![]() While these fees are typically small, they can quickly become a financial burden, especially for lower-income households. ![]() Consumers also get hit with fees when they rent apartments, overdraw their checking accounts, purchase cable services or fall behind on credit-card payments. consumers to see all fees before taxes.īuying concert tickets is just one of many transactions where junk fees pop up. Today's White House announcement is an encouraging step forward, but there is still more to be done."Ī spokesperson for Airbnb, meanwhile, said it had introduced a new "total price display tool" last December that allows U.S. Jack Groetzinger, the co-founder and CEO of SeatGeek, said in a statement sent to MarketWatch: "We have been promoters of increased price transparency in ticketing since we started SeatGeek. She said artists and their teams keep the majority of ticket-sale revenues. "Transparency is not going to solve the problem."Ī spokeswoman for Live Nation, the entertainment company that owns and operates live venues and Ticketmaster, said fees collected by Ticketmaster go toward operating costs for its technology and employees, in addition to expenses for venues, insurance, suppliers, fees for artists and more. "When we're looking at the live events space, that is an anti-competitive market where Live Nation, Ticketmaster, dominate," Harper told MarketWatch. Though all-in pricing is a positive for consumers, especially when combined with efforts from federal regulators to crack down on junk fees overall, the companies still hold a lot of power over their customers, she said. That still won't be enough to fully protect customers, who often face a bundle of extra charges right when they are checking out after thinking they would pay a lower up-front sticker price for live events, said Morgan Harper, the director of policy and advocacy at the American Economic Liberties Project. Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, pledged Thursday to start showing consumers all of the fees associated with a ticket purchase at the start of the buying process, with a new "all-in pricing experience" starting in September. Read more:Ticketmaster and Live Nation plan to show 'upfront all-in pricing' in response to Biden's push against junk fees "Until corporate America is doing this voluntarily, it's really going to take regulation to force companies to change their practices." "Instead of forcing consumers to read the fine print on every purchase they make, the question is how we can crack down on these companies," she said. "This is a multi-pronged initiative from the Biden administration," Liz Zelnick, the director of economic security and corporate power at Accountable.US, a government watchdog, told MarketWatch. ![]() "This is a win for consumers in my view, and proof that our crackdown on junk fees has real momentum, but there's more to do." "These are just the latest private-sector leaders who are responding to my call for action, and I'm asking their competitors to follow suit and adopt all-in, upfront pricing as well," Biden said Thursday at the White House event. The White House outlined its official position, as well as plans taken by various companies to increase transparency. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced efforts to crack down on so-called junk fees - hidden or obscure fees that surprise consumers when they're buying everything from airline and concert tickets to booking hotels and Airbnb rentals.Įxecutives from Live Nation (LYV), Ticketmaster, Seatgeek, Airbnb (ABNB) and other companies joined Biden at the White House to discuss steps they have taken to make fees - and the booking process - more transparent. Executives from Airbnb, Ticketmaster, Live Nation and other companies joined President Biden at a White House event Thursday to discuss junk feesīooking tickets to a Taylor Swift concert via Ticketmaster, and shocked at the final price? Renting an apartment on Airbnb, and frustrated about why it's a lot more expensive than you thought? Wondering about that $30 charge on your latest bank statement? Get in line. ![]()
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