Olympics: Ticket resale facility launched for Winter Olympics

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Organizers of the Vancouver Winter Olympics have launched a link on its website for the public to resale any unused tickets for February's Games.

Officials said Monday they had launched the "fan-to-fan marketplace reselling initiative" on its website where ticket holders can "safely" resale any unused tickets, for any price.

For the service, Games organizers are taking 10 percent of the proceeds from both the buyer and seller.

Caley Denton, VANOC's vice-president of ticketing and consumer marketing, said the organizer had agreed to allow a free market on the site. He added it would not police other websites where tickets were also being offered.

"It will make sure people can buy safe and secure tickets, as well as help us in our goal of having full venues at Games time," he said, adding more than 90 percent of ticketholder had indicated they would use their tickets.

Denton said he expected to see fairly high prices initially as people tested the market, with the reasonably priced tickets selling right away.

About 1.2 million of the 1.6 million tickets available have been allotted to the public.

VANOC deputy chief Dave Cobb also announced Monday the target of tickets for public consumption had been increased to 75 percent from 70 percent initially.

For high-demand events, a target of 40 percent has been set for public access to tickets.

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