CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As Charlotte waits for Beyoncé tickets to go on sale, some pretty outrageous prices for seats on Ticketmaster and secondary sites like StubHub have popped up.
Some tickets on those secondary sites go for a whopping $8,000 a piece.
While those seats on Ticketmaster cost thousands of dollars, the tacked-on service fees have many people talking.
For example, a Chicago ticket going for $2,659 has a service fee of $618 tacked on, equaling a 23% service charge.
So what are these service fees, and who gets the money?
We looked into how companies like Ticketmaster can do this.
OUR SOURCES:
How can they have such a large service fee?
"Because they can," Bartholomy said.
He tells WCNC Charlotte, in the U.S.; there are no laws defining how much companies can charge for service fees.
"No laws in the United States restrict these types of hidden fees," Bartholomy said. "The only type that is going to correct that is competition."
You usually see service fees tacked on tickets, hotel stays, airlines and credit cards. A release from the White House states these fees add up to tens of billions of dollars in revenue annually for these industries.
On TicketMaster's website, it states: "TicketMaster adds a service fee to the face value price, or in the case of a resale ticket, to the listing price of each ticket. The service fee varies by event, based on our agreement with each individual client."
It also states: "A portion of ticket fees which include service fees we keep, helps us provide clients with software, equipment, service, and support to manage their tickets at the box office and provide the sales network used by clients to distribute tickets to fans and provide the sales network used by clients to distribute tickets to fans. The remainder, when taken with other revenues, is how we earn a profit."
TicketMaster does not reveal the price of the service fee upfront, only when you are about to check out.
"Disclose it and say it up front before you're checking out before you buy those tickets," Bartholomy said. "Just telling you upfront: We want to let you know that the $1,500 ticket is going to have another 20% added on to it, then you can make your decision,"
President Biden touched on service fees in his State of the Union address, calling them "junk fees." In 2019, Congress tried to pass a law called the "Boss Act," which would require the Federal Trade Commission to issue rules requiring transparency in primary and secondary ticket sales. The bill stalled in committee, but Congress and the Biden administration could still try to institute reforms.
"Hopefully, there will be laws in place to at least require transparency to have disclosures up front," Bartholomy said.
Contact Meghan Bragg at mbragg@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
VERIFY is dedicated to helping the public distinguish between true and false information. The VERIFY team, with help from questions submitted by the audience, tracks the spread of stories or claims that need clarification or correction. Have something you want VERIFIED? Text us at 704-329-3600 or visit VERIFY.
