HAND SANITIZER – Tom's Blog

Shameless price gouging.

Paul Joseph Watson – MARCH 10, 2020

In yet another shameless act of price gouging, a hardware store in New York is selling bottles of hand sanitizer for $109 dollars a pop.

Yes, really.

Taking full advantage of the growing hysteria surrounding coronavirus, Scheman & Grant Hardware at Eighth Avenue and 38th Street is now selling 1200 ml bottles of Purell that normally retail for $5.49 for a gargantuan $79 dollars.

Meanwhile, larger 2 liter bottles of Purell are selling for $109 each.

The shocking prices are not deterring customers. The smaller bottles are flying off the shelves and the $109 bottles have sold out.

“Everyone who comes in the store buys them. We sold about fifty of those today,” one employee told the New York Post.

Mayor Bill de Blasio reacted by saying the situation sounded like price gouging and that he would be sending the Department of Consumer Affairs to “pay them a visit immediately.”

However, economist Peter Schiff said stores couldn’t be blamed for hiking prices in times of massive demand.

“People are raising prices for certain supplies. Well of course,” Schiff said. “Demand’s going up. Of course you’re going to raise prices! What are you supposed to do? If you don’t raise prices, all of your stuff is going to get bought by a few people who are then going to hoard it or resell it on the black market. Prices are a rationing mechanism.”

Concerns over shortages behind hoarding of products.

Paul Joseph Watson – FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Some store shelves in the UK, Australia, the Czech Republic and South Korea are beginning to empty as coronavirus panic buying increases and people begin to hoard products.

As we previously highlighted, Italy experienced panic buying at some supermarkets in affected regions after hundreds of people were infected with coronavirus in just a few days.

Now similar concerns are leading to empty shelves in other countries around the world.

In the UK, supermarkets in the town of Cheltenham all ran out of antibacterial hand gel.

“Tesco in Tewkesbury Road, Sainsbury’s in Gallagher Retail Park and Morrisons in Up Hatherley have all got empty space where the antibacterial hand gel should be,” reports Gloucestershire Live.

It’s a similar situation in Sydney, Australia, where shelves have been stripped of medicine and toilet paper. Longer lasting food supplies are also running out.

“Customers were greeted with near empty aisles when they arrived at the supermarket giant’s Bondi store in Sydney on Thursday night,” reports the Daily Mail. “The grocery store appeared to be struggling to keep the shelves stocked with paracetamol, toilet paper, tea, milk, pasta, oats and rice crackers.”

Meanwhile, in South Korea, “mass hoarding” of instant noodles led to manufacturer Nongshim’s warehouse sitting empty.

“People nationwide are rushing to buy hand sanitizers, instant noodles and rice amid growing fears that the coronavirus will become a global pandemic and could lead to grocery shortages,” reports the Korea Times.

People in the Czech. Republic are also emptying supermarket shelves over concerns the coronavirus is about to cause shortages. Customers are buying bottled water, cooking oil, flour, meat and canned food.

“We sold a weekly quantity in two days,” said one supermarket spokesperson.

“Rice, pasta, canned food, frozen food, but also all disinfectants, baby food, and drinks are sold out,” reports Prague Morning, adding that the Deputy Mayor of Prague Petr Hlubucek is considering imposing purchasing controls.

Meanwhile, borders across Europe remain completely open even as the virus continues to accelerate towards a potential global pandemic.