Online reselling Web Sites Craigslist and eBay have pledged to work to stop the resale of tickets to President Barack Obama’s second inauguration, according to the top Senator in charge of the ceremonies.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, said Thursday that at his request the online sites are planning to work to block the sale of the tickets, which were distributed to members of the public for free.
The tickets, Schumer’s staff said, were reportedly being scalped for thousands of dollars, despite a clear statement of “Not for Sale” printed on the back.
“This year’s Presidential Inaugural Ceremonies are not for sale,” Schumer said in a written statement. “eBay and Craigslist are doing the right thing in stopping the sale of scalped tickets to one of our nation’s most sacred events.”
He added, “I hope that everyone who has an Inaugural ticket will think twice before posting these tickets on any ticket resale site. This is a chance for people from all 50 states to celebrate our democracy, not for ticket scalpers to make a quick buck.”
The practice of attempting to resell tickets to the inaugural ceremonies is not new, Schumer noted, pointing out that despite anti-counterfeiting measures a small number of people attempt to sell tickets online.
Online ticketing site StubHub had already refused to resell Inaugural tickets, a stance that Schumer praised eBay and Craigslist for adopting this year.
The reported scalping of inauguration tickets is the second problem to mar Obama’s second inaugural festivities as, due to what the online site Ticketmaster said was an error, tickets to the inaugural ball went on sale the evening before they were supposed to be made available.
by RTT Staff Writer
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