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Proctors: 'Don't Be A Sucker' For Ticket Scammers

Don't Be a Sucker
Facebook: Proctors
Proctors' "Don't Be a Sucker" campaign is just one reminder for audiences to take care when buying tickets to their favorite show, act, or sports team this summer.

As it prepares to host the hottest musical in the country, Proctors in Schenectady is reminding audiences to watch out for ticket scammers.

The theatre’s “Don’t Be a Sucker” campaign comes ahead of a hot summer and fall lineup including Hamilton, The SpongeBob Musical, and Disney’s Frozen. Melanie McGovern of the Better Business Bureau of Upstate New York says such larger attractions are often the target of ticket scalpers, who snag tickets to resell them at inflated prices.

“We see it a lot when it’s a big show, like when Hamilton was in Buffalo and Rochester. When Elton John was touring last year we did get some reports of some fraud, because people really want to go see their favorite act – they’ll pay whatever they have to to go see them," she notes. "So it’s always important, whenever you buy a ticket – the number one thing to do is make sure you’re buying it from the venue directly.”

Proctors’ Jim Murphy agrees. He says Proctors only offers tickets at its box office and website. But if you Google “Proctors” right now, however, its official website might not be the top result. Murphy says that’s because resellers often buy specific keywords to make sure their listing is seen first.

“Many times we don’t sell every seat to every show. So we have tickets available, but somebody will go online, and they’ll think they’re on the correct site – and they’ll buy a ticket, and then come in and complain, ‘I can’t believe I paid $300 for this ticket,'" says Murphy. "And we’re like, ‘That day you could have probably bought a ticket for 50, 60, $80, or whatever. Sometimes as low as $25.' And people are really shocked, but they bought it from a third party.”

Murphy says excited ticketholders often head to Proctors for a show, only to find their third-party tickets are fake.

“We’ve had a lot of people tell us that they bought Hamilton tickets already – we actually haven’t put them on sale yet," he cautions. "So we have people that have spent three, four, five, $600 or more for Hamilton tickets, and there isn’t a single person in the Capital Region who has a physical ticket for Hamilton yet.”

"Hamilton" poster
"Hamilton"
Proctors will start selling tickets for its run of Hamilton on Monday, June 24.

Proctors will start selling tickets for its Hamilton run on Monday, June 24. With the Founding Fathers taking the stage August 13, fans will have less than two months to secure their seats – a decision by the producers, Murphy says, that tries to hold off the reselling frenzy as long as possible.

That’s not to say the secondary ticket market is inherently bad, however – Proctors’ experience is just one in a constantly changing market. Former New York state Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a Democrat, says a big problem is that the businesses that once feared the secondary market – sports teams, show producers – now run it. 

“So most of the ways, on sports tickets, that you buy resale tickets is through the teams and the exchanges that the teams set up," Brodsky explains. "It has undercut the ability of consumers to get the lowest market price for tickets on resale and protected the big boys. And it’s not a good system.”

By driving resales, Brodsky says producers have hiked up primary ticket costs, too. And ultimately, until an independent secondary market once again competes with “the big boys,” he says you might be dishing out more for tickets than you’d like, regardless of where you go. 

But if you do find yourself looking at resellers, the BBB’s Melanie McGovern recommends doing your research to make sure it’s legitimate: know how much tickets are going for, whether the ticket lines up with the venue’s seating chart, and whether it’s the right format.

“A lot of tickets now are electronic, there are no printed tickets – so if somebody’s offering you printed tickets to an event that is electronic entry only, that’s a red flag," she advises. 

Both McGovern and Proctors’ Murphy say you can contact the box office to verify your tickets. And if you do get scammed? McGovern says credit card purchases, which often have fraud protection, are safer than cash or debit.  

“You can always report that to [the] BBB Scam Tracker, so we can keep track of that," McGovern says. "And if we see a pattern, we can work with local law enforcement or the venue to say ‘Hey, we’re seeing a lot of scams…you guys might want to put out a statement or let us know if there’s any way we can help.’”

The bottom line? Don’t throw away your shot – or your cash – this summer. 

Jesse King is the host of WAMC's national program on women's issues, "51%," and the station's bureau chief in the Hudson Valley. She has also produced episodes of the WAMC podcast "A New York Minute In History."
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