By some definitions, virtually everything you pick up on the black market could fall under the “entertainment” umbrella—isn’t that what those lines of coke and side-alley blowjobs are about? To narrow the frame, however, we let those mainstays of human misbehavior live on their own and instead focused on electronics and events, from the bootlegs to the dog brawls. There were some disappointments in our research: stolen electronics and fighting cocks and dogs (which we just know are out there). While we have some info on the lifted iPods, other items—cell phones, home stereos, laptops—we couldn’t manage to quantify, despite a trip to area flea markets. A slightly inebriated fellow in a bar promised a reporter he’d get him access to a rooster rumble, but we all know the track record of drunken promises.
 Milk or pirated CDs? Do you know where your kid’s lunch money goes? |
Pirated DVDs: $10
The price comes from public high school sources. No premium for prerelease.
Pirated CDs: $5
Once again, the figure comes from the high schools.
Illegal mix tapes: $5-$6
Purchased at your neighborhood convenience store, these mix tapes generally contain samples that haven’t been cleared and often are used to help increase the buzz in advance of legit studio releases.
iPods: $60-$150
$60 for a nano
$150 for 60-gig video
“That’s the biggest market, really…reselling [stolen] iPods,” says a Charlottesville High School student. “There’s a huge thing where people steal them and resell them. The gym locker room is terrible for that.” According to a source at Monticello High School, a large supply of pink nano iPods came from a kid who stole a box, presumably from a local electronics retailer.
Videogames: Free
Piracy in gaming software is rampant on the Internet and almost nonexistent on the physical black market in the United States. (That’s not true in the Far East, where pirated software is sold openly, often packaged more professionally than the original.) Hackers on the Internet go nuts, however: A source in the industry says that most PC publishers are happy if their protection codes hold up for as little as a week of honest sales.
Tickets:
$200 for Justin Timberlake (mark up from $90.50)
$225 for Rod Stewart for what’s advertised as “front row” (mark up from $125)
Scalped tickets are more about exclusivity than saving a buck: Customers spend many times the original ticket prices for better seats or admission to sold-out events. These examples, from Craigslist, are both events at John Paul Jones Arena. The JPJ is a client of MusicToday’s Brokerage Prevention Department, which works on a client-by-client basis to invalidate tickets sold above the price set by the artist and venue. Therefore, every online ticket purchase well above face value is a gamble. “In our purchase agreement, we list a clause saying we have a right to invalidate [tickets] if they are being resold at a higher price,” says MusicToday’s Matt Shearer.
