The Consumer Ombudsman has brought Lippupiste Oy before the Market Court, alleging that its ticket-price marketing breaches the Consumer Protection Act. The Ombudsman seeks an order prohibiting Lippupiste from advertising tickets with “from” prices that omit the mandatory order fee, backed by a conditional fine of EUR 100,000.

Lippupiste acts as an intermediary, marketing and selling tickets to cultural, entertainment and sports events on behalf of event organizers. In addition to the basic ticket price, it charges service and order fees. The order fee is EUR 1.50 plus 0.65% of the order value and is unavoidable for consumers purchasing tickets.

According to the Ombudsman, Lippupiste’s website displays “from” prices without including the order fee. Consumers are told about the fee and its amount only later in the purchase process, after moving to the virtual shopping cart. The Ombudsman says the total price could have been shown on the website’s front page and that the advertised minimum price may therefore obscure the price at which a ticket can actually be bought.

Under the Consumer Protection Act, marketing a specific product with a “from” price requires the trader to state the total price, including taxes and all foreseeable costs that consumers cannot avoid paying. Price information must be provided before consumers make their purchasing decisions.

Negotiations between the Ombudsman and Lippupiste did not resolve the dispute, and Lippupiste declined to change its pricing practice. The Ombudsman is asking the Market Court to assess the matter and hopes its decision will clarify how event-ticketing fees must be disclosed and address drip pricing in the sector. Lippupiste is part of Eventim (CTS EVENTIM AG & Co. KGaA).