TicketNetwork and eBay won’t allow Obama Inauguration ticket reselling

EBay, and its subsidiary StubHub, this week announced that it was joining TicketNetwork in not allowing Inaugural tickets to be resold on any of its websites. The two companies are the first major ticket exchanges to make the move.

Soon after Barack Obama was elected the nation’s 44th President, interest in Inauguration tickets skyrocketed, but government officials quickly sought to end the speculative reselling of tickets that are being distributed free by Congressional members to their constituents.

TicketNetwork removed Inaugural tickets from its exchanges earlier in the week and began refunding money to customers, and eBay followed suit after meeting with representatives of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies on Wednesday, an eBay spokesperson told the Associated Press.

“I’m glad eBay is joining us in this policy,” said Don Vaccaro, CEO of TicketNetwork.

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California is seeking to make reselling of such tickets a crime, according to published reports.