This is exactly the same situation in the UK (well from my experience London at least), except instead of scalpers from an Oriental background, the scalpers are all Indian/Pakistani.
Obviously Apple dont care who buy their phones and are making a ton of money, but their customers who genuinely just want a phone for themselves are missing out.
I used the UK's reserve and collect system to pickup my phone at around 10am from London's Covent Garden store (one if the largest along with Regent Street) and there was easily still a queue of around 500-1000 outside the store in barriers, the vast majority of the queue (over 95% at a guess) were Indian/Pakistani and the vast majority were scalpers. Most didnt speak English and I personally witnessed exactly the same as the documenary - they were buying in cash or gift cards. I saw handlers with large stacks of cash and Apple gift cards, handing them out to large groups in the queue before they went to pay. They would always buy two, hand them to at least one other person with a big rucksack, get more cash and rejoin the back of the queue and attempt to do the same.
Sleeping on cardboard, leaving trash everywhere, starting fights with each other. All the behaviour above that I witnessed was by these scalpers.
To sum up:
-The VAST majority (over 95% roughly) Indian/Pakistani origin
-Being "handled" by single guys who hand out large sums of cash or gift cards
-Always buying two at a time
-Handing them to handlers who repeat the above
I just want to say in response to people who as soon as someone mentions someone's ethnic background that they are somehow "racist". These accusations need to stop. It is simply FACT! I was there. I witnessed this first hand. It was DISGUSTING BEHAVIOUR. The fact is that the vast majority are Indian/Pakistani, who didnt speak English, likely flew in just to do this, to make vast sums of profit, who get treated very poorly by handlers and the wider structure, who are probably paid pennies to do this and on the whole did not appear in the best of health or in good hygiene (most smelled bad, were wearing trampy looking clothes and generally looked quite unkept).
The fact is that this is the profile of the "scalper" you cant beat around the bush. If people are making accusations of racism theh really need to grow up and realise this is fact to fantasy - if scalpers were of all different backgrounds then I would say so, but this is not the case.
just facts, I am not being abusive or using any negative words or cursing.
