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Why would you buy 10 bottles? What are you going to do with them? Are you afraid they're going to run out? Why? (Put another way, why aren't you buying 10 bott

by geofft 7y ago

Why would you buy 10 bottles? What are you going to do with them? Are you afraid they're going to run out? Why? (Put another way, why aren't you buying 10 bottles of drain cleaner right now?) One of my local pharmacies had hand sanitizer in stock for $3 and no obvious limit on purchases. I bought one, because I needed one, and I expected that (because my locality had announced anti-price-gouging laws) I could go back and buy another one if I needed it. But it kind of lasts for a long while.

rahimnathwani 7y ago
I would buy 10 because that would last me 2 months (current expectation) to a year (normal usage), so I don't need to think about it for a wbile and, yes, I would not need to worry that they would run out. "I expected that (because my locality had announced anti-price-gouging laws) I could go back and buy another one if I needed it" Anti-price-gouging laws might stop people selling at high prices near you, but they don't stop people buying up all local supply, and re-routing it to places without such laws.
- KyleJune 7y ago
  That's why we need rationing in addition to anti price gouging laws. Anti price gouging laws make it riskier for people to buy large quantities with the intent to just sell it for a profit. If there was a high risk of punishment, people like the guys who went around Tennessee buying all of the available local supply of hand sanitizer with the intent to price gouge wouldn't have done so. Then rationing(like limits on how much of an item can be purchase at a time) would make it harder for individuals to buy more than they need. When there is a massive line of people just to get toilet paper and other basic necessities like we have seen at stores the past few days, people would be less likely to go through the hassle of finding the items and going through line again. Without a purchase limit, some people will completely fill up their carts leaving those who were not quick enough with less. The fear of people bulk buying the whole supply and the knowledge that people will do it to price gouge just increase the amount of panic and make more people feel the urge to go and buy in bulk. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tennessee-man-sitting-on-almost-18000-bottles-of-hand-sanitizer-says-hes-doing-a-public-service-2020-03-14 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tennessee-man-sitting-on-a...

by geofft 7y ago

rahimnathwani 7y ago

I would buy 10 because that would last me 2 months (current expectation) to a year (normal usage), so I don't need to think about it for a wbile and, yes, I would not need to worry that they would run out. "I expected that (because my locality had announced anti-price-gouging laws) I could go back and buy another one if I needed it" Anti-price-gouging laws might stop people selling at high prices near you, but they don't stop people buying up all local supply, and re-routing it to places without such laws.

KyleJune 7y ago
That's why we need rationing in addition to anti price gouging laws. Anti price gouging laws make it riskier for people to buy large quantities with the intent to just sell it for a profit. If there was a high risk of punishment, people like the guys who went around Tennessee buying all of the available local supply of hand sanitizer with the intent to price gouge wouldn't have done so. Then rationing(like limits on how much of an item can be purchase at a time) would make it harder for individuals to buy more than they need. When there is a massive line of people just to get toilet paper and other basic necessities like we have seen at stores the past few days, people would be less likely to go through the hassle of finding the items and going through line again. Without a purchase limit, some people will completely fill up their carts leaving those who were not quick enough with less. The fear of people bulk buying the whole supply and the knowledge that people will do it to price gouge just increase the amount of panic and make more people feel the urge to go and buy in bulk. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tennessee-man-sitting-on-almost-18000-bottles-of-hand-sanitizer-says-hes-doing-a-public-service-2020-03-14 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tennessee-man-sitting-on-a...