12-12-12 Outrage: Ban scalping on charity tickets!

December 12, 2012 Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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Hours before Wednesday’s massive 12-12-12 Sandy relief concert at Madison Square Garden, State Senator Daniel Squadron announced a bill that would ban the reselling of charity event tickets for more than their face value.

Controversy broke out recently after 12-12-12 promoters and concert-goers complained that tickets to the show – starring legends like The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Billy Joel and Bruce Springstein — were being resold on secondary sites for many times their face value.

Legitimate tickets to the concert ranged from $150 – $2,500 at Ticketmaster on Wednesday. On StubHub, however, tickets ranged from $1,235 – $9,999.

Ticket reseller StubHub president Chris Tsakalakis told CBS the company had decided to donate their 12-12-12 fees to the relief effort.

“All the money that StubHub is going to make in terms of our fees and commissions will go to the Robin Hood Relief Fund, who is the beneficiary of the concert,” he said.

Other ticket resellers, however, have not made the same promise.

“Events like this are about artists donating their time for a good cause. Yet today, profiteers are able to co-opt charity events to line their own pockets — creating false ticket shortages for consumers and undermining events meant to help those in need. And that’s simply unacceptable,” said Senator Squadron. “This bill will go a long way toward preventing unscrupulous resales of tickets to charity events.”

Earlier this month, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer sent a letter urging ticket re-sale websites to refuse to list tickets unless they are listed at face value or the additional profits benefit charity.