Its like setting your money on fire.
That is exactly the point.
For the low, low price of $4.50, you can sit in a room with a bunch of other people who are willing to fritter away $4.50 for something that costs 40 cents in the grocery store next door.
If you are young, hip, with a little extra money in your pocket, this is a cheap way to hang out with people who are young, hip, with a little extra money in their pockets, and sort out all of the people who are old, unfashionable, or poor.
Having progressed from the former to the latter, I sympathize with them and understand the impulse.
Much like the restaurants that serve nothing but grilled cheese sandwiches, they exist only to separate fools from their money.