Drip pricing: what it is and how to show your full price

You see a price. You click through. Two screens later, it’s higher. That’s drip pricing: the first price leaves out charges you can’t avoid, and they show up one step at a time.

For a small shop, it can happen by accident. A booking fee gets added in the payment step. A service charge lives in a settings file nobody reopens. This guide covers what the UK and US rules say, what two regulators decided in 2026, and how to check your own checkout in five minutes.

What drip pricing means

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) describes drip pricing as prices added as a customer moves through a purchase. The customer sees a low headline number. Mandatory charges arrive later, and by then they’ve picked their lessons, their seats or their plan.

The word to watch is mandatory. The CMA says a fee is mandatory when the customer must pay it to buy the product. Delivery, VAT, booking fees and resort charges are its examples. Optional charges, like a next-day delivery upgrade, can sit apart from the headline price.

What the UK rule asks for

The rule sits in section 230 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Its title is omission of material information from an invitation to purchase, and it has applied since 6 April 2025. It defines the total price as including “any fees, taxes, charges or other payments that the consumer will necessarily incur” to buy.

When you can’t work out the total in advance, the same section asks you to give people what they need to work it out. That information has to be set out with as much prominence as the price itself.

The CMA’s guidance turns this into practical rules. These are the ones a small online business meets most often:

• Delivery: Standard delivery is mandatory. If the customer has to choose between delivery options, include the cheapest until they pick another.
• Per-transaction fees: A flat booking fee belongs in early-stage advertising and in “from” prices.
• Subscriptions: A rolling monthly plan shows the total the customer pays each month.
• Local taxes: Include them in the total, or show a “pay now, pay locally” split.

The CMA can fine up to 10% of turnover, or £300,000, whichever is greater, and order refunds.

Two decisions from 2026

Two of the CMA’s 2026 decisions show the pattern. In both, a fee was mandatory and it appeared late.

A booking fee on driving lessons

On 15 April 2026 the CMA ordered the AA and BSM driving schools to pay a £4.2 million penalty and to refund learners. Between April and December 2025, a mandatory £3 booking fee wasn’t in the price shown first. New customers saw the full price only at checkout, after picking lessons and times and entering personal details.

The refunds came to more than £760,000, paid to over 80,000 learners. That’s about £9 each. The original penalty was set at £7 million and cut after an early settlement.

The CMA’s chief executive, Sarah Cardell, put it in one line: If a fee is mandatory, the law is clear: it must be included in the price from the very start.

The fee was £3. Across 80,000 learners, it added up.

Delivery and service fees on tickets

On 23 June 2026 the CMA announced a decision on StubHub UK. From 6 April to 7 December 2025, the site showed ticket prices without mandatory delivery and service fees. Those were added at checkout. The penalty was £889,200, after a 40% reduction for settling early. Over £590,000 went back to 51,350 customers.

The CMA’s wording is plain too: It’s not fair to draw people in with what looks like a good deal, only for them to find the real price is higher when they get to the checkout due to extra charges that can’t be avoided.

What the US rules cover

The US has no single drip pricing law. It has a federal rule for two industries and a patchwork of state laws.

The FTC’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees took effect on 12 May 2025. Its FAQ says it applies to live-event tickets and short-term lodging, including platforms, resellers and travel agents. The FTC’s announcement says sellers must disclose the true total price inclusive of all mandatory fees. A software or retail shop sits outside it.

SB 478 has applied since 1 July 2024. The state’s Attorney General says it requires the price listed to include all mandatory fees, with exceptions for government taxes, reasonable shipping and fees for optional services. It applies to online and in-store businesses alike. A fee shown later doesn’t fix a lower price shown first.

If you sell to Californians, SB 478 is the one most likely to reach you.

A five-minute check for your checkout

You don’t need a tool for this. Use a phone, because that’s where most people see your checkout.

1. Write down the first price. Open your pricing or product page and note the number a new visitor sees first.
2. Walk to the payment step. Pick the cheapest option each time and stop before you pay. Note the total.
3. Compare the two. If the total is higher, look at why. Delivery everyone pays, a service charge, a booking fee and a platform fee are mandatory, so they belong in the first price.
4. Keep the optional extras apart. Gift wrap, express delivery and add-ons the customer picks can stay separate.
5. Check subscriptions. Show what a person pays each month, or the full total for a fixed term with its length.
6. Check the “from” price. If you show “from €X”, it should include the cheapest delivery option and any flat fee.

If you can’t know the total in advance, say how it’s worked out and set that next to the price, at the same size. The UK section asks for exactly that.

Peeky reads the public pages of your site. For pricing steps and late-added costs, the checks are UK-14 and US-08 in the Rulebook, and EU-12 for urgency and scarcity messages in the EU.

Questions people ask

Is drip pricing allowed?

In the UK, no. The CMA's guidance tells businesses to show the total price of the product up front, and the Act has applied since 6 April 2025. In the US it depends on the state and the industry. California's SB 478 covers most businesses, and a federal rule covers live-event tickets and short-term lodging.

What counts as a mandatory fee?

The CMA treats a charge as mandatory when the customer must pay it to buy the product. Delivery, VAT and booking fees are its examples. A paid upgrade the customer picks, like next-day delivery, is optional and can be shown separately.

Does the FTC fees rule apply to my software business?

The rule's own FAQ says it covers live-event tickets and short-term lodging. A software shop sits outside it, but California's price law applies to most businesses, online ones included.

How should I show a monthly price?

For a rolling monthly plan, the CMA says to show the total price the customer will pay each month. A fixed-term plan shows either the cumulative total or the monthly price with the contract length.