StubHub must refund £889,000 after breaking 'drip pricing' rule - with seven more sites investigated

Over 50,000 StubHub customers will receive payouts after the ticket marketplace failed to show additional purchase fees until after checkout.

The company was fined a staggering total of £889,200 this week by the UK’s competition watchdog after the breach of policy came to light following an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

This unfair online pricing practice will result in customers being refunded an average of £10.33 each.

The regulator found that the platform had illegally dipped the prices of tickets to live events, only to hike up the prices at the checkout stage by adding on delivery and service fees.

This caught out thousands of customers between April 5 and December 7 2025, who found themselves unable to accurately compare ticket costs with StubHub's competitors.

Over 50,000 customers will receive refunds (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"Hitting customers with hidden fees is illegal," CMA's executive director of consumer protection, Emma Cochrane, said, as per PA.

"It’s not fair to draw people in with what looks like a good deal, only for them to find the real price is higher when they get to the checkout due to extra charges that can’t be avoided.

"Going to a live gig or sports game is an event many people save for – and our action today means thousands of fans will get back money taken unfairly through hidden fees. Our message to businesses is simple: be transparent on costs or risk CMA action."

She noted, however, that StubHud staff immediately took the necessary steps to settle the issue, including working with the investigating authorities, after admitting to breaking the law.

Agreeing to settle the dilemma early meant that the company qualified for a 40 per cent refund.

(Interim Archives/Getty Images)

Spokespeople claimed the hidden fees had been added as a result of an 'isolated platform error' that stopped prices from being shown earlier on in the purchasing process.

"Our UK platform is designed to display all fees upfront," one said, claiming the company had 'identified and corrected the issue promptly, and all affected customers will receive an automatic refund'.

Each customer will now be contacted by representatives of StubHub who'll automatically issue them a refund to the card they used to buy their tickets.

In light of the discovery, a further eight ticketing firms are now being probed by CMA regulators, including StubHub's rival secondary ticket site, Viagogo.

An investigation into respective online pricing strategies of AA Driving School, BSM Driving School, Gold's Gym, Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Marks Electrical began last November.