# This is Why We Have No Hand Sanitizer **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 15, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535 "2020-03-15T13:53:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/1 "2020-03-15T13:53:47Z")
[They started buying it up after the first US death. Then Amazon and Ebay shut them down for price-gouging.](https://nypost.com/2020/03/14/hoarding-bros-hoping-to-profiteer-off-coronavirus-stuck-with-17k-bottles-of-hand-sanitizer/) I’m sure these pillars of the community will donate all their supplies, right? Right? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/2 "2020-03-15T14:27:34Z")
They should probably be in jail right now. I’m sure we have some old war-time laws still on the books to cover this. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/3 "2020-03-15T14:54:07Z")
Their rationalization is warped, twisted. I hope they get a run of really hot weather, and all the containers fail. Karma’s a bitch! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/4 "2020-03-15T15:09:57Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > They should probably be in jail right now. I’m sure we have some old war-time laws still on the books to cover this. There is a War Profiteering Prevention Act but as the name suggests, it only applies to profiteering directly related to war, and its scope is pretty narrow. Frankly, I think these asshole got exactly what they deserved anyway. They tried to scam the community and now they are themselves out at least $25K and will be regarded as scum for the rest of their lives. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/5 "2020-03-15T15:54:30Z")
There’s legal action against them now. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/6 "2020-03-15T15:52:55Z")
There’s legal action against them now. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/7 "2020-03-15T16:03:44Z")
> [@susan](#): > > There’s legal action against them now. Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/8 "2020-03-15T16:21:39Z")
It’s the craven greed that gets you – had they very early on just bought a whole bunch from a wholesaler at wholesale prices, then put in a high but within-reasonable-bounds margin, it may have coasted through. Cleaning out the retail shelves and then wanting to collect a big windfall at 8X to 20X mark-up… that comes back to bite you in the fundament. (BTW now I wonder if they were collecting sales tax on shipments to their own state…) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/9 "2020-03-15T16:26:17Z")
The irony is, I have no problem is stores raised their prices on existing stocks to prevent panic-buying. (I’m sure people would rather pay double price for toilet paper than have none with the all the crazies grabbing massive stocks of it.) But these losers, and others like them, are making it impossible for ordinary people to get any of these life-saving items. At the same time, they’re not making it easier for people who really need them to get the items, but rather making it much slower and more difficult (just in case any believed their excuses). I have a different opinion related to anti-gouging laws where there’s been a natural disaster, as I think that’s ineffective and self-defeating. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/10 "2020-03-15T17:08:45Z")
According to the original NYT piece is is now looking for a way to donate it, after being shut out of Amazon and the publicity. (And possibly after googling the word “gibbet.”) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/11 "2020-03-15T18:05:34Z")
[Non-paywalled _Daily Mail_ article](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8113985/amp/Social-media-shames-greedy-price-gouging-brothers-selling-1-hand-sanitizer-70-each.html). Turns out that dipshit was so stupid that he did the _NYT_ piece because he thought people would sympathize with him as The Little Guy crushed by Big Bad Amazon: > [@](#): > > Colvin agreed to speak to the Times and to get his story out because he believed he was among other independent vendors who were frustrated by not being able to sell their inventory. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/12 "2020-03-15T18:23:49Z")
There is no hand sanitizer in any store near me but I am hundreds if not over 1000 miles from where they did their buying spree. Do you think those stores would be repackaging it, sending it back to their warehouse & then reshipping it to my area if these two hadn’t bought it out? They saw an opportunity & front ran the market; they started their buying spree on March 1st for hand sanitizer, & other stuff before that, before anyone was really talking about it. Their stupidity, like many before them & no doubt many after them was in talking about it, as well as charging exorbitant prices. If they had just quietly started reselling it on amazon & ebay for a reasonable price & not bragged on social media, or to the press do you think they’d have the notoriety that they do now? Retail arbitrage is a thing & he’s been doing it for years now. If you read the NYT article, he makes a 6-figure income from selling on Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/13 "2020-03-15T18:30:47Z")
A rich piece of shit is still a piece of shit. And scaplers are utterly worthless pieces of shit. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/14 "2020-03-15T18:37:52Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > According to the original NYT piece is is now looking for a way to donate it, after being shut out of Amazon and the publicity. (And possibly after googling the word “gibbet.”) He’s probably trying to game his “charitable” deduction. Any organization that’s willing to give him a receipt valuing each bottle at $70 gets the lot. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/15 "2020-03-15T18:43:43Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > The irony is, I have no problem is stores raised their prices on existing stocks to prevent panic-buying. (I’m sure people would rather pay double price for toilet paper than have none with the all the crazies grabbing massive stocks of it.) But these losers, and others like them, are making it impossible for ordinary people to get any of these life-saving items. At the same time, they’re not making it easier for people who really need them to get the items, but rather making it much slower and more difficult (just in case any believed their excuses)… Yup. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [Non-paywalled _Daily Mail_ article](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8113985/amp/Social-media-shames-greedy-price-gouging-brothers-selling-1-hand-sanitizer-70-each.html). Turns out that dipshit was so stupid that he did the _NYT_ piece because he thought people would sympathize with him as The Little Guy crushed by Big Bad Amazon: LOL, I wondered why he was willing to have his name and photo published. > [@Spiderman](#): > > There is no hand sanitizer in any store near me but I am hundreds if not over 1000 miles from where they did their buying spree. Do you think those stores would be repackaging it, sending it back to their warehouse & then reshipping it to my area if these two hadn’t bought it out? > > They saw an opportunity & front ran the market; they started their buying spree on March 1st for hand sanitizer, & other stuff before that, before anyone was really talking about it. Their stupidity, like many before them & no doubt many after them was in talking about it, as well as charging exorbitant prices. If they had just quietly started reselling it on amazon & ebay for a reasonable price & not bragged on social media, or to the press do you think they’d have the notoriety that they do now? > > Retail arbitrage is a thing & he’s been doing it for years now. If you read the NYT article, he makes a 6-figure income from selling on Amazon. 1. He wasn’t the only one, just the only one who was dumb enough to go public. 2. He also bought from Amazon, so he was also buying up product that you could have purchased. 3. I’m fine with retail arbitrage, if you are actually moving stuff from low-value to high-value. I’m not fine with creating an artificial shortage by buying up all the stock in advance of an expected catastrophe. It’s the difference between shipping plywood into Florida right before a Hurricane to sell at a nice profit after, and buying up all the plywood you can find that’s already in Florida, and then charging an extortionate price. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/16 "2020-03-15T20:11:18Z")
I mentioned this last night (March 14) in the Breaking News thread. You read it there first! > [@Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2020 Breaking News](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/899): > > Certain entrepreneurial individuals are hitting up all the retails stores within their driving distance, buying up their entire stocks of sanitizers, masks, and all sorts of other supplies that are in high demand, which they are then re-selling on-line at Amazon, eBay, and other such venues for mega-markups. To read some of their interviews, they seem to not have a hint of a clue of a concept that this might be frowned upon. > > More recently, the on-line platforms have been cracking down, suspending or banning these accounts, leaving these resellers with literally tens of thousands of units to sell and no venue to sell them. Meanwhile, the rest of us can’t get any of this stuff because the shelves are bare. > > This is flat out illegal in at least some states, and some district attorneys are starting to take notice. > > Story at New York Times: [He Has 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer and Nowhere to Sell Them](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/technology/coronavirus-purell-wipes-amazon-sellers.html), Jack Nicas, _NYT_, March 14, 2020. > > [Same story on Yahoo.](https://news.yahoo.com/17-700-bottles-hand-sanitizer-155735689.html) > > [Google search turns up umpteen related articles.](https://www.google.com/search?q=pandemic+price+gouging&gbv=1&sei=6JBtXumuKIXStAWFmoeIAw) > [@Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2020 Breaking News](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/902): > > A second thought on price gouging by those on-line entrepreneurs: If they are selling stuff across state lines (which they are), do the states have any authority to regulate it? > > Is this something that only Congress can crack down on, under the Commerce Clause? ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/17 "2020-03-15T20:50:11Z")
The affected states may knock the bejeebers out of him for not collecting sales tax or not possessing a resale license. I still think container failure, with his garage/storage unit knee deep in sanitizer is just reward. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/18 "2020-03-15T21:10:30Z")
This sounds like something the _It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia_ gang would do. Except that the fail would have happened earlier in the process. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/19 "2020-03-16T03:41:22Z")
[Apropos of, oh, nothing in particular…](https://xkcd.com/2280/) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535/20 "2020-03-16T19:05:11Z")
Mr. Colvin, the Tennessee guy with the 17,000+ bottles of sanitizer that he can’t sell, donated his entire stock. A local church took 2/3 of his stock to pass out among the needy. The Tennessee AG took the other 1/3 to deliver to Kentucky, where Colvin apparently bought some of his stock in the first place. The Tennessee AG, in addition, is investigating. Presumably, looking into some kind of prosecution. Colvin has been inundated with hate mail, death threats, delivered pizzas he didn’t order, and has obviously been thoroughly doxxed. Haters gonna hate! 😉 (Even in a case like this, we among the civilized can argue that people shouldn’t be doing things like that, right?.) Story at Yahoo: [The Man With 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer Just Donated Them](https://news.yahoo.com/man-17-700-bottles-hand-120815841.html), Jack Nicas, _New York Times_, March 16, 2020. > [@](#): > > On Sunday morning, Matt Colvin, an Amazon seller outside Chattanooga, Tennessee, helped volunteers from a local church load two-thirds of his stockpile of hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes into a box truck for the church to distribute to people in need. > > Officials from the Tennessee attorney general’s office Sunday took the other third, which they plan to give to their counterparts in Kentucky for distribution. (Colvin and his brother Noah bought some of the supplies in Kentucky this month.) If the following is true, it suggests that he really was that tone-deaf but has now heard the music: > [@](#): > > In an hourlong interview Sunday, Colvin expressed remorse for his actions and said that when he decided to hoard the sanitizer and wipes, he didn’t realize the gravity of the coronavirus outbreak or the severe shortage of sanitizer and wipes. > > . . . > > “It was never my intention to keep necessary medical supplies out of the hands of people who needed them,” he said, crying. “That’s not who I am as a person. And all I’ve been told for the last 48 hours is how much of that person I am.” > > Now Colvin is facing consequences. . . . Yep. Shit has consequences. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-have-no-hand-sanitizer/849535.md?page=2)