I'm a long time lurker but new member, who finally joined because someone was selling a pair of Tract bino's at a great price, that I really wanted. Of course they were sold long before my waiting period was over hahaha!
Anyways, I understand the dilemma many of you have. It's about ethics. We see something offered at 2-4x above it's normal price, and it's offensive because we think all people should embrace the same ethics that we live by (the golden rule).
I'm pretty libertarian in the classical sense and a business major. If I see a way to carve out a profit, my first inclination is to go for it and could care less about ideas of fairness. Ethics be damned!
On the flip-side, I was raised in poverty and we got by through sharing and looking out for one another. Then at 17, I joined the Army and got first-hand experience in what appears to be some form of socialism. I owned nothing, had no control over anything, forced cooperation, communal showers and living quarters, etc.
My experience's, from birth to 21 yrs, instilled the instinct to not screw anyone over and try to help people. It's a strong drive too! So it counteracts what I've learned about business/economics, thru school and owning a few small businesses.
So to summarize my ramblings:
We can have a laissez-faire attitude about the classifieds and let the free market correct itself. Yes, some people will unwittingly fall prey to unethical sellers but most will not. Google is a thing so it's easy to find out if a deal is good. Most price-gougers will simply fail and either lower their price or move on.
The alternative is to start regulating sellers, either officially or unofficially. More limits can be imposed, more hoops to jump through. You could call them out on their ads or whatever else you can think of to block them. Be advised though, that is a slippery slope. Create too many barriers to entry or price controls and the market will stagnate. People, mostly good types, will move on.
That's my unsolicited, long-winded two cents on the matter.
Btw, I'm a fng here so hopefully this constitutes you all "getting to know me" if I should ever try to buy something from you! hahaha