Coronavirus virus fears causing panic buying

[jon0844]

Toilet rolls are particularly prone to this as they are bulky, they take up a lot of storage space for a low value. Supermarkets cannot keep reserves easily so if demand suddenly surges there is a delay both in getting more in and creating capacity to ship them on to stores. If you double the quantity of toilet rolls on a delivery lorry that is going to see a lot of other stock, probably more valuable stuff, being left behind at the warehouse.

I see The Daily Mail are still illustrating the story with pictures taken at Costco. I’m sure they know that Costco is a wholesaler where small shopkeepers would buy their stock, hence bulk purchases being an everyday scene, but it must somehow suit their agenda to show a picture of a brown person with a trolley full of toilet rolls.

Maybe they should go to an Andrex warehouse and pretend it's someone's garage. Clickbait heaven!

I had my bi-monthly delivery of toilet paper over the weekend and I felt really guilty. We buy from Amazon on subscribe and save, and have done for years. Now I feel like I'm going to be accused of panic buying!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Seems there's plenty of hand sanitisers and toilet rolls available on Ebay right now. Undoubtedly some of the panic-buying has been people looking to take a chance on 'flipping' these items for a profit.

e-Bay has actually warned against this, so expect quite a few of those people to be banned soon. They posted the below on the site on 28th February. The second clause, about inflated prices, in particular if anyone is using a high starting price. Not sure they could do anything about a price that has been bid up though.

Dear seller,

Considering the global developments associated with Covid-19 (Coronavirus) and our dedication to delivering a safe and trusted marketplace, we would like to remind you of eBay’s Listing Policies:

• Health claims and misuse of keywords: titles and item descriptions containing health claims and misusing terms such as "Coronavirus", "Covid-19", ‘Virus”, "epidemic" are prohibited.
• Prices inflated over prevailing market value: listings that attempt to profit from tragedies and disasters (such as the Coronavirus outbreak) are prohibited.
• Laws and Regulations: we recognise this is a fast changing situation. We advise sellers to always check local laws and regulations when listing. We will continue to monitor the situation globally and provide further updates as necessary.

eBay requests that all sellers who have live listings offering items such as face masks, hand sanitizer gel or wipes, etc., review their listings and make sure that they comply with eBay Listing policies.

Activity that doesn't follow eBay Listing policies could result in a range of actions, such as eBay ending or cancelling your relevant listings, hiding or demoting all listings from search results, lowering your seller rating, enforcing buying or selling restrictions, or suspending your account.

To learn more about the policies and make sure your listings are compliant, we invite you to read our three most relevant policies on this topic: Prescription and over-the-counter drugs policy, Disaster and Tragedy policy, Search manipulation policy.

Best regards,

The eBay team

 

[underbank]

e-Bay has actually warned against this, so expect quite a few of those people to be banned soon. They posted the below on the site on 28th February. The second clause, about inflated prices, in particular if anyone is using a high starting price. Not sure they could do anything about a price that has been bid up though.

Don't hold your breath. Ebay's rules ban counterfeit goods, sales of non transferrable concert tickets, sale of alcohol, sale of weapons and sale of used underwear. All of those are still readily available on Ebay as they're basically toothless.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Indeed but HM government are busy advising the panicked of Pangbourne to use tissues!

If they have a cold. It's general anti-infection advice, and partly because if you have both a cold *and* coronavirus you are going to have an utterly rotten time of things.

 

[krus_aragon]

Our local Asda was entirely bereft of toilet roll on Saturday, and dry pasta. The only own-brand breakfast cereal in stock was corn flakes (possibly excepting sweet cereals). And in the frozen section, there was only one pack of own-brand potato waffles left. Plenty of Bird's Eye ones, though.

It seems that those that felt they needed to stock up on stuff did so, but in the most cost-effective manner they could.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It seems that those that felt they needed to stock up on stuff did so, but in the most cost-effective manner they could.

I was quite annoyed at having to pay the "Nurofen tax" for a packet of ibuprofen because all the own brand ones had gone. I only wanted one, and only because I had run out.

 

[bramling]

Our local Asda was entirely bereft of toilet roll on Saturday, and dry pasta. The only own-brand breakfast cereal in stock was corn flakes (possibly excepting sweet cereals). And in the frozen section, there was only one pack of own-brand potato waffles left. Plenty of Bird's Eye ones, though.

It seems that those that felt they needed to stock up on stuff did so, but in the most cost-effective manner they could.

Yes it was rather noticeable when I went shopping that the more expensive brands tended to still be available in at least some quantity.

 

[underbank]

Yet smaller shops don't seem to be affected. Just been in our Post Office - shelf full of paracetamol. Then went to the village Spar shop - huge stacks of bog rolls, shelves full of beans, pasta, etc., and even a row of hand gel sanitiser, not to mention two rows of liquid anti-bac soaps. It's out there if people bother to look and drag themselves away from the superstores!

 

[bramling]

Yet smaller shops don't seem to be affected. Just been in our Post Office - shelf full of paracetamol. Then went to the village Spar shop - huge stacks of bog rolls, shelves full of beans, pasta, etc., and even a row of hand gel sanitiser, not to mention two rows of liquid anti-bac soaps. It's out there if people bother to look and drag themselves away from the superstores!

I think you’re taking things to a level of sophistication which is evidently beyond many people.

The thought process seems to be as basic as “people are buying toilet rolls, must get toilet rolls, get to supermarket now”.

I dread to think what would happen if the country had a severe disaster imminent where people really *needed* to make judicious decisions.

 

[underbank]

I think you’re taking things to a level of sophistication which is evidently beyond many people.

The thought process seems to be as basic as “people are buying toilet rolls, must get toilet rolls, get to supermarket now”.

I dread to think what would happen if the country had a severe disaster imminent where people really *needed* to make judicious decisions.

Must admit, when I saw the packs of paracetamol, I wondered about buying a couple. Then I gave my head a wobble and walked past them.

 

[DarloRich]

I dread to think what would happen if the country had a severe disaster imminent where people really *needed* to make judicious decisions.

Let them get one with it and then I can nip to the shop and get some sensible stuff that will last

 

[edwin_m]

With all due respect, how are you coming to that conclusion?

That flu has killed more people? Well, that's true. So as a total number - and with the headstart flu has had - yes, flu has killed more people.

But what about the percentage of people who get flu that die, compared to the coronavirus?

That's surely the most important thing, given there would appear to be a very high chance that those who decide it's some sort of exaggerated hoax and carry on as normal WILL get it. If they're young enough that the risk is slight, what about when they come into contact with someone more vulnerable?

As soon as people start to compare the number of deaths with road accidents, cancer or whatever then I think they've quite seriously missed the point. Facebook is packed full of memes that seem to downplay the virus, which doesn't help because the risk of you or me getting it is greatened massively if someone we don't know doesn't take basic precautions.

There was a good article in the Sunday Times yesterday (paywalled) pointing out that with epidemics, as with terrorism, you have to think about the worst case at least as much as the most likely case.

Comparisons with flu don't factor in the fact that there is a vaccine for flu every year, but from what I read we will probably have to get through next winter without one for coronavirus. Based on the limited information now I'd say the true flu comparison would be with a new strain for which the existing vaccine is ineffective, and which is more dangerous (in terms of is contagiousness and incubation time) than any we have seen since 1918.

I don't think that's a reason to panic-buy. But I think it's a reason to be worried.

 

[Bertie the bus]

I think you’re taking things to a level of sophistication which is evidently beyond many people.

The thought process seems to be as basic as “people are buying toilet rolls, must get toilet rolls, get to supermarket now”.

I dread to think what would happen if the country had a severe disaster imminent where people really *needed* to make judicious decisions.

And you seem to underestimate how the media can whip up hysteria over absolutely nothing. The percentage of people who normally buy hand sanitiser is probably quite low. When official guidance is to use hand sanitiser the number of people buying it will increase. Rather than people filling their garages with the stuff the empty shelves are more likely to be because people who don’t usually buy it are doing because health officials are advising them to. That isn’t panic.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

People are quite stupid!

Yes - there is an Albert Einstein quote about that somewhere. Only two things are infinite - -----

 

[Darandio]

And you seem to underestimate how the media can whip up hysteria over absolutely nothing. The percentage of people who normally buy hand sanitiser is probably quite low. When official guidance is to use hand sanitiser the number of people buying it will increase. Rather than people filling their garages with the stuff the empty shelves are more likely to be because people who don’t usually buy it are doing because health officials are advising them to. That isn’t panic.

The official guidance is soap and water first and foremost. Yet I don't see a shortage of soap, at least not here and not compared to toilet rolls, ibuprofren and sanitiser. People are panic buying, and they are panic buying because they are seeing others doing it.

What i'm seeing is also similar to others. In Asda the toilet roll aisle completely empty. Heron Foods just over the car park, as much toilet roll as you want.

 

[Bantamzen]

And you seem to underestimate how the media can whip up hysteria over absolutely nothing. The percentage of people who normally buy hand sanitiser is probably quite low. When official guidance is to use hand sanitiser the number of people buying it will increase. Rather than people filling their garages with the stuff the empty shelves are more likely to be because people who don’t usually buy it are doing because health officials are advising them to. That isn’t panic.

Health officials aren't advising them to buy enough to have a bath on though, which seems to be the case with some people.

Anyway COBRA have just kept our status at "containment" for now, but acknowledge that there are likely to be further measures in the coming weeks. And where I work we have all been polled on contingency measures, including our ability to work from home. So I expect that measure is in the pipeline.

The official guidance is soap and water first and foremost. Yet I don't see a shortage of soap, at least not here and not compared to toilet rolls, ibuprofren and sanitiser. People are panic buying, and they are panic buying because they are seeing others doing it.

What i'm seeing is also similar to others. In Asda the toilet roll aisle completely empty. Heron Foods just over the car park, as much toilet roll as you want.

This is a measure of how serious the problem is, a low level situation would see panic buying only in Waitrose, a slightly more serious one would be panic buying in Sainsburys, impending doom at Asda, and if you see riots occurring inside of Iceland its time to run to the hills...​

 

[Bertie the bus]

The official guidance is soap and water first and foremost. Yet I don't see a shortage of soap, at least not here and not compared to toilet rolls, ibuprofren and sanitiser. People are panic buying, and they are panic buying because they are seeing others doing it.

What i'm seeing is also similar to others. In Asda the toilet roll aisle completely empty. Heron Foods just over the car park, as much toilet roll as you want.

You haven't understood a word I posted. You don't see a shortage of soap because people normally buy soap. Therefore, shops stock enough of it to satisfy demand. Most people don't normally buy hand sanitiser so if the number of people buying it increases there will be a shortage. Nothing to so with stockpiling it or panic buying.

 

[Darandio]

You haven't understood a word I posted. You don't see a shortage of soap because people normally buy soap. Therefore, shops stock enough of it to satisfy demand. Most people don't normally buy hand sanitiser so if the number of people buying it increases there will be a shortage. Nothing to so with stockpiling it or panic buying.

Yes I could have read it more clearly, then i'd have noticed your reply was actually to a post not talking about hand sanitiser but toilet rolls which is a far easier example to understand. People normally buy toilet rolls, now they are buying excessive amounts of toilet rolls. They are panic buying.

 

[jon0844]

You haven't understood a word I posted. You don't see a shortage of soap because people normally buy soap. Therefore, shops stock enough of it to satisfy demand. Most people don't normally buy hand sanitiser so if the number of people buying it increases there will be a shortage. Nothing to so with stockpiling it or panic buying.

But clearly some people have gone mad and bought as much as they can, then swamped Facebook marketplace and elsewhere with grossly inflated prices. I doubt Asda had that many hand sanitiser bottles on the shelves, so it wouldn't take that much to sell out. They'd stock items based on the quantity they normally sell, which would be pretty small amounts.

Given the size of toilet rolls, even my large Asda wouldn't have that many packs in the grand scheme of things. My local Aldi even less.

 

[bramling]

And you seem to underestimate how the media can whip up hysteria over absolutely nothing. The percentage of people who normally buy hand sanitiser is probably quite low. When official guidance is to use hand sanitiser the number of people buying it will increase. Rather than people filling their garages with the stuff the empty shelves are more likely to be because people who don’t usually buy it are doing because health officials are advising them to. That isn’t panic.

I can quite understand hand gel, that’s perfectly sensible and rational - it’s just unfortunate that supply isn’t keeping up with demand (probably not helped by people buying more than they need at that moment).

But emptying shelves of pasta and toilet roll and storing them in wardrobes just doesn’t make sense, whether it’s been whipped up by the media or otherwise.

 

[Meerkat]

Considering they are talking about people self isolating for a fortnight and/or large numbers of people being ill it makes perfect sense to buy in enough stuff to last either event out.
It’s also sensible to do it now. You don’t want to be bulk buying in busy stores once the virus is uncontained and spreading across the general population, and logistic systems are suffering from staff shortages
Only a mug would rely on government mutterings about a delivery system, and if you have anything approaching real flu you won’t want to be doing anything out of the ordinary - even making a cup of tea will be a marathon.
It’s also good generally that panic buying has happened early, rather than once people are infected, so the shops have chance to stock up before any crisis arises.

 

[DarloRich]

Yet I don't see a shortage of soap, at least not here and not compared to toilet rolls, ibuprofren and sanitiser.

there was no soap of any kind in my Tesco on Saturday evening.

 

[Meerkat]

there was no soap of any kind in my Tesco on Saturday evening.

Does this suggest people in your neck of the woods don’t normally use soap??

 

[philjo]

Morrisons only had 2 bars of pears soap yesterday. The rest of the shelf was empty. Also no paracetamol/ibruprofen and a very limited selection of lemsips.
I gather from a colleague that their local CoOp in East Anglia had run out of Spam yesterday. Probably says more about the age of the population using that particular branch! Last time I had Spam was school dinners !

 

[Grumpy Git]

God help us if we have a diarrhea epidemic.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Must admit, when I saw the packs of paracetamol, I wondered about buying a couple. Then I gave my head a wobble and walked past them.

Being rather prone to headaches I usually buy one of each every time I do a big shop anyway.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I gather from a colleague that their local CoOp in East Anglia had run out of Spam yesterday. Probably says more about the age of the population using that particular branch! Last time I had Spam was school dinners !

I don't like Spam!

(Bl**dy Vikings)

 

[underbank]

It’s also good generally that panic buying has happened early, rather than once people are infected, so the shops have chance to stock up before any crisis arises.

One of my friends is a newly retired MD of a tissue/paper factory who is still in contact with lots of staff still working there. I spoke to him this morning. He says the factory has doubled production and that lorries of loo roll and tissue paper are leaving the factory every hour heading to the various supermarket/wholesaler distribution hubs. So shop shelves will be full again in a few days once the stocks are processed and redistributed. He says the other paper factories he knows of in the UK are doing the same. So it's just a temporary blip in supply. Apparently, they're slightly worried about their supply chain, i.e. imported wood pulp from America, but that's mostly used in the higher quality tissue whereas it;s UK waste and Scottish pulp used in the "bog" standard tissue, so worst case scenario is a slight shortage of the top quality stuff.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

At my local Waitrose, now the toilet roll shelves are aloost empty most of the day, shoppers are filling baskets and trolleys with kitchen roll. The next problem will be the water companies complaining that inappropriate tissues being flushed into the sewers are blocking them. Or maybe some couples are preparing for two weeks forced isolation, and there is nothing worth watching on the TV.

No, the water companies will be complaining about water shortages with everyone washing their hands for two rounds of Happy Birthday every time they move from seat to kitchen to table to seat.
Two hours isolation is enough to know there is nothing worth watching on TV.
I note Amazaon keeps running out of Survivors DVD's - A TV series based on the release of a deadly virus and the subsequent collapse of society!

 

[Baxenden Bank]

I wonder if the interpretation of this situation is driven by personal living arrangements.

I bet if you have 2 kids and a wife/husband you might be worried about having two toilet rolls for a fortnight. Perhaps, if like many posters here ( myself included) you live alone you don't have any need to stock up. Speaking to my colleagues with families about this situation the response was: You don't have two teenaged daughters do you............

My local Tesco, which I went to on Saturday night for my usual shop, had no paracetamol, toilet roll, pasta or rice left. It did have alternative products that would be much more sensible for "panic buying" left in large quantities and often at a cheaper price.

People are quite stupid!

PS i also wonder if the government advice to use tissues to catch the germs has an impact.



To catch the coughs not the snots ( so to speak!)

$**%, I nearly entirely agree with a post by DarloRich. Times must be bad.
Been to the House of Tesco this morning. Limited Anadin/Parcetamol, limited toilet roll supplies, only allowed 5 tins of vegetables. Don't buy pasta so cannot comment on the latest situation in North Staffordshire.

You can always hang your a*** over the bath and use a soapy cloth. I understand Indians do that as a rule (use a soapy sponge) anyway.