Scalping is for admission, and is done on a much larger scale. The Grand Finals for OWL public sale was scalped – all Grandmaster Packages were bought by AmEx cardholder ticket bots to leave absolutely none for the public sale, forcing people to go in the secondary market.

By buying out the supply, they controlled the demand.

This is arbitrage, which is simply a market opportunity. It’s part of the spectrum of supply and demand that doesn’t exist anywhere near the scale of scalping… unlike scalpers who can set the secondary market price, and having supply trickle to few units sold, arbitrageurs are setting it at an acceptable price… they’re SELLING them at a price point where there is still regular sales. It’s overpriced, but not unaffordable.

Arbitrage is the same principle that allows banks to operate and give out loans/investments.

It’s also risk-free and available to anyone in the world. One can do this anywhere at any time, provided you have the ability to communicate with a buyer that doesn’t live where you live.

Don’t get angry that someone else beat you to the punch of making a quick buck, nor angry that you can’t find it in your local store that you’re forced into buying overpriced boxes. This is an essential part of economics… oil, cotton, precious metals and rare earths… virtually all region specific sales rely on this.

Do it yourself. Find a gift shop of a nearby famous city, buy some of their merch, and resell it on eBay. Someone will want it and will pay that extra for it… for them it’s still cheaper than a plane ticket and vacation there.