How do I report price gouging?

[alwaystubed1]

How do I report hand sanitizer being sold for insane prices? 

[vifar-16]

I don't think seller's can sell for whatever they want to.  They will be fined.

[teslastrike]

Lol, good luck "reporting people" for selling THEIR goods for market value. I see there are still plenty of sales going on(as there should be!)Go ahead and report those teenagers for playing their music too loud while you're at it. 

[teslastrike]

Still waiting for that link to an example of an ebay seller ever being fined or "imprisoned" for "price gouging".lol 

Since banning the sales of "overpriced" items will only increase the shortage, I can't help but think this is just bucket crab mentality, jealousy over individuals making a profit. But letting the government dictate prices of goods is a slippery slope.

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@laserprinterkits wrote:

thanks for the suggestion.  I've reported listings and see they sold and relisted again.  Ebay is not ahead of this problem which is amazing how amazon and walmart got their scammers shut down quickly.

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@laserprinterkits 

I just did a search for "toilet paper" on Amazon - Sorted Price high to low ... they don't quite have it "under control" 😞

Wal-Mart, on the other hand, seems to have it controlled 🙂

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@teslastrike wrote:

Still waiting for that link to an example of an ebay seller ever being fined or "imprisoned" for "price gouging".lol 

Since banning the sales of "overpriced" items will only increase the shortage, I can't help but think this is just bucket crab mentality, jealousy over individuals making a profit. But letting the government dictate prices of goods is a slippery slope.

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@teslastrike 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/technology/matt-colvin-hand-sanitizer-donation.html 

He hasn't been fined YET, but he's under investigation.

This is the first Nationwide emergency in a very long time. There have been local shortages of items after local disasters, but nothing that has affected many different States as this has.

We haven't seen anything like this on a country-wide scale before.  State Governments are the ones with the Laws on the books ... and you can bet that they are paying attention.

Just wait. It's coming.

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@teslastrike wrote:

Lol, good luck "reporting people" for selling THEIR goods for market value. I see there are still plenty of sales going on(as there should be!)Go ahead and report those teenagers for playing their music too loud while you're at it. 

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@teslastrike 

"Market Value" is where you lose your argument.

We aren't talking about hot toys, must-have sneakers or limited edition collectibles here.

"Price Gouging" of essential items during an emergency or crisis is a crime.

And buying up whatever you can find in order to sell it to those who actually need it ... for a premium price ... is despicable.

I just finished reporting 100 or do listings for toilet paper ... sorted high-to-low ... and didn't even get down to below the $1000 starting bid and Fixed Price ones 😞

Is that what you are calling "Market Price" ????

[teslastrike]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/technology/matt-colvin-hand-sanitizer-donation.html 

He hasn't been fined YET, but he's under investigation.

This is the first Nationwide emergency in a very long time. There have been local shortages of items after local disasters, but nothing that has affected many different States as this has.

We haven't seen anything like this on a country-wide scale before.  State Governments are the ones with the Laws on the books ... and you can bet that they are paying attention.

Just wait. It's coming.

No it isn't. Looks like no eBayer has ever been fined for "price gouging" and they never will be. 

There is no such thing a price gouging on eBay since eBay is considered a secondary market.  eBay is pure capitalism and sellers can set any price that they want to.  It is up to the buyer to decide that the price is too high and buy from someone else.  This is how capitalism works.

If there is a shortage then the price should go up.  That keeps a steady supply for those who really want the item.  It also encourages others to put their own products up for sale, part of what is called price discovery.   

[teslastrike]

Sounds like you've wasted an awful lot of your time "reporting" sellers. 

 I still don't understand how banning  sales is going to help reduce the shortage... it will make items even more scarce. That's why socialism doesn't work. 

[laserprinterkits]

The best thing about the internet is this is all evidence. Those defending this sort of behavior by gouging are going to find out that the states attorney general offices will make your life hell.  If you think that money was worth it, just wait until you need a lawyer for 200/hr and your thousands in the hole trying to save your skin.

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@teslastrike wrote:

Sounds like you've wasted an awful lot of your time "reporting" sellers. 

 I still don't understand how banning  sales is going to help reduce the shortage... it will make items even more scarce. That's why socialism doesn't work. 

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It will keep resellers from clearing out all of their local stores (thereby creating or contributing to the shortage)  just to make a profit.

[teslastrike]

The best thing about the internet is this is all evidence. Those defending this sort of behavior by gouging are going to find out that the states attorney general offices will make your life hell.  If you think that money was worth it, just wait until you need a lawyer for 200/hr and your thousands in the hole trying to save your skin.

Thank you for writing this! I actually laughed out loud, made my day.

All levity aside though, who would want a reality like this? A government who sets prices and prosecutes an individual who sells an item he owns for a price the government decides isn't "fair". 

 There's no price more fair than market value in my opinion. 

[teslastrike]

I was at my local Walmart a few days ago, and it wasn't resellers clearing the shelves, it was regular folks. Now some of those same folks see that they can make a profit selling some of their stash, so they're listing on ebay. 

And there's nothing wrong with that. If they couldn't make crazy profits, they wouldn't put their stash up for sale and shortage would be much worse. 

[bermudawrecktangled]

NO! It's not! And, YES you do report. These morally depraved individuals selling... say Isopropyl Alcohol for $20 when it cost $1, are depriving communities of the supply necessary for those local individual to help protect themselves during this crisis. When you walk into a grocery store, and find the area wiped clean of a basic staple because of morally corrupt arbitragers; well possibly it's time for governments to take action. I don't think the NJ gouger will be selling any more obscenely marked up goods any time soon...

https://hudsonreporter.com/2020/03/13/punishing-price-gougers/

[bermudawrecktangled]

Ok, now here is your job for this weekend 🙂 Report the Isopropyl Alcohol sellers. My wife tried to get a bottle at the grocery store today, it usually sells for .87 cents a bottle. I now see why there was NONE! The scum arbitragers of Ebay are selling it for $25 a bottle!

[curligurli]

I was in a position where I had a loved one dying in hospice care who was on contact isolation precautions.  This means that visitors, in order to protect themselves from his respiratory illness, need to wear masks.  The facility had limited masks available and we were told that if we wanted to visit him, we needed to bring our own masks.  Because of people who went and cleared out stocks to sell on ebay at inflated prices, I had to make the decision to spend $44 dollars for face masks in order to be able to visit my family member.  Unfortunately, he died yesterday and I received the masks in the mail today.  Yes, I made the choice to spend $44 on cheap, disposable surgical masks.  I did it because of price gougers who made it impossible for my family to access masks for reasonable prices locally.