Scalpers are illegal online individuals who can be the bane of your existence at a time of
popularity surging items.
In an act of
anti-consumerism, scalpers go through illegal and policy bending routes to buy products in insane amounts of bulk with digital softwares such as bots before the product is even months away from release. Then, in a fruitful attempt to gain money through unofficial means, they sell company items for twice the price and have their listings on seller-acceptable websites.
Those with a large amount of inventory through illegal measures have their items on online listing, and when consumers cannot turn to official methods of getting their product, they lie in wait, hoping that a desperate buyer would have no choice but to submit to their prices, which are normally about 2-3 times higher than company price.
While scalpers are mostly to blame for the shortage of products in the online era, retailers are also to blame. Some retail workers are scalpers or spies themselves for one. Two, online retailers do
absolutely nothing in their power to defend against bots. Some, like Best Buy, have taken some security measures to allow 5 minute windows when something is in stock, as well as 1 per buyer, but it's still not enough to counter scalpers. Websites like the famous Amazon and
eBay allow for scalpers to show off their
ridiculous listings.