Vivid Seats class action claims company fails to disclose fees added to ticket prices

Vivid Seats class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiff Janine Rubinstein filed a class action lawsuit against Vivid Seats Inc.
• Why: Vivid Seats allegedly violates New York law by failing to disclose fees in the ticket prices it displays on its website.
• Where: The Vivid Seats ticket prices lawsuit was filed in New York federal court.

Vivid Seats Inc. violates New York law by failing to properly disclose full ticket prices with fees on its website, according to a class action lawsuit filed Feb. 25 in New York federal court.

Plaintiff Janine Rubinstein says the Vivid Seats website presents ticket prices for events, leading consumers to believe the displayed price is what they will pay if they purchase the ticket. However, she says, a Vivid Seats fee is disclosed only after the customer selects a ticket.

According to the example used in the class action lawsuit, the Vivid Seats website listed a ticket to a New York Mets baseball game at a cost of $80. However, when the plaintiff selected the ticket, she discovered that a $29.10 fee would be imposed, increasing the total ticket cost by more than 25%. 

These Vivid Seats fees apply to every ticket purchase, Rubinstein says.

Vivid Seats violates New York law by not disclosing fees with ticket prices, plaintiff says

The Vivid Seats class action lawsuit says New York enacted a section of the Arts & Cultural Affairs Law in 2022 that requires entertainment companies to disclose the total cost of tickets, including all applicable fees. The law reportedly specifies that the ticket price “shall not increase during the purchase process.”

Rubinstein asserts the Vivid Seats fees violate New York law because they are only disclosed after the ticket is selected for purchase.

She filed the class action lawsuit on behalf of herself and others who purchased tickets from the Vivid Seats website to any New York-based place of entertainment on or after Aug. 29, 2022. She also seeks to represent a New York subclass.

A separate Vivid Seats class action lawsuit was filed in California in 2022 alleging the ticketing company used “bait-and-switch” tactics by displaying artificially low ticket prices before adding fees at the last step of the transaction.

Do you think Vivid Seats ticket prices are deceptive because the fees are not immediately disclosed? Join the discussion in the comments.

Rubenstein is represented by Philip L. Fraietta and Stefan Bogdanovich of Bursor & Fisher PA and Rachel Edelsberg of Dapeer Law PA.

The Vivid Seats prices class action lawsuit is Janine Rubinstein v. Vivid Seats Inc., Case No. 2:24-cv-01387, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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