Scalping of Occult Books

In a reply to Balkan's Blog on the topic of the annoyance of scalping, I wrote this:

What an interesting thread (personal wars aside). Apart from its own merits, it has elements in common with the thorny question of downloading pdfs when the books are no longer available from the publishers. Do you pay the scalper or do you pirate? Either way, the publisher loses nothing. Anyway, before I alienate everyone, let me describe my position;
I have a shelf of occult books, from Trident through Fulgur, Esoteric Endeavor, Scarlet Imprint, and several more. The value is astronomical at this point, compared to my other books, but these are a joy to own. Fulgur in particular fulfils my interest in all things Austin Spare, and its books are high-quality, even if they don't stretch to the luxuriousness of echt toadskin or - a particular weakness of mine - hand-marbled endpapers.
All of these publishers are performing an incredible service for booklovers everywhere, even those who might regard the subject matter as nonsense, from a scientific perspective. I did manage to avoid the SI injunction on 777 for Scarlet Goddess devotees only, but just because I'm not devoted daily to the Goddess, I am indeed devoted to this book, and have treasured it since.
I strongly believe that people who can afford these books should buy them from the publishers, even purchase in advance if it helps them to gauge demand and manage the budget. And I believe that to the tune of having bought at least 5 books direct from each of these publishers. However, times change, and so I have the following points to add:
(1) I have been known to buy spare copies here and there with the intention of later selling them - 1 x Picatrix from Ars Obscura, 1 Grimoire of Honorious from Trident I saw at a steal on Ebay, and a second copy of other books found at other sites when I thought these were being sold cheaply. So maybe 4 or 5 in total. Typically, I bought the book for $100, then sold for $300 2-3 years later. Yes, I have kept my own copies. The view I take is that a little reselling here and there ENABLES me to buy these books and thereby support the publishers.
(2) I do see some Ebay stores routinely selling occult books at high prices obviously bought for their stores. This angered me at first, but then, is this really any better than buying shares thinking that Apple might release a new phone and the price will go up? These arent SERIOUS shareholders; they are daytraders, dont care/dont know about the company, etc., but they do play some sort of arbitrage role in the market. Nobody likes carrion feeders, but they do have a role in the ecosystem. I'm not validating their actions here, but viewing it as a natural process, like many unpleasant natural functions. Ultimately (a) they do not take one penny from the publishers pocket, and (b) they do not drive the prices of the books up directly - if nobody wants to buy them, they will be stuck with them; the buyer, not the seller, determines the price. (c) Any half-intelligent book-lover will learn pretty quickly to go direct to the publisher.
(3) I did start collecting the deluxe version of Oryelle's Coagula series, but book II sold out so fast I missed it. Now I have Deluxe I and Regular II and III. So yes, it has affected me; and yes, I find it annoying in that respect. Some day I will indeed sell my Deluxe I and purchase a regular edition to even out the set.
(4) Piracy; my position has always been to buy from the producer where possible, but if one genuinely cannot afford to, it is permissible to make a copy for oneself; the logic is this; the publisher is not losing a sale, because I wouldnt have bought it anyway. I find copyright laws to be obscene in many other cases... people buying the rights for things they did not create.  Back to the scalper question.

So in summary, I guess it comes down to principles rather than laws:

(1) Are you helping or hindering the publishers in their heroic work?

If you help where possible (when you can afford it) and do not hinder, I think its probably OK.

The answer to scalping is for the publisher to produce more books; perhaps 1,500 rather than 1,000.

As a practical matter, to avoid the publisher being left with unsold books, I think the practical solution is to announce the book months in advance, and to take orders from all interested. After a few months, the publisher can order that number, plus, say, 500 copies, and let the scalpers scalp who they may; the people on the mailing lists will have had their opportunity to purchase at the publication price, the publisher is supported (and in advance, a useful advantage), and a few casual people will also have been able to buy it at the original price. So the price goes up later. Such is life. It benefits those serious collectors who wish to sell later also.
Another solution is to let good customers have 2 copies, as a reward for their support.  In a way, they are merely acting as minor distributors and helping to guarantee the sale of the print run in a timely manner.

So not a black or white response, but then, grey is the natural colour of magic :)