eBay pull ads

Hello fans:

The Victorian Government has claimed a victory for its anti-ticket-scalping legislation when eBay removed an advertisement for AFL Grand Final tickets on Tuesday.
Bidding for the three corporate tickets had reached A$2800 before the ad was pulled in compliance with the Sports Event Ticketing (Fair Access) Act, which bans illegal selling of Grand Final tickets by a person or organisation not authorised by the AFL. Anyone caught buying or selling from an unauthorised seller faces fines of up to A$6,000 a ticket, or A$10,000 per company under the new laws. Multiple offences carry fines up to 10 times these amounts and ticket holders face being denied entry to the event.
Victorian Premier Steve Bracks said on 3AW the law was working well in reducing scalping and said the government would pursue and prosecute all scalpers.
eBay Australia managing director Simon Smith said that it had fully cooperated with the government’s anti-scalping laws and removed any listings on its site which infringed these regulations within 24 hours.
Classified advertisements appearing in this week’s newspapers lend weight to claims that the legislation has merely forced scalpers and buyers to change ends. Ads placed by scalpers have been replaced by columns of ads placed by ticketless footy fans - most of them Collingwood supporters.
Some scalpers were reportedly asking A$1500-A$2000. One scalper was asking A$12,500 for five seats in a corporate box. The latest bid for one pair, which included tickets to the North Melbourne Grand Final Breakfast at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre (the new venue for the annual event), was A$3300.
The Victorian Government has set up a taskforce to track down and prosecute scalpers in Grand Final week. The taskforice will scan newspapers and the Internet and will be at the MCG on Grand Final day to stop scalpers.
Sports Minister Justin Madden said that this year Grand Final tickets would carry a warning on illegal resale of tickets.
About 40 AFL-approved agencies, including clubs, can legally sell tickets - but only at face value, which is A$127 for a standard seat.

That's all for now. See you tomorrow.

Regards,

Johnson Leung