Warning: Watch out for counterfeit tickets for Hamilton
 

Today's NY TImes has an article about people being conned into buying counterfeit tickets to Hamilton definitely via Craigslist and possibly other sources. According to the article, it's almost a daily occurrence of people showing up at the theater with counterfeit tickets.

The article also says this is a somewhat rare occurrence, too, does it not?

IMO paying $500 for some seats to this show is counterfeit as well but if it is great then perhaps worth it. The backers and theatre owners must be over the moon.

Sure, it's rare, but the point is that it does regularly happen, like five times a week. I posted it simply to warn individuals to be careful when buying tickets other than through the "normal" channels, i.e., at the box office or via Telecharge or Ticketmaster.

Buying tickets from the approved reseller - Stubhub - which is done by credit card - should be fine.

Buying tickets from ANYONE random by cash is not a great idea.

Then I would only pay in counterfeit $10 bills.

((H))

Sorry, but Stubhub is not an approved reseller for Hamilton. Yes, if your tickets are fake you'll get your money back eventually, but you're still out as far as seeing the show. Ticketmaster is the only way to guarantee resale tickets are authentic, as TM cancels the original tickets as soon as they are sold to someone else.

How does Ticketmaster know that a legal buyer has chosen to resell their tickets because they can't go for some reason?

There's nothing wrong at all in doing this.

Good question, nytraveler. I was referring to purchasing resale tickets through Ticketmaster. The only people who can re-sell or transfer tickets on Ticketmaster are those who've purchased them directly from TM. Buyers log into their account, go to their tickets page, and select the tickets they want to sell and for how much. (This is unlike other resellers, where you type in the ticket information, or in some cases, upload a pdf.) When someone buys the tickets, TM verifies the sale, voids the seller's original tickets, and reissues the seats to the buyer.

On the flip side, fees on TM are a bit higher than on Stubhub. And generally speaking, StubHub is pretty reliable (and certainly with less risk than Craigslist.) But for a buyer, TM offers an extra level of comfort.

I've actually even sold and bought tickets on Craigslist, though it was years ago. And it was always for discounted tickets in my city, so no risk of disappointment after traveling for a show. But even with being careful as possible and only dealing in small amounts of money, I never felt comfortable until my tickets had been scanned at the door.

Stubhub sells via credit card - so IF (can't imagine it would happen) tickets are not good you would get your money back.

We have used them numerous times for Yankees or theater tickets for clients and tickets have always been fine - although very expensive. I think they are the official resellers for baseball.

So I would not hesitate to use them if the official seller doesn't have tickets for the night you need - and you are willing to pay the price.

Well as someone who has worked at a theater, I can assure you it has, and does indeed happen, both with StubHub and SeatGeek. But it's certainly not the norm, and in most cases I wouldn't hesitate to buy from either outlet either. But my original point, as I stated above, is that StubHub is not the official reseller for Hamilton and yes, you will get your money back if tickets you buy on StubHub are fake. But if you're at the theater door, and discover it then, getting your money back eventually doesn't change the fact you can't see the show as planned.

I have no stake in either TM or StubHub. They're both good options for resale tickets. Just pointing out a feature TM offers that Stubhub doesn't. But of course, that only works for tickets that were originally purchased through TM, so that's another area in which StubHub comes out ahead (in addition to lower fees) as they can offer more expanded listings.