I see lots of posts on marketplace and Gumtree people selling hand sanitiser for $20 and have asked few said they have 200 in stock and heaps of people started buying hundards of masks and selling them 8x of the original price.
Really sad to see this and I think there should be a consequence for these what you think?
I think it should be illegal so as pumping and dumping stocks etc.
At this time all the money grubbing assholes that buy masks, medical stuff and food should be fined. It's selfish and unfortunately a reflection on how selfish the current government is. I just got out of ICU and worried when I get out hospital I cannot buy the basics till I can get back to work in a few months. Most healthy working people don't have to worry but when health and work takes an unexpected turn these maggots that exploit the situation hurt those really struggling… I don't care those who get a few extras each shop but the (profanity) filling up vans to sell on Gumtree and eBay should be fined
At this time all the money grubbing assholes that buy masks, medical stuff and food should be fined. It's selfish and unfortunately a reflection on how selfish the current government is. I just got out of ICU and worried when I get out hospital I cannot buy the basics till I can get back to work in a few months. Most healthy working people don't have to worry but when health and work takes an unexpected turn these maggots that exploit the situation hurt those really struggling… I don't care those who get a few extras each shop but the (profanity) filling up vans to sell on Gumtree and eBay should be fined
I'm pretty sure this is how capitalism works
Dammit jan, why does diamonds and gold cost so damn much!
Yes but capitalism should also work for the community. You work and pay taxes and when you suddenly get ill you shouldn't be fighting against people in that community to survive. 40 years ago my old neighbors would rally around a sick person living next door…now it's (profanity) you , I need to turn a profit on the situation. I hope people learn when this is all over that capitalism is still fine but not to the extent of harming your community .. also I just left ICU so also dealing with a lot of other shit and now have to deal with this so may not be rational
its 2020 not 1980's, petrol is not below 70c/lt. not anymore. wake up.
Extremist capitalism, really? How about we start letting people sell their children, that’s how capitalism works.
I see it all the time in factories, on TV and in sports. did you see that 13yo youngest athlete debut in professional sports? and they just keep getting younger as the years roll on.
They’re profiting off of other people’s misery. They should be deported. Aren’t we a country of mateship, not extremist capitalism?
"profiting off of other people’s misery" is not a charge.
They have done two actions:
Neither action is illegal. For them to be fined or arrested, it needs to be written into law that either action is illegal. If you attempted to sue someone for it, you'd be laughed out of court.
Well through evolution of capitalism and rights we are not putting kids into coal mines(in Australia anyway) and factories, not making people work till they drop, more fights for women, education, health etc. just because it’s not illegal didn’t mean it’s right like people who buy patients to medication and jack up the price etc. I think a lot of society is more morals than law. What people are doing is legal but it’s exploitation. I don’t want a dog eat dog society in Australia it’s still a great place
No it's not right. It's a jerk thing to do. But the OP is asking if there should be a fine or prison for scalping, and the law as it is currently written says no. If you want to change the law to make reselling something at a higher price illegal, you'd need to define it very specifically and somehow make it clear to identify at what boundry of profit margin is it illegal or not.
How would you write the law?
The point of this post is that we should make it illegal… you do know that courts have the ability to create law right?
The court does not. Politicians do.
How would you write the bill to make it illegal? How would you define the new law? What would be considered an acceptable profit margin and what would be considered illegal? Would every item have its own tailored maximum profit margin line?
Governments regulating private sale pricing is unprecedented. It's your property, you're free to sell it at whatever price you see fit. This has worked well because the market always decided what is the fair price for something.
If toilet paper is selling for $50 a roll, it means there is a massive shortage and that demand outstrips supply. The problem then isn't the scalpers. It's the suppliers not being able to create enough to fill demand. The correct price something should sell for is a reflection of demand and supply. If anything, Coles is selling them too cheap. They do so knowing there will be social consequences if they raise prices.
@lostn: You do realise in most of America, the lover of capitalism, it is illegal to up prices during cyclones, etc.
Courts make law all the time. Precedent is law.
https://consumer.findlaw.com/consumer-transactions/price-gou…
not suprised about this vote as it is a true reflection of the type of human trash on this forum and country.
free markets means this is allowed. Nothing they did is actually illegal.
The market will decide whether $200 sanitizer will sell or not (hint: it won't).
We don’t have a free market though. For example, you can’t sell rotten food.
Still considered a free market, just because some items are prohibited to sell.
Many stores have purchase restrictions in order to share in demand items. All done without government control.
by that reasoning, any country in which recreational drugs are illegal also don't have a free market.
Let's not split hairs.
Scalping hand wash is no worse than scalping shelter for massive profits.
well said
Here is a good example of scalping:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Daiso-Face-Mask-3-Ply-30-pcs-box…
$72 for a box of 30 basic Daiso masks, plus $28 postage to Hong Kong. So $100 all up.
How much does this product cost when it appears in Daiso? $2.80.
So for a very reasonable (cough) 25x markup you can have a box of masks. One person has actually spent this much and bought a box.
Daiso has my respect for keeping the price at $2.80 despite huge demand. Masks sell out within hours if you're lucky enough to spot them on the shelf. The reseller however is simply scum.
For anyone thinking of running around Bunnings, buying up all masks and putting them on eBay for 5x the price, be aware that it may soon be much harder to offload your stash.
https://www.cnet.com/news/ebay-bans-sales-of-face-masks-hand…
eBay USA is removing listings of hand sanitizer and masks to discourage price gouging, and I wouldn't be surprised if the same policy was implemented here.
Someone doesn't understand supply and demand. Quick put the banks a real estate in jail, they're jacking up the prices¡¡¡¡
Banks don't set the price of real estate, customers do. While cheap credit allows everyone to keep bidding the price of housing ever higher, it's still not the banks deciding an average house in Sydney should be worth a million dollars.
Banks indirectly play a major role in the housing market by providing cheap credit to non-eligible customers. Bankers proved their point to the Govt that they run the show, when they started winding back or providing proper loans which started to crash the housing market after Royal commission.
Politicians were shitting their pants, since most had a long list of property portfolio to offload. Now the Govt is sleeping with the banks again and requested for cheap credit to pro up the market for the politicians & big business to offload which is why we have a dead cat bounce. Meanwhile they will sneak-in the bail-in laws probably this month and let the COVID-19 spread, so they get to blame everything on it.
so when SHTF the politicians will be safe, banks will be safe and as usual we will be F***ed.
Australia could be doing more but I'm surprised at how bad USA is currently handling things. I am at the high risk of dying if I get it and if schomo was saying ( paraphrasing) "what if you just give them the flu vaccine" and "drs are surprised how much I understand everything and I could be a greatest dr" and "i don't want numbers to go up etc" I am uncertain if I'm just jaded but I suspect some USA politicians are hoping it will wipe out most of the homeless and poor. I hope after this people realise we need proper funding in science and hospitals and we don't need politicians that are just navigating th e he self interests
Japan to punish reselling of masks for profit with year in prison, ¥1 million fine — or both
https://soranews24.com/2020/03/06/reselling-masks-in-japan-c…
glad to see that some countries have common sense. and apart from the whole price gouging thing, doctors and nurses (people who actually need masks) are struggling to get them thanks to idiot resellers
All these muppets mass buying and them selling back on Ebay at inflated prices with have their visit from karma very soon.
If in marketplace and gumtree, ask them to meet you someplace then don't show up/make them wait for a long time. Waste their time and let them think they can scam you when you're scamming them of their time. Karma will get them eventually.
HAHAHAHA
Gov't needs to make profiteering punishable by law, and this includes online marketplaces like eBay and Amazon. These websites provide profiteers with access to millions of customers they wouldn't otherwise have access to.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/mar/19/australia…
According to this, Peter Dutton is coming for these people and businesses
Supply demand