Washington, D.C. — On the heels of President Biden’s call to ban junk fees during the State of the Union, the American Economic Liberties Project – along with the Consumer Federation of America, Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, Consumer Action, Free Press, the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumers League, and Travelers United – today submitted a written comment to the Federal Trade Commission in response to a request for information about how the commission should the address these unfair and deceptive surcharges.

“The bane of every consumer experience and a detriment to fair competition, junk fees have become a defining, frustrating, and costly feature of the American shopping experience,” said Katherine Van Dyck, Senior Legal Counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Junk fees bog down the purchasing experience, mislead consumers, and discourage honest businesses from succeeding in the advertising space. We urge the Federal Trade Commission to pass broader enforcement rules — not piecemeal regulatory approaches — in order to stop these practices in their tracks and eradicate junk fees.”

Junk fees artificially increase prices, exacerbate inflation, and harm competition across our economy. They also reward firms that find the most deceptive way to advertise their prices. Sellers hide them until the last minute to conceal the true cost of the goods and services they are selling. And the end result is a confusing marketplace, where buyers cannot take advertised prices at face value or comparison shop with any efficiency. The Coalition proposes an “all-in” pricing rule that would require sellers to disclose the full price, including any mandatory fees, at the beginning of the shopping experience and in any advertising for the good or service.

Read the full comment letter to the Federal Trade Commission here. 

Learn more about the Break Up Ticketmaster Coalition here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.