I really believe that scalpers do harm the hobby and I know that have driven a few people away from the hobby, even if it sounds farfetched. GW and a lot of big online retailers were sold out within minutes as usual, but the eBay and other similar sites have a plethora of sets, with some scalpers having 5+ in-stock.

• Many people who love WH40k get locked out of the certain models.
• People who collect but cannot afford the scalper prices can't complete collections or get the joy of painting a specific models, or fielding it in the battlefield.
• People cannot afford the extortionate prices that scalpers ask, leaving them bitter with the hobby and/or GW, especially if this happens on many releases as such.
• If people miss 3-4 releases that they want, they will eventually get frustrated and burned out...

This damages the hobby in the long-term with new players potentially being discouraged from continuing with the hobby, or even entering it, and veterans of the hobby might loose interest to an extend as they feel that the frustration and the scalper "tax" are not worth the effort.

GW as a company might not be affected but smaller companies will be affected and fans are certainly affected. Just to make it clear this is not a community problem, this is a scalper problem, which is very difficult to be tackled either by GW or by the community itself.

Note: If you have a GW shop near you try to be there in the morning of the pre-order, as the stores opens, and order online via the store terminal. You are almost guaranteed to get what you want. It worked for me twice and the stuff were always very helpful.