Biden pushes Ticketmaster, SeatGeek to indicate ‘junk fees’ upfront

WASHINGTON — Several large firms, including Ticketmaster parent Live Nation, are vowing to finish surprise “junk fees” following a pressure campaign from the Biden administration.

“Junk fees” are extra costs tacked on at the tip of purchases, often for concert tickets, resorts and rentals. President Joe Biden has made ending the practice a priority and invited representatives from Live Nation, Airbnb, SeatGeek and others to satisfy with him Thursday.

Each Live Nation and SeatGeek agreed prematurely of the meeting to commit to indicate all fees up front for ticket purchases, the White House said. Iowa venue xBk is predicted to as well. Airbnb in December began including all fees in the ultimate price after calls from the White House to accomplish that.

“Today’s voluntary actions reveal that firms each big and small recognize the importance of providing consumers with honest, up-front all-in pricing, fairly than tricking them with surprise fees at the tip of checkout,” the White House said in an announcement. “Additionally it is just a primary step towards addressing junk fees within the economy.”

“This can be a win for consumers in my opinion, and proof that our crackdown on junk fees had real momentum,” Biden said Thursday following the meeting, adding that there may be more to do.

Biden first began his campaign against “junk fees” nine months ago and included calls for personal firms to accomplish that in his State of the Union address this 12 months. The problem reached a boiling point in November, when customers were faced with exorbitantly high prices for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour tickets.

“President Biden has been working to lower costs for hardworking families by bringing down inflation, capping insulin prices for seniors, and eliminating hidden junk fees,” National Economic Council director Lael Brainard said in an announcement. “More firms are heeding the president’s call in order that Americans know what they’re paying for up front and may lower your expenses consequently.”

Brett Goldberg, co-CEO of TickPick, said in an interview after the meeting he thought it was productive but apprehensive it would not go far enough. TickPick from its inception has used all-in pricing, meaning no surprise junk fees.

“There’s just a lot negative sentiment around ticketing, and despite the fact that it doesn’t solve all the issues, the overwhelming majority of what people speak about is the hidden fees,” Goldberg said. “Yes there’s the associated fee component, nevertheless it’s the extra slap within the face once you’re on the point of pull the trigger on expensive tickets after which it finally ends up being 20 to 30% more.”