I Spent A Day In The Coronavirus-Driven Feeding Frenzy Of N95 Mask Sellers And Buyers And This Is What I Learned

Forbes ^ | 3/30/20 | David DiSalvo

[Freedom56v2]

ll. What started as an early morning call with a friend to help get N95 masks to hospitals in desperate need turned into a roller coaster of contacts in a frenzied, pandemic-driven market. For the next 10 hours, I sat in on calls between brokers selling masks and potential buyers, watching the psychology of market pressures play out in real time as millions of masks changed hands in a matter of hours.

The buyers—from state government purchasing departments and hospital systems representing facilities throughout the Northeast, Midwest and California—expressed desperation for masks to protect their healthcare workers, but in the end not a single deal was completed with any of these groups, and millions of masks were earmarked to leave the country, purchased by foreign buyers.

In the interest of brevity, I’m going to summarize what I learned below and then jump into a bit more detail.

Millions of N95 masks have been available throughout the U.S., Canada and the UK during the pandemic, according to brokers trying to sell them. The high price point per mask, driven by extreme demand, has contributed to an overwhelmed reaction among potential buyers, especially in the U.S. Scrutiny surrounding these deals is high because of ongoing scams and claims of price-gouging, both of which are triggering emotionally charged reactions and fear of making deals. Millions of masks are being purchased by foreign buyers and are leaving the country, according to the brokers, while the domestic need remains alarmingly high.

My main contact in this frenzy was a medical supplies broker named Remington Schmidt who spends nearly every working hour of the day on phone calls trying to make deals between potential buyers and sellers with personal protective equipment (PPE) available to sell in the U.S. and abroad.

[combat_boots]

I don’t know. Maybe she’s stockpiling is all, but it freaked me out a bit. I’d seen the video of the guy wiping his feet on masks in a mask factory in China, so I came into seeing the video of her and what she did.

[combat_boots]

Thanks.

[Dogbert41]

"If we were in a hot war with China, would we allow them to buy up all of our ammo?"

Hell Nnnnn hmmmmm would Feinstine and Pelosi have a say?

[cba123]

Well from the comments, you were not alone in that.

Just saying I thought she deserves someone, to stand up for her.

I am also American, with an Asian wife, so I just wanted to stand up for her.

You might have other thoughts, which is also aok.

Best regards.

[Freedom56v2]

China now considers mask making a “MONEY MACHINE!”

We need to ramp up major manufacturing here in USA and stop exporting masks from the USA! (Which is helping to create the shortage!) !!

[Freedom56v2]

This article was referenced on Fox News tonite as well as Tucker Carlson...Where is the interest???

I am disappointed that no one gives a rat’s a$$ about this.