You know thats an article making a claim that may or may not have any validity. Who’s to say if the raised prices it wouldn’t have gotten even more speculators involved offering at 1500 instead of 1000? Second Who’s to say families who don’t have a generator could afford even $700?
There are multiple unproven and unfounded theories in that article. We don’t even know if any of those people trying to sell a generator have even made a sale yet. They may have made no sale simply because there’s no current demand. Most people without power have to my knowledge have found other accommodations either on their own or with help from the govt or the power company.
In a free country, an increased demand for a good in limited supply naturally is followed by an increase in price. That is the way an unhampered price system works, and that is the way it is supposed to work. In order to prevent a shortage,prices need to rise enough to equalize the quantity demanded with the quantity supplied.
The above is not price gauging. True price gouging is when prices are too high due to government subsidies to industries like agriculture which results in higher than free market food prices. They are an illustration of legal minimum prices-that is, prices below which the government prevents the producers from selling.
How many of those generators on Craigslist are being sold? and if sold at what price?