The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has concluded its consumer protection investigation into StubHub UK, imposing a financial penalty of nearly £900,000 and requiring refunds of more than £590,000 to be paid to affected customers. This is the second financial penalty the CMA has issued so far for drip pricing using its strengthened consumer enforcement powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act). In April this year, the CMA fined AA and BSM driving schools £4.2 million for drip pricing and ordered approximately £760,000 to be returned to affected customers.
The CMA has also been looking at the practice of opting consumers into additional charges without the consumer's express consent and last week fined Marks Electrical £720,000 for this and ordered them to pay redress of £620,000. These cases underline the regulator's focus on online pricing practices.
The investigation kick-off
The CMA opened its investigation into Stubhub UK's price transparency in November 2025. StubHub UK is one of the largest marketplaces for buying and selling tickets for live shows and events in the UK.
The case was part of a wider CMA enforcement programme examining online pricing practices, including drip pricing, pressure selling and misleading urgency claims. Drip pricing involves displaying an initial price and then adding mandatory charges later in the purchase journey. This results in the customer paying a higher price than originally displayed and makes it more difficult for consumers to compare prices accurately at the outset.
Penalty awarded
Under its new powers conferred by the DMCC Act, the CMA may determine itself whether a breach of the law has occurred without going to court. In this case, the CMA found that, between 6 April and 7 December 2025, some of StubHub UK's customers buying tickets for gigs and sports events were required to pay mandatory costs such as delivery and service fees. Those charges were unavoidable but were only added at the final stage of checkout rather than being included in the total price from the start. The CMA concluded this breached consumer protection law.
In respect of the breach, the CMA concluded that a fine of approximately £1.5 million was appropriate. However, the CMA agreed to reduce this by 40%, to approximately £900,000, because StubHub UK admitted the infringement, agreed to settle the case early and accepted the conditions of settlement, including agreeing not to appeal the decision.
The CMA has also ordered StubHub UK to pay redress to over 50,000 affected customers. These customers do not need to take any action. StubHub UK must contact them directly and repay the relevant amounts automatically to the card used to buy the tickets. The amount will vary depending on the fees paid, but the average refund is expected to be around £10 per transaction. StubHub UK must also report back to the CMA over the next six months on the progress of the refund process.
Game plan for in-house lawyers
This decision is another timely reminder that businesses selling to UK consumers should review how prices are presented across the full customer journey, particularly where service, booking, delivery, platform or administration fees are mandatory.
In-house teams should consider whether pricing disclosures are clear at the first point a price is shown, whether unavoidable charges are included in headline prices, and whether marketing, product, UX and legal teams have aligned on the requirements of the DMCC Act.
The settlement discount also reinforces the potential value of early engagement with the CMA, although businesses should not assume that cooperation will avoid financial penalties or redress obligations. For more information, see our Consumer Law Hub.
