quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

quote:

A local distillery started producing an alcohol based hand sanitizer.

A local whiskey distillery started doing the same thing, and dropped some off at the PD for us, which imo was pretty cool of them. It's in glass jugs, looks like moonshine lol. Chief told us we aren't allowed to drink it .

Because I am a smart-ass, I asked the gal what was in it. "Not that I'd be a crook, but if I run out of bourbon, can I drink the sanitizer?" She gave the me info sheet and said, "I wouldn't recommend it. It is made from alcohol distilled from grapes which is drinkable, but mixed in is hydrogen peroxide, glycerin, and purified water. Besides, if you run out of bourbon, come on back. We'll have more for you."

You always hear "support your local business". Bought a dozen eggs . Charged me $3.00. Afew days later I'm in Walmart. A dozen eggs 78 cents. Screw the locals.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
^^^ Report them to your state. They’re violating CT law. I would even take a picture of the product and price.

Isn't that"grass up?). :-/

Bob

I get you, Tac. We spent a couple of bucks on Britbox and we're up on Brit slang now.

No snitches (grassers) around here, but out rules aren't as strict, either. We've got a couple of cases of hand sanitizer at the gun shop, we get them delivered about the 10th of the month. Boss is a cancer patient, so this is nothing new to us. At home, I had four or five bottles of Aloe left over from summer at the beach, so I got a half gallon of Tito's vodka and made some pretty good hand cleaner. Mostly, though, we just wash our hands.

The only thing we've had close to gouging was one ammo supplier raised the price of range ammo a dollar a box, which we passed along. We have a few wealthy enthusiasts in our customer base, and several of them have sold us back unopened cases of ammo, at what they paid for them, and we've passed that deal along so no one is without if we can help it.

We've only had one jerk at the store who refused to comply with social distancing, so we hmm shall we say asked him to leave and never return. The boss says keeping people safe is more important than profit, but he did it in front of several customers, and I think it may actually expand his customer base.

Well, I ramble on. Stopping for now, time to go to work in a few.

Haven't been able to get isopropyl or hand sanitizer here for weeks. Finally dug through amazon and found some 62% alcohol hand sanitizer for the low low price of $2.23/oz.

quote:

Originally posted by rbert0005:

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
^^^ Report them to your state. They’re violating CT law. I would even take a picture of the product and price.

Isn't that"grass up?). :-/

Bob

Call it what you wish. Most people aren’t ok with price gouging during national emergencies. A lot different than ratting out a neighbor just going for a walk, don’t you think?

I made up 2 gallons of 65% ethanol and aloe from my garden.

We give it to friends and neighbors at no cost... they have to provide the container and that is it.

Now is the time to practice loving your neighbor.

It went quickly!

Interesting how grocery store prices have increased on just about everything, especially the 'easy to fix' products. But they do keep it below the amount that would be considered 'gouging'! Just because a can of soup's price increased by 25% doesn't mean they are 'gouging'.

quote:

Originally posted by kramden:
You always hear "support your local business". Bought a dozen eggs . Charged me $3.00. Afew days later I'm in Walmart. A dozen eggs 78 cents. Screw the locals.

I pay 2-2.50 per dozed of fresh farm eggs and I'm glad to do so. The taste is so much better that 78 cent Walmart eggs.

The costs are much higher for the local farmer as well.

quote:

Originally posted by trebor44:
Just because a can of soup's price increased by 25% doesn't mean they are 'gouging'.

It does in Arkansas.

State price gouging laws state that the cost of products during a declared emergency cannot increase more than 10% over their pre-emergency prices.

And our current Attorney General is a real bulldog who's taking this quite seriously.

Where are all the pseudo economists that popped up in the ammo gouging thread who think gouging is actually a GOOD thing during declared emergencies? Oh yea, ammo isn’t milk or bread so it’s ok. Bullshit, price gouging without the underlying increased cost of production should be illegal during declared emergencies.

Grass em up. Whatever that exactly means. Lol

Anything that feeds fear, which massive price increases do just that, need to be minimized.

quote:

Originally posted by trebor44:
Interesting how grocery store prices have increased on just about everything, especially the 'easy to fix' products. But they do keep it below the amount that would be considered 'gouging'! Just because a can of soup's price increased by 25% doesn't mean they are 'gouging'.

Prices HAVE to go up... as costs go up and demand goes up.

April 1, 2020
We Have Missed Key Lessons from the Downfall of Venezuela

As the coronavirus dominates the news and populations are increasingly restricted to their homes, staple items disappear from supermarket shelves. Buyers hoard toilet paper and many other products. Commentators respond by ridiculing and criticizing the hoarders. We accuse them of taking supplies needed by seniors. We yell at them when we see them with their loaded shopping carts. We lecture them that toilet paper has nothing to do with the virus. We demand that the government prosecute them for something. We appeal for calm. Celebrities and politicians join the chorus. Stores have responded by limiting purchases of certain items.

News commentators have asked why the stores cannot keep up with the demand. We wonder when the new shipments will arrive. Truck-drivers delivering supplies have become the new heroes. News of new shipments dominates social media as friends help each other to find each new supply before it disappears.

Despite all of these efforts and all of this talk, the shelves remain empty. The bathroom tissue aisles in supermarkets and superstores look like the empty shelves in Venezuela. Consumers line up outside the doors, waiting for products that cannot be found. Meanwhile, the hoarders are reselling toilet paper on eBay, other internet sources, or anywhere else that they might find a buyer. Toilet paper has become the new gold. A black market has emerged that will not soon go away. The black marketeers who have now cornered the toilet paper market are the targets of public figures, media commentators, and social media scorn.

Throughout history, tyrannical regimes have sought to scapegoat black marketeers for the failure of the economies that they have crushed. The fictional Soviet enforcers in Ayn Rand's We the Living would prosecute and execute individuals who sold products secretly while the rest of the citizens stood in line at the empty Soviet stores. It was official policy to blame the isolated secret sellers for the absence of products at the Soviet stores (both in the novel and in the actual Soviet Union). One of the enforcers finally presented the obvious point: "It will be important to explain how a penniless aristocrat [one black marketeer] managed to lay his hands on the very heart of our economic life."

He asked the right question, but no such explanation can be given. It makes no sense that a handful of hoarders and black marketeers can bring an entire economy to its knees or deprive the nation of staple products. Yet those few unnamed hoarders are the easiest target for the politicians.

Venezuela, years ago, enacted actual price controls on many products. Shelves have been empty ever since, as the government helplessly blames the usual suspects. The scapegoats are always few, and the explanations are always wrong. In America, we point to Venezuela and decry "corruption" or "socialism" as an explanation for the empty shelves. "Socialism" happens to be the correct answer, but it is too general a term. That word alone fails to explain the whole story, just as our internet jokes fail to restock the shelves.

Outrage, shame, anger, and even legislation will not curtail or eliminate the black markets. For the same reason, public pressure and government meddling will not fill the shelves with toilet paper. There is only one way that those shelves will fill up again. Toilet paper and other commodities will be plentiful once again only if prices rise. Economics 101 teaches us that the market clears when prices can move freely to the point where supply equals demand. Right now, demand far exceeds supply. This situation provides the classic example where a price increase will end that imbalance. When prices rise, there will suddenly be enough of those scarce items for everyone.

So why don't the retailers raise their prices? Is the government preventing them from doing so? Not officially. But every time there is a natural disaster, local officials threaten prosecution against "price-gougers" and "profiteers." Social media commentators and consumer advocates would descend upon any local retailer that dared to raise prices. We have internalized the notion that raising prices is somehow evil. The propaganda has become self-enforcing. We do not need the government to hold down prices for us. Decades of government education have trained us to violate the laws of economics on our own. We join the stampede against "price-gouging" even as there is nothing for us to buy. We complain that higher prices would be unfair to seniors, even as those same seniors get nothing from the empty shelves.

I know the feeling of unease that empty shelves bring. We have grown accustomed to having certain items in abundance. It is scary when those products disappear from every store. I would feel much more comfortable if those shelves were full again — even it means that the prices must rise a little in the short run.

If the retailers do not raise their prices, the black marketeers will do it for them. Toilet paper can be purchased on the black market for a higher price. At the same time, other products remain available in the stores at higher prices. It is usually only the cheaper store brands of certain foods that disappear while the more expensive brands remain available. This observation applies to soup, bread, pasta, and other foods in recent weeks. But somehow, even the more expensive toilet paper brands are not currently expensive enough. The black market has made its biggest impact on that product.

"Socialism" is a broad term that describes deep economic fallacy and far-reaching tyranny. Government price controls are a key part of such fallacy and tyranny. It does no good for us to decry "socialism" while resisting price increases and demanding public and government pressure on hoarders to make products available at below-market prices.

President Trump has promised that America will never be a socialist country. If we are to fulfill that promise, we have to understand that fighting socialism means allowing prices to rise or fall on their own — especially in a crisis. We must teach ourselves to avoid the buzzwords of the leftists. We must affirm that there is no such thing as price-"gouging." We must realize that hoarding is the natural reaction to government overreach. Most of all, we must learn not to scapegoat a few powerless individuals for conditions that naturally arise when prices are suppressed.

https://www.americanthinker.co...l_of_venezuela_.html

Prices HAVE to go up... as costs go up and demand goes up.

April 1, 2020
We Have Missed Key Lessons from the Downfall of Venezuela

As the coronavirus dominates the news .... We must affirm that there is no such thing as price-"gouging." We must realize that hoarding is the natural reaction to government overreach. Most of all, we must learn not to scapegoat a few powerless individuals for conditions that naturally arise when prices are suppressed.

[/QUOTE]

Very feeble attempt to legitimize price 'gouging'! A 25% increase of products already on the shelf and not subject to ancillary costs associated with IT, is pure and simple GOUGING! Black markets have existed from beginning of time but profiteering does not have to quantified with excuses. What ever happened to the 'Christian thing to do'?

quote:

Originally posted by trebor44:
Prices HAVE to go up... as costs go up and demand goes up.

April 1, 2020
We Have Missed Key Lessons from the Downfall of Venezuela

As the coronavirus dominates the news .... We must affirm that there is no such thing as price-"gouging." We must realize that hoarding is the natural reaction to government overreach. Most of all, we must learn not to scapegoat a few powerless individuals for conditions that naturally arise when prices are suppressed.

Very feeble attempt to legitimize price 'gouging'! A 25% increase of products already on the shelf and not subject to ancillary costs associated with IT, is pure and simple GOUGING! Black markets have existed from beginning of time but profiteering does not have to quantified with excuses. What ever happened to the 'Christian thing to do'?[/QUOTE]

quote:

Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
There's a convenience store here selling small bottles of hand sanitizer for $29.99.
I don't even know if what they are selling is actually real hand sanitizer.

That's nuts, and illegal! I made my own with rubbing alcohol and aloe vera lotion. Mix it in a 2:1 ratio (alcohol to aloe vera) and you have your own without getting ripped off!

quote:

Originally posted by rbert0005:

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
^^^ Report them to your state. They’re violating CT law. I would even take a picture of the product and price.

Isn't that"grass up?). :-/

Bob

Someone did report them - I saw it posted on a FB Group where I'm a member.

For some interesting reading do a 'google' on 'nixon price controls'. Pro and con articles.

quote:

What ever happened to the 'Christian thing to do'?

The 'Christian thing' is voluntary and laudable. But we are not talking about charity here, we're talking about keeping the shelves stocked.
Price discovery moves products to where they are most in demand.

I have not been to the store in a couple weeks but the last time I was at our local grocery, that I have shopped at for 45 years, they had 10 lb bags of potatoes for $8.99, and ground chuck at $8.99 per pound. I didn't report them, plenty others did though, but I lit up the store manager at the checkout.

quote:

Originally posted by kramden:
You always hear "support your local business". Bought a dozen eggs . Charged me $3.00. Afew days later I'm in Walmart. A dozen eggs 78 cents. Screw the locals.

I sell my organic eggs for $3 a dozen.