Best and worst sites for buying tickets – as fees of up to 25% extra revealed
TICKET websites are adding up to 25% extra onto the cost of seeing your favourite band or artist through unregulated fees, analysis by The Sun reveals.
Fans face a confusing and complex web fees when using popular platforms such as AXS, Ticketmaster and SeeTickets.
Last week, Oasis and Ticketmaster angered fans when some customers were charged double for tickets under new ‘dynamic’ pricing rules.
Now the competition watchdog has said it is investigating and consumer groups have called on customers to be refunded.
While there are consumer protection rules that require sites to display fees upfront, there are no limits on what platforms can charge.
It means fans pay between £10 and £40 in fees, depending on the gig and seat.
We compared prices for Oasis, Sabrina Carpenter and Faithless across a number of sites.
Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said: “When buying tickets to concerts, consumers may find that they are charged extra for fees such as booking fees, delivery fees and venue levies.
“The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act ensures any charges need to be made clear as part of the upfront total price.
“This transparency is key as it allows music fans to understand what they’re paying for and compare prices across different providers.
“Regulators and enforcers like Trading Standards must be prepared to come down hard on any firms that don’t stick to the new rules.”
How ticket sales work
It’s a fastest finger on the buzzer type race to snap up tickets for popular acts go on sale.
Tickets are usually sold via a select number of sites for the most indemand events.
A boost in demand, as seen during the recent Oasis reunion sale, can push up the face value cost of a ticket – if you can get on the website – known as dynamic pricing.
Essentially, the more demand there is, the more that prices can go up by.
Robin Cantrill-Fenwick, chief executive of consultancy Baker Richards, which advises on event admission prices, says most sellers use dynamic pricing so they can adapt their prices when demand is uncertain but it does mean buyers often can’t be sure how high a price will go.
But a combination of dynamic pricing and fees can mean paying far more than you expected.
Our investigation found a £462 Oasis ticket for next summer through Ticketmaster that had a service charge of £24.45, facility fee of £2.75 and a £2.75 handling fee, which adds 6.4% to a ticket already above face value.
Similarly, for a Sabrina Carpenter resale ticket at £286 in Birmingham during March 2025, the ticket costs £286.87 on Ticketmaster but there was also a service charge of £43.03 and handling fee of £3.25 – adding 16%.
Ticketmaster isn’t the only platform adding inconsistent fees.
On AXS, a Sabrina Carpenter resale ticket at the O2 on 9 March 2025, costs £450 but the platform adds a £36.10 booking fee, £2.50 transaction fee and £3 facility fee – an extra 9.1%.
AXS have been asked for comment.
Unfortunately, there is currently very little to stop this practice.
Oliver Willis, a partner at law BDB Pitmans, said: “The UK has consumer protection rules which apply to ticket sales, but the rules don’t set a limit to the prices ticket sellers can charge.
“Instead, the rules require traders to provide certain information about the tickets and the prices at the point of sale, so that customers can make an informed choice. “
Cantrill-Fenwick added: “For concerts where it’s clear the demand is going to be very high, it is obviously in the interests of consumers that all prices are clearly communicated upfront so they aren’t surprised at checkout and aren’t tempted to stretch their budgets or go into debt under time pressure.”
The best and worst fees
Consumers face lots of barriers when purchasing tickets online. There may be a virtual queue to cope with demand, the site may crash and by the time you get to the front only the most expensive tickets may be left.
Prices can also change due to dynamic pricing and some platforms may have the exclusive rights to the sale, leaving little scope to shop around for the best deals and seats.
This often means paying whatever price and fees you are offered if you don’t want to miss out.
In some cases, where tickets are widely available, the fees can vary.
Our investigation focused on tickets for another 90s legendary dance music group who are touring this year, Faithless.
We checked the main ticketing platforms and resale websites for stalls seats on 14 November at the O2 Brixton Academy and found fees ranging from £8 to £17 and in many cases these added up to a quarter on top of the original ticket price.
That may not seem like a lot for one but can soon add up if buying a group of tickets.
Ticketmaster
A face value Faithless stalls ticket costs £42.50.
But Ticketmaster adds a £5.75 service and £2.05 facility fee as well as a £2.85 handling fee, which adds £10.65 or 25% to the ticket price.
Ticketmaster says its fees are agreed with the venue or event organisers and cover distribution, payment processing and other responsibilities such as scanning the tickets on entry.
The website says: These fees simply cover the cost of processing your booking from start to finish – the only revenue we generate.”
See Tickets
Faithless fans can also get a stalls ticket for £42.50 through See Tickets.
You will also need to pay a £6.55 booking fee and £1.50 transaction fee, which adds £8.05 or 18% to the ticket price.
A spokesperson for See Tickets, which doesn’t use dynamic pricing, says: “Extra fees differ from event to event because SeeTickets sells on behalf of thousands of clients in the UK, with fees either set by the promoters or mutually agreed upon with them.
“Different venues may also add their own restoration levy to each ticket, with 100% of this levy going to the venue.”
Resale platforms
Websites such as Viagogo and StubHub let fans resell their tickets.
Sellers can set their own price, which can mean paying over the odds.
Another option is Twickets, which only lets users resell tickets at face value.
These platforms will also charge fees.
We found a Faithless ticket on Viagogo for £62 and there was a £17 booking and handling fee, which adds 27.4% to the ticket price.
A Viagogo spokesperson said: “We operate a safe, secure and regulated global marketplace and offer first-class customer service support. In return, ticket buyers pay a booking fee and ticket sellers pay a service fee.
“Fees vary according to events and are displayed transparently to customers as part of the check-out or listing process. Ticket delivery or postage is calculated at checkout. There are absolutely no hidden fees.
“These fees allow us to implement world-class security measures, protect fans with a money-back guarantee, and provide 24/7 customer service.”
StubHub also had a ticket at £110 with a £29.75 service and delivery fee – an extra 27%.
StubHub has been asked for comment.
Twickets currently charges £40 for a face value ticket, with a £5.60 fee, which adds 14% to the ticket price.
It says it typically charges buyers 10% to 15% of the selling price.
Twickets has been asked for comment.
Tim Hogg, director of consumer group Fairer Finance, says it is vital that firms are transparent about pricing.
He said: “Adding extra fees when the customer gets to the checkout is unfair.
“Fees and charges that are presented as percentages are harder for us to add up.
It’s better when extra fees and charges are presented clearly in pounds and pence.
“We find it easier to make informed decisions when comparing a single price, rather than having to add up multiple fees and charges to work out the total cost for different options. For that reason, firms should minimise the use of extra fees and charges.”