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Is there any evidence consumers are stocking up to profit rather than just have enough so as to be able to avoid stores for some time ?
by seemslegit 7y ago
Is there any evidence consumers are stocking up to profit rather than just have enough so as to be able to avoid stores for some time ?
- georgemcbay 7y agoYes, there is evidence, because some of the people engaged in this are dumb enough to give interviews to major press: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/technology/coronavirus-purell-wipes-amazon-sellers.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/technology/coronavirus-pu... I'm sure in terms of overall numbers the vast majority of people who are panic buying aren't doing it to profit, but it only takes a couple of jackasses like the ones described in the article operating at the scale they did to cause real problems.
- dragonwriter 7y agoThe thing is, once people are hoarding for any reason, profit or not, and that leads to signs of potential supply problems, everyone else has a strong incentive to stock up defensively, not for profit or defense against the original disaster, but to prevent being adversely effected by the supply shortages caused by hoarding. Which then creates a positive feedback loop of incentives unless external controls (rationing) are imposed.