As of July 1, California, New York, and Maryland all have new laws requiring fee transparency for advertised prices. This means that any advertised price for a good or service, including event entry fees, must now include all mandatory fees and charges.
These changes are coming to other states in the future.
What's changed?
In California, New York, and Maryland:
Before: Event registration platforms like athleteReg would show a base price for an event entry or merchandise item and then list additional processing or service fees separately in the cart.
Now: The advertised price on the platform must be the total price participants will pay, including our service fees, or other mandatory add-ons (excluding sales tax that still gets calculated in the cart).
This decision aims to eliminate surprise fees at checkout and allows consumers to make informed decisions about event costs upfront.
If you would like a deeper understanding of this ruling, here are additional resources: