Both are essentially gouging. One is for an essential item, the other is not. It's generally not considered the 'free market' in a healthy sense, because long-

Both are essentially gouging. One is for an essential item, the other is not. It's generally not considered the 'free market' in a healthy sense, because long-run/short-run economics are different. Something that costs massively more than the cost of production is usually just the representation of a severy asymmetry in power. It's obviously not so bad for unessential items, but it's a thing. Most large businesses would not want to gauge because they are looking at the long term, they want to maintain relationships with customers etc..