The means by which online ticket sales obscure the price of their product must be outlawed. As the picture below demonstrates, the published prices for tickets bear no relationship to the true price that is exacted once various “fees” are exacted at time of purchase. In this particular instance, the outfit that handles the tickets for the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara, CA, exacts fees that add over 30% to the sales total. Once all fees are added up, the total is 40% higher than the published price the tickets: 2 tickets X $49.50/ticket = $99, but the total is $138, a 40% premium!
Ticket processing fees were tolerable when they hovered about $10 per ticket processed. Even if they represented a 50% premium for a $20 ticket, they were a reasonable cost to bear for the convenience of electronic ticket delivery. At nearly $20 a ticket, the processing fees no longer represent a small premium to be paid for convenience. These astronomical fees represent a means of inflating ticket prices. As such, they constitute a deceptive business practice and need to be regulated. Laws ought to demand that any fee in excess of $5 per ticket to be plainly advertised next to the ticket price so that the buyer can be aware of the true price of the ticket.