New York CNN —Millions of sports fans and concertgoers are being duped by a deceptive pricing scheme at StubHub that hides the true cost of tickets until the very last moment, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by Washington, DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb. The lawsuit accuses StubHub of deploying pricing tactics that “trick” consumers into overpaying for tickets and are designed to boost profits. “StubHub uses a classic bait-and-switch scheme,” the lawsuit said, describing what’s known as “drip pricing” where only part of the product’s price is advertised initially. “We strongly support federal and state solutions that enhance existing laws to empower consumers, such as requiring all-in pricing uniformly across platforms.”According to the lawsuit, StubHub did use an “all-in pricing” model from 2014 to 2015 where the advertised prices included the mandatory fees. However, the company abandoned that more transparent model after testing found that customers were more likely to ultimately buy tickets when those fees are only shown at the end, the lawsuit said.

---

Persons: Brian Schwalb, StubHub, “, ” Schwalb, John Lawrence, ”, ” Lawrence Organizations: New, New York CNN, DC Locations: New York, Washington, DC