Scalping is the practice of purchasing an item and then reselling it for a higher, often unaffordable price as means of making a profit. Scalping happens most often with limited offers, such as event tickets or merchandise,  scenarios under which some are willing to pay even the most irrational prices; but how far do scalpers really go for the sake of money?

One of the most popular forms of scalping is scalping concert tickets. When artists hold concerts or go on tour, and almost sell out all of their seats, ticket scalpers are already there- having bought tickets for some of the better seats to the show or even just the last remaining seats. Ticketmaster, a popular site for purchasing tickets to these events, lets attendees buy multiple tickets at a time, which can quickly escalate into a scalper’s playground. An example of this is superstar group BTS’s recent concert: Permission to Dance: On Stage. When tickets for the event went on sale, they sold out almost immediately; however, ticket scalpers snagged a large portion of tickets before their fans got a chance to purchase. BTS is one of the most popular music acts worldwide and so the demand for their concert tickets is proportional to it. This enabled scalpers to sell their tickets for prices in the tens of thousands. 

In today’s day and age, tons of people value profit over anything else. Unfortunately, if taking advantage of supply and demand to price-gouge a concert ticket for over $30,000 is an effective way of making money, people are bound to take it. Scalping is a practice that has not gotten any less popular over the years, so it’s best to wait in line as soon as limited edition items go live and hope for the best.