So… pretty much any ticket you buy for anything has to be bought through Ticketmaster now, with “convenience fees” of about 25%. There’s no competition, usually no option of calling the box office to buy tickets directly, and often no option of GOING TO the box office to buy tickets directly.
Basically, Ticketmaster has a choke-hold on the market and gets their cut on everything.
It’s hard to imagine other fields where this would be even remotely legal.
Well, a personal spongechronicity, anyway:
I read this comic (which I did not at all understand) while I was in Manhattan today, having gone in to buy tickets for my wife and me, our sons. and their girlfriends to see Spongebob Squarepants the Musical.
TicketMaster was charging almost $80 in fees for six tickets, by the way: How is this not considered scalping? We’re not talking about the premium they charge for had-to-get tickets (even though Ticketmaster is often the reason tickets are hard to find), which is a separate matter: these are literally the same tickets I was able to buy at the box office.
Anyway, y’all are here for the comic, not to hear me rant about Ticketmaster:
Added 10 minutes later:
Okay, now it’s getting weird (even though I suspect those are supposed to be pieces of Swiss cheese rather than little Spongebobs: I really don’t have a clue what the Off the Mark is all about either, so I guess we get another bonus CIDU this evening)
Comics I Don't Understand 