- If you can sell it, someone will probably want to buy it.
What is sold on the black market? Your immediate thoughts might jump to things like drugs, stolen luxury goods, or data from hacked websites, but the reality is often much stranger.
Many seemingly nonsensical products are widely bought and sold through illegal channels. However, all that bizarre stuff is actually worth a fortune due to sheer rarity, strict regulations, or because it can be used to manufacture another illicit product.
Here are eight examples of mind-boggling items from the black market.
1. Sand
Why would anyone buy sand? For construction, that’s why.
You need sand to make concrete, and – believe it or not – the world’s supplies of high-quality sand are running low. So, illegally mined and harvested sand is a relatively common illegally sold construction material.
Sometimes, sand thieves steal an entire beach’s worth of sand. For example, somebody stole Winnifred Beach in Jamaica in 2022.
2. Graveyard Dirt
Not all the sand on the black market goes to construction or landscaping. Some people buy sand from graveyards for performing black magic.
In certain parts of the world, belief in sorcery and witchcraft is still strong. Cemetery dirt is considered a particularly powerful magical agent, but it can be hard to get due to obvious taboos. As such, enterprising sorcerers will either steal the sand on their own or pay large sums of money for someone else to do the dirty work for them.
You can even find products containing graveyard sand in New Age stores in the Western world. They often claim the sand is sourced ethically, but who’s to check?
3. Fireflies
Fireflies are a popular product to buy through shady channels in China. However, unlike what you might expect, the bugs aren’t used as an odd traditional medicine ingredient.
Instead, people use them to create a romantic and/or dramatic atmosphere at events. For instance, during the Qixi Festival (think a Chinese Valentine’s Day), it’s a popular stunt to release a jar of fireflies at night to enhance the mood.
Due to rampant firefly harvesting, China’s government has put strict regulations in place to protect the insects. Yet, the traders have simply gone underground.
4. Luxury Brand Trash
As I mentioned in the intro, luxury goods are one of the most common illegally traded articles. But even trash from the companies making fancy stuff is worth a pretty penny.
For instance, imagine a producer of counterfeit bags getting their hands on scraps bearing the authentic Louis Vuitton logo. With a bit of creative stitching, their fakes would suddenly look a lot more convincing.
This is part of the reason many luxury goods makers choose to destroy unsold products instead of selling them at a discount. Yet, it’s hard to keep determined counterfeiters at bay.
5. Manhole Covers
Buying manhole covers seems pointless, and the things indeed don’t have any utility outside their intended purpose. However, you can melt them down, and all of a sudden, you have a bunch of scrap metal you can sell.
Selling manhole covers for scrap is strangely common, but it makes sense that it happens. Nobody guards the covers, and scrap metal dealers often don’t ask where the metal came from.
Manhole covers aren’t worth much, though, and there are more cost-effective methods to acquire illegal scrap. But even then, a little money is better than no money.
6. Lizard Penises
In India, poachers are after the endangered monitor lizards. Or, more specifically, they’re after their penises, which the illicit hunters sell at underground markets.
Their customers, however, may not be after lizard penises. Instead, they want Hatha Jodi, a plant root that supposedly has miraculous powers. In reality, that plant doesn’t exist, and the roots are dried lizard genitals.
If you’d like to read more about this bizarre illegal trade, we have a whole story about it.
7. Human Hair
Selling and buying human hair seems gross, and, well, it is. But less than scrupulously honest wig makers are ready to dish out plenty of cash for perfect flowing locks.
How much you get for the hair will depend on where you live and what color the hair is. In general, though, hair from natural blondes and redheads is often the most sought-after strands.
And where does the hair come from? Well, in some parts of the world, people might harvest it from temples where people leave their hair as sacrifices. That, or they might just shave the recently deceased.
8. Disney Disability Passes
The lines at Disney World can be so long. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to bypass them?
You can, if you buy a shady Disney disability pass.
Disney operates a Disability Access Service (DAS) at its theme park locations. This service is designed to allow disabled people to skip the regular line and get to attractions sooner so the staff can make special accommodations for them without causing additional delays.
Some people with DAS passes, however, have started selling them to others. Of course, it’d look suspicious to have the pass when no one in your party is disabled. So, the owner of the pass will often tag along your group as a special “guide.”