Scalpers Taking ‘Yuge’ Hits?

Scalpers who obtained tickets to Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 presidential inauguration in hopes of flipping them for some quick and dirty cash are finding the secondary market is raining on their parade.

Paul White / AP Photo – Stack Of Wax
A protester during the inauguration of a figure of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at the Wax museum in Madrid, Spain.

The New York Daily News reports that some are looking “at relatively ‘yuge’ losses.” Tickets to the ceremony itself are free but must be obtained through a Congressional representative or other eligible member of Washington officialdom.

But it appears quite a few of those obtaining golden tickets through their friendly neighborhood representative are reselling them for cash.

Washington, D.C., blog The Hill reports that one seller on eBay advertises a pair of tickets to the ceremony for $1,200. And another resale site, GreatSeats.com, reportedly had swearing-in ceremony tickets in a prime location west of the Capitol steps for $14,700.

Apparently, at least some who shelled out money for otherwise free tickets in hopes of flipping them for a profit are getting stiffed. “Nobody wants to buy them,” a would-be scalper identified as Yossi Rosenberg told the Daily News after buying a pair of tickets for $700.

“It looks like I’m stuck with them. I might even have to go.” Rosenberg told the paper he bought the tickets from a “Second Amendment activist” via Craigslist. He said he occasionally scalps tickets and had offers for them – until he had them in hand. “Everybody balked,” he told the paper. When the offers dried up, Rosenberg said, he offered them on white supremacist websites including The Daily Stormer.