Line #45 Main/BlackMarket


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3	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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10	[[quoteright:331:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blackmarket01_883.png]]
11	[[caption-width-right:331:Buyer ''and'' seller beware!\
12	[-[[http://shadowyingzhi.deviantart.com/art/The-Illegal-Transaction-207873578 Image]] courtesy of [[http://shadowyingzhi.deviantart.com ShadowYingZhi]].\
13	Used with permission.]]-]
14
15	->''"[Jubbulpore's] inhabitants brag that within a li of the pylon at the spaceport end of the Avenue of Nine anything in the explored universe can be had by a man with cash, from a starship to ten grains of stardust, from the ruin of a reputation to the robes of a senator with the senator inside."''
16	-->-- ''Literature/CitizenOfTheGalaxy''
17
18	Black Markets ''Best'' Markets!
19
20	A Black Market is an established "underground" economy which deals in the transfer of illicit goods and services, the exact nature of which will vary wildly depending on era and location. TheEmpire may be actively trying to stamp it all out, or taking its cut under the table and vigilantly [[BigBrotherIsWatching looking]] in some other direction. The stuff for sale may be [[ShopFodder worthless crap]], [[SchmuckBait lethally dangerous]], [[{{Unobtainium}} genuinely useful]], or, most likely, a mixture of all three. But you're going to pay through the nose, and when you arrive to pick up your purchase, it might be a good idea to [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption come armed]]. Or send [[FriendInTheBlackMarket someone who knows what they are doing.]] As there are no price stickers, [[DoYouWantToHaggle haggling]] is used to arrive at the price.
21
22	In RealLife, the term is generally used to describe the encompassing gestalt: a collection of individuals and covert operations which can be spread across a wide geographic range, dealing in goods which may be entirely illegal (such as hard drugs, military weapons, human organs, human trafficking), or legal but regulated (such as prescription drugs and rationed goods), legal but people want to evade taxes (cigarettes) or entirely legal but acquired illicitly (such as stolen goods or goods that FellOffTheBackOfATruck). As well, illicit services are available, ranging from [[TheOldestProfession prostitution]] to off-the-books plastic surgery.
23
24	The archetypal example probably being the vast array of illicit transactions which occurred in [[UsefulNotes/TheHomeFront Great Britain during World War II]]; in that particular case, it was rationed [[BlackMarketProduce food]], clothing, textiles, cigarettes, gasoline, nylons, and real and forged ration books which were being bought and sold.
25
26	A subcategory of Black Market are the underground channels for buying goods and services in prisons. The items on the prison black market might be everyday items that are easily available in the outside world, but in jail, they are contraband that'll get you thrown in solitary if you're caught with them.
27	Items that are legal outside jail but contraband inside include cell phones, cigarettes and liquor. Illegal items are sold too, such as drugs.[[note]]Necessity is the mother of invention, and when it comes to prison smuggling, there is an impressive repertoire of techniques. Accomplices outside the jail put contraband in tennis balls and throw them in, hide them inside gifts, and even fly small items in with drones.[[/note]]
28
29	Sometimes you will encounter a ''literal'' Black Market, a [[WelcomeToEvilMart covert shopping emporium]] complete with merchants hawking their dubious wares from established stalls. This latter type is often a subset of the BazaarOfTheBizarre, with ''everything'' for sale and the outright illegal stuff lurking around the edges. The black market goods may be offered in a [[SecretShop private, invitation-only section]] of an [[CovertGroupWithMundaneFront innocuous-seeming front business]], which looks normal except for the 6'4" {{Bouncer}} at the door.
30
31	HonestJohn, TheScrounger, TheRat, VenturousSmuggler and obviously the FriendInTheBlackMarket will often be found thriving in this environment (and possibly an undercover
32	cop or spy doing TheInfiltration), but they'll just be manning one of the (literal or metaphorical) stalls; the ultimate power will usually be in the hands of TheSyndicate. Unless it all comes full circle, and the whole thing is just another branch of TheEmpire.
33	----
34	!!Examples:
35	[[foldercontrol]]
36
37	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
38	* In the WorldOfFunnyAnimals of ''Manga/{{Beastars}}'', eating another animal is seen as the ultimate taboo but there are hidden black markets that sell illicit meat from hospitals and funeral homes for carnivores. Early on, the wolf protagonist Legoshi ends up at one with several of his carnivore classmates by accident and Bill the tiger [[HorrorHunger tries to persuade the rest of them to pool their money together to buy a goat hobo's fingers.]]
39	* In ''Manga/KenganAshura'', Chairman Metsudo in the past ran a post-WWII black market under a {{Yakuza}} don and turned it into the biggest market in the Kantō region, earning his spot in the titular Kengan tournament.
40	%% Needs context * In ''Manga/{{Monster}}'', Johan runs one of these.
41	* In ''Manga/MotherKeeper'', Zelik runs one that's used by some of the people in the slums.
42	* The "Underworld" features increasingly in ''Manga/OnePiece'', with the crew encountering major black market hubs on Sabaody and Dressrossa. The clientele are often pirates less scrupulous than our main characters, explaining the bad reputation pirates have with the government (but since the government-supported World Nobles are also major buyers on the black market the hypocrisy is obvious).
43	* ''Manga/UndeadUnluck'': The mafia runs auctions that deal in Negators, UMAs, and artifacts. Fuuko and Andy must infiltrate one of them in order to find Unrepair.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Comic Books]]
47	* ''ComicBook/GothamCentral'' features the black market of Gotham City as a pretty integral plot-point for its multiple ''Corrigan'' story arcs. [[DirtyCop Jim Corrigan]], a crime scene technician for the Gotham City Police Department, has a nasty habit of stealing evidence from crime scenes to sell on the black market, since there is a brisk trade in Gotham crime memorabilia. This originally seems to be something of a victimless crime, since he is not actually stealing from a person who is losing their own property, except that his tampering with evidence lets criminals go free and gets honest police officers charged with felonies. After his memorabilia scheme is halted by Renee Montoya, it is revealed that his black market connections actually run a lot deeper than believed, and for years he has also been stealing and reselling heroin that the narcotics squad had confiscated.
48	* An issue of ''ComicBook/InvaderZimOni'' takes place entirely on the planet Cyberflox, the [[PlanetOfHats hat]] of which is being the most dangerous black market in the galaxy. Funnily enough, it's organized like a giant mall, full of various shops selling everything from ordinary products like scented candles and sweaters, to more dangerous stuff like bombs and laser guns.
49	* In ''ComicBook/{{Persepolis}}'', Mariane buys Iron Maiden tapes at a black market in Teheran.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Fan Works]]
53	* ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'': When he wants a sample of the Dominators' plant-based computer technology, Paul turns to an under-the-table arms dealer. There are limits on what the dealer is willing to work with, since anything large-scale will draw the Dominators' attention, but so long as Paul sticks to small purchases of older-generation technology, not threatening the Dominators' monopoly control of warp gates, they have better things to do than crack down.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
57	* Moe's gang in ''Animation/SkyBlue'' intends to steal a shipment of weapons being moved into Ecoban to sell on the black market. Unfortunately for them, this turns out to be an EvilPlan on the part of Locke.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
61	* The black market in a WWII French boarding school plays a significant role in ''Film/AuRevoirLesEnfants''.
62	* ''Film/TheBraveOne''. The female protagonist goes to buy a gun but is told there's a thirty day waiting limit. A customer notices her look of desperation and approaches her outside the store, offering a Kar K-9 automatic for a thousand dollars, throwing in a box of ammunition and an impromptu instruction on how to load and fire it.
63	* In ''Film/DaleksInvasionEarth2150AD'' (1966) a black marketeer exchanges food for gold and jewelry that's been picked up in the abandoned villages of Britain (even though [[FridgeLogic such things should now be worthless]]).
64	* In the British [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt apocalyptic movie]] ''Film/TheDayTheEarthCaughtFire'' (1961) the rising heat levels create a black market in water, and one character catches typhoid from it.
65	* In ''Film/ForceTenFromNavarone'', the leaders of the title group pretend to be black marketeers on the run from the Allied authorities.
66	* In Wilder's ''Film/AForeignAffair'', John trades a cake given to him by an old girlfriend for a mattress in postwar Berlin's underground market.
67	* ''Film/GermanyYearZero'': In an attempt to get some money for his family in the years after World War II, Edmund seeks out possible trades in the black market. He sells a record of Hitler given to him by his former teacher Henning to some allied soldiers.
68	* In ''Film/TheGoodTheBadTheWeird'', The Ghost Market is a physical black market that has grown to be a full-scale OutlawTown.
69	* Ellie in ''Film/TheHalfOfIt'' has perfect grades... And secretly writes essays for her classmates as a side hustle. $10 for only 3 pages adds up quickly.
70	* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse''
71	** ''Film/IronMan1'': [[spoiler:Stane]] has been selling weapons to the Ten Rings organization behind Tony's back.
72	** Klaue is discreetly willing to sell any vibranium that he either smuggles out of Wakanda in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', or finds through misidentified artifacts in ''Film/BlackPanther2018''.
73	** Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne had been buying illegal technologies from Sonny Burch to build their Quantum Tunnel to save Janet van Dyne in ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp''. However, Sonny reveals that he had found out what they had been doing, and wanted a cut a deal to sell the Quantum Tunnel along the black market, but they refuse and have to take the last part that they need by force.
74	* In a famous GunPorn scene in ''Film/TaxiDriver'' a smooth-talking salesman offers handguns from a suitcase to the protagonist along with anything else he might want, such as drugs or a stolen Cadillac. He refuses the latter but buys himself a small arsenal. The scene gets homaged in ''Film/GodBlessAmerica'' and ''Film/DeathSentence''.
75	* In ''Film/TheyMadeMeAFugitive'', Narcy makes his money through the thriving London black market. As mentioned above, England continued to ration their food until ''1954'', so several commodities were still hard to find and were often found through the unsavoury black market.
76	* ''Film/TheThirdMan'' deals with the black market in post-UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Vienna.
77	-->'''Opening narrator:''' I never knew the old Vienna before the war with its Strauss music, its glamour and easy charm. Constantinople suited me better.\
78	''(Scenes of black market goods changing hands)''\
79	'''Opening narrator:''' I really got to know it in the classic period of the black market. We'd run anything if people wanted it enough and had the money to pay. Of course a situation like that does tempt amateurs.\
80	''(Dead body seen floating in the river)''\
81	'''Opening narrator:''' But, well, you know, they can't stay the course [[FriendInTheBlackMarket like a professional.]]
82	* ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' opens with James Bond infiltrating -- and destroying -- a terrorist arms bazaar.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Literature]]
86	* The people of Ceres slums largely survive in ''Literature/AiNoKusabi'' by relying on goods from the Black market. Unbeknownst to them save a key few, it is actually run by [[spoiler:Iason, the top ruling Blondy]].
87	* In Heinlein's ''Literature/BetweenPlanets'', there is a flourishing one on rebellious Venus to, among other things, convert Federation currency to Venus Republic bills.
88	* ''Literature/BloodOnTheBlackMarket'': It's World War II, and gasoline and tires are both rationed—gasoline for military needs and tires both for military needs and because almost all of the world's supply of natural rubber was in the hands of the Japanese. HardboiledDetective Michael Shayne uncovers a scheme in which gasoline and tires are being sold illicitly with the cooperation of gas station owners. Eventually he discovers that the illegal trade isn't in stolen gas, it's in forged ration cards that people use to buy more than their share.
89	* ''The Bronze Horseman'', by Paullina Simons. During the siege of Leningrad Tatiana goes with her mother to buy food from a black marketeer, but her mother is outraged at the high prices and walks out. Later as things go FromBadToWorse she gives Tatiana all their money to buy whatever she can, but by that stage there's barely any food to sell.
90	* The city of Jubbulpore in Creator/RobertAHeinlein's novel ''Literature/CitizenOfTheGalaxy''.
91	* ''Literature/{{City of Bones\|1995}}'' by Creator/MarthaWells: Charisat's "Silent Market" is a loose network of people who deal in information, favours, and illegally traded artifacts. Like many traders, Khat tries to do business aboveboard as much as possible, but dearly values his Silent Market connections.
92	* Inverted in the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' books, as Christians operate an underground co-op during the latter half of the Tribulation when the MarkOfTheBeast is in place.
93	* Knockturn Alley in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' novels. Also, Hagrid's frequent purchases of contraband magical creatures.
94	* In ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', District 12 has the Hob, which operates out of an abandoned coal warehouse. [[spoiler:Until it goes up in flames.]]
95	* ''Literature/{{Invictus}}'': There's a thriving black market of items stolen from the past. The main characters are time travelers stealing artifacts to sell on the market.
96	* In ''Literature/TheIronTeeth'' web serial, the city of Daggerpoint is basically one big black market. Bandits and thieves gather there to sell goods that are illegal or stolen.
97	* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': It's implied that Motsuc's Customization shop is part of a black market and that he is the one who sold a [[spoiler:[[SlaveCollar prison runed maid outfit]] to Tahart Ligo.]]
98	-->'''Basilard:''' Team, let's go before I get an urge to ask Motsuc where he got these items.\
99	'''Motsuc:''' I assure you I run a legitimate business!
100	* In ''Literature/LockwoodAndCo'', following the onset of The Problem (of ghosts), any and all historical artifacts were shunned as potentially dangerous items from which ghosts might arise. Over time, however, there emerged a shadowy black market of people interested in collecting these objects and relic-men in the business of acquiring them and selling them to the highest bidder.
101	* ''Literature/MindstarRising'': The novel is set in an AlternateHistory Britain recovering from a left-wing dictatorship. Philip Evans, the CEO of Event Horizon, describes how he had consumer goods built in [[CityOnTheWater cyber-factories outside Britain's territorial waters]], which were then smuggled in by stealth aircraft and distributed via an army of spivs to undermine the socialist economy. He says the biggest problem was the goods were paid for by bartering fruit or fish, which then had to be exchanged for gold, silver or diamonds which were then smuggled out of the country.
102	* Robert Lynn Asprin's ''Literature/MythAdventures'' novels features the Bazaar, which fills the entire dimension of Deva, and serves as the Black Market for all the other dimensions. People go to Deva to buy things that are illegal in other places, usually for a good reason.
103	* A black market is the beginning point of the Literature/NeroWolfe story "Before I Die", published in the {{omnibus}} volume ''Trouble In Triplicate''. It's set in 1946, after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, but with food rationing still in full effect. When a crime boss tries to hire Wolfe to stop a blackmailer, Wolfe declares that he'll accept the case only if he's given access to the meat black market as part of his fee. The crime boss agrees and provides a phone number of a man "who might have meat", and the necessary password.
104	* The Floating Market in ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}''.
105	* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/{{Ravenor}} Rogue'', Ravenor and his retinue go fishing for "coherence" on a planet. They badly offend a merchant by going about it the wrong way. Eventually, they make the right hook-ups to reach the [[CoolGate psychic door]] that will take them to where they need to learn the information.
106	* In ''{{Literature/Replica\|JennaBlack}}'', there is a thriving Black Market. Though it's illegal, many Executives not-so-secretly use it.
107	* [[ThievesGuild The Ink]] in ''Literature/SkateTheThief'' traffics in stolen and illegal goods in the port city of Caribol, and it's the main character's job to bring in whatever she steals for a cut of the profit.
108	* Many of the worlds of ''Franchise/StarWars'', in both ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]'' and [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse canon]] have a fairly extensive black market.
109	** In the short story "The Perfect Weapon," readers learn that the bounty hunter Bazine Netal was taught by her master that ''every'' planet with sentient beings had a black market on it, if one knew where to look.
110	** ''Literature/XWingSeries'': General Horton Salm's aide obtains some vintage Abrax for the General on the black market. When Wedge asks about the age Salm isn't sure but mentions the bottle has Old Republic tax holograms on it.
111	** In the reference work "Death Star Technical Companion" the Death Star itself has a number of black markets operating on it right under the noses of the Death Star leadership. The largest one is called the A68 Market, located in City Sprawl North 7: A68.
112	* In ''You'll Like It Here (Everybody Does)'' by Ruth White, there is a black market for books, magazines and anything of an exciting or subversive nature, as "gross uniqueness" is banned.
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
116	* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': Bix and Paak have legitimate salvage related businesses, but also sell stolen items and things that are outright illegal for civilians to have possession of. Cassian steals parts off of Imperial ships which he sells through Bix's contacts.
117	* ''Series/BabylonFive'': A substantial black market exists on the station dealing in a variety of items, despite the efforts of station security to stamp them out.
118	** In "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS02E21ComesTheInquisitor Comes the Inquisitor]]" G'Kar makes arrangements with the black market to smuggle weapons to the Narn resistance after the fall of Narn to the Centauri Republic. G'Kar however warns his contact Chase that if Chase had any thoughts of swindling the Narn resistance his [[FateWorseThanDeath fate would not be a pleasant one]].
119	--->'''G'Kar:''' The money to buy these weapons comes from the life savings of those Narn who were able to escape the Centauri occupation. It is a limited resource, purchased with blood. If it should be squandered, or stolen, be assured that while your body might one day be found, it could never be identified from what's left.
120	** In the episode "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS04E10RacingMars Racing Mars]]" Captain Sheridan and Commander Ivanova turn to the black market to help bring in needed supplies by providing smugglers with upgrades for their ships, armed escorts, and pardons for relatively minor crimes they were being sought for.
121	* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003''. As shown in the episode of that name, there's a thriving black market dealing in everything from fresh fruit to antibiotics and child trafficking. Even Apollo argues that the black market is necessary and should be allowed to continue as long as it stops doing ObviouslyEvil stuff like the latter. Given that the difference between legitimate and illegitimate trade in a post-apocalyptic society was ill-defined, Creator/RonMoore regarded this as lazy writing, with the child trafficking thing put in as a KickTheDog to make the black marketeers the villains.
122	* ''Series/DadsArmy'' featured both sides of the World War 2 Black Market with the classic 'spiv' Walker selling all sorts of dodgy goods 'off the back of a truck' and the genial Jonesy quietly providing extra sausages and the like from his butcher's shop.
123	* In ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', Mal and the other heroes have dealings with Badger, who runs a small black market operation on Persephone. In the movie ''Serenity'' it's Fanty and Mingo on Beaumonde. Mal and his crew often act as agents of the black market, either smuggling or stealing the illicit goods that one of the traders wants.
124	* ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'': Unsurprisingly one is revealed to exist in Gilead. Not only are alcohol and various illegal drugs traded, but also ''cosmetics and pregnancy tests''. Nick provides drugs to a Martha working in the brothel, with her giving him dirt on the customers back (they also have a casual sexual relationship).
125	* ''Series/{{MASH}}'' had several episodes involving the black market.
126	** In "To Market, To Market", black marketeers steal vital medical supplies, the doctors must make a deal to get them back. Their contact with the underworld? Father Mulcahy!
127	** In the later episode "Death Takes a Holiday", [[DrJerk Winchester]] [[PetTheDog donates a substantial amount of chocolates to an orphanage]], but is outraged to learn that the chocolates intended for the orphans was instead sold on the black market, until he is told that the chocolates netted the orphanage enough money to buy food for the orphans for a month.
128	** In "Snap Judgment", Klinger goes to the black market (called "Little Chicago" in this episode) to try and find Hawkeye and BJ's stolen camera. He succeeds and buys it back, but gets stopped by MP's and charged with the theft.
129	* ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'': Implied to be how RJ got his morphers -- apparently, he "knew a guy who knew a guy who had an uncle". How else is a guy running a pizza shop who isn't a rocket scientist going to get some of those?!
130	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': Various black markets appear throughout the franchise.
131	** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': The Ferengi bar owner Quark ran the black market on [=DS9=], then known as ''Terok Nor'', during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. The Bajoran Ibudan ran black market medical supplies through the station during the occupation. After the Cardassians left Quark was still involved with black market activities.
132	** In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS4E9RandomThoughts Random Thoughts]]", an ostensibly peaceful telepathic race has a black market in violent thoughts. The Crisis of the Week occurs when [[HairTriggerTemper B'Elanna Torres has a violent thought]] illicitly stolen, which leads to a murder for which B'Elanna is held [[ThoughtCrime legally responsible]].
133	** ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'': A black market on the Klingon homeworld ''Qo'noS'' was based out of the Orion outpost. In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDiscoveryS2E10TheRedAngel The Red Angel]]" a [[NoSuchAgency Section 31]] operative learned that a time crystal was being offered for sale through the market and informed Section 31 chief Leland, who promptly had Section 31 agents steal the crystal.
134	* The main villain of ''Series/TokusouSentaiDekaranger'', Agent Aburera, is a prominent figure in a galactic black market, providing MechaMooks and equipment for any alien criminal who can meet his price, and fencing their spoils for them. In fact, he doesn't even get directly involved with the Rangers until late in the series, when their interference of his clients' plots start tanking his profits.
135	* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1985S3E22 The Mind of Simon Foster]]", the black market is the only way that people can get real meat as opposed to meat substitutes in 1999. The pawnbroker Mr. Quint also illegally sells [[TransferableMemory memories removed from desperate people]] to wealthy collectors.
136	* The episode "One Man Band" of ''Series/TheUnusuals'' provides us with a Murder Store. Everything you need to kill someone, including the weapons and cleaning products for [[DisposingOfABody body disposal]]. You can only get in if you know the password, although every potential client used a different one, so the screening process must have been crap.
137	[[/folder]]
138
139	[[folder:Podcasts]]
140	* ''Podcast/FatFrenchAndFabulous'' has the following exchange:
141	-->'''Janel:''' I want to know how you resell stolen bull semen... is there a bull semen black market?\
142	'''Jessica:''' I don't know how you fence bull semen.\
143	'''Janel:''' Somebody's like, you know, I could get these cows knocked up legitimately, or we could hit the black market.
144	[[/folder]]
145
146	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
147	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
148	** The underground enclave of Skullport in the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' thrives on this trope, being the site where Underdark trade routes and surface-world black markets intersect.
149	** The elven markets in ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'', where you can even buy prohibited magic.
150	* The Infrared Market in the RPG ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}''. The secret society Free Enterprise has a major hand in it.
151	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': The Night Market in Numeria's capital city Starfall, an irregular and secret meeting where the city's thieves and scavengers gather to sell the technological artifacts they've plundered from the wrecks of the spaceship littering the nation -- from flare guns and stun batons to advanced medical tech, laser weaponry and AI personality chips -- outside of the stranglehold that the Technic Legue enforces on the sale and possession of technology.
152	* ''TabletopGame/RedMarkets'': The titular Red Market is an interesting take on this. The term is used for the underground economy between the the survivor enclaves of [[ZombieApocalypse The Loss]] and [[TheRemnant The Recession]]. It is not legal, but because the the survivors were all declared LegallyDead by the Recession government, it is not technically illegal either.
153	* The Black Market in ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' is probably more grey than anything. On top of the usual illicit goods and organized crime rackets, they sell weapons and armor from both legitimate vendors and "acquired" military gear, and even weapons and commercial goods they make themselves. At least one faction of the Black Market is one large organization that even owns a PoweredArmor factory out West (at Area51, no less), one that [[CutLexLuthorACheck brings in more money as a semi-legitimate business than their criminal activities do]].
154	* In the RPG ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', the players must usually turn to this to unload any loot they acquire. Seattle has a literal example in the Crime Mall, a gathering of merchants hawking just about everything under the sun, and a large portion of these goods are usually not seen in places found in the common eye; from the most common drugs to high-end weaponry and cybernetic/bionic implants (such as the rare and costly Betaware and Deltaware implants) up to the ridiculously elusive (and expensive) [[InfinityPlusOneSword Fairlight Excalibur cyberdeck]]; all set up in the decaying shell of an abandoned, actual mall located in the Puyallup Barrens. It gets raided regularly by the police/Lone Star, but it's mentioned in supplemental materials that these raids are almost perfunctory, and the mall always reopens the next day.
155	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' ''Interstaller Wars'', the Vilani ''duraag'' serves this purpose. This is a generic term for all black-market activities in the Vilani Imperium. Theoretically all trade in the Vilani Imperium is dominated by the three Shangarim (major castes). However it is common enough to secretly trade in the duraag. Marginalized people trade there. Sometimes as well important grandees, when short of supplies will arrange to make exchanges there. So in a sense it is "another branch of the empire". When a Terran IntrepidMerchant vessel arrives carrying the swashbuckling [=PCs=] to smuggle, raid, and gain glory and gold in the Vilani Imperium they will tend to go here.
156	* In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', a Black Market is standard rather than exception in the [[MegaCity hive cities]] and major spaceports in the Imperium of Man.
157	[[/folder]]
158
159	[[folder:Video Games]]
160	* Barnabas' Black Market in ''[[VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery ADOM]]'' is the only general-store style shop in the early game. It often has good stuff, but the prices are quite steep [[spoiler:unless you're the head of the Thieves' Guild.]]
161	* ''VideoGame/{{Angband}}'' and most of its variants have black markets in the town. The black market can sell any item in the game--but at a substantial markup.
162	* [[HonestJohnsDealership Crazy Redd]] in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' sells a collection of unusual items--some rare, some ordinary, with huge markups on prices. He also sells paintings, but being as this is the ''black'' market, there's no guarantee that they're the real deal, and not huge fakes. In ''New Leaf'', Redd deals exclusively in art items, but his forgeries are obvious (at least, obvious if [[AllThereInTheManual you read the manual]] and [[UnconventionalLearningExperience do some research]], or if [[GeniusBonus you are acquainted with what the equivalent real-life paintings and sculptures look like]]).
163	* ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'': [[PortTown Harbor Town]] is home to various black market products ranging from weapon modifications, materials from dissembled tech, and a fighting arena to earn quick [[WeWillSpendCreditsInTheFuture credits]].
164	* ''VideoGame/BattleTech'' has a black market for weapons, 'Mech parts, and even whole Battlemechs that you can gain access to through a random event. The prices are better if the SpacePirates like you. On top of that, it contains a much better selection of [[LostTechnology lostech]] mechs and weapons than legitimate stores.
165	* Going down a trap door leading to a crawl space in ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac Rebirth'' has a small chance to open a path to a black market, where you can buy a variety of items with heart containers.
166	* The Mammago Garage in ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'' is a place that sells rare and illegal modifications for various vehicles, such as jumpers (for hopping over government laser barriers) and space engines. Of course, they only accept [[GlobalCurrencyException illegal pearls]].
167	* The browser game ''VideoGame/BlackMarket'' unsurprisingly features a black market or two.
168	* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' has a black market run by Crazy Earl, who sells inventory upgrades that increase the amount of ammo/guns you can carry in exchange for Eridium, the game's [[GreenRocks Purple Rocks]].
169	* In ''VideoGame/CityOfVillains'', the player-driven marketplace is called the Black Market. Imagine that.
170	* The Global Liberation Army in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerGenerals'' has the Black Market as a building for researching weapon upgrades, which as a bonus generates a steady stream of income.
171	** In the GameMod ''Videogame/RiseOfTheReds'', the GLA still has the Black Market, but [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome because their extensive black market network made it very easy for their enemies to follow their money trails]], they have to reduce their operations, represented in-game as being able to only build one such structure.
172	* If you choose to use weapons in ''VideoGame/DeathRally'', then you will visit the black market before each race. The market tends to sell items that are double edged swords, like rocket fuel that makes you go fast, but damages the your car when used.
173	* ''VideoGame/DetectivePikachu'': The S. S. Prime Treasure hosts an exclusive auction which deals in stolen goods.
174	* The Omar in ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar'' use their HiveMind to run a global black market.
175	* Every weapon dealer in ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' is a local version of this, selling weapons, ammo and modifications out of somewhat low-key establishments.
176	* At the start of ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuthHackersMemory'' you rescue your starter Digimon and two others from a black market dealer [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman mistreating them]]. Later on, he gives you access to the [=DigiMarket=] where you can buy Digimon off UsefulNotes/TheDeepWeb from him and his partners. In Chapter 8, you have to choose whether to [[VideoGameCaringPotential liberate the Digimon]] or [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential protect the market so you can keep using it]].
177	* There are fences in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion''. There's also a vendor called Shady Sam who is dressed in all black, hangs around outside a city wall and sells illegal goods.
178	* ''VideoGame/EliteDangerous'' has examples at some starports as a way to sell off illegal or stolen goods that can't be sold at the normal market. From pirated goods, to weapons and narcotics, to slaves, if you've got it, the black market will buy it. The influx of illegal goods can also lower the security of the system you sell them to, or have other effects, such as the infamous Unknown Artifact bombing disrupting several stations soon after their discovery.
179	* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' games include black markets to buy weapons in ''Grand Theft Auto 3'', ''Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'', and ''Grand Theft Auto 4'' and its expansions.
180	** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'' you buy weapons from Phil Cassidy at a certain store from each game.
181	** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' and its expansions, you buy weapons from Little Jacob's car by calling him up.
182	* ''VideoGame/KidIcarus1986'': The Black Marketeer's goods are both more expensive, and in many ways more useful than the stuff you get from the normal shopkeeper. You can also find a credit card that would allow you to buy an item from him you couldn't afford, but you won't gain any more money until you pay the balance off. Even worse, the second world in the game features thieves that can steal your powerups.
183	* In ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'', the Black Market is rather literal; it's located in the Black Forest, and everything it sells is black in addition to being illegal. [[OrganTheft Except your kidney]].
184	* The plot of ''VisualNovel/KissedByTheBaddestBidder'' involves a secret black-market auction at which anything can go up for sale, including stolen artwork, the rights to donor organs, and occasionally even people. In theory the rules of the auction prohibit selling a person without their consent, but that doesn't keep the protagonist from ending up on the block.
185	* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrails'':
186	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZeroAndTrailsToAzure'': Crossbell is a [[MerchantCity trade hub]] between Erebonia and Calvard to the west and east and Liberl and Remiferia to the south and north. It's the capital and heart of Crossbell State and unlike its Liberlian equivalent of Bose, there is a thriving Black Market run by the Mafia.
187	** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' games, the Erebonian Empire has a relationship with its foreign neighbors, particularly Calvard, that can be described as... complex, at best. Naturally it has a black market, and in ''Cold Steel III'' you get to meet some of its leaders and even buy some of their merchandise.
188	* ''VideoGame/LunarLux'': In Silica Colony, there's a black market hidden in the mines, where the player can buy Upgrade Chips and rare ship parts. The merchants there are understandably suspicious that a SpaceCop like Bella is willing to trade with them.
189	* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', various types of markets, both black, white, and grey, are depicted.
190	** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', your supply officer on the Normandy justifies making you pay for gear because he strictly speaking is only authorized to draw on supplies of Alliance standard issue gear (that is, [[WithThisHerring what you are issued at the beginning of the game]]). He spends money out of pocket to get you the ''good stuff'' from various sources, and needs to be reimbursed. Buying licenses for different manufacturers will improve his selection.
191	** Various places avoid the normal restrictions on the sale of certain goods by operating out of the boundaries of Citadel Space, such as Noveria and Illium. It is lampshaded that certain dangerous products, such as Red Sand, which are considered contraband in Citadel Space, are actually perfectly legal on Illium and thus aren't actually Black Market.
192	** Omega is nothing ''but'' the Black Market, with cutthroat dealers operating nearly every business you find (save one honest quarian selling salvage, and he's only doing so to pay for a ticket to ''get out'' of Omega; [[PetTheDog you can pay his way if you're feeling generous]], or [[KickTheDog put him out of business if you're not.]]). You can even talk up one slightly more honest merchant by telling him his prices are too high and saying you'd rather buy black market, and he'll adjust his prices to give you the "uppity human discount."
193	** Ilium is described in-game as "Omega with nicer shoes", and is also home to a wide variety of commercial services that are not available in more civilized (or at least better regulated and enforced) areas of the galaxy. Sidequests mention that red sand (a drug with biotic-enhancing powers and debilitating and possibly deadly side-effects, illegal in the rest of Citadel space) can be sold with nothing more than a disclaimer, and that slaves are openly traded.
194	* Both of the ''VideoGame/{{Mercenaries}}'' games have these. In the first game, there's the Merchant of Menace, whose prices depend on your current standing with [[TheMafiya the Russian mafia]] (get on their good side and you'll get discounts; get on their bad side and you can't even use the service). In the sequel, it's the Caribbean gangsters who play this role.
195	* One-Eyed Sam's in the ''VideoGame/NetHack'' variants ''Slash'EM'' and ''[=UnNetHack=]''.
196	* ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII'' has one in New Delsta that only runs at night. Various items that can't be bought elsewhere can be bought at the black market, from Soulstones to rare equipments and items.
197	* In ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'', Black Marketeers are ObviouslyEvil merchants dressed like medieval executioners that deal in all sorts of {{mons}}, with a lot of the ones they have to offer being rare ones only found in [[FantasticNatureReserve Wildlife Sanctuaries]] and thus obtained illegally. They won't try to harm you or rip you off in any way, but they also make no bones about the fact that their goods are often very illegal. They even have special menu options labeled "Buy contraband" and "Sell contraband", although at the moment regular Pal merchants will accept from you all the same things they do [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil (including humans)]].
198	* In ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'', [[{{Yakuza}} Team Rocket]] used their IllegalGamblingDen the Rocket Game Corner as a front for their {{mon}} trafficking operation, with the player freely able to rack up coins and participate themselves. In fact, doing so is ''required'' to complete the [[MonsterCompendium Pokédex]] as it's the only place you can obtain [[MechanicalLifeforms Porygon]]. Subverted in the sequels ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' however, as while it still offers rare Pokémon the now-Celadon Game Corner is a more or less legitimate business.
199	* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'' after fixing a broken laptop you gain access to a black market website called "Shady Commodities" run by [[CorruptCorporateExecutive President Tanaka]] from ''VideoGame/Persona3''.
200	* There is one in ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheLastSpecter''. This one deserves special mention because [[spoiler:it is run entirely by ''children'']].
201	* ''VisualNovel/QueenOfThieves'' features the Underbelly, an illegal market slash criminal trade bazaar operating in an abandoned subway station in Paris. The main characters, a CaperCrew of infamous thieves, frequent the Underbelly to meet with professional contacts and are well-known there.
202	* There's a fence in each ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' game[[labelnote:*]]except the third[[/labelnote]] where thieving types can unload their loot. In the first and fifth game, they also sell useful thieving tools.
203	* In the second and the third game of ''VideoGame/{{Richman}}'' series, cards are sold in places called black markets while items are sold in item shops. That said, the black market and the shopkeeper look pretty normal and not shady at all, and so are the cards' prices, they are all sold in reasonable amounts of coupons like items do.
204	* ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier'' has it as basically the ''only'' form of commerce in [[WretchedHive Koorong]]. Everything from off-brand medicine to looted military goods can be purchased on the streets of the city, with even more questionable items available in the "Back Streets".
205	* In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', as soon as you arrive in Tokyo's Ueno region, you will find an old man selling various odds and ends. Chat with the old man and correctly repeat the password he gives you to access the local Black Market, where you can buy armor and weaponry. There's one in every city visited afterwards, except Ikebukuro (everyone left the place already).
206	* In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', there's the Black Chao Market. Both function the same way - it allows players to pay rings for Chao toys, specialized Chao Eggs and even brand new soundbites for the main screen. However, it's how you got there that differed - in the original, it was an actual Sega-ran website. In ''[=SA2B=]'', it was a market that you went into in the Chao Garden hub world.
207	* ''VideoGame/{{Spelunky}}'' has a Black Market level, which features one of every kind of shop (but not automatically every type of item in the game) plus one very expensive unique item, the [[spoiler:ankh, which acts as an extra life and helps gain access to the City of Gold.]]
208	* ''VideoGame/StarSector'' has a black market available at any inhabited world, which is a big benefit to your profit margin when the ''minimum'' and ''standard'' tariff on trading is 30%. The Black Market is an excellent way to make money, but the more you buy and sell there, the more likely you are to attract local law enforcement to run a customs check when you leave, which will definitely degrade your combat readiness, and is also likely to find any prohibited goods. The Pirate faction is unique in that they don't care if you trade in their Black Market and will never send enforcers after you, so you can ignore their standard market (and their tariffs) all you want.
209	* In ''VideoGame/StarTradersFrontiers'', the Black Market, which you gain access to from various Contacts, such as [[VenturousSmuggler Smugglers]] or [[ArmsDealer Weapons Dealers]], provides an excellent means of selling illegal goods, especially [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum Xeno Artifacts]]. Furthermore, it can be used to bypass the [[AllianceMeter Rep]] penalities from trading into a Trade War or Trade Ban.
210	* There's a very, very small one in Tancred's in ''VideoGame/{{Summoner}}'', but the only place you get illegal goods is from him.
211	* ''VideoGame/SunDogFrozenLegacy'': Each world has a tech level and a law level that control what can be bought there, and there can be good money to be made by carrying personal items such as weapons, high-tech starship parts, stat-boosting drugs, and questionably-legal starship accessories to worlds where such things are not available.
212	* ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'' has a black market located in Beiser, the merchant city. Open only at night, it's the only place where you can buy spell-replicating items.
213	* ''VideoGame/{{Tropico}} 2'' has a literal version in which the Black Market is a marketplace-type structure you can construct on the coast that allows you to buy weapons for piracy.
214	** The third game allowed the player to sell weapons to "everyone", (presumably the black market) which would lower relations with the superpowers. The fourth game didn't give you an option on where one could sell the weapons too, but making assault weapons or landmines would end up in the wrong hands, which would also upset the global powers.
215	* The ''VideoGame/WildArms'' series has black markets in every game, traditionally in the form of a shop hidden within a normal shop, often requiring you to have to have some sort of authorization to interact with (in the form of a Black Pass, which oddly enough is found in a random treasure box in the middle of a dungeon). In the earlier games, they simply sold rare things that you couldn't buy elsewhere (like healing items), but in the fourth and fifth games they started selling the best equipment in the game... at the cost of your characters' levels rather than money. Cue [[LevelGrinding Power Leveling.]]
216	** In ''VideoGame/WildArms2'' the black market is the only way you can get healing items without winning them (very rarely) from enemies.
217	* The Black Market Auction House in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' acts as a source of items removed from the game, high-end items that are difficult to acquire legitimately, and rare vanity items such as mounts. Both factions are able to visit and bid on items. It was introduced partly to act as a gold sink, as even the least expensive items still cost several thousand golds for the first bid.
218	* ''VideoGame/{{XCOM}}'':
219	** ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' has a "Gray Market" that will purchase alien corpses and artifacts, and indeed some items like wrecked alien devices from downed [=UFOs=] are nothing but ShopFodder. During your EarlyGameHell, it can be a primary source of income - just don't ask what your buyers are doing with all those dead [[TheGrays Sectoids]] or "alien entertainment" systems.
220	** ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' has you running LaResistance in a VichyEarth, and you can turn to the Black Market for supplies, useful gear, and personnel. It's unclear whether they're genuinely sympathetic to the cause, war profiteers, or straight-up TheSyndicate, but whatever the case, XCOM is in no position to be choosy. The catch is that while you can unload captured alien equipment, spare munitions, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and alien corpses]] on the Black Market for some extra resources, the market itself isn't interested in currency, instead you have to spend your rare Intel resource to purchase things on it.
221	** ''VideoGame/XCOMChimeraSquad'' doesn't have a Black Market, no sir! These are all legally scrounged things found throughout the city, and the Scavengers are absolutely on their way to give them to the authorities as required by law! But, since they're here at Chimera Squad headquarters for a break...do you want to take a look?
222	* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' has an interesting example in Tantal. Due to the country's extreme isolationism and poor conditions for farming causing a shortage of most goods, a flourishing black market has sprung up in the middle of the capital, charging exorbitant prices for smuggled goods. It is unofficially allowed to operate in the open, as the market is essentially the only thing keeping the country's citizens from starving to death.
223	* In ''VideoGame/Yakuza1 Kiwami'', the doctor handling the heart transplant for [[spoiler:Nishikiyama's sister]] openly admits that he plans on using black market organ dealers to get the heart he needs. [[spoiler:Whether he ''really'' has black market connections is unknown, because he actually uses Nishiki's money to settle his gambling debts and skip town.]] ''Online'' brings this up again [[spoiler:when Nishikiyama [[KarmicDeath sells that doctor to black market organ harvesters]]]].
224	[[/folder]]
225
226	[[folder:Webcomics]]
227	* In ''Webcomic/ChampionsOfFaraus'', Skye and Rom go looking for the [[MagiciansAreWizards Stage Thief]] at a literal market a fair distance away from the city of Vickerton. Skye points out the sign outside the market, reading "You can't prove anything" is the opposite of inconspicuous, while Rom points out that at the very least, they ''[[ExactWords aren't]]'' advertising "stolen stuff for sale".
228	* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', the Black Market of Paris is an underground BazaarOfTheBizarre. Since the Master is aware of its existence and keeps an eye on it many of the things sold there fall into a legal grey area rather than being completely illegal, like parts scavenged off ruined clanks in the wastelands which are legally considered stolen but since they're from abandoned wrecks it's not like they were stolen from someone.
229	* ''Webcomic/TheGlassScientists'' has Blackfog Bazaar, where an enterprising rogue scientist can find many illegal substances necessary for their research and potions. Jekyll doesn't go there due to both his and its reputations, but Hyde claims to visit it every night.
230	* ''Webcomic/MetompsychosisUnion'': The Megacorps are secretly trading and selling things on a black market through unmarked shipping containers. The first chapter reveals that an unmarked shipping container Tilo had been wondering about, with a redacted log, contains ''people'', which the rich have been euphemistically referring to as labor.
231	[[/folder]]
232
233	[[folder:Websites]]
234	* ''Website/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'' short story ''Misadventures in the Inderdimensional Black Market'' focuses on, well, what it says on the tin: the wanderings of Director Darius and Tracker a black market for [[DimensionalTraveler Dimensional Travelers]], in which to purchase supernatural items or advanced technology away from the prying eyes of the various authorities which attempt to regulate interdimensional travel.
235	[[/folder]]
236
237	[[folder:Web Videos]]
238	* ''WebVideo/EmpiresSMP'' Season 2: There exists one that's accessible under Chromia's outpost on the Greatbridge, dedicated to selling misellaneous goods and contraband items, including and not limited to custom hats[[note]]which are ''technically'' not banned, but it was against the Sheriff's law to steal or wear another player's hat, a law which is mostly ignored as most players are fine with others trying on their hats with their consent[[/note]], Sheriff toys (in Joel's case)[[note]]which were banned for showing "disrespect" to the Sheriff[[/note]], and various treasures that Scott has robbed from the items' rightful owners.
239	* ''WebVideo/SMPLive'': After the outlawing of potions, Cooper has the idea to create an underground illegal drug ring on the server. [[HypocriticalHumor Hilariously]], this is in spite of the fact that said law was instilled during his time in the server cop role just ''a week earlier''.
240	* ''WebVideo/StampysLovelyWorld'': PlayedForLaughs in Episode 101, "Chubby Kitty", where Stampy resorts to attempt an "illicit" trade with Finnball in order to eat cake during the DietEpisode.
241	[[/folder]]
242
243	[[folder:Western Animation]]
244	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Somewhat parodied when Lois and Peter are trapped in Cuba without passports. They find the Black Market, which is pretty much a UsefulNotes/{{Walmart}} with bombs and other weapons. They even had a "Black Market Club", 10% off your first purchase! Sadly for [[CloudCuckooLander Peter]], they do not accept [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike bits of string]] as bartering objects.
245	* The [[WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons Tex Avery short]] ''WesternAnimation/JerkyTurkey'' has the pilgrim getting a turkey from the "Black Market", which is [[VisualPun a deli market that is painted black]] and hidden behind a curtain painted to resemble the scenery.
246	* In ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'', young prince Lion-O apparently makes a habit of traveling [[KingIncognito incognito]] in [[InTheHood cloak and hood]] through Thundera's [[TheCityNarrows City Narrows]] to frequent his [[FriendInTheBlackMarket friend]] Jorma's shop in search of what Lion-O [[DoubleSpeak politely calls]] "certain hard-to-find collectibles." He's hoping to discover BlackBox LostTechnology. His new friend Cheetara takes a look at one GrailInTheGarbage and assumes that Jorma's wares are universally [[WorthlessYellowRocks forgeries]].
247	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', the Boiling Isles have the Night Market. Eda visits it to get some potion to stave of her curse when her usual apothecarist is out, and a flashback in the season one finale shows [[spoiler:that Lilith got the owlbeast curse from a stall there.]]
248	[[/folder]]
249
250	[[folder:Real Life]]
251	* Usually, real black markets are not nearly as dark or as fantastic as fiction makes it out, and involve non-exotic goods that are not legally available being sold in small, privately owned shops. While they are technically illegal, the local law enforcement rarely, if ever, prosecutes the merchants involved. Therefore, a fan-convention which sells (at a high markup) locally-unavailable anime products smuggled in by travelers from the products' home country - or a vendor at a flea market selling military/police surplus not technically permitted to own by the public and illegal/unregulated knives (examples of which include police batons and switchblades, respectively) as curios.
252	* Related to black markets, a grey market is the legal trade of goods outside distribution channels that are authorized by the owner or trademark owner. Grey markets typically consist of trade in goods where a party buys a product in one region where there is a price or design advantage. The party sells the goods in another country below the cost of the second country's authorized equivalent product, but still at enough of a markup to make a profit off the sale of the goods. However, because the item is being sold outside the authorized distribution channel post sale services like manufacturer warranties are usually unavailable.
253	* Asian countries are known to have bootleg vendors that operate out in the open. In Seoul, South Korea, a lot of the street markets will have bootleg [=DVDs=] being freely sold. These vendors are often gracious enough to have a small TV and DVD player available to ensure their quality.
254	** Mexico has similar markets, especially in the cities on the border with the United States. For twenty pesos (about $2 USD), one can buy a DVD of a movie that's still in theaters, a soap opera, concerts taped from Mexican television, you name it. In some cases, these movies have the "in theater experience" built into the movie - that is, they were taped in the actual theater, and you can occasionally see the outline of the chairs and people walking to/from their seats in the bootleg copy of the movie, which, in the "warez lingo" (code for bootleggers) is called "Cam" as in "recorded by a camera".
255	** Lampshaded by the band Music/InExtremo in an interview. When they played in Mexico City, they saw merchandise of themselves that they've never seen before.
256	* During the Prohibition Era, alcohol (both locally-produced and smuggled in from abroad) was sold in secret bars called speakeasies.
257	* After losing UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Japan experienced widespread famine during the U.S. occupation as the government lost significant amounts of resources to the war, and the liberation of their rice-producing colonies Korea and Taiwan meant they had to rely on their own mediocre yields. As a result of the failure of Japanese and American authorities' ability to properly regulate the trade, production, and allocation of food nationwide, large and lucrative {{Yakuza}}-run black markets exploded across the country with desperate people accepting their inflated prices in exchange for access to basic goods. U.S. authorities tacitly overlooked the black market system, but arrested an estimated 1.5 million individual consumers and vendors rather than the major suppliers in order to give the appearance of opposition.
258	* The various "businesses" running on the TOR anonymity network. Located in the so-called "deep web" (the part of the internet that cannot be reached by regular search engines), the traders are protected by some of the most powerful encryption softwares publicly available and transactions are done via Bitcoin, a (practically) untraceable digital currency, or other cryptocurrencies. The most famous of the TOR shops are/were Silk Road and The Armory, specializing in illicit drugs and weapons, respectively. If you look a little harder, you can find just about ''anything'' you want down there, from pirated video games and hacked personal data (credit card numbers) to child porn to hitmen for hire, legality be damned.
259	* Many Communist nations (and even some ex-Communist nations) do business in the black market; in cases like UsefulNotes/NorthKorea, it's the only reliable place where they can get anything at all. Guns, fuel, food...if it can be bought or bartered, it usually is.
260	* Endangered animal parts are a whole subcategory of black market. This ranges from poached elephant ivory for carvings and rhino horn for aphrodisiac preparations to shark fins for fancy restaurants.
261	* Another natural product black market is for illegally felled timber.
262	* Pretty much anything that's technically legal but has a lot of restrictions on it can easily become a part of this. Cigarettes / tobacco is a good example. With the taxes so high on packs of legal cigarettes, there's a thriving black market in people who buy cheap tobacco from stores, roll in tubes and then sell it. Or the cigarettes are smuggled into the country and evades all taxes. This also applies in general to stuff in the United States that has only been restricted in certain states, or just certain locales. If you want to have fun, try also searches for stuff like "black market light bulbs" (incandescent bulbs being phased out) or "black market plastic bags" (e.g. the California ban on plastic grocery bags.) Fireworks is another good one, for example, certain states have laws saying you can buy certain types of fireworks, but can't set them off, or vice versa.
263	* Services are available in the underground economy. Some are illegal (prostitution). Other services are legal if sold with a receipt, but sold in the black market to evade taxes (home renovations done for cash).
264	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BlackMarket