Scalpers are ruining the Internet, and in 2026, I hope their reign of terror comes to an end

If Santa and his elves are the light that brings us goodwill and cheer, scalpers are the darkness ripping any happiness away – and I’m once again hoping the coming year will be the year they stop ruining the internet.

I’m sure you’ve all had a bad experience wrought by scalpers – folks using an army of bots or simply sheer will (and maybe other tricks) to buy up something in high demand but short supply, only to resell it at a massive markup.

In the world of tech, they’ve scalped PS5s, SSDs, and, more recently, RAM, but they’ll also ruin other shopping experiences for concert tickets, limited edition items, and trading cards, among many others.