Unethical Arbitrage

I don't understand capitalists. Taylor Swift - the popular beat combo - wanted to sell tickets for her concert. She⁰ priced the tickets too low. People¹ purchased the tickets and resold them at a higher price - up to $28,000. Tay-Tay's fans² purchased the higher priced tickets. And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Why didn't the organisers of the concert just sell the tickets at the higher price? Why leave all that profit to be eaten up by scalpers? There are loads of methods for determining an acceptable price for tickets. A Dutch Auction would have started selling tickets at, say, a million dollars each then dropped the price every day until all tickets were sold.

I know, I know! Artists want fans from all walks of life - not just rich ones - to be able to see their show. But when there's a imbalance between supply and demand it seems like money is the simplest - albeit unfairest - way to settle the issue. This is the essence of arbitrage - buy a high-demand commodity at a low price, then sell it for a high price.

Is it unethical to scalp Tay Tay Tix? I don't know. But it got me thinking about what other unethical arbitrage opportunities there are in the world.

A few years ago, scummy startup ReservationHop started making restaurant reservation and then reselling them. Ring up a fancy place, book it out, when people try to get a hot seat, sell them the reservation. Dastardly!

Many years ago, my brother hurt his leg while at a Disney park. Employees rushed to get him a wheelchair - which was nice. The wheelchair queue for all the rides was very short - which was even nicer. Hmmm... Is there an opportunity there? Yes! And Disney shut it down after disabled tour guides sold themselves as queue jumpers.

What if some enterprising soul booked up all the appointments at your GP? Would you pay a scalper to see a doctor faster?

A judge in a fraud case recused themselves because their husband's employer had done work for the plaintiff. Could a company employ the spouse of every judge in a jurisdiction? Could they sell that company on to any rich defendant who needed it?

Plane tickets are another interesting one. What if the people sat in the exit row started a live auction before take-off for the better seats? Would that work on the bus? Wheelchair users have priority over parents with buggies. How about a bunch of disabled people hog the space and charge other passengers if they want to use it?

Even something as simple as queueing for a toilet at a festival. Get to the front of the line and charge people at the back to skip ahead and take your place. There must be an app for that, right?

Anyway, please don't launch a startup for any of these horrible ideas. Do something more socially useful with your time. Like sticking your head in a bucket of cold sick.