Illinois bans – Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed new consumer protection laws Thursday that require the final price to be the first price online, while also cracking down on ticketing bots and “ghost ticketers.” The package also includes new requirements for buy-now-pay-lat
For Illinois shoppers, the price you see at the start of an online purchase will have to be the price you pay.
On Thursday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation banning so-called junk fees that often inflate the cost of concerts. hotel reservations. food orders and other online purchases after customers have already committed. The new pricing rule is part of a broader slate of consumer protection measures passed by the Illinois General Assembly last month. including restrictions on ticketing bots and “ghost ticketers” that can scoop up high-demand seats for resale at exorbitant rates or not have the tickets at all.
Pritzker signed the bills at Concord Music Hall in Logan Square, where he framed the change as an effort to curb the ways companies “charge consumers more while telling them less about what they’re charging them for.”
“We’re talking about hidden fees. about artificial scarcity. predatory lending products. ticket schemes that make it harder and more expensive for families to just enjoy a night out. ” the governor said. “Together, those things add up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars every year for many Illinois families.”.
The junk fee provision championed by state Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, and state Sen. Omar Aquino. D-Chicago. bars companies from advertising prices that don’t include service. processing or convenience fees and other surcharges that are typically added at checkout. Under the measure, delivery and rideshare platforms must itemize all costs and fees before the last stage of buying. Rental sites, meanwhile, must disclose “resort fees” and other add-ons upfront.
Aquino said the laws are about restoring straightforward pricing during a time when families are already under pressure. “This law simply upholds honest and fair business, which our families need now more than ever as we continue to face a national affordability crisis,” he said.
Consumer advocates put numbers to that pressure. A Consumer Reports analysis found that an average family of four can lose about $3,200 a year on junk fees.
Erion Malasi. policy and research director for the progressive advocacy group Economic Security Illinois Action. called the bill a turning point. “It’s a major victory for Illinois families who deserve transparency when they spend their hard-earned money,” Malasi said. “For years, we worked to expose how hidden junk fees drive up costs and undermine trust in the marketplace.”.
The package also targets how tickets are grabbed and sold when demand spikes. Separate measures signed by Pritzker outlaw bots that cut online queues for tickets and allow entities to corner valuable seats for resale at high rates. Other provisions require resellers to have tickets in their actual possession before listing them.
Ticket practices are not the only area the legislation goes after. Another law signed by Pritzker requires “buy-now-pay-later” lenders to register with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. State Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Frankfort, said the change is meant to rein in an industry he described as operating without meaningful restraint.
“It often becomes a loan shark with a new paint job,” Hastings said.
Lenders will have until 2028 to comply with the buy-now-pay-later registration requirement. The junk fee and bot laws take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
Taken together, the bills aim at a single frustration shared by many Illinois consumers: paying more than they expected—or being kept in the dark about how costs are being built—whether it’s for a night out, a rental trip, or a credit-like payment plan.
Illinois JB Pritzker junk fees ticketing bots ghost ticketers consumer protection online pricing buy-now-pay-later Economic Security Illinois Action Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation