Drip Pricing in the Spotlight: CMA takes action against StubHub

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has taken action against StubHub as part of its growing crackdown on pricing transparency in digital markets. Under its enhanced powers in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), the CMA is increasingly willing to intervene where consumers are not given a clear and accurate total price upfront. This investigation focuses on “drip pricing”, where additional mandatory fees emerge as a consumer proceeds with a purchase. It highlights the regulator’s continued focus on ensuring that pricing is transparent and does not distort consumer decision-making.

Increased CMA activity

Since the DMCCA came into force in April 2025, the CMA has entered a new phase of enforcement activity. This has been driven by its enhanced powers, including the ability to impose significant financial penalties of up to 10% of a business's global turnover (or £300,000, whichever is greater).

Between April and November 2025, the CMA reviewed more than 400 businesses and issued advisory letters to over 100 organisations. Enforcement activity gained further momentum in November 2025 when the CMA announced investigations into eight businesses over their pricing practices, including AA Driving School, Gold's Gym, Viagogo and StubHub. As we have previously reported, the investigation into AA Driving School has since concluded, resulting in a £4.2 million fine.

The CMA has also focused on issues relating to time-limited sales and default opt-ins through its investigations into Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Marks Electrical. The latter has recently concluded, with the retailer receiving a fine of £720,000.

The Investigation

The CMA examined StubHub's pricing practices in the online ticketing market, focusing on the transparency of the prices presented to consumers.

At the heart of the investigation were concerns that:

• Consumers were not presented with the full price of tickets upfront.
• Additional fees were introduced later in the transaction process, affecting consumers’ capability to compare prices accurately from the start.

The CMA found that customers purchasing tickets for concerts and sporting events were often required to pay mandatory fees, such as service and delivery charges. Crucially, these fees were only added at the final stage of the checkout process, rather than being included in the headline price displayed at the outset.

The key issue for the CMA was therefore not the existence of the fees themselves, but the timing and manner in which they were disclosed to consumers.

This practice falls squarely within the concept of “drip pricing”. Under the DMCCA, omitting material pricing information from an invitation to purchase, or providing information in an unclear or untimely way, or in a way that the consumer is unlikely to see it, is an unfair commercial practice on the basis that consumers may end up making purchases they would not have done had they known the true price at the outset. As such, it is  prohibited under the DMCCA.

The outcome

The outcome of the investigation reflects the CMA's increasingly robust but pragmatic enforcement approach. In keeping with recent cases involving Marks Electrical and AA Driving School, the CMA both imposed a significant financial penalty and ordered the business to refund consumers.

The CMA issued a Final Infringement Notice to StubHub, imposing a penalty of £889,200 for breaches of consumer protection law. This figure reflected a 40% reduction in the fine as a result of StubHub's early settlement and admission of wrongdoing. In addition, StubHub was required to provide refunds totalling approximately £590,000 to more than 50,000 affected customers.

This is the third case (of three) brought using the CMA’s powers under the DMCCA in which it has applied a 40% discount for early settlement. It provides a clear indication of the benefits available to businesses that engage constructively with an investigation and acknowledge breaches at an early stage. Doing so can reduce both the time and costs associated with the enforcement process for both the business and the CMA.

A clear message to businesses

Since the start of its compliance drive, the CMA has secured more than £1.95 million in refunds to customers and imposed over £5.7 million in fines. The StubHub investigation is a further signal as to the importance of getting pricing transparency right.

The case demonstrates that:

• Drip pricing remains firmly in the CMA's sights.
• Digital and platform-based businesses can expect close scrutiny, particularly where practices have the potential to affect large numbers of consumers.
• The CMA is willing to make full use of its new enforcement powers, including the direct imposition of substantial financial penalties.

Taken together with other recent investigations into pricing and promotional practices, the CMA's approach reflects a broader shift towards proactive and deterrence-based enforcement.

For businesses uncertain about whether their pricing practices comply with consumer law, the CMA's "3 Step Pricing Check", published as part of its Clear Pricing Campaign, provides a useful starting point. More generally, businesses should review:

• The entire customer journey and how pricing information is presented.
• Whether all mandatory fees are clearly disclosed upfront and incorporated into the total advertised price.
• Whether any aspect of the purchasing process could mislead consumers.

The Mills & Reeve advertising team will continue to monitor these developments closely.  In the meantime, if you require support, please get in touch.

Our content explained