Thousands of Kiwis sign petition to ban ‘sneaky’ online fees

Ticketing companies such as Ticketmaster keep adding additional fees to their online customers, increasing the total cost of their products.

According to Consumer NZ, these "sneaky fees" can “add anything from a few dollars to over $50 to a product or service”, netting retailers as much as $68 million a year in revenue.

The organisation is campaigning to abolish ‘sneaky fees’ and has currently 10,000 signatures asking for their removal.

Consumer NZ senior investigative journalist Chris Schulz says hidden fees can add a substantial amount to the ticket price, and many customers only encounter them when trying to make a final payment.

“Maybe you wouldn’t get that ticket. But, because it’s $130, you then click it, add it to your basket, you’ve started the process, you’re through to pay for it and then you are hit with the fees.”

Listen: https://soundcloud.com/logan-leilua/leilua-consumer-nz

Ticketmaster has a 1.95 per cent "infrastructure fee" that has sparked debate among concertgoers and event attendees, with some questioning whether the additional charge is necessary.

According to the company, the extra fee helps support its ticketing system, including customer service and online platform upkeep.

According to Reserve Bank of Australia, Ticketmaster has charged a maximum of 1.95 per cent fee since 2015, but it has been previously known as a "payment processing" fee.

Ticketmaster has since implemented the fee for online and phone purchases, but it does not apply to box offices or outlets.

In a response to TWN inquiries, a Ticketmaster representative said the fee helps the company to deliver “a safe and transparent marketplace” and to “cover verified ticket fulfilment from seller to buyer".

Ticketmaster customer Harashi Dev, however, says she thinks the fees are not too bad.

Audio: https://youtu.be/lUwqVh9tqdU

“I think they are pretty fair with how they are pricing the fees currently and I hope that doesn’t change,” she said. 
She said she was willing to pay the extra fees as they were currently, and she found the fees reasonable.

The company has faced ongoing scrutiny over its service fees, dynamic pricing model, and allegations of buying out the market.

In May 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster’s parent  company, Live Nation Entertainment, accusing it of unfairly dominating the ticketing industry and inflating prices.

Meanwhile other companies in the live-entertainment industry impose similar surcharges but the transparency of these charges remains a contentious issue.