Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb, who is suing StubHub, accuses the ticket seller of false pricing and cheap fees, according to Variety.
The problem, filed in Washington, D. C.’s Superior Court, says that StubHub has been using a aggressive “drip pricing” framework to fraudulently increase profits. Since using this method, StubHub has allegedly sold 4.9 million cards and collected$ 18 million in hidden fees in D.C. only since 2015, which is especially noteworthy given that the District outspends cities like Los Angeles and New York City in per capita investing on life event ticket sales.
Drip prices is the practice of promoting reduced prices that are unavoidably exaggerated at the point of purchase. According to the problem, StubHub uses a 10-minute countdown clocks to lull customers away from necessary padding pages by putting them through a series of pointless steps. A screen appears telling the customer how long to make a purchase if the buyer idles on a page for about 30 seconds. By the time the customer makes it to check, prices are significantly higher due to mysterious “fulfillment and support” fees that lack sufficient explanation.

Due to limited glass closures, buyers are also unable to compare and shop for less expensive tickets because of drip pricing. Schwalb’s company claims that StubHub tested its flow sales process from 2014 to 2015, randomly offering some users “all-in pricing “—when all necessary fees are evident from the start—and others drip pricing. StubHub apparently made the decision to use the flow model to determine whether customers are more likely to purchase them at higher rates.
StubHub advertised two cards for$ 356 full in the complaint’s case, but the final price with necessary expenses increased the overall to$ 497. The lawsuit asserts that StubHub failures to concealing its mandated charges and that it offered customers the option to view the ticket totals through an buried Estimated Fees Sort hidden in its settings. However, the issue claimed that the state was untrue until at least March 2024, when StubHub added additional charges for those who enabled it.
” For decades, StubHub has fraudulently deceived District customers through its complicated bad charge scheme”, said Schwalb. ” StubHub draws customers in by advertising a seemingly low price, putting them through a cumbersome checkout procedure, and eventually revealing a total significantly higher than the ticket price that was initially advertised. This is not a coincidence; instead ,StubHub purposefully conceals the correct price in order to profit from its customers. One of the biggest and most popular life leisure scenes in the country can be found here, and StubHub’s predatory practices disproportionately harm District residents. That is why nowadays we’re suing to stop StubHub’s predatory pricing scheme”.

The booking market has” really gotten out of control” due to hidden fees. Full stop, according to National Consumers League CEO Sally Greenberg,” the amount that is advertised is the amount that we should pay.” ” When it comes to fighting for customers, the District of Columbia is one of the best in the country.” We are appreciative of Attorney General Schwalb’s command in this field and look forward to supporting his efforts on behalf of the public.
In addition to paying civil sanctions for each infraction, Schwalb is suing StubHub for customer protection procedures act violations. Under the direction of Office of Consumer Protection director Adam Teitelbaum, top test counsel Laura Beckerman, will handle this matter.