eBay Acts to Stop Sale of Live8 Tickets
People hoping to win tickets for the Live8 concert in Hyde Park, London, sent more than two million text messages costing £1.50 each in an attempt to win 150,000 tickets that were randomly selected by computer.
Now, some of those tickets have been offered for sale on ebay.co.uk and this has led to a furious response from the organiser of Live8 - Bob Geldorf, who is reported as saying that winners of the ticket lottery were profiteering by selling them for prices of up to £500 each.
Culture minister, James Purnell, is also reported as saying "I wholeheartedly share the concert organisers' deep annoyance that some of these tickets appear to be changing hands for many thousands of pounds."
eBay has now responded by banning the sale of these tickets and in a press release, an eBay spokesperson said, "We have listened to eBay's community of users and the message has been clear. They do not want the tickets to be resold on the site. Once we are made aware of any Live8 tickets being resold, they will be taken down."
But if some people are apparently prepared to pay such large amounts for the tickets, maybe it would be a good idea if some were sold on eBay charity auctions provided that all the proceeds were donated in aid of the Live8 fundraising programme?
Now, some of those tickets have been offered for sale on ebay.co.uk and this has led to a furious response from the organiser of Live8 - Bob Geldorf, who is reported as saying that winners of the ticket lottery were profiteering by selling them for prices of up to £500 each.
Culture minister, James Purnell, is also reported as saying "I wholeheartedly share the concert organisers' deep annoyance that some of these tickets appear to be changing hands for many thousands of pounds."
eBay has now responded by banning the sale of these tickets and in a press release, an eBay spokesperson said, "We have listened to eBay's community of users and the message has been clear. They do not want the tickets to be resold on the site. Once we are made aware of any Live8 tickets being resold, they will be taken down."
But if some people are apparently prepared to pay such large amounts for the tickets, maybe it would be a good idea if some were sold on eBay charity auctions provided that all the proceeds were donated in aid of the Live8 fundraising programme?
