Hamilton London tickets appear on resale sites for upwards of £2,000

Touts are already selling tickets despite paperless system

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Thanks to 11 Tony Awards, one Grammy, and praise from Michelle Obama, tickets for Hamilton on Broadway sold-out within minutes, many being touted for almost ten times their face value.

With such success across the pond, it should come as no surprise to learn that demand for the London West End show has been huge.

Despite tickets having not gone on general sale - only for those who signed up in advance - already, tickets for various dates are appearing on second-hand websites.

As of writing, one ticket for the opening night in November is available on Viagogo £2,499. The next date available is the 9 December, with one ticket available for £2,000. The cheapest on the website is £740 for a matinee show on the 21 December. These tickets were originally priced between £37.50 and £127.50.

To combat touting, the production team behind Hamilton implemented a ‘paperless ticket system’ which requires attendees to produce an email confirmation, the bank card they used to pay for the ticket, and photographic ID.

Speaking to The Guardian, security consultant and ticketing expert Reg Walker, said attempting to stop touting is admirable “but it’s unlikely to be 100% effective”.

He continued: “It’s viable for a tout to buy four tickets, sell three of them, then go with you to the box office to pick them up using his credit card. He can then walk the ticket purchasers in and walk out again, or even watch the show himself.

“At those prices it’s still worth it for them because they make enough on three of the tickets that they don’t mind losing the money they spent on the fourth.”

Recently, West End hit Harry Potter and the Cursed Child suffered from similar levels of touting, with tickets for the JK Rowling penned story selling for over £2,000.