining its practices are consistent with the law and competing companies as well as broader industry norms. 鈥淲e strongly support federal and state solutions that enhance existing laws to empower consumers, such as requiring all-in pricing uniformly across platforms,鈥 the company said in a statement.
The lawsuit, meanwhile, says StubHub hides mandatory 鈥渇ulfillment and service鈥 fees until the end of a lengthy online purchasing process that often requires more than a dozen pages to complete as a countdown timer creates a sense of urgency.
That makes it 鈥渘early impossible鈥 for buyers to know the true cost of a ticket and compare to find the best price, he said. Fees vary widely and can total more than 40% of the advertised ticket price, the lawsuit alleges.
StubHub, which is based in New York, is one of the world鈥檚 largest resale platforms for tickets to sports, concerts, and other live events.
Sally Greenberg, CEO of the nonprofit advocacy group 香港六合彩挂牌资料 Consumers League, applauded the lawsuit. 鈥淗idden fees in the ticketing industry have truly gotten out of control. The price that is advertised is the price that we should pay 鈥 full stop,鈥 she said. Ticket fees were also part of a sweeping antitrust lawsuit the Justice Department and its parent company in May.
StubHub used to advertise the 鈥渁ll-in鈥 cost of a ticket about a decade ago, but changed after finding that people are more likely to buy tickets at higher prices with the 鈥渄rip pricing鈥 model, he said.
Washington residents鈥 per-capita spending on live entertainment outpaces that of many other major U.S. cities and since 2015, StubHub has sold nearly 5 million tickets in Washington and reaped about $118 million in fees, the suit states.
The lawsuit seeks damages and to block the pricing practices. Schwalb another lawsuit last year with the Washington Commanders
