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Vancouver Craigslist users still reselling Compass Wristbands for up to $70 a pop

TransLink launched the Compass Wristband in early December, and stock of the wearable transit payment sold out in under two hours . The transit authority said that it was only selling 2,000 wristbands in order to gauge interest in the product.
TransLink’s Compass Wristband’s sold out within the first two hours of availability, with many findi
TransLink’s Compass Wristband’s sold out within the first two hours of availability, with many finding their way onto Craigslist at a considerable markup. Photo TransLink

TransLink launched the Compass Wristband in early December, and stock of the wearable transit payment sold out in under two hours.

The transit authority said that it was only selling 2,000 wristbands in order to gauge interest in the product. Of course, it reordered the wristbands immediately after selling out of the product, but some people didn’t want to wait.

In fact, a number of people tried profit off the coveted payment option by reselling the wristbands on Craigslist. Some users were selling single wristbands for $50, with one ad asking $80.

TransLink has stated that it will likely receive a shipment of wristbands in February, but in the meantime people continue to resell their wristbands on Craiglist at a considerable markup.  

For instance, the below ad asks $50 for one blue wristband, but it does come with $20 loaded onto it. Nevertheless, the seller is still making a $24 profit off the sale (the wristbands cost $6 each from TransLink.)

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Another Craigslist post offers a blue wristband for $70 and with no indication that it has a loaded value. The ad does however, remark that the product is “sold out everywhere.”

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Another seller on Craigslist says they are offering $2,000 for an assortment of any and all Compass Wristband, they will buy each wristband for $25, but that they have a large sum of money available to use.

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TransLink also introduced a Tap-to-Pay system in 2018, which allows riders to tap their Visa, Mastercard or mobile wallet at the fare gates or on buses rather than loading a Compass Card.

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