The airlines have also added surcharges to travel during the most popular times, like the week between Christmas and New Year's.
By contrast, sellers with high reputations seemed to get slightly higher bids when they added surcharges, although the increase was too small to be statistically significant.
Airlines, for instance, have followed one another by adding surcharges for fuel, baggage and other services.
Many airlines are culling fleets, dropping flights, charging for checked bags and adding surcharges to ticket prices to offset fuel outlays.
When fuel prices started climbing, however, delivery companies started raising their rates and adding surcharges that cut significantly into his profit.
The practice of adding surcharges for payment by debit and credit card is rife in many industries, but not all companies have responded as positively.
They had called on Mr. Pataki to eliminate a state law that adds surcharges to hospital bills to help pay for hospital services, contending that employers end up underwriting the cost through higher insurance premiums for their workers.
"When you have a year like this year, when fuel has soared," he said, noting that repair workers like plumbers were adding surcharges for gasoline and that prices have increased for supplies like garbage bags, which are made from petroleum, "this is the year you've got to really help".
Even if the ability to add surcharges became more widespread, it's not clear that many businesses would take advantage of it.
Since then, MoviePass has tried out different methods for garnering revenue, including raising the subscription fee to $14.95 a month, adding surcharges to certain popular movies, and blocking customers from seeing new movies during their first two weeks of release.
