History Main / BlackMarket

* ''VideoGame/BattleTech'' has a black market for 'Mech parts that you can gain access to through a random event. The prices are better if the SpacePirates like you.

** In the GameMod ''Videogame/RiseOfTheReds'', the GLA still has the Black Market, but [[RealityEnsues 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.

* ''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.

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* 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.

* ''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.

* The [[WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons Tex Avery short]] ''Jerky Turkey'' 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.

* The city of Jubbulpore in Creator/RobertAHeinlein's novel ''Literature/CitizenOfTheGalaxy''.

* 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.
* 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.
* 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.

* The Floating Market in ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}''.
* In ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', District 12 has the Hob, which operates out of an abandoned coal warehouse. [[spoiler: until it goes up in flames]]
* 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.
* In ''[[Literature/ReplicaSeries Replica]]'', there is a thriving Black Market. Though it's illegal, many Executives not-so-secretly use it.
* 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.
* 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.

* ''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.
* ''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.
* ''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.

* Due to ExecutiveMeddling ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' churned out a [[{{Filler}} Filler Episode]] about the black market on the Colonial fleet which was very poorly received. One common interpretation which emerged said that the market did exist, selling luxury goods, food and even people, but that none of the events involving Lee Adama and his sudden, melodramatic angst [[CanonDisContinuity actually happened.]]
* 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.

* ''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.
* ''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?!
* ''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).

* The Infrared Market in the RPG ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}''. The secret society Free Enterprise has a major hand in it.
* 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.
* In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', a Black Market is standard rather than exception in the [[MegaCity hive cities]] and major spaceports in the Imperium of Man.

* ''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.

* In ''Anime/{{Monster}}'', Johan runs one of these.
* In ''Manga/MotherKeeper'', Zelik runs one that's used by some of the people in the slums.

* The "Underworld" features increasingly in ''Manga/{{One Piece}}'', 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).

* 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.

* 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.
* 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 would now be worthless]].
* Film/TheThirdMan deals with the black market in post-UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Vienna.
-->'''Opening narrator:''' ''I never knew the old Vienna before the war with its Strauss music, its glamour and easy charm. Constantinople suited me better.''
-->[Scenes of black market goods changing hands]
-->'''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.''
-->[Dead body seen floating in the river]
-->'''Opening narrator:''' '' But, well, you know, they can't stay the course [[FriendInTheBlackMarket like a professional.]]''
* The black market in a WWII French boarding school plays a significant role in ''Film/AuRevoirLesEnfants''

* ''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.
* 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.
* 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.

* ''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.

* 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.

* 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 cryptocurrency. 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 to child porn to hitmen for hire, legality be damned.

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'', the BlackMarket 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]].

** 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, 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.

* 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. 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" (light bulbs banned in favor of [=CFCs=]) or "black market plastic bags" (i.e. 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.

* ''VideoGame/BattleTech'' has a black market for 'Mech parts that you can gain access to through a random event. The prices are better if the SpacePirates like you.

** Klau is discreetly willing to sell any vibrianium that he either smuggles out of Wakanda in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', or finds through misidentified artifacts in ''Film/BlackPanther''.

HonestJohn, TheScrounger, TheRat, and obviously the FriendInTheBlackMarket will often be found thriving in this environment, but s/he'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 the The Empire...