Even though the black market seems mythical to most people, it is a real and hazardous place to trade your hard-earned money for ‘goods’. It has always been there lurking around. I hate to admit it but in some ways, it has been helpful. Those with illnesses who cannot afford their medication like insulin have found cheaper versions on the black market that have saved their lives. A close friend of mine would not still be here without it.
However, most of the time, stolen goods, illegal drugs, and even worse things are up for sale. So those little glimmers of light are overshadowed by all the dark, seedy things being bought behind closed doors.
Fox Business reported, due to inflation and supply chain issues, the black market is delving into a more common good to sell. Fake liquor is on the rise since prices of goods have skyrocketed within the last 8 months around the world. It might seem a little funny at first – you buy a cheap bottle of wine and it tastes disgusting. Maybe you even give off one of those “you get what you paid for” phrases.
However, this is much more serious than some potentially gross-tasting liquor. The U.S has a tiered system that everyone who is legitimately in the alcohol business has to go through. It assures what is going in those bottles can be traced and is consumer safe. But when your buying fake alcohol on the black market there are no regulations. You could literally be ingesting anything.
That means it can cause people to become seriously ill. This is just one example of how inflation is hitting us though because last time I checked, this wasn’t the prohibition era. Alcohol isn’t illegal but people simply cannot afford the prices anymore.
This goes for medication as well. Though what my friend obtained saved her life, there are more times than not that people have purchased their life-saving drugs from sketchy individuals and have become ill, especially if it’s cut with something toxic or was never the proper medication to begin with.
There’s also even a growing black market trade for appliances. These pieces will be bought used and then stripped of their valuable parts to be resold, but they are not functional and are sometimes dangerous. Missing wiring can cause sparks to fly creating a fire. Or a refrigerator with a poor cooling system can cause food to go bad quicker. If you are buying anything second-hand, make sure you do all the research that you can.
The cause and effect of inflation hurt all of us. Not just average, everyday people but also business owners. Whoever you source your materials from could be getting hit hard by inflation which then trickles down to you. Now your goods and services might not be up to par like they used to.
Make sure whoever provides your goods is doing things legitimately. Be on the lookout for changes in packaging or quality. Staying vigilant about these things could protect you in the long run. And if you’re considering purchasing something counterfeit, please don’t, the risk is not worth it at the end of the day.
A native New Englander who migrated to Austin on a whim, Stephanie Dominique is a freelance copywriter, novelist, and certificate enthusiast. When she's not getting howled at by two dachshunds or inhaling enough sugar to put a giant into shock, she is reading, cooking or writing about her passions.
Fluix
November 26, 2022 at 4:48 am
In my opinion, one of the reasons for such success and spread of black markets is the difficulties with logistics and transportation. As these spheres are not optimized enough, they should introduce modern software technologies in order to become parallel to illegal trade. Already today there are such services that can solve 3 main problems of the industry:
1. They enable companies to control their drivers and identify those who drive carelessly or need additional training.
2. To reduce vehicle repair costs, as you can plan maintenance, monitor overdue services and even identify which ones are not reliable enough.
3. To easily work with a large number of policies such as FMCSA, FTA, FORS and others, storing all the necessary documents in the cloud and having access to them at any time.
So, in general, fleet management software is a convenience for drivers, companies, and customers, as the main problematic processes are greatly simplified.