Better poultry practices start with consumer demand – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

Last week, Perdue, one of the nation’s largest poultry producers, announced the removal of antibiotics in its hatcheries.  It is the latest action in their 12 year plan to reduce antibiotics in poultry production.  Perdue has been a leader in the industry’s antibiotic reduction efforts, with 95 percent of its chickens never receiving human antibiotics and the remaining 5 percent administered human antibiotics for limited time periods, when prescribed by a veterinarian.  

In hatcheries, eggs are injected with drugs that can prevent common poultry diseases. A common practice is to use antibiotics to prevent infections that come from the hole in the shell left by the injection. Five years after implementation, Perdue eliminated antibiotics by improving cleaning procedures and administering vaccines to laying hens that improved eggs immunity. 

Perdue’s decision comes on the heels of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) guidance for industry recommending the removal of antibiotics used in food for growth promotion.  Perdue already eliminated the use of human antibiotics in feed in 2007.  The guidance, put out in December, is part of a larger plan to reduce antimicrobial resistance.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have quantified the toll antibiotic-resistance infections have on Americans annually, concluding that at least 2 million illnesses and 23,000 deaths are a result of antimicrobial resistance.

Perdue’s decision to eliminate antibiotics in their hatcheries goes beyond any of the FDA’s present industry guidelines. Setting new standards based on consumer demand holds other companies in the industry to improve their procedures.   

There is always more work to be done in ensuring the safest, healthiest animal production.  Antibiotics are still grossly overused in many circumstances and the government has yet to mandate eliminating antibiotic use for growth promotion let alone other practices such as those in hatcheries.  Progress requires engagement not only from government and industry but from consumers who demand safe and healthy foods.

President Obama should act to protect child tobacco farmworkers – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

I bet you knew that a 12-year-old cannot legally buy cigarettes in the US. But did you know that it’s legal in America for the same 12-year-old can work in a tobacco field for 10- to 12- hours a day in 100-degree heat and suffer repeated bouts of nicotine poisoning.

It doesn’t pass the common sense test and President Obama should do something about it. That’s the message sent to the President last Thursday in a letter by the Child Labor Coalition (CLC), a group which the National Consumers League founded 25 years ago to protect child workers from exploitative child labor and dangerous jobs. Sixteen groups, including the NAACP the League of United Latin American Citizens, Oxfam America, and Public Citizen, joined 34 CLC members to urge the White House to take immediate action.

The members of the CLC have long known the dangers of tobacco work for children, but we have a relatively new weapon in our fight to educate the public about this issue: A recent report, “Tobacco’s Hidden Children: Hazardous Child Labor in United States Tobacco Farming,” published by Human Rights Watch found that three quarters of 141 child tobacco workers interviewed in North Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee-–the main tobacco-producing states—reported getting sick while working on US tobacco farms. Many of their symptoms—nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, headaches, and dizziness—are consistent with acute nicotine poisoning (also known as “Green Tobacco Sickness”).

To make matters worse, Human Rights Watch found that three of the four states that produce 90 percent of US tobacco (Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee) have failed to take sufficient measures to enforce the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Field Sanitation Standard. This standard requires workers to be provided with fresh drinking water, hand washing facilities, and toilets. Most of the children interviewed by HRW were not provided with hand washing facilities or toilets, and some were not given sufficient drinking water.  The absence of hand washing facilities significantly increases the risks of nicotine and pesticide exposure.

Using information from the OSHA Integrated Management Information System, HRW reports that from January 2010 to December 2013, Kentucky carried out only eight field inspections in tobacco, Tennessee carried out one field inspection, and Virginia carried out none. Only one of the four major tobacco-producing states – North Carolina – made meaningful attempts to enforce the Field Sanitation Standard, with 143 inspections during the time period, said HRW researchers.

In addition to nicotine, farmworker children may also be absorbing a range of toxic pesticides commonly used in tobacco fields. Children often wear black garbage bags to protect them from these dual exposures but you can imagine what it’s like to wear a plastic bag in the 90- and 100-degree temperatures often found in tobacco fields. And, the work is dangerous. Child tobacco workers often use sharp tools and can work in tobacco drying barns at two-, three- and four-story heights without protective equipment as they balance precariously on the top of beams that may be only one or two inches thick

Signed by 50 organizations, the letter to President Obama represents millions of Americans, including teachers, healthcare professionals, farmworkers, and advocates concerned about the safety, education, and welfare of children, and it asks the president to issue narrowly-tailored regulations to prohibit work by children in tobacco fields and calls on the Department of Labor to conduct targeted field investigations to ensure that no children under 12 are working in the fields illegally.

The letter to the president also calls on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue “health hazard alerts” so that employers will know how they might mitigate risks of nicotine poisoning for their employees. And it cites the need for better data collection to allow an accurate count of the number of children who currently work in US tobacco fields and other farms.

The situation—with children as young as 12 (and HRW found about a dozen kids conducting lighter work in the fields who were under 12)—is so absurd that it proved great material for the satirists at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, who produced a funny, but alarming, report called “Nicoteens.” The clip will make you laugh and allow you to hear young tobacco workers describing the work conditions in their own words.

In June, the CLC sent a letter to the top 10 tobacco companies signed by over 50 organizations, asking for voluntary action to limit tobacco work in the fields. Thus far, no concrete actions to remove children from tobacco fields have been initiated by the companies.

In 2011, the Obama Administration acted to implement regulations to protect working children from farm dangers, including tobacco work, but those rules were withdrawn because of opposition from the farm community. CLC members fought hard for those comprehensive protections, but were no match for the resources of the agricultural lobby. The wholesale withdrawal of occupational child safety regulations for farms left child workers in tobacco vulnerable to nicotine poisoning, pesticide poisoning, and other dangers. It’s time to fix this glaring consequence of the administration’s complete pullback and move forward to protect children in tobacco fields.

Readers who wish to send a quick note to the White House about this issue should go here.

A bill, HR 5327, in the House of Representatives, recently introduced by Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) would classify tobacco work as hazardous labor, allowing the USDOL to ban work by children under 16. We encourage consumers to call or write their member of Congress and ask them to cosponsor the bill.

It’s time to stop the madness. We need your help.

Happy Labor Day! – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

So far in 2014, labor advocates have celebrated an unusual number of victories. For 115 years NCL has fought for improved workplace protections, basic safety standards, and the empowerment of American workers. We are very happy that at this year’s Trumpeter Dinner, we continue on this long tradition of recognizing our labor leaders by honoring Richard Trumka, President of AFL-CIO.

Here in Washington, DC, NCL has been fighting to see the passage of important measures that will improve the lives of workers in the city. These include: 

  • Passage of DC’s new minimum wage law that went into effect July 1, 2014. The new law immediately raised the minimum wage to $9.50 and the wage will continue to increase until it reaches $11.50 over the next two years.
  • Passage of DC’s new Paid Sick and Safe Days law which into effect February 22, 2014. The new law closed the loophole in DC’s original law and now includes tipped workers and workers who have been on the job for less than one year.
  • Passage of DC’s new Wage Theft law that increases penalties on repeat labor offenders (employers), allows better legal access for victims, and creates a stronger system for DC’s Department of Wage & Hour investigations.

Nationally, NCL is part of a variety of coalitions that celebrated many important victories. These include: 

  • Presidential Executive Orders: After continued pressure from labor groups and fellow advocates, President Obama signed a host of labor related Executive Orders for federal contractors. These included: raising the minimum wage to $10.10, protecting LGBT workers from discrimination, raising the bar on federal contractors to disqualify labor violators from receiving federal contracts, retaliation protections for workers who share their salary information, instructing the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to collect wage information from federal contractors including gender to further study the wage gap.
  • NCL participated in the planning and attended the White House Working Families Summit in July.
  • NCL wrote and submitted official comments on a variety of rules, including: DOL’s Family Medical Leave Act’s ‘spouse’ definition rule, OSHA’s record keeping rule, OSHA’s silica rule, OFCCP’s pregnancy discrimination complaint form, and the increase to the minimum wage for federal contract workers.
  • NCL also testified in support of strengthening the OSHA silica rule. 
  • In addition, NCL continued its work on federal economic security bills: the Health Families Act (paid sick days), the FAMILY Act (paid family & medical leave), the Paycheck Fairness Act (retaliation protection for workers sharing salary info – wage gap), and the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act (accommodations for pregnant workers).

There is much to cheer about and, all in all, we think it’s been a banner year for improving workers’ lives. There is, however, much work to be done, and Labor Day is a time to be optimistic about a future with more labor victories. We will continue to fight for better workplaces including: 

  • Creating stronger protections for all workers especially LGBT and pregnant workers.
  • Advocating for more cities and states to increase their local minimum wage.
  • Advancing city and state paid sick days campaigns.
  • Watching and participating in the Peggy Young v. UPS Supreme Court case. UPS refused to grant Peggy Young workplace accommodations (light duty) while she was 3 months pregnant, even though UPS grants accommodations to injured or disabled workers.

This Labor Day, while spending the day at the pool or hanging out barbequing with friends, please take a moment to think about the struggles of working Americans and hopefully thank one too.

NCL statement on bank data breach – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

August 29, 2014

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC-The National Consumers League reacted to the recent news that hackers infiltrated the security systems of the nation’s largest bank, JPMorgan Chase, as well as four additional smaller banks by reiterating the need for major legislative reforms to protect consumer information. This call to action is the mission of NCL’s latest campaign — the #DataInsecurity Project — to raise awareness about the impact of data breaches on consumer confidence in the marketplace.

NCL’s Executive Director, Sally Greenberg, stated “Like the rest of the public, we are just learning that yet another major American institution, this time one of the nation’s largest banks, has reportedly fallen victim to a sophisticated hacking scheme. This underscores the need for comprehensive federal legislation ondata security that includes a) breach notification to consumers whose accounts have been potentially compromised; b) requirements that companies use state of the art data security technologies, c)empowers federal enforcement agencies like the FTC,” NCL is calling for a national consensus to act and we need to agree on a roadmap to getting there. This involves consumers, business, government and law enforcement sitting down and committing to a process.

NCL has hosted meetings in Miami, Los Angeles and Chicago this summer and hopes to hold a similar meeting in Minneapolis to examine the impact of data breaches on consumers and what steps can be taken to address this massive and growing problem. “Consumers are asked to hand over more and more private financial and personal data to big institutions like banks, retail establishments and government.Consumers must be confident that their data receives the best possible protections to ensure that thisinformation is not getting into the wrong hands,” Greenberg said. NCL is calling on Congress, federal agencies, state attorneys general and other regulatory and law enforcement bodies to develop and adopt robust policies to protect the public’s information

###

About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

NCL applauds Microsoft disassociation with ALEC – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

August 27, 2014

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League (NCL) is applauding Microsoft and AstraZeneca’s recent decision to end its association with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The following statement is attributable to Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director:

“ALEC has been at the forefront of efforts to roll back some of our nation’s most important consumer and worker protections on issues such as telecommunications deregulation, the Affordable Care Act, Wall Street reform, “right to work,” state usury caps, and more. We encourage other companies that express a commitment to consumer and worker protection to follow Microsoft and AstraZeneca’s lead and consider disassociating themselves from ALEC.”

###

About the National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

Clinton’s “Hard Choices” a commitment to U.S. values when interacting with other nations – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

In Hillary Clinton’s fascinating new memoir “Hard Choices” about her work as Secretary of State under President Obama, she devotes a section to the issue of what she calls a “more open trading system,” arguing that it has lifted “more people out of poverty in the last thirty five years than any comparable time in history.” She quickly adds, knowing that the labor movement has looked with dismay at so called “free trade agreements” that have shipped jobs overseas to places where the pay is a fraction of ours, that she is “determined to do everything [she can] do to help American businesses and workers seize more of the legitimate opportunities already available.”

I was glad to read from the woman who may be the first viable female candidate for President that she puts a priority on raising standards in foreign markets on key issues like labor rights and environmental protection. She also notes that, “For too long we’d seen companies closing factories and leaving the United States because they could do business more cheaply in foreign countries where they didn’t have to pay workers a living wage or abide by U.S. rules on pollution.” In response, she believes that “using diplomacy and trade negotiations to raise standards abroad could help change that calculus.”

These are exactly the concerns that consumer groups have expressed through the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue about the trade negotiations between the European Union Countries and the U.S.. We want our safety, health, and environmental regulations strengthened – not watered down – through the negotiation process.

Clinton feels “particularly passionate about improving working conditions around the world” and that she had met workers, “many of them women and even children, who labored under atrocious conditions.” Her observation that the most “heartbreaking were victims of human trafficking and forced labor that amounts to modern-day slavery,” hit close to home given NCL’s history of working to eradicate child labor. She talks about a meeting with women workers coordinated by the Solidarity Center in Cambodia. The Solidarity Center is an active member of the Child Labor Coalition, which NCL coordinates. She talked about children forced to “tend fields, bake bricks, and beg in the street,” and the scourge of child trafficking for sex. She event mentions her appointment of Ambassador Luis CdeBaca to “ramp up our global anti-trafficking efforts,” which he has done with a passion. Indeed, CdeBaca spoke at a recent CLC meeting about his work.

Finally, I loved that Clinton gave inspiration to labor activists in Bangladesh by reflecting on our own U.S. labor history, noting “You go back to the 19th and early 20th century when labor unions were just getting started…we passed laws at the beginning of the 20th century against child labor, against too many hours for people to work, but that took time. It took time to develop a sense of political will to address those issues.”

Clinton has written an important book but it’s also a page-turner. I learned more about how the U.S. makes decisions about foreign policy from this one tome – at 600 pages it IS a tome – than from anything else I’ve read. But most satisfying for me was the acknowledgement she gives to keeping front and center some core U.S. values – workers’ rights, safety, and environmental protection concerns in our interactions with nations abroad.

 

 

Women and families to tell lawmakers: #WEmatter – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

August 22, 2014

For immediate release: August 22, 2014
Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC – A growing number of people are calling for action to promote the economic security of women and families, building on the momentum and activism seen at the local, state and national levels so far this year, including at the first ever White House Summit on Working Families. 

Under the umbrella #WEmatter, organizations and individuals nationwide are taking to social media on Women’s Equality Day, August 26 – the 94th anniversary of the day Congress stopped denying women the right to vote.  Together, the groups aim to send a message to lawmakers: Women’s economic issues – and their votes – matter. The groups believe economic security is intrinsically linked to community security and in the midst of the tragedy of Ferguson, #WEmatter raises an important vision of economic, gender, and racial justice.

#WEmatter represents a unified call for action and accountability that is not limited to a single issue or policy prescription. Instead, the effort recognizes that a range of policy changes, such as fair pay, paid leave, fair schedules, quality care and an end to gender and racial discrimination, are needed to strengthen families and the economy.  

#WEmatter brings together a large and diverse group of individuals, organizations and coalitions currently working on a spectrum of issues with one common goal: ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.

Groups joining the effort include: 9to5, National Association of Working Women; American Association of University Women; A Better Balance; AFSCME; Black Women’s Roundtable; Center on Law and Social Policy (CLASP); Color of Change; Family Values @ Work and its 21 state coalitions; Interfaith Worker Justice; Labor Project for Working Families; Liz Shuler, AFL-CIO; Make It Work; Mi Familia Vota; MomsRising; National Consumers League; National Council of Jewish Women; National Domestic Workers Alliance; National Employment Law Project; National Partnership for Women & Families; National Women’s Law Center; OUR Walmart; Reproductive Health Technologies Project; ROC-United; UltraViolet; USAction; Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund; Working America. (List in formation.)

Individuals interested in following the movement on social media or learning more should follow #WEmatter on Twitter.  

###

About the National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

NCL applauds Sen. Rockefeller for investigating airline fees – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

August 20, 2014

For immediate release: August 20, 2014
Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League, the nation’s oldest consumer advocacy organization, today applauded Senator Jay Rockefeller for opening an inquiry into airline passenger fees and consumer data privacy policies.

Last year, NCL published a groundbreaking report examining the troubling correlation between rising cancellation/change fees, the high cost of refundable tickets and the misleading marketing of travel insurance products. Among the recommendations in the report was a call for Congressional oversight hearings to examine these issues. NCL is therefore particularly encouraged by Senator Rockefeller’s request for information from ten major U.S. airlines about cancellation and change fees and travel insurance revenues.

The following statement is attributable to Sally Greenberg, National Consumers League (NCL) Executive Director:

“Consumers are fed up with the ever-growing list of add-on fees that airlines are piling on top of basic airfares. These fees are contributing to record airline industry profits at a time when consumers’ travel budgets remain strapped due to the sluggish economic recovery. To make matters worse, many of these fees are poorly disclosed and the sale of travel of travel insurance and the coverage it provides is deceptively advertised. This makes comparison-shopping all but impossible for millions of American travelers. We applaud Senator Rockefeller for launching this important investigation and look forward to a robust accounting of the impact of these fees and deceptive insurance products on consumers.”

###

About the National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

NCL releases consumer guide to buying fall concert, NFL tickets online – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

August 19, 2014

For immediate release: August 19, 2014
Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC – With many of the top recording artists on tour through the fall and the NFL season about to kickoff, the National Consumers League (NCL) today released a “Practical Guide to Buying Live Event and Sports Tickets” to help fans navigate the often confusing and cumbersome process of buying tickets online.

Once as easy as going to the box office, stadium, or the local record store, buying tickets to live event and sporting events has become a maze of ticket websites, resellers, online classified ads, and street vendors all competing for consumer dollars.

“We want to make sure fans have the information they need to make the best ticket buying decisions; we also want to raise awareness about anti-consumer practices in the ticketing industry,” said NCL’s Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud John Breyault. “For example, fans should be on the lookout for restricted ticketing, undisclosed price floors, and deceptive websites that lure unsuspecting fans into buying resale tickets. NCL has developed a list of tips that will help consumers find their way through this thicket of potential problems.”  

Restricted ticketing, which ties the consumer’s ticket to their credit card and ID, makes it difficult, if not impossible, for consumers to transfer their tickets or share them. And the 30 million Americans who do not have a credit or debit card can’t even purchase this type of ticket in the first place.

“We think consumers should have the right to choose what they do with their tickets after purchase. If plans change, no one should have to lose 100 percent of the ticket value because they can’t give it away or resell it,” added Breyault.

In addition, some resale marketplaces, such as Ticketmaster’s TicketExchange, limit how low a ticket can be priced. That’s an outrageous practice. This price floor is not disclosed to consumers, who might think they’re getting a reasonable deal; in reality, there may be cheaper tickets available on other sites that don’t control prices.

However, when shopping for tickets online, particularly when doing an Internet search, consumers should be sure they know where they are buying their tickets from and whether it is a reseller or the box office that they are doing business with.

“Some ticket resellers create websites that pose as a box office or the official ticket seller. These are deceptive, and consumers should take the time to make sure they know if they are buying a resale ticket or not,” said Breyault.

To avoid these pitfalls and others, NCL suggests following these seven steps:

  1. Read the Fine Print: Artists are increasingly selling restricted tickets, also known as paperless or Credit Card Entry tickets, which require the buyer to show up at the stadium and present the purchasing credit card and photo ID. The premise for creation of the restricted ticket is to prevent scalping; the unintended consequence for consumers is that they cannot even give or resell a ticket to a friend since the buyer’s credit card is required to get the ticket at the venue. The fine print indicates these tickets are nontransferable and cannot be given away as gifts or resold. Consumers can easily miss this important information unless they pay close attention during the ticket buying process.
  2. Look into Presales: Popular artists, venues, and ticket vendors tend to allocate large blocks of tickets to fan club members, VIPs, premium credit card holders, and personal acquaintances, leaving only a small portion of tickets to the general public. For example, a 2011 Justin Bieber concert in Nashville, only made 1,001 out of 14,000 seats available to the general public.
  3. Beware of Hidden Price Floors: When purchasing resale tickets on secondary sites, check multiple sources to make sure you get the best price. Some teams and ticket vendors dictate the minimum price that tickets can be sold for, preventing consumers from buying tickets at the cheapest price possible.
  4. Use Reliable Sellers: If you’re unsure whether a company is legitimate, check its ratings with the Better Business Bureau. Also be sure to be certain as to whether you are buying tickets from the box office, official ticket agent, or a reseller. Some ticket resellers hide the fact that they are a reseller or even pose to look like the official ticket agent. If purchasing from a ticket broker, check to see if it is a member of the National Association of Ticket Brokers, whose Code of Ethics requires members to adhere to basic consumer protections. Be careful buying tickets from Craigslist or resellers on the street since these outlets do not have refund policies or any solid consumer protections.
  5. Check your ticket vendor’s guarantee policy: For example, websites like StubHub, TicketExchange, Ace Tickets, and members of the National Association of Ticket Brokers guarantee every ticket sold on their sites and will replace them or provide refunds to consumers if the event that they receive the wrong tickets, their tickets are invalid, or an event is cancelled.
  6. Buy with a Credit Card: Regardless of where you buy tickets, be sure to use a credit card so you can dispute any unfair or unauthorized charges. Before entering your credit card information online, double check the company’s URL to ensure you don’t get duped by an imposter and be sure the site has “https://” at the beginning of its address.
  7. Check if the Price Includes Additional Fees: Unlike airline tickets, which are now required by law to disclose all taxes and additional fees upfront, the ticket price listed at the start of the purchasing process will likely not be your final price. If you are shopping between multiple websites to compare prices, make sure you know if you are comparing ticket prices that include fees.

###

About the National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

Practical guide to buying live event and sports tickets – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

With fall concert series being announced, the NFL season ready to kick off, and MLB playoffs just around the corner, it is a great time to be a live music and sports fan. However, ticket sellers such as Ticketmaster, artists, sports teams, and venues do not always have consumers’ best interests at heart. NCL wants to make sure fans have the information they need to make the best ticket buying decisions they can.

Below are just a few of the anti-consumer practices we want consumers to be aware of.

Restricted ticketing

A growing number of artists, including Eric Church, Arcade Fire, and The Black Keys are using credit card entry or “paperless” ticketing this summer and fall for the most desirable seats in the house. Garth Brooks, who is going back on the road for the first time in 12 years, is using restricted ticketing for his upcoming tour.

This ticketing system replaces a paper ticket, a PDF, or a print-at-home ticket with the original purchaser’s credit card and photo ID and the tickets are non-transferable.  If you purchased tickets to your favorite concert and then had to change your plans because of a work or family emergency, you are now stuck with tickets you cannot use, resell, or even give away. And if you are one of the 30 million Americans who do not have a credit or debit card, you won’t be able to purchase this type of ticket in the first place.

In addition, because restricted ticketing may only apply to the best seats, it decreases the supply of tickets available on the secondary market, inevitably leading to higher prices.

Undisclosed price floors

Often times the secondary market can provide consumers with great deals on sports tickets. Unfortunately, some ticket resale websites, such as Ticketmaster’s TicketExchange, set an arbitrary minimum on the price of tickets. For example, the Buffalo Bills TicketExchange sets its price floor at face value, even for pre-season games. For the pre-season game against the Detroit Lions, a ticket in Section 139 with a face value of $58 can only be listed on TicketExchange for $58, while SeatGeek showed other resale sites selling tickets for as low as $3. And of course, there is no notice to unsuspecting fans that such a price floor exists.

In addition, last year, the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim opted out of Major League Baseball’s deal with StubHub because the resale website would not allow the teams to set a price floor.

Deceptive websites

For too long, unscrupulous ticket resellers have been taking advantage of unsuspecting consumers and deceiving consumers into believing they are purchasing a ticket from the box office website or official primary ticket seller at face value. These resellers use Internet ads or other advertising, along with pictures of the venue and descriptions such as “official” tickets, to dupe consumers.

The Federal Trade Commission and the Connecticut Attorney General recently settled a $1.4 million case with a group of ticket resale websites for violating the FTC Act and the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.

This is a strong step in the right direction towards protecting consumers from unfair practices, while still allowing good actors in the secondary market to offer consumers choices and flexibility when purchasing live event and sports tickets.

To help fans avoid these, and other common, ticket-buying pitfalls, the National Consumers League (NCL) developed the following tips and suggestions.

  1. Read the Fine Print: Artists are increasingly selling restricted tickets, also known as paperless or Credit Card Entry tickets, which require the buyer to show up at the stadium and present the purchasing credit card and photo ID. The fine print indicates these tickets are nontransferable and cannot be given away as gifts or resold. Consumers can easily miss this important information unless they pay close attention during the ticket buying process.
  2. Look into Presales: Popular artists, venues, and ticket vendors tend to allocate large blocks of tickets to fan club members, VIPs, premium credit card holders, and personal acquaintances, leaving only a small portion of tickets to the general public. For example, a 2011 Justin Bieber concert in Nashville, only made 1,001 out of 14,000 seats available to the general public.
  3. Beware of Hidden Price Floors: When purchasing resale tickets on secondary sites, check multiple sources to make sure you get the best price. Some teams and ticket vendors dictate the minimum price that tickets can be sold for, preventing consumers from buying tickets at the cheapest price possible.
  4. Use Reliable Sellers: If you’re unsure whether a company is legitimate, check its ratings with the Better Business Bureau. Also be sure to be certain as to whether you are buying tickets from the box office, official ticket agent, or a reseller. Some ticket resellers hide the fact that they are a reseller or even pose to look like the official ticket agent. If purchasing from a ticket broker, check to see if it is a member of the National Association of Ticket Brokers, whose Code of Ethics requires members to adhere to basic consumer protections. Be especially careful buying tickets from Craigslist or resellers on the street since they offer no refund guarantees.
  5. Check your ticket vendor’s guarantee policy: For example, websites like StubHub, TicketExchange, Ace Tickets, and members of the National Association of Ticket Brokers guarantee every ticket sold on their sites and will replace them or provide refunds to consumers if the event that they receive the wrong tickets, their tickets are invalid, or an event is cancelled.
  6. Buy with a Credit Card: Regardless of where you buy tickets, be sure to use a credit card so you can dispute any unfair or unauthorized charges. Before entering your credit card information online, double check the company’s URL to ensure you don’t get duped by an imposter and be sure the site has “https://” at the beginning of its address.
  7. Check if the Price Includes Additional Fees: Unlike airline tickets, which are now required by law to disclose all taxes and additional fees upfront, the ticket price listed at the start of the purchasing process will likely not be your final price. If you are shopping between multiple websites to compare prices, make sure you know if you are comparing ticket prices that include fees.