To think this is scummy?

[xiaoxo]

Resellers, more so the ones you see on TikTok.

There is a woman who regularly attends carboot sales, picks up plushies and teddies for 10p-£1 and then resells them on ebay for extortionate prices. She found one for £1 and she’s reselling it for £300!! Because it’s “rare”.

Something about attending these carboot sales and with the intent of reselling feels awfully scummy to me, as far as i know the profited money doesn’t go to charity either, she just keeps it to herself.

Her comments are flooded with cheering on and positivity, “what a fab steal” or “so jealous well done!” and it doesn’t sit right with me at all. I know once she buys it it’s hers, but i sometimes feel for the owners who unknowingly are being somewhat “scammed” out of the money that could of potentially been theres, she never tells them their worth! Alot of the time sellers at car boot sales are short of cash themselves.

AIBU?

I don't think this is scummy at all. You seem jealous to me

I think it’s scummy. At best she’s over selling, worst she’s outright lying saying things are rare when they are not

The people selling at car boots are not being scammed out of money. They could spent the time to properly value every item and then sell it on eBay or wherever, themselves.

I honestly don't know many people who sell at car boots to make money... it is more to get rid of crap when they are having a clear out.

When DD was small in the late 90's thats how I paid for things. I spent hours researching rare toys and hours trawling car boot sales to buy them. Someone above joked about My Little Pony, but I made the most on those. What I knew, and a lot of people didn't, was that a lot of MLP were country specific and the Americans desperately wanted the UK versions. One pony could sell for hundreds and I once sold a care bear I'd paid 50p for on eBay with the final bid of £2,500.

DD and I spent hours trawling through boot sales all over the city and it kept her fed and in clothes.
These days it's not as profitable. Prices fell rapidly into the 2000's when people cottoned on, but I still have the odd find.

Lesson is, research what you have before you sell it.

It’s called capitalism. Wait until you hear about Amazon

I'm a reseller as a side-job. I pay the asking price when I buy things (normally from charity shops or second hand online). I charge more because my customers pay for my skill at identifying, curating, and sometimes restoring the things they want, and then putting them all in one place where they can be easily found. I don't feel guilty, or that I should hand money over to charity, any more than I would doing any other selling hobby.

Your supermarket charges you more than what they paid for a bag of rice. Are they scamming you? You're very welcome to find rice at wholesale prices and find a way to store it, after all. You're paying for the convenience and easy availability.

It sounds like OP mistakenly sees this as "easy money" and feels bitter. I guarantee that, if it's making money at all, it's not as "easy" as it looks.