The Obamas at a 2009 inaugural ball. (Getty Images/Brendan Hoffman)

President Obama will be inaugurated into his second term in 14 days. With January 21, 2013 rapidly approaching, hotels, restaurants and other merchants across the D.C. area are grabbing at the opportunity to raise their rates for this quadrennial celebration of patriotism. And sometimes, they go too far. “Ridiculous Inauguration Deal of the Day” will examine the most ludicrous offerings we can find.

OK, so Ticketmaster’s inability to control its own email system fucked you over when it sent some, but not all, people on the inaugural ball waiting list early invitations to buy tickets. Admission to the sole official inaugural ball open to the public was supposed to sell out within minutes this morning, not last night.

But, alas. Ticketmaster erred and cut you out of the primary market. You know what that means: Craigslist time.

The face value of a ticket to the inaugural ball featuring President Obama, Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden was $60. Not such a terrible deal for what may very well be your last chance to share a decked-out ballroom with the the leaders of the free world.

But on Craigslist? A pair of tickets will set you back $4,000. The 3,333 percent markup is being offered by a vendor claiming to be in possession of tickets to the ball, scheduled for the night of January 21 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Well, at least the seller is also throwing in a pair of tickets to the inaugural parade and two large Obama-branded T-shirts. The ad doesn’t describe what the shirts look like, but presumably as part of a $4,000 package, they are woven from giant panda fur and screen-printed with unicorn blood.