bucket shop

noun
1.
Stock Exchange. an unsound, unethical, or overly aggressive brokerage house.
2.
Slang. any shady commercial agency, as one dealing in illegally priced theater tickets.
Origin
1870-75, Americanism; originally a cheap drinking establishment, allegedly so called because liquor was mixed or sold in buckets
British Dictionary definitions for bucket shop

bucket shop

noun
1.
an unregistered firm of stockbrokers that engages in speculation with clients' funds
2.
(mainly Brit) any small business that cannot be relied upon, esp one selling cheap airline tickets
Slang definitions & phrases for bucket shop

bucket shop

modifier

: A sleazy bucket-shop operation

noun phrase

A place where very dubious stocks, commodities, real estate, etc, are sold, often by telephone solicitation

[1880+; origin uncertain; bucket, ''cheat, swindle,'' is attested in 1812 and may be the source; another account has illicit traders sending down by elevator for ''another bucketful'' of dupes]