Drip pricing UK law: show the full price up front

Yes. Since 6 April 2025, any fee a customer cannot avoid must be part of the first price they see. That includes delivery you cannot opt out of, booking fees, admin fees and service fees. The same total must then carry through every stage to payment. (Taylor Wessing)

The regulator is enforcing this. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has fined firms and ordered refunds, and small businesses are in scope. This guide explains what counts, how to show prices well and how to check your own site this week.

What drip pricing is

Drip pricing means showing an initial price, then adding fees as the customer moves towards buying. Taylor Wessing describes it as the practice of introducing additional fees as consumers proceed with a purchase, and says it has been banned since 6 April 2025. The CMA's own guidance on unfair commercial practices, CMA207, states that drip pricing is prohibited.

So this is no longer only a design or conversion issue. It is a legal one. If you want the shopper behaviour side, see our guide on why people add to basket, then leave.

Why the government acted

Government research found that 46% of the 525 online and mobile app providers sampled included at least one dripped fee, not counting delivery, in checkout. It estimated these fees cost UK consumers an extra £595 million to £3.5 billion online each year. That is from the Department for Business and Trade, 2023.

The same research looked at delivery. With delivery fees included, dripped fees appear at 83% of retail providers, according to the full DBT report. Delivery is the fee most online shops add late.

What counts as a mandatory charge

A charge is mandatory if the customer must pay it to buy. If they can avoid it, it is optional. The CMA's draft price transparency guidance gives two examples that small firms will recognise.

• Online shop: a £20 dress has a mandatory £4.50 minimum delivery charge and no collection option. It should be advertised at £24.50. (CMA draft guidance)
• Service firm: an online course advertised at £100 has a mandatory £40 enrolment fee added at payment. The up-front price should have been £140. (CMA draft guidance)

Apply the same test to your own fees. If a customer cannot buy without paying it, include it. That covers booking fees, admin fees, service fees and compulsory delivery. Fees for things the customer truly chooses, such as gift wrapping or express delivery, can stay separate.

The draft guidance was still a draft when we wrote this. Check the final CMA guidance on GOV.UK for any changes.

Where the rule applies

The total price must appear wherever a price is given. According to Financial News, reporting the CMA's letter to online retailers, that includes advertising, product pages, baskets, checkout and payment pages. The CMA said: "The first price consumers see should be the price they pay."

The same report lists breaches the CMA is looking for. They include putting delivery information behind links, separate pages, pop-out pages, expandable sections or drop-down menus, and giving no delivery information until late in checkout.

If you take bookings or deposits, your booking flow counts too. A salon, a driving instructor or a venue should show the full price on the first screen that mentions one.

How to show prices well

Show the all-in price, with an optional breakdown

Put the total in the headline price. If you want to explain it, add a small line underneath such as "£20 item + £4.50 delivery". The total stays the biggest number. Never make the customer click to find out what they will pay.

Handle baskets and free-delivery thresholds

Osborne Clarke summarises the CMA draft this way: a trader can automatically display the basket with the total price, including all mandatory charges, after each product is selected. The full delivery charge must be included until the basket reaches the qualifying amount for lower or free delivery. This describes the draft, so check the final guidance.

In practice, update the basket total as soon as someone adds an item. Show a message such as "Add £8 more for free delivery" only as extra help, not as a replacement for the real total.

Handle prices that vary

Some goods and services cannot have a fixed total, such as made-to-measure blinds or a job priced by size. The CMA draft says customers must be given the information they need to work out the total themselves, for example the price of fabric per metre (CMA draft guidance). A simple calculator or a clear worked example does this well.

Real cases show the CMA is acting

The CMA fined StubHub UK close to £900,000 and ordered refunds to more than 50,000 customers, exceeding £590,000. The fee was added at the final stage of checkout between 6 April and 7 December 2025. (CMA on GOV.UK, 2026)

A service-firm case is closer to home for many readers. Pinsent Masons reports that AA and BSM driving schools were fined £4.2 million after more than 80,000 learner drivers booking lessons online were shown prices that did not include a mandatory £3 booking fee. A small fee can still be a large problem when it is added to every booking.

Penalties and who is in scope

The CMA can fine firms up to 10% of global turnover, or £300,000 where that is higher (CMA on GOV.UK, 2026). For a small firm, the £300,000 figure is the one that matters.

By June 2026, the CMA had secured more than £1.95 million in refunds and levied fines exceeding £5.7 million under its new consumer powers, according to the same source. It has also reviewed more than 400 businesses in 19 sectors and found potential compliance concerns in 14 of them, according to Business Companion, a Trading Standards-backed guidance service. Nothing in the rule exempts small firms.

A 15-minute self-check

1. List every place a price appears: Google Shopping or ads, social posts, category pages, product or service pages, basket, checkout and payment.
2. Take a screenshot of each one on a phone, since most customers will see it there.
3. Pick one product or service and note the first price you see. Then go through to payment and note the final price.
4. If the two numbers differ for a fee the customer cannot avoid, you have a problem.
5. Check for fees hidden in links, pop-ups, drop-down menus or expandable sections.
6. Fix it in the template, so every product and booking page changes at once.

Our checkout checklist and product page checklist list the price and delivery points to look at on each page type.

What may come next

The government has said it will consult on fake "was" prices and invented discounts (announced 9 August 2026). That is not yet law, but it is a good moment to check that any reference prices you show are real.

What to do next

Decide whether each fee is mandatory. Move the mandatory ones into the headline price. Keep optional extras separate and clearly optional. Then run through the self-check above. For a wider review of your site, follow our step-by-step UX audit guide.

AgoraScan's free check gives you a score and the top problems with screenshots in about 2 minutes, including price and delivery clarity. A full audit lists every issue with the fix.

Questions people ask

Do I have to include delivery in the price?

If delivery is mandatory, yes. The CMA's draft guidance says a £20 dress with a compulsory £4.50 delivery charge and no collection option should be advertised at £24.50. If customers can choose free collection, you can show delivery separately.

Does drip pricing law apply to small businesses?

Yes. The rule covers any business selling to consumers online, and the CMA's guidance includes examples for small firms. The CMA can fine up to 10% of global turnover or £300,000, whichever is higher.

Can I show a price breakdown?

Yes, as long as the total is the headline price. Add a small line showing how it is made up, and keep the total the same from the first page to payment.

What if my price depends on the job?

Give customers what they need to work out the total themselves. The CMA draft guidance gives the example of showing the price of fabric per metre for made-to-measure goods. A calculator or worked example is a simple way to do it.

Sources

1. Drip pricing under the DMCCA, Taylor Wessing (2025)
2. Unfair commercial practices guidance (CMA207), Competition and Markets Authority (2025)
3. Draft price transparency guidance, Competition and Markets Authority (2025)
4. CMA tells online retailers to show mandatory delivery fees in total price, Financial News (2026)
5. CMA orders StubHub UK to refund customers over hidden fees, Competition and Markets Authority (GOV.UK) (2026)
6. CMA fines and compels refunds in consumer law crackdown, Pinsent Masons (2026)
7. Estimating the prevalence and impact of drip pricing, Department for Business and Trade (GOV.UK) (2023)
8. Estimating the prevalence and impact of online drip pricing (full report), Department for Business and Trade (GOV.UK) (2023)
9. CMA launches consumer protection drive on online pricing practices, Business Companion (2025)
10. UK CMA provides further guidance on drip pricing provisions, Osborne Clarke (2025)