[supercat]

If the price of plywood rises high enough, people will tear apart their storage sheds and sell the wood. If the price of water rises high enough people will drain their hot water tanks.

Suppose that somebody sees my storage shed and asks for the wood; I have no particular desire to rip it apart and tell him so, but offer that for $8,000 I'd be willing to do so. If the guy hands me eighty $100 bills and I accept them, would I be guilty of 'price gouging' for asking $5,000 for a storage shed that was only worth $1,200?

[Dan Evans]

If the guy hands me eighty $100 bills and I accept them, would I be guilty of 'price gouging' for asking $5,000 for a storage shed that was only worth $1,200?

If you live in Florida, you would have to ask an lawyer to find out. And I bet five different lawyers would give you five different answers.

Point is, if there are legal hazards, people probably won't take the risk.