$1,599 to see Obama in Montreal: Resale tickets more than triple in price

Tickets for former U.S. President Barack Obama'sspeech at the Montreal Chamber of Commerce June 6 have skyrocketed on online resale sites like StubHub and 514-Billets.

The most expensive tickets, originally sold via Evenko forbetween $57 and$373, are going for as much as $1,000 to $1,599 each.

The 6,000 available tickets went on salefirst to members of the Chamber of Commerceand then opened to the public May 13.

They sold out online within half an hour.

• Tickets toBarackObama'sMontreal speech sell out quickly

Buyer beware

Michel Leblanc, president of the Montreal Chamber of Commerce, told CBC that according to the chamber's estimates, only about two per cent of all tickets are popping up online.

He does, however, have concerns about the inflated prices.

"Many people have told us we should have sold at a higher price," he said. "[But] the point was to make it accessible. We want to create events that are accessible to small businessesand professionals who are not able to pay the incredible prices we see on those websites."

Leblancalso warned that buying tickets, even on well-respected sites, could be risky.

"They are electronic tickets. So [someone] could sell many copies of the same ticket."

He also noted that some buyers paying premium prices for $57 tickets would surely be disappointed, noting that it's a large space and people should know what they are getting for that price bracket.

4 times face value

Tickets are popping up on differentreselling platforms, including community-oriented sites like Kijiji and Craigslist.

The lowest listed prices hover across the most popular resale sites hover in the $214 to $250 range, still four times more expensive than the face value of the cheapest ticket.

Ticket prices range from a low of $214 (USD) on StubHub to a low of$899 on 514-Billets.

Often tickets in the exact same sections range greatly in price from one site to another.

Canadians call for crackdown

Whileticket reselling along with the botsthat purchase ticketsare not illegal in Canada,it's clear many people would like the scheme outlawed.

Apoll by Angus Reid Institute released last month shows that81 per cent of Canadianswant to see tangible legal consequences such asfines or jail time for people using bots to scoop up large numbers of tickets for resale.

It is, however, impossible to know whether bots are being used in a specific case, or whether the resale tickets are coming from individuals looking to turn a small profit.

• Canadians want crackdown on ticket reselling andbots: poll
• 'The whole system is rigged': An insider exposes what stands between you and the ticket you want