Sandy relief concert tickets being resold at huge markups - Los Angeles Local News, Weather, and Traffic

Sandy relief concert tickets being resold at huge markups

Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and Alicia Keys are just a few of the big-name acts banding together with the Robin Hood Foundation to raise millions of dollars for victims of Superstorm Sandy at the 12-12-12 Sandy benefit concert at Madison Square Garden.

But now there are concerns that some of the money from tickets sales will go to lining scalpers' pockets, instead of rebuilding hard-hit areas.

Tickets for the event were originally priced from $150 to $2,500. But Fox 5 found some relisted for more than 5 times or 10 times the face value on sites like StubHub. One floor seat ticket is even going for $60,000.

StubHub said it will donate all of its proceeds from the ticket re-sales to Sandy recovery. But that is only a tiny percentage of what resellers stand to make on tickets that are marked up way above face value.

StubHub released this statement: "We have great sympathy for the charitable goals of the 12-12-12 Sandy Relief concert and, as has been reported, StubHub will be donating all service fees and commissions for the event to the Robin Hood Relief fund, the intended beneficiary of the concert. The StubHub marketplace does not technologically operate with price controls and restrictions and given that limitation we believe that StubHub offers the most consumer-friendly ticketing platform and keeping the marketplace open will maximize the financial contribution to this critically important charity. We intend to continue to allow resale for this event and encourage all ticket sellers to donate a share of proceeds to the charity as well."