4 ms·

>> What, besides stocking up on food, soap/sanitizer and toilet paper, would you expect them to do in response? I would have hoped people would keep in mind th

by kjakm 7y ago

>> What, besides stocking up on food, soap/sanitizer and toilet paper, would you expect them to do in response? I would have hoped people would keep in mind that staying home for a few weeks doesn't necessitate buying all that much more than a lot of families do in a "big shop". Take toilet paper as an example. The amount of it that's being bought by most people will last them 6-12 months. I know there's a lot of factors pushing people to make these decisions but it's certainly altered my generally optimistic/positive view of people as a whole.

luckylion 7y ago
I've seen some pictures of people walking out with mountains of toilet paper as well, but I don't think that was the norm. It's not three guys making off with a truckload, it's a lot of people buying and extra package or two, enough for the next six weeks which will quickly deplete the aisles, since stores are operating without storage space (because storage is expensive, and stored goods are dead capital), so they have no reserves. Also, from my personal experience, it's a distribution problem. There is enough toilet paper, but it's sold out at some stores while others have more than enough. Can't level that out though, because margins are thin and the companies would lose money.
0xffff2 7y ago
It necessitates that all of those families buy twice as much this month so that they're prepared to spend a few weeks staying home starting the day before they would have gone shopping again. It also necessitates that I (a single person living alone who normally goes grocery shopping every other day or so) buy way more than I ordinarily would. Most people are not out there buying truckloads of TP. Everyone buying twice as much TP (and everything else) as usual is more than enough to create shortages.

4 ms·

>> What, besides stocking up on food, soap/sanitizer and toilet paper, would you expect them to do in response? I would have hoped people would keep in mind th

by kjakm 7y ago

luckylion 7y ago
I've seen some pictures of people walking out with mountains of toilet paper as well, but I don't think that was the norm. It's not three guys making off with a truckload, it's a lot of people buying and extra package or two, enough for the next six weeks which will quickly deplete the aisles, since stores are operating without storage space (because storage is expensive, and stored goods are dead capital), so they have no reserves. Also, from my personal experience, it's a distribution problem. There is enough toilet paper, but it's sold out at some stores while others have more than enough. Can't level that out though, because margins are thin and the companies would lose money.
0xffff2 7y ago
It necessitates that all of those families buy twice as much this month so that they're prepared to spend a few weeks staying home starting the day before they would have gone shopping again. It also necessitates that I (a single person living alone who normally goes grocery shopping every other day or so) buy way more than I ordinarily would. Most people are not out there buying truckloads of TP. Everyone buying twice as much TP (and everything else) as usual is more than enough to create shortages.