What role is that? They buy from the supplier and sell on to someone who would otherwise buy from the supplier at a lower price. I guess you could argue that they offer an option to secure ownership by paying a premium. That'd be a very capitalistic view though.
In a real free market system shortages will never exist. the price will adjust accordingly.
If a local supermarket chain says "cheerios are free tomorrow". Guess which kind of cereal you will not be able to find on shelves ten minutes after they open? The same goes for anything. Socialized healthcare always involves wait times (shortages) too.
Nintendo decides to price these below market value, their loss...
BTW the market is very very lukewarm. Nintendo shipped a ton more than NES classic which is exactly why I was able to procure 7. Every store i went to had 20-30 left after the initial rush that anybody could have walked in 15 minutes after open and picked up for MSRP. I still have 3, they sell very slowly and for maybe only $30-40 premium. Barely worth it.
I dunno if it's "wrong" but on the scale of wrongs in the world I'd rank it so low as to be inconsequential.
"Oh no, you sold a guy what he wanted at a price he wanted to pay, you monster!"
But yeah I didn't want to respond to all that, should never have posted it!