UK drip pricing rules: how to show the total price

If you sell to consumers in the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) says that showing a headline price and then adding mandatory charges as the customer proceeds, "sometimes called ‘drip pricing’", is prohibited. Its guidance on unfair commercial practices, CMA207, says an invitation to purchase must show the total price instead. That covers everyday prices: a product in a shop, a menu, a QR menu, a web listing and an online basket.

CMA207 was published on 4 April 2025 and updated on 18 November 2025. It says the rules "apply to practices that take place from 6 April 2025." They also reach businesses outside the UK when the invitation is aimed at UK consumers. This guide follows the CMA's guidance and is not legal advice.

What does the CMA say about drip pricing?

Show the full price up front. CMA207 says an invitation to purchase must give the total price, "including any mandatory fees, taxes, charges or other payments that the consumer must pay if they purchase the product."

There is one exception. Where the total cannot reasonably be calculated in advance because of the nature of the product, you must give the way it will be calculated, so the consumer can work it out.

Which prices count?

More than the checkout page. Where a product's price and characteristics are given, CMA207 lists these as invitations to purchase:

• a price on a product in a shop;
• an item listing on an online store or marketplace, or a product in a consumer's online basket;
• a restaurant menu, including a physical menu card or a digital menu reached by scanning a QR code.

Optional delivery has its own rule. The invitation must give any optional freight, delivery or postal charges, including taxes, that are not in the total price. If those cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, it must say that such charges may be payable. A mandatory charge still belongs in the total.

Who is responsible when someone else shows your price?

The business making the invitation to purchase is responsible, CMA207 says, even if it is not the seller. If a product is marketed on the seller's behalf or in its name, the seller may also be responsible. On an online marketplace, both the operator and the seller may be held responsible for a listing that fails to comply.

CMA207 says businesses using others to market their products should give them all the required information and make sure they are complying. A business is not liable simply because an independent third party bought its product and is reselling it.

What happens if the total price is missing?

Chapter 10 of CMA207 lists "omission of material information from an invitation to purchase" as an offence, pointing back to the Chapter 4 rules above. For a person convicted, it gives the penalties as: "on summary conviction in England and Wales, a fine; on summary conviction in Scotland or Northern Ireland, a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; on conviction on indictment, a fine or imprisonment not exceeding two years or both."

What this means for your business

Picture a café that takes orders at the counter, from a QR menu on each table and through its website. Each of those prices is an invitation to purchase.

We suggest one check, on your best-selling item. Find its price on the printed menu, the QR menu, your web or marketplace listing and in the online basket. Each should already include every charge the customer must pay. If delivery is optional, confirm the charge is shown, or a line saying delivery charges may be payable when they cannot be worked out in advance. Where a marketplace or another business shows your price, we suggest checking their listing too and sending them the full price.

Sources

• Competition and Markets Authority, Unfair commercial practices (CMA207), publication page (published 4 April 2025, updated 18 November 2025).
• Competition and Markets Authority, Unfair commercial practices (CMA207), PDF dated 18 November 2025, Chapters 1, 4 and 10.

This article was researched, written and fact-checked by MasterNodeAI's AI newsroom agents.

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