What Are Fee Transparency Laws
Fee transparency laws are consumer product laws to improve pricing transparency to consumers by requiring event organizers to disclose all fees upfront. This upfront, all-in pricing mean displaying a single price inclusive of registration price, processing fees, and any additional required fees.
The Purpose of Fee Transparency Laws
The purpose of fee transparency laws is to prevent hidden fees and unexpected costs at checkout, ensuring pricing fairness and clarity. This comes on the heels of growing scrutiny on ticketing companies with predatory, anticompetitive pricing tactics.
What Fee Transparency Laws Apply To
Fee transparency laws apply to registration, ticketing, store/add-ons, and memberships in the state of the event. They do not apply to donations or sales tax (sales tax is added at checkout based on event, purchaser, and shipping locations).
Where Have Fee Transparency Laws Been Passed?
In addition to statewide laws, a nationwide FTC “Junk Fees Rule” requires events in all states to comply with transparent fee displays. Clarification from the FTC indicates that the current rule applies to audience-based events (like a festival or haunt), not participation-based events (like a golf tournament). Additionally, seven states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, and Tennessee) have laws requiring fee transparency in a wider range of events.
Accordingly, TicketSignup enables transparent, all-in pricing for all ticket events by default. However, if you believe your event is not audience-based, it is not located in one of the seven states above, and you do not want to display all-in pricing, please let us know by contacting your account manager or emailing info@ticketsignup.io.
The penalties for non-compliance range from $1,000 to $10,000. Event organizers are liable for violations.
How Does TicketSignup Comply with Fee Transparency Laws?
TicketSignup has implemented a range of website and email changes to pricing display in impacted states.
- Automatic compliance by updating the price displays automatically for affected states, based on the state of the event.
- Website display to show the all-in pricing (with a call-out that it includes fees and a tooltip for more information).
- Email display to show current and future pricing as all-in pricing.
Alternative Options for Event Directors
Missing round numbers and not a fan of the all-in pricing? Here’s your workaround option:
- Adjust your event prices to account for all potential processing fees
- Absorb processing fees so the price that shows is already your all-in price.
- Call out your all-in pricing so runners know that the price they see IS the price they’ll pay.
How All-In Pricing Displays on TicketSignup
What Do You Need Do to Comply with Fee Transparency Laws?
While TicketSignup is taking care of as much compliance as we can, there are still things to pay attention to as a event director.
- Update and maintain website: If you have an external website in addition to your website, the pricing displayed there also needs to display all-in pricing. One workaround: do not list pricing on your external website, and simply link to the compliant TicketSignup site.
- Caution with emails: All emails need to include all-in pricing. Use TicketSignup’s Price Increase Table replacement tag to ensure compliance.
- Transparent pricing on social media: All social media posts need to include all-in pricing.
TicketSignup’s Low, Family-Friendly Pricing Makes a Difference
For your registrants, TicketSignup’s low, family-friendly pricing has always made a difference. With fee transparency laws, that difference is amplified: your registrants can now see just how much they’ll actually be paying. The example below shows the cart total, including processing fees, for 2 registrations of $55/each.
TicketSignup
ETix
Eventbrite
Enabling Fee Transparent Pricing When Not Required
While TicketSignup automatically enables transparent pricing for events in impacted states, some event directors in other states prefer to get ahead of the curve and begin showing all-in pricing. You can enable all-in pricing at any point from your dashboard.
