Junk Fee Transparency: Getting Your Website Ready

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enacted the Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees in May of 2025 to address unfair or deceptive practices involving fees or charges for live-event tickets. The FTC reports that “The final rule specifies that it is an unfair and deceptive practice for businesses to offer, display, or advertise any price of live-event tickets or short-term lodging without clearly, conspicuously and prominently disclosing the total price. The rule also requires businesses to clearly and conspicuously make certain disclosures before a consumer consents to pay. The rule further specifies that it is an unfair and deceptive practice for businesses to misrepresent any fee or charge in any offer, display, or advertisement for live-event tickets or short-term lodging.” Many states have rolled out similar legislation.

The Federal Ticket Act requires sellers of event tickets to “disclose comprehensive information to consumers about ticket prices and related fees” and has passed the House of Representatives and will be headed to the Senate for consideration there.

Is Your Organization’s Website Currently Fee Compliant?

Adage recommends that your organization consult with your legal counsel to determine how to remain in compliance with local, state, and federal rules and regulations. Below are some examples examples of how we’ve implemented updates in our product, SmartSeat, and within custom client websites to transparently display per-ticket fees:

SmartSeat

The latest version of SmartSeat, Adage’s Select Your Own Seat (SYOS) tool that integrates seamlessly with Tessitura, custom web integrations and TNEW, includes fee breakouts on both the filters page and on the seat selection page, with configurable disclaimer text that can be set in VenueBuilder, SmartSeat’s Content Management System (CMS).

Filters Page

Seat Selection Page

Custom Commerce

Some of our clients are finding that pricing is advertised before reaching seat selection, requiring code updates to call out per ticket fees on content pages or other “pre-sale” pages throughout the path. Here are some examples of modifications that have been made for greater transparency.

On Unseated or Best Seating Reservation Pages

Custom Cart Display

Performance Detail Pages

Next Steps

If your organization would like assistance with reviewing your current website user journeys as it relates to pricing language and fee transparency, or if it has been a while since your site has had a UX/UI review, Adage offers comprehensive site audits that can easily be adapted to meet your needs. We will return a prioritized list of recommendations along with pricing information for the design and development time needed for implementation.

For a consultation, current Adage clients are encouraged to contact their Project Owner or Account Manager. For new inquiries, contact us here.