Geoff Logan was taken aback when he went to buy his daughter a ticket to a cricket match, only to find that the service fee cost more than admission itself.
The Tasmanian father told SBS News his six-year-old daughter was "super excited" to use her $5 weekly pocket money to watch Australia v England in the Women's Ashes at Hobart's Bellerive Oval earlier this month with friends of theirs.
While tickets for those aged under 15 were $5, ticketing company Ticketek's service fee came in at $7.65. For adult tickets, the cost was greater than the service fee.
Logan posted about his experience on the online forum Reddit, saying he understood the practice wasn't illegal but labelling it "greedy".
Ticketek's terms and conditions say it acts as an agent that sells tickets, but event organisers or venues decide how much they will cost.
Australian players celebrate taking a wicket against England in their Women's Ashes match at Hobart's Bellerive Oval on Friday. Source: AAP / Linda Higginson
It comes amid growing frustration at ticketing platforms over what have been labelled hidden fees, an issue the federal government says it wants to tackle.
'Wasn't obvious'
Logan told SBS News he was aware service fees are a "global phenomenon" but said he was shocked by the extra charges, and claimed the fee "certainly wasn't obvious anywhere on the website".
When SBS News viewed the Ticketek booking page for another match, the pricing and fee information — which references the service fee — was on the bottom of the page when booking on mobile, and the right-hand side on desktop under the ticket options.
Logan said that rather than spending the money online, he went with his daughter to the stadium.
"We went to the ticket office and [got] human service, a very friendly person, and there was no service fee," he said.
"It was a bit strange having to pay a service fee for an online service versus an actual human."
A Ticketek spokesperson said the one-off service fee was charged regardless of how many tickets were bought.
They said the average number of tickets per transaction for that match was six, and children's tickets were the only ones priced at $5.
Responding to Logan's Reddit post, another user said when they went to secure free tickets to the 2021 AFLW grand final they were faced with a service fee that was "around $8".
Promotional material from the time says tickets for those under 18 years old were free, though SBS News was not able to confirm the service fee charged at that time. Tickets for older attendees were $10.
What's in a service fee — and are they fair?
Ticketek says on its website that its service and handling fees cover "the end-to-end service delivery, from the time of purchase through to staffing at events, technology and support".
Live Nation's Ticketmaster, Ticketek's primary competition in Australia, also has handling fees — and like Ticketek, they are applied per transaction.
Ticketmaster states on its website the fees cover the costs of "providing ticketing services, including things like infrastructure costs and operating on an internet site".
Tom Abourizk, head of policy at consumer advocacy group CHOICE, said service fees could be a form of drip pricing — a sales tactic where the headline price increases as extra fees are added throughout the purchasing process.
But it's a "little more grey" if the fee is applied per transaction, rather than per ticket.
He said this grey area is a sign of the need for reform.
"One of the things CHOICE has been calling for is a broad ban on unfair trading practices where technically legal practices are still really dodgy and shouldn't be allowed," Abourizk said.
"If this father was being advertised that these tickets were $5 each and in reality, there was no way to pay for them for that [price] ... we think that sort of information should be displayed upfront.
"No one should be advertising the tickets at $5 if the least you can pay for them is $12.95."
He said sometimes these fees can be "excessive and pretty unreasonable".
Federal government action
In October last year, the to ban practices it said are "ripping off Australians".
"From concert tickets to hotel rooms and gym memberships, Australians are fed up with businesses using tricky tactics that make it difficult to end subscriptions or add hidden fees to purchases," a government press release said.
Among the practices targeted, the government said it would be focusing on "drip pricing tactics where fees are hidden or added throughout the stages of a purchase".
The government said that after consultation with Treasury on the design of legislation, it would work with states and territories to settle a reform proposal in the first half of this year.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government was taking "strong action to stop businesses from engaging in dodgy practices" when announcing the reform plans.
"Hidden fees and traps are putting even more pressure on the cost of living and it needs to stop."
