eBay

nostalgicbrewpub · ‎02-23-2020

Due to the Novel Coronavirus, there has been a huge demand for N95 masks. Some unscrupulous sellers are price gouging these masks, asking over 4 times the retail price. Such behavior will cause hoarding , people rushing to brick-n-mortar stores and online suppliers to buy up these masks, just so they can hawk it on Ebay for absurd markups. This causes problems for the average person who wants to buy a mask for personal use. Ebay takes down auctions that violate certain ethical and or legal guidelines.

Just to be clear, I am not saying Ebay should stop sellers from hawking N95 masks, only to prevent those sellers who engage in price gouging.

Health professions have warned that emptying the shelves of these masks, which is greatly exacerbated when people can figure they can get rich quick by price gouging, is putting health professionals at risk due to shortage of the masks. In Singapore the government has cracked down on price gougers.

I would link to Ebay auctions of sellers price gouging but I don't know if that is allowed.

slippinjimmy · ‎02-23-2020

@mansons2005 wrote:
General Reply:
Has anyone stopped to consider that the buyer/high bidder of the above mentioned $1125 auction (for example) may have been the procurement officer for a small, obscure clinic (staffed by health workers!) who's mission it was to ensure that the supply was on hand in the event that, in the future, the staff needed to resort to them? If those not involved in an event have to speculate, it is wiser to include all possible speculations before making judgements and passing sentence.

More likely someone with similar feelings to the OP is running up the "selling" prices for kicks. When you see a sold price on eBay which is completely out of line with reality it usually means that the transaction was never completed.

If you want to see some real price gouging check out the big boys in the medical supply field, a box of styrofoam cups priced at 10 or 20 times the price of Walmart. Outrageous procurement costs are one of the prime reasons health care in the US is so expensive relative to other countries.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep

nostalgicbrewpub · ‎02-23-2020

So why then do States have laws against price gouging. Why do governments like Singapore's clamp down on price gouging. Why does Ebay prohibit the sale of certain Nazi and racist memorabilia; we could use your argument and say that if you don't want to buy it just ignore it.

What you said can be said against any social issue that is not technically a crime, that if you don't like it just ignore it. Yet that's not how society works, people have a sense of what is fair and some people engage in activism when they notice unfair situations.

nostalgicbrewpub · ‎02-23-2020

This is not like rare sports cards. No one needs a rare sports card to protect themselves. This situation is more akin to hoarding food and water during emergencies. There are State laws barring this practice, which is considered price gouging.

Retailers are selling the masks for a profit and not price gouging. There are industrial supply houses selling the mask for the same price it was before the virus outbreak. They wouldn't have been selling them if they didn't make a profit. My local Ace and big box hardware stores did not jack up the prices, they are selling these masks for the same pre virus outbreak price.

luckythewinner · ‎02-23-2020

@gracieallen01 wrote:
I didn't get the impression that the OP was concerned about whether the seller made a good profit or not. I think their main concern is the continued good health of the people who have to work in a system where there might not be enough physical protection from the virus because of way over-inflated prices. Something like ticket scalping, I suppose.

I got the impression the OP was arguing that eBay should be preventing sellers from pricing their items based on some notion of "retail price", regardless of whether the seller is losing money or not.

nostalgicbrewpub · ‎02-23-2020

Most people know what price gouging is. We are not talking about a 20% or 30% markup here. Depending on the number of pieces, price gouging markup can be anywhere from 100% or 200% or well over. There is no exact figure as to what is fair, but people know when something is being price gouged.

During Hurricane Irma, Florida's Attorney General slammed vendors' price gouging on water. The A.G. said she would crack down on such behavior. The A.G. contacted Amazon and other 3rd party vendors and got them to prevent price gouging. Amazon suspended 12 sellers engaged in the practice. National carriers like Delta and American Airlines said they would put a cap on ticket prices. This was to let the public know they would not engage in price gouging. At the time of Hurricane Harvey, a Best Buy store in Houston had a case of bottled water for $43. When news of this went viral, Best Buy apologized and said it was a mistake. They dropped the price.

nostalgicbrewpub · ‎02-23-2020

No, I never intimated a seller should sell at a loss. I said price gouging, and most people know what that is. If price gouging was an esoteric concept there wouldn't be State laws barring the practice.

Retail prices from reputable vendors are known and accessible online or by visiting brick-n-mortar stores.

janet9988 · ‎02-23-2020

You mean like a hospital charging 15.00 for 1 Tylenol?

Lift your left leg at midnight to start off on the right foot. Happy new Year!

dhbookds · ‎02-23-2020

@nostalgicbrewpub wrote:
Most people know what price gouging is. We are not talking about a 20% or 30% markup here. Depending on the number of pieces, price gouging markup can be anywhere from 100% or 200% or well over. There is no exact figure as to what is fair, but people know when something is being price gouged.

During Hurricane Irma, Florida's Attorney General slammed vendors' price gouging on water. The A.G. said she would crack down on such behavior. The A.G. contacted Amazon and other 3rd party vendors and got them to prevent price gouging. Amazon suspended 12 sellers engaged in the practice. National carriers like Delta and American Airlines said they would put a cap on ticket prices. This was to let the public know they would not engage in price gouging. At the time of Hurricane Harvey, a Best Buy store in Houston had a case of bottled water for $43. When news of this went viral, Best Buy apologized and said it was a mistake. They dropped the price.

Absolutely agree with this in a disaster situation and IF we were in one at this time, I would be for regulation....but we aren't.

haunted-harbinger · ‎02-23-2020

Considering how widespread the panic is, all sites are being checked. I have even seen people looking on the smaller auction sites and apps.

Just yesterday I was in a 7-eleven and a person came in asking if they sold them.

Sadly in dark times like this humanity starts to show it's true nature/face.

7606dennis · ‎02-23-2020

I'm not certain that the term "price gouging" can be applied in this instance. Unless the buyers in the immediate area were denied access to this item, term may not legally apply.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

johnrj1226 · ‎02-23-2020

@nostalgicbrewpub

Just go to the hospital and see what they charge for one extra strength Tylenol. Even the "negotiated" insurance rate price is near totally outrageous or beyond. And they scan everyone to your bill before you swallow it.

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janet9988 · ‎02-23-2020

It is actually recommended against the general population using masks in the first place.

Only the sick should need to wear them.

So any healthy person who is buying out of fear is causing more harm.

Lift your left leg at midnight to start off on the right foot. Happy new Year!

m60driver · ‎02-23-2020

If people are willing to pay the price then what is the issue? I remember the morning of 9/11 my first customer of the day was a local FEMA employee who purchased every gas mask we had for sale. Within days I had customers waiting in my parking lot for our UPS truck to deliver a new pallet of gas masks that were now selling for 5 times what they had sold for the week before. When customers asked me whether I was taking gas masks home for my family I told them that, honestly, the masks were useless and that I only sold them for novelty purposes only. They still bought them.

luckythewinner · ‎02-23-2020

@nostalgicbrewpub wrote:
No, I never intimated a seller should sell at a loss. I said price gouging, and most people know what that is. If price gouging was an esoteric concept there wouldn't be State laws barring the practice.
Retail prices from reputable vendors are known and accessible online or by visiting brick-n-mortar stores.

In your initial post, you specifically defined "over 4 times the retail price" to be price gouging.

I simply pointed out that many sellers here consider 4 times cost to be the minimum markup to make a sale worthwhile, given their personal experieince with fees, fraud, and loss.

So that would put most resellers who buy at retail in order to capture niche markets (ex. does Ace Hardware ship to the Czech Republic?) to be price-gougers.