Panic Buying and Price Gouging

[Satinavian]

I would actually do price gouging if I had the money and resources to do so. People always flip things for profit.

That is not only shitty behavior, it is not that smart as well.

Hoarders and price gougers are some of the most hated persons in an emergency and the loss in social capital is hardly worth it.

Furthermore, looking at real emergencies in the last century, hoarding and price gouging might soon bring capital punishment including death penalty if things get bad enough. I don't think this pandemic will reach that kind of level but to get somewhere where all your stock gets conficsated as emergency measure and you don't get compensated seems not unlikely. And don't count on sympathy. Only a couple of decades ago people were totally fine with hanging hoarders during famine.

 

[Kwak]

The current libertarian take is that anti-price-gouging regulation is what is causing the problem - if stores could price-gouge, people couldn't afford to hoard the way they are.
I can't tell if that's sound logic or evil.

 

[Thaluikhain]

The current libertarian take is that anti-price-gouging regulation is what is causing the problem - if stores could price-gouge, people couldn't afford to hoard the way they are.
I can't tell if that's sound logic or evil.

Yeah, I'm going with evil. Though you could maybe make an argument for utterly clueless.

 

[Agema]

One of my colleagues said his sister runs a small firm that makes facemasks. He said her response was actually to ramp up production and cut prices so as many people as possible could have them.

I guess the more ruthlessly capitalist would say she's a mug for missing out on the opportunity, but it's admirable concern for public wellbeing.

 

[Kwak]

One solution I saw (for hand sanitiser) was instead of two for the price of one, it was two for the price of ten - one was still the price of one.

 

[warmachine]

The current libertarian take is that anti-price-gouging regulation is what is causing the problem - if stores could price-gouge, people couldn't afford to hoard the way they are.
I can't tell if that's sound logic or evil.

It's stupid. Hoarders aren't behaving rationally, therefore, rules of cost/benefit analysis don't apply. Hoarders would hoard anyway and get price gouged into the bargain. Insistence that people should always be modelled as rational, self-interested agents has always been one of the more irrational ideas in economics.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

I was at the local big box store to get toilet paper because I was running low. When they brought out the toilet paper, they didn't even bother to put in on the shelves. Within a few minutes, the entire stack was gone.

Also: How foolish is it to try to price gouge in a state where that's illegal?

I don't think this pandemic will reach that kind of level but to get somewhere where all your stock gets conficsated as emergency measure and you don't get compensated seems not unlikely.

I mean, the Fifth Amendment still exists, and states "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

However, during a crisis, the government could probably take your stuff and offer market value compensation after the fact. That, and if they didn't, you'd have to sue the government, and a jury might be less likely to be sympathetic that the government took away your TP and hand sanatizer throne.

 

[Asita]

I think the most curious reaction I've seen was noted in a store sign about purchase limits. Some of them are intuitive and things you could reasonably see people wanting to stock up on because they're consumables. Toilet paper, tissue, hand sanitizer, and so on. However, the one that really got me was the sign that included thermometers, noting that buyers could purchase a maximum of four. ...Who needs 4+ thermometers?

 

[Chessrook44]

...Who needs 4+ thermometers?

A family of five that wants to minimize the risk of cross-contamination to make sure that none of them have a fever while constantly checking every day?

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

...Who needs 4+ thermometers?

A family of five that wants to minimize the risk of cross-contamination to make sure that none of them have a fever while constantly checking every day?

Sure, yeah. Or they could just use soap and water to clean the thermometer between uses? Or get an ear thermometer with disposable plastic caps? Or one of those new, fancy laser thermometer that measures skin temperature from a distance to avoid any and all contact with actual human skin (you never know when Corona will start seeping through the skin of your next of kin, do you?)?

For reference: I'm in health care and we keep on using your ear thermometers because the ear is not a known resting place for Covid-19, the plastic cap ensures pathogens are disposed off between patients and they are pretty reliable. Why buy four bad thermometers when one good one will do?

 

[Burnhardt]

I think the most curious reaction I've seen was noted in a store sign about purchase limits. Some of them are intuitive and things you could reasonably see people wanting to stock up on because they're consumables. Toilet paper, tissue, hand sanitizer, and so on. However, the one that really got me was the sign that included thermometers, noting that buyers could purchase a maximum of four. ...Who needs 4+ thermometers?

I've learned in the last few weeks, that the vast majority of the UK population must be filthy buggers who until now, have never wiped their arse, or washed their hands.

And for those that do, how many really go through 96 toilet rolls, and 10 bars/bottles of soap on a weekly basis?

 

[crimson5pheonix]

I think the most curious reaction I've seen was noted in a store sign about purchase limits. Some of them are intuitive and things you could reasonably see people wanting to stock up on because they're consumables. Toilet paper, tissue, hand sanitizer, and so on. However, the one that really got me was the sign that included thermometers, noting that buyers could purchase a maximum of four. ...Who needs 4+ thermometers?

I think the best I've seen is milk and eggs. Who's hoarding that? Those spoil fairly quickly.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Also toilet paper. How much do people shit? How often do people go through rolls? Maybe 1 roll every 2 weeks or so? Even a family of 4 doesn't need 250+ rolls for a month of lockdown.

These people have bought years worth of rolls and don't even realize it.

 

[Hades]

I don't really get the fascination that hoarders seem to have for toilet people. Food I get since it runs out much more quickly and you die if you run out of it.

But toilet paper is something you don't quickly run out of so why exactly are people stocking up on the stuff as if they'll permanently lose access to it. As far as I know diarrhea isn't a symptom of Corona so no one has reasons to whipe their bum more then they should already do.

 

[Asita]

...Who needs 4+ thermometers?

A family of five that wants to minimize the risk of cross-contamination to make sure that none of them have a fever while constantly checking every day?

If they're checking every day without cause (no other symptoms, no circumstantial evidence suggesting they're running a fever, etc), that's another wrong they're adding to the pile, alongside failing to understand that you can clean the thermometers or use models that avoid the lower face (forehead, ears) to more thoroughly sidestep the issue.

I think the most curious reaction I've seen was noted in a store sign about purchase limits. Some of them are intuitive and things you could reasonably see people wanting to stock up on because they're consumables. Toilet paper, tissue, hand sanitizer, and so on. However, the one that really got me was the sign that included thermometers, noting that buyers could purchase a maximum of four. ...Who needs 4+ thermometers?

I think the best I've seen is milk and eggs. Who's hoarding that? Those spoil fairly quickly.

I imagine that's habit. We don't really have much frame of reference for...let's call them 'siege style' disasters, wherein we're supposed to hole up for an extended period of time. But a lot of us do know SOP for short term disasters like hurricanes and blizzards, so it may be that people are using the hurricane and blizzard grocery lists. And any time a hurricane or blizzard comes your way, the bread, eggs and milk fly off the shelves.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

...Who needs 4+ thermometers?

A family of five that wants to minimize the risk of cross-contamination to make sure that none of them have a fever while constantly checking every day?

If they're checking every day without cause (no other symptoms, no circumstantial evidence suggesting they're running a fever, etc), that's another wrong they're adding to the pile, alongside failing to understand that you can clean the thermometers or use models that avoid the lower face (forehead, ears) to more thoroughly sidestep the issue.

I think the most curious reaction I've seen was noted in a store sign about purchase limits. Some of them are intuitive and things you could reasonably see people wanting to stock up on because they're consumables. Toilet paper, tissue, hand sanitizer, and so on. However, the one that really got me was the sign that included thermometers, noting that buyers could purchase a maximum of four. ...Who needs 4+ thermometers?

I think the best I've seen is milk and eggs. Who's hoarding that? Those spoil fairly quickly.

I imagine that's habit. We don't really have much frame of reference for...let's call them 'siege style' disasters, wherein we're supposed to hole up for an extended period of time. But a lot of us do know SOP for short term disasters like hurricanes and blizzards, so it may be that people are using the hurricane and blizzard grocery lists. And any time a hurricane or blizzard comes your way, the bread, eggs and milk fly off the shelves.

But I mean it's serious hoarding. The only store around where I live has a "2 per family" policy that I watch get violated. I can understand picking up a gallon of milk if need be, but what do you need with 4+ gallons ever?

 

[Saint of M]

I think its starting to slow down a bit. I finally got to see TP in a store in the afternoon.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

He Has 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer and Nowhere to Sell Them
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/technology/coronavirus-purell-wipes-amazon-sellers.html

On a positive not, karma came to bite this guy in the ass. Brothers who hoarded 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer forced to donate to charity [https://www.today.com/news/brothers-who-hoarded-17-700-bottles-hand-sanitizer-forced-donate-t176028]. It seems Tennesee authorities caught wind of the guy and started an investigation for illegal price gouging.

Also, look who surfaced again. We were talking about how we hadn't seen you around not too long ago. People were worried. How you been?

I am glad that at least the much needed products were finally distributed to where they needed to be and not in this jerks garage during this emergency. I think the AG handled it well enough.

I apologize for making people worry about me, another respiratory illness I survived awhile back has had a significant impact on my life and it pretty much changed everything. I have been busy lately screening patients online instead since I am both in a high risk group and work in medicine. The current situation we are in with lack of preparation and supplies is made much worse than it would have been if Trump hadn't had his head up his arse as long as he did. He made a series of serious mistakes that put the US very behind where it needed to be, then ties to pass the buck. It is going to get so much worse before it gets better due to the lack of action when it was needed most.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

I was at the local big box store to get toilet paper because I was running low. When they brought out the toilet paper, they didn't even bother to put in on the shelves. Within a few minutes, the entire stack was gone.

Also: How foolish is it to try to price gouge in a state where that's illegal?

I don't think this pandemic will reach that kind of level but to get somewhere where all your stock gets conficsated as emergency measure and you don't get compensated seems not unlikely.

I mean, the Fifth Amendment still exists, and states "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

However, during a crisis, the government could probably take your stuff and offer market value compensation after the fact. That, and if they didn't, you'd have to sue the government, and a jury might be less likely to be sympathetic that the government took away your TP and hand sanatizer throne.

I think you have this a bit backwards. The jury wants harsher penalties on price gougers because they endanger the health and safety of the general population resulting in illness, injuries and deaths that could have otherwise been prevented.

The AG sending his van to confiscate the hoarded product for charity and distribute to where it is needed was exactly what needed to be done. In some areas, they are arresting them instead of giving them the option though:

https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/eight-san-diego-county-residents-arrested-accused-of-price-gouging-during-emergency

The government doesn't need to offer market value, they can consider the donation of the confiscated goods to charity as the penalty for the crime. The hoarded goods could be confiscated as evidence anyhow, just like they often confiscate weapons, cars, stolen goods, drugs, because it was being used as part of the crime and then police departments often turn around and sell or destroy the confiscated goods if it is legal for them to do so. The goods in this case can be confiscated due to them being used as part of the crime of illegal price gouging.

People die from people doing this. There is no excuse for people sitting on stacks of PPE when we have our physicians, nurses, paramedics, police officers and firefighters contracting the very diseases we are trying to save people from because some jerk wants to make a buck off of human suffering. What happens when all the people fighting this get sick and we don't have anyone to help those who need it anymore?

If Trump hadn't made the series of mistakes he did, the situation would not be as bad as it is now. He doesn't know how to do his job, let alone even know what his job is supposed to be.

 

[TopazFusion]

Shop shelves are looking pretty bare where I am right now. And it's interesting what people have panic-bought and stocked up on.

Among the obvious stuff like bathroom supplies and cleaning products, there was also severely low stock on breakfast cereals, and - to my surprise - pet foods. All the cat and dog food was almost completely sold out.
Apparently people get worried about not being able to feed their household pooch or feline. Who knew.

@OP Welcome back btw.