Plan Ahead!
Thilo Parg via Wikimedia CommonsGo to your favorite supermarket, and it is not hard to see that something is off.
Emergency supplies from canned food to toilet paper are in short supply as Americans prepare to hunker down in an attempt to flatten coronavirus’ infection curve.
This phenomenon has repeated itself across the globe – from Singapore to San Francisco. Even the stocks supplying e-commerce giant Amazon are running dry.
While health care professionals are right to urge the American public to begin social distancing and emphasize a sense of urgency when doing so, frenzied media coverage and uncertainty has cultivated a sense of panic.
All of that has overridden the common sense approach to keep calm and take action for many Americans. And while stockpiling goods can create a false sense of security (see the zero-risk bias), you cannot eliminate the threat posed by COVID-19.
Hoarding does the exact opposite.
While Panic Buying Can Be Understood, Price Gouging Cannot
Seraphimblade via Wikimedia CommonsBusinesses and sellers looking to take advantage have been put on notice. Price gouging laws are in effect in states from Michigan to South Carolina after their declarations of emergency. President Trump declared a national emergency Friday.
Meanwhile, watchdogs remain on the prowl, hunting for those who try to take advantage during this critical time.
The effect of such coronavirus-related scams undermines the equitable accessibility of goods, especially for lower-income consumers.
Perhaps the most egregious example of price gouging during this crisis comes from two Tennessee brothers, Matt and Noah Colvin, who amassed tens of thousands of sanitizer bottles from a 1,300-mile trek that cleared out stores across southern Appalachia.
The New York Times detailed their exploits in a March 14 exposé, including selling hand sanitizer for up to $70. “It was crazy money,” Matt told the paper. The following day, Amazon took the brothers’ listings offline and the Tennessee Attorney General’s office sent them a cease-and-desist letter. An investigation into their actions is underway. Afterward, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron summed up public sentiment saying, “this is a time where we have to focus on helping our neighbors, not profiting from them.”
Unfortunately, the Colvins are not unique.
Local authorities slapped the owners of a Jersey City dollar store with a $90,000 fine after they inflated the prices of coronavirus-related items, like Kleenex tissues and Clorox wipes.
Besides prosecutors watching out for scammers, businesses like Kroger have placed panic-buying restrictions on sanitary items. Preventative measures have slashed the black market’s profit margin.
But that doesn’t mean you aren’t at risk.
For mindful consumers, patience and price tracking can pay off big.
If you need to make a grocery run in the coming days, plan ahead. Shop from trusted retailers, examine labels and if you are second-guessing the price tag, use price tracking tools like Keepa or Camelcamelcamel.
But most of all, don’t hoard.
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Michael Brigham
Michael Brigham has written for American Action News since the summer of 2019. His areas of expertise include foreign affairs, government, and politics, but regardless of the subject matter, he has a nose and an insatiable appetite for news. In his free time, he enjoys reading nonfiction, watching a mix of comedies and true crime documentaries, and spending time away from the swamp hiking in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
IF ONLY….WORDS OF WISDOM BUT UNFORTUNATELY, OUR AMERICA IS FULL OF
PEOPLE WITH LITTLE OR NO FAITH…GOD IS IN CONTROL OF ALL THESE THINGS
THAT OUR WORLD IS DEALING WITH…INCLUDING THE HATERS OF DECENCY,
THE HATERS OF TRUTH. IF ONLY THE WORLD WOULD SUBMIT TO AUTHORITY INSTEAD
OF MAKING UP THEIR OWN FAKE RULES TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE.
WE ARE NOT A NATION OF KNOWLEDGE OF OUR OWN LIVES BUT A “FOLLOW THE
LEADER” AND THE LEADER MAY BE THE DEVIL HIMSELF AS WITNESSED BY THE
FAKE NEWS ALL THROUGH OUT OUR LAND. STAY CALM AND REMAIN FAITHFUL TO
THE GOT WHO CREATED US.
God is in control — always has been, always will be. AMEN! 🙂 “Worry doesn’t free today of its troubles — it frees tomorrow of its energy.”
Change the word got to God. God is in control all of the time so people need to put God first in everything.
Yes Trust and Obey for there is NO OTHR WAY!!
People say this is messing up our world. But, I see God’s hand and FACE. He loves us so much
that HE KEEPS GIVING US CHANCE AFTER CHANCE. I truly see Him trying to turn us to him through this famine. Thank you for your love and mercy!!
Very good statement DJ ! “OPB”
Remember that the DEVIL himself was in charge of the US for 8 years.
“bo the TRAITOR”, with the “clunt” were doing as much harm to the country as they could, while enriching themselves.
RIGHT ON!!! God is just trying to get our attention. We are doomed if God is not included in our plans. Read Psalm 91.
The hoarding is a reaction to peoples distrust in politicians.
Politicians are driven by PC, fright of the almighty press and their scare mongering.
Better panic to be on the safe side. The most high pitched is always right in the public arena.
I have done no hoarding except a bag of peanuts and a 2L cola … but I inherently do not trust politicians and their media driven hysteria.
If not for Trump the situation would be many times worse.
Right with you Leif. If it wasn’t for our President the empty shelves would remain. The difference from today when they are being stocked and having a Liberal in office is that there would be NO re-stocking of the shelves. We’d be standing in line for a loaf of bread.
Amen to that! God Bless our President and World Leaders…
The only way to stop hording is to have the free market let prices rise for most items. Who defines what is “price gouging” is? Bureaucrats. How can people make a profit if they cannot buy items to replace those that have flown off the shelf? The shopkeeper needs to have products to sell. You want to make items not available? Don’t let the prices rise. I’m afraid that we are for a time of scarcity. I hate to sound hard hearted but it really hard hearted to try to go against economic laws and not use the laws to help provide for people.
“Let prices rise for most items”… I do not agree with that. When gasoline prices went up few years back, the prices for most items went up because “ gasoline prices went up”. When the gasoline prices fell, the prices for most things remained up, they never came down. It will be the same now. Yes, the retailers need to have profit to stay in business, but when human greed intervenes, that is not good for most of the people.
Please google “How many people died from influenza in USA in 2019” you will see the answer is around 35000 people.
Nobody said a word.
Corona is a more contagious form of flu and we need to be reasonably cautious and socially careful.
The panic is stupid and the media is feeding people with the news that has caused this outrageous situation.
Life is in the hands of G-d
98% recover and you say it is more contagious? hope you have a safe place
All of you are as crazy as anyone who believes any of this nonsense, if you do, then you are all part of a sheeple response to a megalomaniacal scam to shortcut America and outright steal our liberties. How many people in this country ? Perhaps 230 million, and then how many “corona” sick are there ? OK, maybe 5,000. What fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction, etc. is that ? Where’s your third grade math brain ? Where are the bodies in the streets, and the body carts hauling them off in huge numbers to justify this outright unconstitutional taking of everyone’s liberties. Wake the F-ck up !!! There is no threat of any kind to justify any of this, its simply astounding how everyone is falling for it. Look at the stats of who is dying (if you can even believe those), they always state that there are “underlying conditions”, i.e., emphysema, lung cancer, extreme old age with no immunities, etc. The same thing happens in much much greater numbers all of the time and every year with colds & flu (which may be what this “Corona” is, a bad cold or flue) to the already vulnerable who cannot withstand any additional illness whatsoever and they succumb. They even admit that the average age is around 80 for God’s sake ! I am simply astounded that any of this is taking place. It is a government goon take over of America, it simply has to end, people need to stand up for their God given liberties and resist this evil intended take-over of all of American life. The so called Lame Stream news/propaganda media is expected to parrot any government or Democrap lie, but even the so-called conservative media is falling for it, propagating and extolling it as it if it is true and real, shame, shame, shame on all of them. Stop this madness and speak up, open your eyes and use your common sense !!!
You are absolutely right. I heard a doctor on t.v. say that all “common colds” are caused by corona viruses. Isn’t that enlightening. This could be just a bad cold that more people are catching at once. I truly believe this is being fueled by the MSM to tank the economy and cause a recession so that Trump cannot run on a good economny. You will see in a couple of months, the news media screaming about the “Trump recession” before the Nov. election.
Me thinks you have gone overboard in your assertions, Robert. Reality mixed in with paranoia.
Yesterday I saw the shelves in a grocery store that I shop at, After getting over the initial shock I immediately thought to myself that this is just a dress rehearsal for becomming a third world country. Think about it folks !
Greed kills. The greed that has been driving much of our economy is defining what’s behind all this panic buying. So many people have no thought of anyone else–it’s all about what they can amass for themselves. In some ways, this corona situation will either wake us up to God or mean our soon demise from the resulting famine.
Now that China can see what a disaster this is causing to our economy and the stock market, expect more of these Chinese viruses. Only next time, they will just send over a few hundred people to infect our population without having their own citizens exposed.
Sounds like this virus is a weaponized form of pneumonia. Regardless of how it went viral throughout the globe, it is a handy excuse for the evil political powers here and there to destroy us. G*d knows what is happening and He is in control. He was us to wake up.