Not everyone’s buying it: Commuters weigh in after Compass wristbands resold for ridiculous mark ups online
Posted December 4, 2018 6:22 am.
Last Updated December 4, 2018 6:35 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Only 2,000 Compass wristbands were made available to the public, and now some people are hoping to take advantage of its sold-out status by re-selling the product at a mark up.
Commuters are busy people and they often have their hands full, but is the appeal of a wearable Compass Card strong enough to pay $50, even $100 for?
That’s the going rate on Craigslist for the originally-$6 wearable pass, that lets you travel hands-free.
Some say the reselling was predictable — and so was the demand.
“[TransLink] could have put out more, I think,” one transit user tells NEWS 1130. “Lots of people use the buses.”
Two thousand of the bands were made available to the public on Monday morning, and the transit authority sold out of them in a flash.
They’ve since been popping up on Craigslist for a hefty mark-up. Many of the postings have since been removed from the website.
“I won’t pay $100,” another transit-goer said. “I’ll stick with the Compass Card.”
TransLink says it could take until February to get the next batch, which will be coming from a manufacturer in Germany.
Related video: Compass wristbands sellout, being resold online
-With files from Jonathan Szekeres
