The Price is Right - new Help Note on Ticket Pricing
25 October 2004
The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) has drawn up new guidelines for marketing communications for concerts, theatre productions and other ticket-based events after concern about discrepancies between advertised prices and the amount consumers end up paying. CAP has drawn up guidelines to help advertisers promoting ticket-based events ensure that prices are more transparent to consumers.
The new Help Note on Ticket Pricing states that:
- The face value of a ticket should be quoted in marketing communications only if no extra charges are applicable when buying tickets via any of the purchasing routes promoted in the advertisement.
- If an extra charge is applicable, irrespective of the method of buying a ticket, the price quoted in an advertisement should include that charge.
- If marketing communications give consumers several methods of obtaining tickets (e.g. by post, telephone or online), all of which involve an extra charge but the amount of the charge differs according to the purchase route, the range of prices at which tickets can be bought should be stated. The lowest quoted price in the advertisement should include the minimum extra charge.
- If extra charges are unavoidable, but cannot be attributed to each ticket (e.g. if a booking fee applies irrespective of the number of tickets bought), marketing communications must state prominently that the extra charge exists and quote how much that charge is.
Andrew Brown, Chairman of CAP said "This Help Note will help those promoting ticket-based events to ensure that their ads are more helpful by stating clearly what consumers will have to pay to attend those events. The existence of extra charges can significantly affect the amount that consumers are required to pay in comparison with what they were expecting to pay. By making clear their pricing structures, advertisers operating in this field should find they have fewer instances of disappointed customers who believe they have been misled about the cost of attending ticket-based entertainment events."
