A US event ticket pricing strategy now starts from the all-in number. Since May 12, 2025, the FTC’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (16 CFR Part 464) has required live-event sellers to show the total price, mandatory fees included, more prominently than any other price. Set round all-in tiers first, then back-solve what you keep: on Eventbrite’s published US fees, a $99 all-in ticket nets $90.68.
At a glance: US event ticket pricing under the all-in rule
US event ticket pricing in 2026 comes down to five decisions, and the FTC fees rule shapes every one of them.
- The law: 16 CFR Part 464 covers live-event tickets and short-term lodging. Any price you show must come with the total price, displayed more prominently than other pricing information.
- What the total includes: every mandatory fee, whatever it is called. Government charges, shipping and optional add-ons may be left out, but must be disclosed before payment.
- The All-In First ladder: pick the totals buyers will see ($79, $99, $129, $249), then compute what you keep after platform and card fees. On Eventbrite’s published fees you keep 91.1% to 92.7% of each total.
- Absorb or pass on: passing fees on no longer hides them. A $99 face price with fees passed on shows a $107.48 total; a $109 all-in ticket keeps you more and reads cleaner.
- Enforcement is real: in April 2026 the FTC announced StubHub would pay $10 million over fee disclosures on tickets sold in May 2025.
How it works
Pricing US event tickets under the all-in rule
List every mandatory fee
Service, venue and required card fees all go inside the total. Taxes and optional add-ons may sit outside but must be disclosed.
Set round all-in tiers
Pick the totals buyers will see, such as $79, $99, $129 and $249.
Back-solve your net
Subtract your platform and processing fees from each total to see what you keep.
Step on published dates
Move each tier on a stated date or seat cap, and show the total every time.
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What does the FTC all-in pricing rule require for event tickets?
The FTC’s fees rule, 16 CFR Part 464, requires any business advertising a live-event ticket price to disclose the total price conspicuously and more prominently than any other price.
The text of 16 CFR Part 464 is short. Section 464.2(a) makes it an unfair and deceptive practice to “offer, display, or advertise any price” of a live-event ticket without disclosing the total price. Section 464.2(b) says the total must be shown more prominently than other pricing information; at checkout, the final amount of payment must be at least as prominent as the total. Section 464.2(c) requires you to disclose, before the buyer consents to pay, the nature, purpose and amount of any charge left out of the total, plus the final amount. Section 464.3 separately bans misrepresenting any fee, including its refundability. “Business” is defined to include an individual, so the rule’s text sets no size threshold for small organizers. The FTC confirms the rule took effect on May 12, 2025.
The all-in rule turns ticket pricing from a fee-engineering exercise into a single question: what total will this buyer pay?
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Which ticket charges must be inside the total price?
Every mandatory ticket charge belongs inside the total price; only government charges, shipping and genuinely optional extras may sit outside it, and must still be disclosed before payment.
| Charge | Inside the advertised total? | Where the rule says so |
|---|---|---|
| Ticketing platform service fee (per ticket) | Yes, if the buyer cannot avoid it | 464.1 “total price”: all fees a consumer must pay |
| Venue, facility or “order” fee | Yes, if mandatory, whatever it is called | 464.1; 464.3 bans misrepresenting a fee’s nature |
| Card processing fee, cards the only payment method | Yes | FTC fees-rule FAQ: a required card fee is mandatory |
| Card fee where a fee-free payment method is genuinely available | May be excluded, but disclosed before payment | FTC fees-rule FAQ; 464.2(c) |
| Sales tax and other government charges | May be excluded, but disclosed before payment | 464.1 “government charges”; 464.2(c) |
| Shipping of physical tickets | May be excluded, but disclosed before payment | 464.1 “shipping charges” |
| Optional parking, merchandise, add-on sessions | May be excluded | 464.1 optional ancillary goods |
Section 464.4 also leaves stronger state laws in force, so a state rule that protects buyers more than the federal rule still applies. Check your state attorney general’s guidance as well. This is general information, not legal advice.
The All-In First ladder: what you keep at $79, $99, $129 and $249
The All-In First ladder sets each ticket tier at a round buyer-facing total, then subtracts platform and card fees; at $99 all-in, the organizer keeps $90.68.
The fee inputs are Eventbrite’s published US organizer pricing, read on October 14, 2026: a 3.7% + $1.79 service fee per paid ticket and a 2.9% payment processing fee per order. We assume one ticket per order, fees absorbed by the organizer, and both percentages applied to the all-in price. Substitute your own platform’s numbers; the method is the same on any platform.
| Tier (all-in price shown) | Service fee (3.7% + $1.79) | Processing (2.9%) | You keep | Fees as share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early access: $79 | $4.71 | $2.29 | $72.00 | 8.9% |
| General admission: $99 | $5.45 | $2.87 | $90.68 | 8.4% |
| Final-month GA: $129 | $6.56 | $3.74 | $118.70 | 8.0% |
| VIP: $249 | $11.00 | $7.22 | $230.78 | 7.3% |
Two things fall out of the arithmetic. The flat $1.79 makes fees heaviest on cheap tickets, so a $25 community ticket loses a far bigger share than a VIP pass. And because the buyer only ever sees the total, a tier ladder is now a list of totals: $79, $99, $129, $249. Price the step between tiers in totals too. The size of an early discount is a separate decision, covered with a break-even formula on our page about how big an early bird ticket discount should be.
The All-In First rule: decide the number the buyer sees, then work backward to what you keep, never forward from a face value.
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Should I absorb ticket fees or pass them on to buyers?
Passing ticket fees on to buyers no longer hides them under the FTC rule, so the real choice is which total to advertise: an awkward one or a round one.
Take a $99 face price with Eventbrite’s fees passed on. The service fee is $5.45, processing on the $104.45 order is about $3.03, and the buyer sees a total of $107.48, which the rule requires to be the most prominent price. Now price the same ticket at $109 all-in with fees absorbed. You keep $100.02, slightly more than the $99 the pass-on version leaves you, and the buyer sees one clean number. Passed-on fee arithmetic here is our approximation of how the fees stack; check your platform’s checkout preview before you publish.
Fee placement still matters for drop-off. Our page on event registration abandonment covers Baymard’s checkout survey on extra costs and a recovery sequence for buyers who leave. Showing the total on the first screen removes the surprise at the last step.
When the total must be shown first, absorbing fees into a round all-in price usually beats passing them on to an odd-looking total.
How many ticket tiers should a US event have, and when should prices step?
A US event ticket ladder can work with three or four tiers, each stepping on a published date or seat cap, so buyers see total and deadline together.
We found no credible public benchmark for typical US ticket prices or tier gaps by event type, with a stated sample and method; ticketing vendors publish opinions, not data. So set the ladder from your own costs and history. A workable shape: a capped early tier, a general tier, a final-month tier, and a VIP or group tier. Write each step into the event page in totals (“$99 until March 1, then $129”) and never let a date pass without the price actually moving, or the next deadline stops working. VIP tiers above a few hundred dollars can sell better through a conversation than a checkout; see how to sell VIP conference tickets.
A ticket tier ladder works when every step is a round total with a real date or seat cap behind it.
What does running ticket pricing and sales yourself cost?
Running US ticket pricing yourself costs a one-off checkout audit of roughly two to four hours, plus the ongoing sales work the pricing cannot do for you.
The audit is cheap: list every price that appears anywhere (event page, emails, social ads, partner listings, the checkout), confirm each shows the total, and confirm excluded charges are named before payment. Our estimate of the time is an assumption, not a measurement. The expensive part is what comes after the price is right: following up buyers who stall, calling group and VIP enquiries, and reviving past attendees. Event teams that hand that work over can use a pay-per-result event marketing agency, and the wider method for organizers sits on our lead generation for event organizers hub. LeadsNow’s own record, 50,769+ AI-booked sales appointments since 2017, comes from that follow-up work, which is the part of ticket sales a price ladder does not solve.
Getting the all-in price right is a one-afternoon job; filling the room at that price is the ongoing one.
Frequently asked questions
Does the FTC junk fees rule apply to small events?
The rule text sets no size threshold. 16 CFR 464.1 defines a business to include an individual, corporation, partnership or association, and covers any live-event ticket. A small workshop or local concert selling tickets is in scope. This is general information, not legal advice.
Can I leave sales tax out of the advertised ticket price?
Yes. Under 16 CFR 464.1, government charges may be excluded from the total price, but section 464.2(c) still requires you to disclose them and the final amount before the buyer pays.
Do I have to include the credit card processing fee in the total?
If paying by card is the only option, yes. The FTC’s fees rule FAQ says a required card fee is mandatory and must be in the total price; where a fee-free payment method is genuinely available, the card fee may be excluded but must still be disclosed before payment.
Has the FTC enforced the all-in pricing rule on ticket sellers?
Yes. On April 9, 2026 the FTC announced that StubHub would pay $10 million to settle charges that it advertised ticket prices without showing mandatory fees up front, on live-event tickets, including high-demand NFL tickets, sold in May 2025.
What is a good event ticket pricing strategy if fees must be shown?
Use the All-In First ladder: choose round totals for each tier, compute what you keep after your platform’s fees, and step prices on published dates. On Eventbrite’s published US fees, a $99 all-in ticket keeps $90.68.
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