Posted on 03/18/2020 4:20:23 AM PDT by Kaslin
"We don't have any...!" Fill in the blank.
People are stocking up on things, fearing that we will be stuck in our homes, under quarantine, without essential supplies.
Some hoard toilet paper. A popular internet video features someone driving up to what appears to be a drug dealer but is really someone selling toilet paper.
When it became hard to find hand sanitizer in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state would produce its own, made by prison labor.
Yet in-demand items like masks and hand sanitizer can still be found. It's just that we have to pay an inflated price.
People on social media are outraged by that. They post pictures showing stores charging high prices, like $19.99 for a can of Lysol spray and $22.99 for a 12 oz bottle of Purell.
We're encouraged to report such high prices to the government because "gouging" is illegal. New York has an online "price gouging complaint form" that people can fill out if they are charged "unconscionably high prices."
"On my watch, we will not tolerate schemes or frauds designed to turn large profits by exploiting people's health concerns," said New York's economically clueless Attorney General Letitia James. "Some people are looking to prey on others' anxiety and line their own pockets."
Well, yes.
People always look for ways to line their own pockets.
But what politicians call "gouging" is just supply and demand. Prices rise and fall all the time.
Most state's anti-gouging laws never even say exactly what is "unconscionably excessive." That invites abuse. Vague laws give politicians dangerous power. They can use anti-gouging law to punish any merchant who doesn't give them money or kiss their rings.
It seems cruel to charge customers more during a crisis, but when there are no laws against sharp price increases, people don't experience long lines and shortages.
Think about what happens when stores don't raise their prices: People rush to buy all they can get. The store sells out. Only the first customers get what they want.
But if the store charges more for items in extraordinary demand, people are less likely to hoard. Customers buy what we need and leave some for others.
Prices should rise during emergencies. That's because prices aren't just money; they are signals, information. They tell suppliers what their customers want most.
Entrepreneurs then make more of them and work hard to get them to the people who need them most. If "anti-gouging" laws don't crush these incentives, prices quickly fall to normal levels.
Stossel in the Classroom contest winners explained that in a video.
Last week, some people bought lots of hand sanitizers and masks and then sold them on the internet. One couple boasted that they made over $100,000 reselling Lysol wipes.
They're not bad people. Their actions allow people desperate for supplies to buy what they need, even if it's at a higher price.
We're supposed to stay indoors, so it's good that we can get these products online. Then we don't leave home and infect others.
Unfortunately, Amazon, eBay and Facebook, worried about accusations of "profiteering," cracked down on resellers. The companies removed listings for masks, hand sanitizers and disinfectants.
This will only cause more shortages. Bigger profit was what encouraged people to sell online. Now no one gets those products until the market returns to normal.
In China, there was a severe mask shortage. That raised the price of masks and kickstarted production of face masks all around the world. A factory in France hired more people and raised its production of face masks from 170 million a year to half a billion.
The French company didn't do it only because they want to help people in China. Extra profit motivated them.
Price "gouging" saves lives. In a crisis, we like to think that everyone will volunteer and be altruistic. But it's not realistic to believe that all will.
If we want more supplies, we ask sellers to risk their money, their safety and comfort. (Sellers often travel long distances to reach people most in need.) Most sellers won't do that unless they'll profit.
Government should dump its anti-price gouging laws and let the free market help those in need.
I’m all for the free market
but in a time of hysteria
the free market gets hijacked.
Amazon went after 3rd party Sellers whom were price gouging.
The Wife bought last week Car Cup Holder Kleenex 50 count dispenser 4 pack via Amazon Prime $17 and change. Target had the exact same 4 pack for $7.50 regular price. Amazon accepted the return and picked up the shipping. They didn’t accept my review about their price gouging.
Amazon, eBay and Facebook, worried about accusations of “profiteering,” cracked down on resellers.
Abhorrent and despicable. No one forces you to pay $50 for a bottle of hand sanitizer.
But these folks seem to think they know whats best...now you can’t get it at all. We don’t like your price so you can’t sell any of it at any price.
What bs.
“They’re not bad people”
Yes, they are.
#Preppers like us are getting that last laugh watching all sheep panic buy when we have been telling y'all for 20 years how and why to be ready and all you grasshoppers just wanted party!...
Which is why I am offering for sale at the usual low price 2 bags (16 lbs each) of Friskies Tender and Crunchy Combo gourmet cat food.
They're all yours for only $100 apiece.
Guaranteed Fresh! Regular Low Price. I promise.
This offer comes with one beautiful My Pillow for Cats. I promise your cat will thank you. My cats don't just like...they love their My Pillows. They sleep on them 16 hours a day.
Walter E. Willias had a column with the same conclusions.
The first thing I noticed after my state passed its first anti-gouging law a few years ago was that more and more businesses dont even bother opening after serious weather events like snowstorms. The number of gas stations closed after a major snowstorm was shocking because this was the type of business that NEVER closed in the past. Once they lost the ability to raise their prices in a time of high demand, the owners of these establishments simply realized that there was no reason to make heroic efforts to open their doors during difficult times.
Probably the dumbest John Stossel piece I’ve ever read
Probably the dumbest John Stossel piece Ive ever read
Read this one by Walter Williams. These guys are not dumb. Im not sure about Stossel, but I know for a fact that Williams is a lot smarter than I am.
https://www.creators.com/read/walter-williams/10/18/price-gouging-during-a-natural-disaster
Just for fun, go to Ebay and look for Campbells chicken noodle soup.
If you think this bad, just wait till the looting and robbing starts.
Fuel cans. Bottled water.
I used to think that “price gougers” should be shot. But after surviving the 2004-2005 hurricane season on FL, high prices are the only way that one can get ANY supplies.
If you can’t charge what the market will bear there is no incentive to bring supply.
“Price gouging is legally defined as charging 10 to 25 percent more for something than you charged for it during the month before an emergency”
Therein lies the ridiculousness of the law & the argument by Williams & Stossell.
Raising the price from $2 to $4 isn’t the same as raising the price from $2 to $20 or even more, which is what’s happening with the masks & gloves & sanitizer. That’s not 10 or 25%. It’s dumb for cities or states to think that a small percentage like that is ‘gouging’. Raising the price 5 or 10 times or more is gouging.
The problem isn’t so much with charging high prices during a shortage. It takes extra time, effort and transportation to bring items from an area of availability to an area of shortage.
The problem is that some of these folks created the shortage by raiding all of the stores in their region, buying up all of the local stock, and then selling it at inflated prices because of the shortage they created.
That is way different from buying supplies from a region where they are plentiful and selling them in an area of shortage.
As did Dr. Thomas Sowell. They both make perfect sense.
[Amazon, eBay and Facebook, worried about accusations of profiteering, cracked down on resellers.
Abhorrent and despicable. No one forces you to pay $50 for a bottle of hand sanitizer.
But these folks seem to think they know whats best...now you cant get it at all. We dont like your price so you cant sell any of it at any price.
What bs.]
I gave up on the idea when I learned that I could be prosecuted for price gouging.
How did that stupid law work out for ANYONE in that particular scenario?
Amazon pretty much turns all of their pricing over to algorithms. The right hand literally does not know what the six left hands are doing.
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