The Federal Trade Commission’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees took effect May 12, 2025. It requires businesses advertising a price for live-event tickets or short-term lodging to disclose the total price more prominently than other pricing information. If the final amount of payment is displayed, however, it must be at least as prominent as the total price. The rule also prohibits misrepresenting fees in those offers and ads. [S1]
The rule follows the sales channel. It covers sellers and online marketplace platforms or other intermediaries offering the covered services, and it applies to business-to-business as well as business-to-consumer transactions. [S1]
This is a disclosure rule, not a cap on what a seller may charge. The FTC said the rule does not ban a fee type; some charges, including government charges, shipping and optional ancillary goods or services, may be excluded from the displayed total. Excluded charges still have to be disclosed before the buyer consents to pay. [S1]
For a ticketing platform, venue or lodging operator, the practical work is joining up price data across the offer, seller and checkout steps: the displayed total depends on knowing which charges are mandatory and which fall into an allowed exclusion. That is an operational implication of the rule, not a separate FTC systems specification. [S1]
Source documents
- Trade Regulation Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Feeshttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-10/html/2024-30293.htm