I probably just don't buy in the categories where you have seen this. It is unethical, and that is what I said to this old boy who was bragging about it. I don't think he understood the word.
I usually buy from folks that have a "buy it now" price. If you really want to sell your collections, maybe there is a reputable auction house locally?
Yeah, you probably wouldn't have run across it. It was a very narrow market, and mine was a subset within that.
Unfortunately, it takes all of the US and pretty much the world to find one buyer for each of the items at a decent price, so local is not an option.
And the horrid "collectibles" craze put the market bottom below zero, where it stays. I could have lost a tubload more if I had gotten into for that, but I didn't. My time has way passed - the ship has sailed and I'm no longer in a position to maintain what I was doing with these items. *sigh* Live and learn, I suppose.