Scalpers In China Have Entire Warehouses Filled With Phones To Bid For Popular Labubu Toys & Buy Concert Tix

If you've ever participated in a ticketing war, or struggled to get something you really want in an online bid, we're pretty certain you've deemed scalpers your worst enemy. 

A Chinese netizen recently posted a video on Douyin exposing the warehouses these scalpers work out of. Picture a space as big as an Expo hall that, instead of being crowded with people, is filled with thousands of phones set up on numerous stations. 

The phones are all programmed to systematically outbid you, aka the mere mortal just banking on pure luck and your iPhones and laptop to score limited edition Labubu toys or Taylor Swift tix. 

The phones appear to already be installed with bots, and automatically operate without having anyone even touch them. According to reports, the phones are also equipped with tech that bypasses any verification process, like a captcha test or facial recognition. The tickets or items are then resold by scalpers at higher prices. 

In other words, you'll have to be super lucky to win these scalpers in any bidding or ticketing war. 

The OP lamented: "Who exactly am I fighting with for my Labubu [toys]? I finally got the answer. While I'm still using my hands [to bid for them], others have warehouse one and warehouse two."

Netizens expressed their shock at the sight, with many complaining about how tough it is these days to simply get a high-demand item at retail price.

"Is this also the reason why I couldn't get tickets to Wang Leehom's concert?" asked one netizen. The answer is a resounding yes from many netizens.

Some also opined that people stop purchasing things from scalpers, no matter how desperate they are, so these scalper "organisations", are "unable to stay in business for long". 

"Perhaps we should stop putting so much value on fad items, if they're not available anymore, then let it be. That way, scalpers will have nothing left to do," read a comment. 

Or simply wait for trendy items like Labubu toys to be restocked. It was reported that up to 500k pieces of the popular toy was restocked after it sold out on one occasion, causing scalpers to make huge losses.