{"id":23894,"date":"2020-03-24T00:10:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T00:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diaryofanadi.co.uk\/?p=23894"},"modified":"2023-08-08T19:02:31","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T18:02:31","slug":"profiteering-scumbags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/?p=23894","title":{"rendered":"Profiteering Scumbags"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I\u2019ve mentioned recently how hard it is to buy certain things because of panic buyers. In many cases, these people aren\u2019t buying for themselves \u2013 they\u2019re doing it to try and make a quick buck on eBay or on street corners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take hand sanitizer. The usual price of a bottle is around \u00a35, give or take (I don\u2019t buy it often). Right now, comedians like this seller on eBay<\/a> are selling a single bottle for \u00a324.99.<\/strong> Or this private seller listing a bottle a fifth of the size<\/a> for \u00a336.99<\/strong> – and it is shown as \u2018used\u2019, as he has actually had some out of it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there\u2019s toilet rolls. My dad buys packs of 10 for about \u00a34 in normal times (I think he goes to Wilkos). That\u2019s about 40p a roll. This clown on eBay<\/a> is selling them for \u00a31.99 each<\/strong> \u2013 and that\u2019s a sponsored listing. And this one is selling them<\/a> for \u00a38.99 per roll<\/strong>, albeit a bigger than usual one. But this one isn\u2019t<\/a> – \u00a318.10 (including postage) for four rolls of cheap stuff, so \u00a34.50 a roll.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out in the real world, last week my local newspaper ran a story<\/a> (and make sure you have an adblocker if you go here, because local news websites are basically just advertorials with a bit of news squeezed in) where one shop was advertising toilet paper at \u00a31 a roll,<\/strong> and 50mls of hand sanitizer for \u00a38<\/strong> \u2013 50mls is the same size as a double whisky, which would cost maybe \u00a36 tops in most pubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shop, CBD Gift Shop, claimed it was \u2018a joke\u2019. Yeah. Big laughs, eh?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same article, Murat Food Centre was advertising a \u00a32.49 bottle of Dettol at \u00a319.99.<\/strong> When challenged, it was apparently \u2018a one in 1,000 mistake\u2019. But one which had gone far enough to have signs or labels printed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple of days ago, the BBC ran a story where the chemist Jhoots<\/a> was listing 100ml bottles of Calpol at \u00a39.99<\/strong> and 200ml bottles at \u00a319.99.<\/strong> Whoever did it couldn\u2019t even get the maths right, since the bigger bottle was actually more expensive per ml than the smaller, which isn\u2019t how it usually works. In Asda, a 100ml bottle of Calpol is \u00a33.50, and an online pharmacy has 100ml\/200ml bottles at \u00a34.99\/\u00a36.99.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When challenged, Jhoots said it was \u2018a communication error at branch level\u2019 (aka it was someone in the shop\u2019s idea). It must have been the same communication error that led the same shop to try selling Paracetamol tablets at \u00a39.99 a pack,<\/strong> when they were listing them at \u00a31.39 the week before. Even \u00a31.39 is overpriced \u2013 you can buy the same number for 30p in most places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s as the title of this article says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n