Podcast Summary

Special Ops with Emma Rainville

Episode: New FTC Law Bans Hidden Fees: How to Make Your Checkout Compliant in 2025
Date: September 5, 2025
Host: Emma Rainville
Guest: Ryan Poteed, Compliance Expert at Gordon Reese

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the FTC’s new "junk fee" rule, which bans hidden fees during the online checkout process and mandates transparent, upfront pricing. Emma Rainville and compliance expert Ryan Poteed break down what this means for businesses—especially those in ticketing, hospitality, and e-commerce—highlighting compliance pitfalls and practical steps for updating your pricing and checkout flows before the law takes effect on May 12, 2025. The discussion is packed with real-world examples, actionable checklists, and advice for ensuring your marketing stays on the right side of new regulations.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Hidden Fees: A Persistent Consumer Problem (00:00–03:30)

• The episode starts with real-life stories of misleading pricing:
  • Emma and Ryan share personal experiences with online ticket and hotel purchases, where the initial price balloons at checkout due to hidden fees.
  • Ryan: “When I go to checkout and [Hamilton tickets are] over $890 a ticket because of all the extra fees that it didn't tell me about. So frustrating.” (00:12)
  • They echo common consumer frustration about "bait and switch" tactics.

2. What the New FTC Rule Requires (03:31–05:18)

• The new FTC regulation outlaws "drip pricing"—the practice of revealing mandatory fees late in the checkout process.
• Emma: “The FTC came out and basically said, cut it out. Needs to be clear. Conspicuous, all necessary fees… Transparency is your new competitive advantage.” (00:21, 01:49)
• The rule applies to live events, hotels, short-term lodging platforms, and any direct-to-consumer businesses charging mandatory fees.

3. What Counts as a Fee and What Has to Be Disclosed? (05:18–09:41)

• Mandatory fees—anything the consumer must pay to complete a purchase—must be included in the advertised price.
• Exceptions include taxes and state-mandated regulatory fees, which can still be added at checkout.
• Fees must have genuine value; superfluous or "junk" fees (like dubious “shipping insurance”) must be upfront and substantiated.
• Ryan: “If you're putting it in people's cart, that's going to be an issue. You want to make sure that they're affirmatively adding it to their cart so it's their decision to add it.” (07:50)

Example:

• Charging a mandatory $9.99 "shipping protection" fee that doesn’t actually confer tangible value or appears redundant will be scrutinized.

4. E-Commerce Checkout Compliance: Practical Scenarios (08:08–11:19)

• Ryan describes deceptive practices using Apple Pay or third-party payment popups where the final price quietly includes extra fees.
• Ryan: “You could end up paying $52 because your insurance, your shipping costs, your nonsense all gets baked into Apple Pay. That's not going to be allowed anymore either. That's tricky.” (08:29)
• All required fees must be visible before the final checkout step—no surprises.
• Direct response e-commerce brands must revise ad copy and listings to ensure all non-optional charges are visible before purchase.

5. Audit and Update: Compliance Checklist (12:01–13:43)

Ryan’s recommended compliance checklist:

• Audit Customer Touchpoints: Verify the total price (including fees) is prominent everywhere the customer could see a price.
• Update Ads & Creatives: Use total cost, not a deceptively low base price.
• Team Training: Ensure all sales, design, dev, and support teams understand new requirements.
  • Ryan: “Train your team… on new pricing language, compliance, especially sales, design and development.” (12:10)
• Monitor Enforcement: Track FTC and state actions for emerging best practices.
  • Ryan: “Set alerts for enforcement, track FTC warning letters, state ag actions, and consumer litigation.” (12:27)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Emma (01:49): “This has been long overdue. Do you see something online? This sparkly new object, right? $3 a night at Caesar's Palace… then all of a sudden you get to check out and it's like, what, 300 bucks? Anything that the consumer has to buy, whether it's a concert ticket, whether it's a dietary supplement… needs to be clear. Conspicuous, all necessary fees.”
• Ryan (04:00): “Well, it needs to be clear. Conspicuous up front. You can't bury this somewhere. And it's… all necessary fees.”
• Emma (05:18): “If you charge fees to someone like shipping, shipping, or there's like on the front, so it has to be on the front. $49.99 plus shipping.”
• Ryan (07:59): “If you're putting it in people's cart, that's going to be an issue. You want to make sure that they're affirmatively adding it to their cart so it's their decision to add it.”
• Emma (09:19): “If there are mandatory fees that you are going to charge... you need to make sure that that's included in the price up front. No bait and switch advertising. That's the point.”
• Ryan (13:06): “There's no tricks, no hidden fees, just honest consumer first marketing.”

Timestamps for Critical Segments

• Hidden Fee Outrage & Personal Stories: 00:00–03:30
• FTC Rule Recap & Scope: 03:31–05:18
• What Fees Are Covered & Compliance Examples: 05:19–09:41
• Checkout Flows, Apple Pay, & Clear Pricing: 08:08–11:19
• E-commerce Copy Changes & training: 10:10–12:01
• Compliance Checklist & Takeaways: 12:01–13:43

Actionable Takeaways

• Audit every price touchpoint: Make the real price—including mandatory fees—clear everywhere pricing appears.
• Update all marketing: Reflect the total price, not a teaser price that jumps later.
• Train your team: Ensure customer-facing crew know the new language and standards.
• Keep up with enforcement: Watch for new FTC or state actions and update processes as best practices emerge.

For detailed checklists and playbooks on making your checkout pages compliant, Emma directs listeners to the free “transparency fee toolkit” at the Visionary Vault on specialopspodcast.com.