I appreciate the honest and civilized opinions. I guess I didn't expect the thread would be changing anybody's minds, but I do at least have more understanding, thank you.
The two points above have been the most informational to me. People have different opinions on StubHub too, and whether it enables ticket scalping, but there's no doubt it does a lot of useful work, and laws against scalping have been challenged a lot lately anyway. It's not an exact parallel, but I did bring up tickets myself, so it's totally fair to make the comparison.
The point about risk makes the practice a bit like a roulette wheel for the reseller, and I get the appeal of that. I'm not a gambler myself, and I will still always wish it weren't employed on brand-new scarves and handbags (as will Hermes, but I guess Hermes didn't ask me to run to their rescue), but the metaphor does make me look at the practice in a different way, at least.
I suppose I have nothing more to offer on the topic other than to repeat yet again that I have nothing against resellers making a profit in general, and I will certainly use them to buy or sell if I have need. If any of you responding is in fact a reseller who does buy new items specifically to resell them, you have been very polite and not taken the question personally. I admire and appreciate that.