A hot button for many game collectors, resellers and scalpers make up a sizable chunk of the used and collectible game market. Most collectors seem to look at these people with anywhere from indifference to disgust due to how they can manipulate the market and inflate the prices of products. Is this the fair market in action or are they a scourge?

What's the difference?

Here's how I personally categorize these types of sellers. A reseller is someone who acquires products from various sources, mostly used. They tend to buy in bulk online, from Facebook and Craiglist, at garage sales, flea markets and from thrift stores. Resellers flip a higher number of more common items like consoles and popular titles that they've acquired at a good price.

On the flipside, scalpers target highly desired retail products and pounce on them to resell for huge profits to desperate fans. Items like Amiibos, new consoles on launch day and oddities like the Nintendo Classic Edition were prime targets for scalpers, who would buy out the entire stock of a store when given the chance. They're easy to spot when they list items on ebay and have a stack of a dozen item that's sold out everywhere.

What about the ethics?

I see no problem with resellers, who take a middle-of-the-road approach. They're basically people who've created their own business using arbitrage to find good deals and turn a profit selling their inventory at reasonable or market prices. In reality, they're not much different than used game stores. They don't have the overhead of a game store, but they also have to go out and find their inventory instead of it walking in their door.

While I'm a strong supporter of the free market, there is a big issue with scalpers cornering that market. Its no longer a retail item, in my opinion, when the entire retail stock is bought up by scalpers who double, triple or quadruple the price of something and create artificial shortages.

Where do I personally lie in this spectrum?

While I am a collector first and foremost, I do participate in both of these groups to some degree. I'll admit that I will occasionally buy an extra item, like an Amiibo, and resell it to subsidize the cost of the item I keep for myself. But I limit myself to only one extra item to resell. I will not buy out the entire inventory of a store if given the chance and I've passed on that opportunity many times. That being said, I rarely do this and I'm still torn on if my single item is a part of the bigger problem. Am I really any better than the guy who buys 20 SNES Classics and throws them all up on eBay?

Primarily though, I'm a reseller. I pick up games at garage sales, local Facebook groups and online, keep what I need for my collection and resell the doubles to lower the cost of the lots and sometimes turn a profit. Sometimes the profit is recycled into buying more games and other times its used to pay for household or family expenses. Its kind of a side business to help make ends meet, but I never look at reselling as a way to inflate the cost of games. I always sell for a fair price and I'm also willing to negotiate the price with people so we both get a deal we're happy with.

Bottom line

The ethics of reselling and scalping is subjective. Some people see no problem with it while others think it is a scourge that's ruining game collecting. I'm personally torn between thinking scalpers are bad and justifying the times when I buy an extra item to resell myself. Am I a significant part of the problem or just taking advantage of an opportunity?

What do you think on this topic? I'd genuinely like to hear some other opinions.