Schoolies Are Selling Their Party Wristbands to Desperate Toolies for $100

To gain entry into the official Schoolies hub in Surfers Paradise you need an official wristband. These wristbands can only be purchased with a school ID, which presents a pretty major hurdle for toolies. But for genuine school leavers with wristbands, this hurdle also presents a pretty lucrative opportunity. And some are making up to $100 selling their wristbands on Facebook.

As one 17 year-old Gold Coast local told VICE, “My mates hate schoolies, so we just loosened [our wristbands] and sold them to anyone who wanted to go. We didn’t use Facebook though. We just sold them to blokes we play footy with. It’s pretty simple, if anyone wants to go [to Schoolies events] we can just line up and get another one.”

We decided to hunt down some of these young entrepreneurs and found several ads on Facebook. Wristbands were ranging from $30-100 with some obviously trolling desperados with ads for $2,000. Most ads also illustrated their urgency with celebration emojis, winking faces, and dollar symbols.

So far police have arrested 10 toolies at the Schoolies hub on charges mostly related to drugs possession or creating a public nuisance. Queensland's Ambulance Services special events coordinator Justin Payne also explained that “[this year] the number of female patients we have had has doubled the number of male patients.”

A 22 year-old woman from Brisbane told VICE, “I don’t care about being a toolie, me and my girls go every year. It’s easier for chicks to get wristbands because the guards aren’t really suss on us. But it wasn’t nearly as fun as when we graduated, it’s been getting worse and worse to the point where nowadays everyone’s just cooked. We won’t be going again.”

Regardless of how some feel about the deteriorating state of Schoolies, others don’t seem deterred.

After scouring the black market, VICE spoke to another 21 year-old toolie from Logan who was trying to get a pass. “I didn’t get a chance to go to schoolies when I turned 18m” he explained. “I just wanted to check it out with a few mates that were going, I don’t care what people think. It’s not weird unless you’re a weirdo. I’m going with my own crew and we just want to get lit to some beats on the beach.”