LONDON — Britain’s competition watchdog has fined ticket resale platform StubHub UK and ordered it to refund tens of thousands of customers after finding the company failed to disclose mandatory ticket fees upfront, the regulator said on Tuesday.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said StubHub UK would pay a fine of about £900,000 and provide refunds totaling more than £590,000 to over 50,000 customers who purchased tickets through the platform. The regulator said the action followed an investigation into the company’s use of so-called “drip pricing,” in which mandatory charges were added later in the purchasing process rather than being included in the initial advertised price.
According to the CMA, the practice occurred between April and December 2025 and affected customers purchasing tickets for concerts, sporting events and other live entertainment. The watchdog said consumers were shown ticket prices that did not include unavoidable service and delivery fees, preventing them from seeing the full cost at the outset of the transaction.
“Hitting customers with hidden fees is illegal,” CMA Executive Director for Consumer Protection Emma Cochrane said in a statement released by the regulator. “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.”
The CMA said affected customers will receive refunds automatically, with payments averaging about £10 per transaction. The regulator added that StubHub cooperated with the investigation and agreed to settle the case, which resulted in a reduction of the financial penalty.
StubHub UK is operated by TICKETBIS S.L. and is part of StubHub International, which operates separately from StubHub’s North American business. The CMA opened its investigation in late 2025 after examining whether the company’s presentation of mandatory fees complied with consumer protection laws.
The case is among the highest-profile enforcement actions taken under the CMA’s expanded consumer protection powers, which came into effect in 2025 and allow the regulator to impose penalties and order consumer redress without first obtaining a court ruling. The watchdog said it continues to investigate pricing practices across several sectors, including online ticket sales.
StubHub has since changed its pricing displays, according to the CMA. The company did not immediately issue a detailed public response on Tuesday beyond its agreement to settle the matter, and no further enforcement action was announced.
The CMA said refunds will be issued directly to eligible customers through their original payment methods, while monitoring of compliance with the order will continue.
