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Ticket booking fees: who pays them, who keeps them, and the all-in pricing rules
Buyers almost always pay the fees. The real question is who keeps them: the platform or your venue. And the law now wants the total price up front.
Ticket booking fees, also called service fees, are a per-ticket charge that buyers almost always pay. When you sell through a platform that charges per ticket, the platform keeps them. When you sell on your own website, you decide whether to charge a fee and how much, and you keep it. Either way, in the US and the UK the price you advertise now has to be the total price, with mandatory fees included.
What booking fees are (and aren’t)
They’re what the seller charges for handling the sale: the platform, the venue or the promoter. They’re not a tax, and they’re not the card processing cost, although they often cover it.
Most platforms charge a percentage plus a fixed amount per ticket. In the US, Eventbrite charges a 3.7% + $1.79 service fee per ticket plus 2.9% payment processing on the order; in the UK, 6.95% + £0.59 per ticket. By default, buyers pay these fees, although organizers can choose to absorb them (Eventbrite’s ticketing fees).
Who pays and who keeps them
| How you sell | Who pays | Who keeps it |
|---|---|---|
| Per-ticket platform, fees passed to buyers | The buyer | The platform |
| Per-ticket platform, fees absorbed | The venue or promoter | The platform |
| Your own website, with your own fee | The buyer | Your venue, minus card processing |
| Your own website, no separate fee | Nobody separately: it’s in the price | — |
On a $20 ticket in the US, Eventbrite’s fees come to about $3.18: a $2.53 service fee plus roughly $0.65 in processing. Sell 800 tickets a month that way and your audience pays about $2,550 a month to the platform.
The rules: total price up front
United States. The FTC’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (16 CFR Part 464) took effect on May 12, 2025, and covers live-event tickets. It doesn’t ban any fee; it requires the truth up front. If you show a price, you must show the total price, including all mandatory fees, more prominently than other pricing information. Only three things can stay out of the total: government charges, shipping charges and optional add-ons, and those must be disclosed before the buyer is asked to pay (FTC FAQ).
United Kingdom. Since 6 April 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act bans drip pricing: any invitation to purchase must show the total price, including unavoidable fees. Genuinely optional extras can sit outside it (Taylor Wessing). The CMA has since finalised its price transparency guidance, and live event tickets are among the sectors it has reviewed (Osborne Clarke).
Spain and the EU. Spanish consumer law already requires the final complete price, taxes included, with any additional charges broken down (BOE).
This is general information, not legal advice. If your pricing has unusual parts, such as packages, tables or drinks included, check with a lawyer.
How to show fees the right way
- Lead with the total: “$22.00” on posters, social posts and your website.
- Itemize if you like, without overshadowing the total: “$22.00 ($20 ticket + $2 fee)”.
- Keep the total the same at checkout, except for optional add-ons the buyer chooses or government charges you disclose.
- Show a total for every ticket type: early bird, general, door.
- Explain the fee in one line: “covers online sales and door check-in”.
How much to charge on your own website
Aim to cover what selling costs you, without padding the ticket. Add two things:
- Card processing. With Stripe in the US, a domestic card payment costs 2.9% + 30¢ (Stripe pricing). On a $20 ticket, $0.88.
- Your system. If you pay a flat monthly fee, divide it by the tickets you sell. At $150 a month (an illustrative figure) and 800 tickets, about $0.19 per ticket.
In this example, a $1.25 fee covers both with room to spare, against roughly $3.18 in platform fees today. The full comparison is in no-commission ticketing for venues.
How we do it at Validiam
With Validiam you sell on your own website, under your brand, and every sale goes straight into your Stripe account. We don’t take a percentage of ticket sales: if you charge a fee, it’s yours. Pricing is a flat monthly fee based on volume, or a small fixed fee per ticket with no subscription. In Spain, the Sala plan is €149 a month; outside the eurozone, we quote in your currency.
Before Validiam, we ran the automations for a ticketing platform that works with large venues. You can start with one event alongside your current platform. Book a demo and we’ll run the numbers with yours.
FAQ
Are booking fees legal?
The FTC’s rule doesn’t ban fees; it requires the total price up front. The UK’s drip pricing ban works the same way: fees are fine as long as they’re in the price people see first.
Who pays Eventbrite’s fees?
By default, the buyer. Organizers can choose to absorb them when they create a paid ticket type.
Can I show a base price and add the fee at checkout?
Not for mandatory fees in the US or the UK: the total has to come first. You can itemize, as long as the total stays more prominent.