If something’s generally available, there’s really no such thing as hoarding. If I’d bought a year’s worth of TP in February, it wouldn’t have mattered to anyone but me. Potential shortages are a precondition of hoarding.
I dunno, that’s a bit arbitrary - kind of like the definition of a “cat hoarder” being “more than three cats”. Why three?
Now if there is ample storage space in a large basement but it’s 1/4 filled with toilet paper specifically, that does raise the question, why focus on this (even if there are regular sales on it) versus any other non-perishable necessity, like soap?
I guess the line would be: do you sleep on a pile of it at night, was it seized by plunder, and do you guard it against those who would seek it out? That would definitely be a hoard.
What about animal hoarding?
I’d say it’s hoarding, rather than stocking up, if the amount you’re acquiring is causing problems for you or for other people.
Also, if the amount you have on hand keeps consistently increasing over time, that’s a sign of hoarding.
This.
The thread isn’t about mental disease hording, it’s about socially irresponsible hording. If I have 18 rolls of TP in my house and I pick up a 12 pack, that means someone after me, who may have none, will not get any more. Am I acting unethically when I purchase that 12 pack? I don’t need it today, or this week, but when I need it in a few weeks, there may be none. If I have 2 rolls, I am clearly not being socially irresponsible. If I have 100 rolls at home and I pick up 12 more, I clearly am. Is there a line? It’s even more complicated because we are supposed to limit our trips out of the house. If I stock up today, maybe I don’t have to go out at all in 2 weeks. How does that counter with maybe leaving someone with no TP at all?
A lot of it is a matter of personal preferences, finances, and space. Stuff like shampoo lasts a few months or more, I wouldn’t see a point having maybe more than 1 backup. I get 2 packs of deodorant for the convenience and I used to keep one at work when that was allowed. I have a lot on Subscribe & save, which I guess can be affected by current events but I usually have it running a little ahead. For example, I got a 90 day supply of a vitamin I take at the end of March, the previous bottle is still not used up and the next one is coming the end of June. I have a monthly coffee delivery but i’m probably good if it’s a couple weeks later. Things like toilet paper take up a lot of space compared to the cost and usual savings of bulk. When I was single and had 1 roommate in a 2bd/2ba apart I remember buying a 36 pack for my bathroom at the beginning of the lease and still having some left when we moved. Even with the shortage and a family of 4 now i’d be hesitant to buy 144 or whatever. Right now I have an unopened box that was mailed and 2 unopened 24 packs I bought when stores finally started stocking just in case. Yesterday when I went to the store there was plenty in stock.
Conceded.
Stocking up is done when an item you need to constantly replenish is on sale, and it is easy to find in stores.
Hoarding is done when you pay full price because you expect shortages in the future.
I think it depends on two things. Maybe three.
For one, how fast does your household go through it? If you’ve already got 20 rolls and that’s going to last you 10 weeks, that’s one thing. If you’ve got eight people in the house, three of them with digestive difficulties, that’s another matter.
For two, how much is on the shelf at grocery store B? Shelves full and three pallets in the aisles? Three twelve-packs surrounded by empty space?
And maybe for three: is toilet paper going to be your limiting factor on when you next go shopping? That is, would picking up that second pack mean that you won’t go to any grocery for two or three or four weeks, instead of coming back much sooner? Or are you going to have to come back in a few days in any case?
– I agree with those who say that the line between hoarding and stocking up has a lot to do with whether your purchases mean that somebody else can’t get any; and also with those saying that it makes a difference whether it’s things you normally use anyway in plausible quantities for normal use plus maybe some extra to reduce trips to the store, or just a kind of panic swipe at anything that’s available.
(Disclaimer: I currently have four cats. And probably close to three months’ worth of cat food and litter; but a) I do that sort of thing anyway and b) there was plenty on the shelves when I bought it.)
No fucking way I’d make a special trip into the store just for TP when I already have several weeks worth on hand. Not hoarding, but also not necessary.
The difference is whether your hoarding/stocking up behavior prevents others from getting the items they need/desire. Presumably when you bought those packs of TP, you didn’t buy every last roll in the store.
It’s subjective, all about what’s a “reasonable” amount, I guess. Having 100 or even 150 rolls of toilet paper is still reasonable stockpiling. Having 700 rolls of it is hoarding.
Oh, god.
I’m a hoarder.
:eek:
This, and also that you plan to use (or give away) what you bought, and can afford what you purchased.
I’ve been giving this waaaaaay too much thought over the past few weeks, so here is my take on it.
Hoarding is stockpiling stuff that has limited value to you. If you buy half a dozen cases of SpaghettiO’s because you might need them even though you never eat them and nobody in your house eats them and come the apocalypse you still won’teat them, that’s hoarding.
But if you’re stockpiling toilet paper household essentials and food that you actually are going to use and you’re keeping them in rotation, that’s stocking up.
And buying the last package of TP just to have it on hand even though you have 400 rolls in the basement… that’s neither hoarding or stocking up. That’s just being a dick.
I think there’s more than one thing being discussed under the term “hoarding”.
Hoarding in normal times is a mental disorder which has different components but is physically manifested by accumulating objects in gross excess of what anyone could ever need or use.
Hoarding in crisis times is an impulse to gather as much as one can of whatever other people seem to feel the same way about, in a sort of panic-driven herd instinct for safety.
These are very dissimilar impulses.
Stocking up is simply being well-prepared to weather a crisis during which one may not have access to necessities as easily as is usual.
I didn’t buy anything extra because I’m always pretty well stocked up, that’s how I live. It’s how most people live who are far enough from stores that it is a half day trip to restock supplies. Also, I didn’t panic about shortages because I didn’t see any big reason there would be any, long term, for this particular disaster. So far it appears I’m right.
My wife shops like this because, even though we live in New York City, she grew up in a remote rural area where interruptions in the supply train, often caused by weather, were commonplace. Also, she grew up in a house, with a basement and an attic, and a shed or two out back.
She hasn’t been able to give up her shopping habits even though she’s been transitioned to apartment life, and city life, for twenty years now.
This may be related to the fact that she is, in fact, a hoarder. I am not exaggerating. It’s a very big problem for us. Or at least for me and our children.
Stocking up is what you do if it may be problematic going back to the store. Or if one particular item is seasonal or temporary or on sale. I walk to the grocery, so if I score a ride, I stock up on heavy or bulky items. That’s not hoarding.
I’d say hoarding is deviating from your usual pattern, flagrantly.
If one goes on the definition of Hoarding like those tv shows where they have to come in and clean out some compulsive hoarders house, I guess it means someone who buys junk they cant use and never throws things out. Its like they need to accumulate junk.
None of the peoples stuff is essential like tp. Just random stuff.
If it is a mental disorder, what could cause it?
Past deprivation or maybe extreme loss?
When we moved off the beaten path I knew, in short order to get what I could reasonably plan ahead for. Nothing funny about needing toilet paper on a late evening and Wal-Mart is 30+ miles away. So I always bought big and bought ahead.
I do have a hoarder tendancy. I’ve always liked buying multiples of things. I was in the hospital when this COVID started. I might have went berserk. My family did the bulk of the hoarding we’ve done.
There’s a few things Mr.Wrekker bought that are nonsensical. A case of sardines. I can’t say we’ve ever eaten them, much. And cotton balls. Thousands of cotton balls. Weird.
He bought 2 packs of 48 rolls of toilet paper, early on. I kinda understand that. He didn’t know I had a case of paper in the garage. 144 rolls.
I donated a portion of it to the Women’s shelter when they put out an email of their needs, at the beginning.
I’m not donating any more. I have a house full til who knows when.
My DIL is the only one out scrounging around town looking for what we need. She keeps her house and mine in mind when she’s out. She’s had a fair bit of luck. Yeast is hard to find.
I use alcohol wipes when I need to change my insulin pump or my CGM patch. We’ve not found them or rubbing alcohol in weeks.
I have a fifth of Everclear if I get desperate. And plenty of cotton balls:smack:
I stocked up on TP last year after I got home from my stroke. Wasn’t sure how often I’d be getting out to shop (which turned out to be a nonissue). Anyway–the local store had buy one 12 pack of Scott 1000 sheet rolls, get one free. So I got 4 12 packs total (bought two, got two free). Several weeks later another store had buy one 20 pack of Scott 1000 sheet rolls, get the 2nd one for 1/2 price. So I ended up with two 20 roll packs.
And each rolls last about a week.
I haven’t purchased any since, and still have enough to last roughly a year.