He Has 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer and Nowhere to Sell Them

[brooklynite]

New York Times

On March 1, the day after the first coronavirus death in the United States, brothers Matt and Noah Colvin set out in a silver S.U.V. to pick up some hand sanitizer. Driving around Chattanooga, Tenn., they hit a Dollar Tree, then a Walmart, a Staples and a Home Depot. At each store, they cleaned out the shelves.

Over the next three days, Noah Colvin took a 1,300-mile road trip across Tennessee and into Kentucky, filling a U-Haul truck with thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of packs of antibacterial wipes, mostly from “little hole-in-the-wall dollar stores in the backwoods,” his brother said. “The major metro areas were cleaned out.”

Matt Colvin stayed home near Chattanooga, preparing for pallets of even more wipes and sanitizer he had ordered, and starting to list them on Amazon. Mr. Colvin said he had posted 300 bottles of hand sanitizer and immediately sold them all for between $8 and $70 each, multiples higher than what he had bought them for. To him, “it was crazy money.” To many others, it was profiteering from a pandemic.

The next day, Amazon pulled his items and thousands of other listings for sanitizer, wipes and face masks. The company suspended some of the sellers behind the listings and warned many others that if they kept running up prices, they’d lose their accounts. EBay soon followed with even stricter measures, prohibiting any U.S. sales of masks or sanitizer.

[LisaL]

1. How about a nice jail sentence for people who are doing this?

Profiting of other people mystery? Buying something that is needed so they can sell it for profit?

[Victor_c3]

41. That's the American way!

Apparently people on this board hate capitalism and freedom. If you have a product and people need it, then you’re just a smart businessman.





Business and ethics never mix.

[Chainfire]

102. You got that right

If they did that in Florida, they would be jail bound.

Their stash should be confiscated and distributed, for free, to places that need it.

Lock them up with coronavirus patients.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

117. Lock them up

In a recirculating Air isolation room with people on ventilation. They can't pretend they're ok.

It will haunt them day and night.

[Kaiserguy]

130. Well its the Trump way

Milk the marks for all you can. In Trump case his base and the American taxpayers are his marks.

[SergeStorms]

170. Graduates of Trump University, no doubt.

The Trump School of Capitalism.

[DENVERPOPS]

164. If it had been home depot that had done it

none of the authorities would be interfering........

[jimfields33]

43. Unethical but not illegal

Congress could make it illegal to do though.

[LisaL]

77. It should do so ASAP.

[arthurgoodwin]

83. Most States (including Tennessee) make price-gouging during emergies Illegal

Tennessee has a anti price-gouging law on the books, the Tennessee Price-Gouging Act of 2002, for which see:
https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-47/chapter-18/part-51/

However, like most of the 34 states with anti-gouging laws, the law is tied to declaration of a state of emergency in the jurisdiction. Unlike most southern states, Tennessee does not limit this to a Presidential Declaration of Emergency, but to any jurisdiction (state, county, or municipality) that declares an emergency. Also, the Tennessee law states:

Prohibited acts during state of emergency.
Upon the proclamation of a state of emergency and continuing until the state of emergency is terminated, it is unlawful, in any county or municipality covered by the state of emergency, for any person to charge any other person a price for any consumer food item; repair or construction services; emergency supplies; medical supplies; building materials; gasoline; transportation, freight, and storage services; or housing, that is grossly in excess of the price generally charged for the same or similar goods or services in the usual course of business immediately prior to the events giving rise to the state of emergency.

So once an emergency is/was declared in the USA as a whole (as Pres. Trump did yesterday, or in Tennessee, Chattanooga, or Hamilton County (of which Chattanooga is the county seat), his actions would be ILLEGAL.

[jimfields33]

92. That's excellent

Perhaps they will be charged then.

[Lanius]

153. What is "grossly in excess" mean in this context?

Could a person sell toilet paper at a small markup and get away with it?

[Bengus81]

86. Illegal on the sites they were trying to GOUGE people on

But I guess they could stand out on the corner and try and rip people off--and take their chances of getting their asses KICKED.

[Codifer]

133. We need a Harry Truman

During WWII Harry went after war profiteers. It is my impression that he was successful (to a degree). Ford still had plants in Germany but that was a different aspect.

Cheers

[ZZenith]

167. Are you kidding me?!

The son and grandson of one of the war profiteers both went on to be U.S. presidents.

I.T.&T. got off scot free, when the Third Reich would have failed immediately without their products.

[Codifer]

186. What you say is true.

The Prescott Bush/Brown Brothers Harriman financing of the nazi party and Hitler was prewar (pre US involvement anyway) and they were forced to stop, General Motors also were forced to cease their financial collaboration with Germany although it took a long goddamn time for them to do so. I do not know what profit Ford made (if any) from the wartime production of the factories that it had built in Germany before the war. Ford did, however, receive compensation from the US Government for damage that those factories suffered from US and British bombers. Henry Ford might also have had other reasons for dealing with Hitler (research "The Protocols of Zion&quot . Curtis Aircraft, Bell Aircraft and Studebaker sold equipment to Russia, was that profiteering. Some of the business arrangements mentioned were for profit and some no doubt were in part ideological but none were the sort of price gouging of the US Government that Harry was tasked with stopping. No $50 mess kits.

Maybe all the above is meaningless. "War is a Racket". Smedly Butler said so.

Cheers

Edit to try to get rid of the silly smiley face that replaced the closed parenthesis that I had typed.... but I can't. Sorry.

Edit again to add IBM equipment and the tabulation of the dead and soon to be dead. I would like to think that IBM did not know how their equipment was used. Robert Jackson found those records very useful.

[Karadeniz]

152. I heard that the bill to be voted on prohibited price gouging over 10%...

[Midnight Writer]

75. How do you spell Skrelli?

[Rorey]

82. Nailed it NT

[appalachiablue]

110. +1 White- collar corporate Wall Street business is alright-- sure!!??

/S

[Coventina]

2. This makes my heart smile.

[LisaL]

3. It doesn't, because people like him are hogging the stuff

and resulting in shortages.

[Coventina]

5. I can't help it. I like it when the greedy are denied their evil impulses.

Hand sanitizer is a convenience, not a necessity, anyway.

The people who are hoarding the masks should have their supply commandeered, however.

[LisaL]

7. From what we have been told, hand sanitizer can help with preventing spread of covid.

So it's more than a convenience.

[Coventina]

10. It's no more effective than thorough handwashing with soap. n/t

[LisaL]

11. You can only wash your hands with soap if you have access to soap and water.

[Coventina]

18. Oh good grief! Are you really this invested in my offhand comment?

Really?

I'm glad they were shut down, they were being total dicks.

Most people in this country have ample access to handwashing facilities, unless they are camping or something.

Hand sanitizer is nice, it's convenient, it's a good back-up, but civilization is not going to fall if it were to disappear.

[volstork]

20. If you are pumping gas on a road trip

for example, hand sanitizer is critical, as hand-washing facilities are likely limited.

[LisaL]

21. Or traveling via a public bus.

[volstork]

23. Exactly.

Or subway/metro for that matter.

[LisaL]

28. Or shopping.

[defacto7]

52. or sneezing at a salad bar

[zackymilly]

74. Or in the salad bar

[defacto7]

79. I guess you could use it for salad dressing.

[zackymilly]

84. Boogerette? Retch?

[defacto7]

88. Russian. and I don't even have to enhance the name for the effect.

[LisaL]

85. Don't eat or drink your hand sanitizer.

Alcohol used in it is probably unsafe for human consumption.

[defacto7]

87. Just joking... but I suppose a few might take is seriously so thanks.

[Crunchy Frog]

91. Russians have used worse when they couldn't get hold of proper alcohol.

[LisaL]

146. And some died as a result.

[Coventina]

22. People have been pumping gasoline far longer than hand sanitizer has existed.

What did they do then?

[LisaL]

26. People have been living long before they started to use gasoline.

What did they do then?

[Coventina]

31. Wow. Massive fail.

Of course humanity has lived without gasoline.
(Although petroleum products have been used for thousands of years).

Our current society is completely structured around fossil fuels (to our detriment), it is NOT structured around hand sanitizer.

[volstork]

29. There was no Covid-19.

People have also used candles for illumination for centuries, but that doesn't mean that it's the best option.

The point is that hand sanitizer is something that can help halt the spread of disease when soap-and-water hand-washing facilities are not available. Do you dispute that?

[Coventina]

34. You are adorable!

Of course I don't dispute it!

I've said all along those brothers were being totally shitty.

That's why IT MAKES MY HEART SMILE THEY WERE SHUT DOWN.

Now it's turned into a hilarious argument about whether we're DOOMED, DOOMED without hand sanitizer!

[wnylib]

141. Peculiar sense of humor about

people getting sick. I am referring to the rolling head, not the smile over the creeps getting caught and stuck with useless product.

You did make light of preventing the spread of the virus. That is what posters are reacting to.

[LisaL]

35. Exactly.

I am not sure what is so hard to understand about "novel" corona virus.

[Crunchy Frog]

36. They weren't having a pandemic at the time.

[Coventina]

39. Yeesh! OK, OK, we all die without vast quantities of hand sanitizer!!

[LisaL]

44. Not all, but many will.

Death rate from covid being as high as it is.

[Coventina]

47. Directly attributed to lack of hand sanitizer?!?!?!

[LisaL]

51. For some, if they got infected by touching things in a public place,

I would say YES.

[Coventina]

54. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I cannot WAIT to see that on the death certificate:

Cause of death: Hillbillies bought up all local stocks of hand sanitizer.

[LisaL]

65. Read cdc recommendation on using hand sanitizer.

And then maybe you could stop laughing?

[Coventina]

78. *sigh* For the UMPTEENTH TIME: THOSE GUYS WERE IN THE WRONG

I'm not going to take away your precious hand sanitizer, I promise, cross my heart, hope to die, etc.

[Squinch]

132. Wait a minute. You are saying here that people will die without hand sanitizer, but this morning

you argued at great length against screening at airports.

That's just weird.

[Crunchy Frog]

62. That's not the point I was trying to make.

I respect you a great deal, and I agree with most of your posts, and I have no desire to get into some pointless flame war with you.

Simply, and without overstating things or going into hyperbole, I believe that alcohol based hand sanitizers have a meaningful role to play in limiting disease transmission at this time.

Without downplaying the importance of handwashing, there are times when hand sanitizer is a valid, and sometimes the only feasible option.

I actually slathered it on my face, in my car yesterday, after getting out of BJ's, and getting coughed on.

And I have no wish to get into it further with you because, as I said, I regard you very highly here, and I don't have any desire to fight with you.

[Coventina]

73. Oh GROSS! I'm really sorry that happened to you!

That is truly disgusting AND disturbing.

And, I feel the same way about you, CF. I shouldn't have been so flippant in my reply to you, so I apologize for that.

I got carried away by the interaction from the other poster, I suppose, but that should not have reflected upon you.

I'm not anti-sanitizer, I DO feel it is a good and handy tool for situations like what you just described (again, SO sorry that happened).
And, I think those guys are being total jerks to do what they did. That's why I said that it made my heart smile that they were shut down. I don't know how that turned into a melee, (I guess we're all tense and on edge), but I was wrong to treat you as I did.

[Crunchy Frog]

81. Yes, I think everyone's stressed and on edge right now.

I appreciate your reply.

[Coventina]

90. .

[SMC22307]

96. You weren't clear in your original post as to why your heart was "smiling"...

Last edited Sat Mar 14, 2020, 11:39 AM - Edit history (1)

and that's why it turned into a "melee." Your post could be interpreted a couple of different ways, hence the replies to you. I've seen posts on social media about the unscrupulous hoarding supplies and profiting from the coronavirus, and others cheering them on. That's how.

[Coventina]

104. OK, I acknowledge that that is the case.

But, didn't I clarify that by my second post?



Anyway, that being said, I will take your words to heart and do my utmost to be more clear in my intent henceforth.
And, to maintain a cooler head when discussing.

I fully admit that I've been in a very bad place mentally and emotionally for several months now (before this virus was a pandemic) and my attitude on this forum has unfortunately reflected that. I need to maybe take a break and reset.

[SMC22307]

108. It was plenty clear in subsequent posts...

I was just referring to your initial one. As mentioned upthread, many of us are a little (a lot) edge. For me, personally, it's not so much the damn virus, but Donald Trump at the helm -- declaring a national emergency, toying with permanent cuts to the payroll tax, the soaring deficit, etc. That's what's keeping me up at night! But we all have our reasons...

[wnylib]

144. Why does that amuse you?

[I_UndergroundPanther]

119. Got in the car

Reeking of gas fumes.

[wnylib]

138. Covid 19 was not around then, was it?

what did rhey do? They carried microbes, spread them, and people got sick, some died. Same as before there were flu shots. There are no shots for this, so prevention is important.

[cwydro]

40. I use the handy dandy paper towels provided by almost every gas station.

Pull one from dispenser, pump gas, throw away paper towel.

Simple.

[LisaL]

46. Good for you.

[cwydro]

55. Lol, we get it.

You simply LURVE hand sanitizer.

I’ve never used it, and I don’t intend to start now.

I had an entire case of it left over from when my mother was ill. I’ve given it to friends who want it.

Why do you become so annoyed when others express different opinions from yours?

[LisaL]

63. It is actually being recommended by CDC as a protection.

So WTF is so difficult to understand about it? CDC freaking recommends it. Laughing about it as if it were some ludicrous suggestion is ridiculous.

If you don't have access to soap are water, using hand sanitizer can help avoid and stop spreading germs. Get it? If not, I fail to see any point of arguing with you and people like you any further.

"CDC recommends washing hands with soap and water whenever possible because handwashing reduces the amounts of all types of germs and chemicals on hands. But if soap and water are not available, using a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol can help you avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. The guidance for effective handwashing and use of hand sanitizer in community settings was developed based on data from a number of studies."

https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/show-me-the-science-hand-sanitizer.html

[Squinch]

127. This is kind of a pattern. This morning the perseveration was about screening people in airports.

(Apparently that's a bad idea.)

[LisaL]

173. Did you see the lines it created?

Forget about social distancing.

[Squinch]

184. Nevermind. There is nothing to be gained from these ridiculous conversations.

[sheshe2]

172. Welp.

Hand sanitizer is nice, it's convenient, it's a good back-up, but civilization is not going to fall if it were to disappear.

You do realize that our situation is at critical mass, correct? You realize millions are going to die because a clown car is running this country. You realize they KNEW in January we had a huge problem and ignored it. You realize that this is March and we still have no testing kits, not enough hospital beds, not enough staff. not enough ventilators...nothing to prevent a death of millions.

Hand sanitizer is not "nice" it is a smart thing to do when you are at the market, gas station or convivence store and have no access to soap and water.

That you make light of this is sad. See Italy. We are only a moment away and fact is...we will suffer far worse.

Millions are going to die and they won't just be us elders. That is a fact.

[cwydro]

38. Are you really isolated from soap and water for long stretches of time?

[LisaL]

42. Define long.

If you go to public places, and touch things there, and then touch you face, you could be infecting yourself. How long can you go without touching your face? Most people are doing it all the time without even noticing.

[oldsoftie]

94. I've kept a bottle of alcohol in my car for years.

My work would take me in places to touch machines touched by a LOT of people, so i always rubbed some alcohol on my hands when i got back to the car
Something else i havent heard mentioned, i also blow my nose when i get back into my car. Some of the places i would go were dr offices, health depts, etc. I dont know if it really is effective, but my reasoning was that if i inhaled "X" while in the office, i'd blow it OUT when i got in the car!

[Hugin]

56. Yeah, I live in a desert. n/t

[cwydro]

57. Then you're probably already nicely isolated.

[Hugin]

80. You'd be surprised.

There are already seven confirmed cases of COVID-19 in my area.

The thing about deserts is they are also usually highly trafficked by people on their way from someplace to someplace else.

Bottom line is there are many more people here than there are sanitation facilities. On the order of 10s to one.

Oh, and water is for drinking.

[cab67]

120. Actually, yes.

This isn't necessarily true of everyone, but it is for me.

[Withywindle]

175. Many homeless people are

Or people who work in places where they're denied at-will bathroom access (think Amazon warehouse workers or farm laborers). Or people whose jobs involve being away from easy bathrooms but with a lot of contacts (think postal and delivery workers, taxi and Uber drivers, public transit drivers). Or people who work in places that have bathrooms, but they cannot possibly wash their hands after every contact with things that other people have touched a lot, like counters and money (think EVERYBODY IN RETAIL OR FOOD SERVICE)

Hand sanitizer ain't all that but it's better than nothing. Oh, and also, this guy hoarding it from backwoods Appalachian dollar stores and selling it for big $$$ is a complete reverse Robin Hood - stealing from the poor to make himself rich.

[wnylib]

134. Doesn't everybody carry

a sink and soap in their back pocket when leaving home?

Hand sanitizer breaks down lipid membrane that surrounds the coronavirus, helping to remove it. This reduces the chances of infection from touching contaminated surfaces. More practical and convenient than hand washing for people at work, especially when dealing with the public. Useful when away from home and soap and water. Therefore, helps reduce the spread of the virus, which is necessary to contain it and protect vulnerable people.

[mucifer]

53. Kind of important for health care workers. We don't have enough at work

[Coventina]

58. Do they regularly buy from dollar stores and other retail outlets?

I sincerely hope not.

Look, I'm not in favor of what these guys did AT ALL.

[mucifer]

61. No our supplier is Mckesson

[RussellCattle]

112. McKesson is actually a pretty good company with something of a social conscious. Compared....

....to some others in the pharmaceutical industry, they are almost white knights.

[ahoysrcsm]

171. Only when the supplier runs out and we are desperate.

Oh, big box and dollar stores are out too. I guess we just close the business.

[Ilsa]

64. Yep. When you have a patient load that keeps you busy moving

from patient to patient, hand sanitizer works much more efficiently than soap, water, and the birthday song. That's a lot of time spent at the sink.

[The_REAL_Ecumenist]

169. It's NOT a convenience, especially if someone were to find themselves in situation where they HAVE

NO ACCESS to soap & water, i.e., the homeless, people in transit, etc etc. People need to have as much access to everything they can to do as much to prevent infection or spread PERIOD!! Hand Sanitizer is NOT a convenience but a necessity

[C Moon]

182. The product doesn't matter. His intention was to make money off of public fear.

He knew people would be buying these products to protect their families and themselves from harm/death.
But he decided to buy large quantities—even empty shelves—in order to gouge people into paying HIS price.
He and his brother had a dark and creepy reaction to a pandemic—and you are okay with that?

[MerryBlooms]

4. With their names now public, they're dog shit. Probably have to leave

the area. They better be setting up a way to give that stuff away to needy folks, otherwise people will turn on them like rabid animals.

[LisaL]

6. I was just thinking that if I were this guy, I wouldn't want my name and face in a newspaper.

[MerryBlooms]

8. Yep, he and his brother are toast.

[paleotn]

136. If they were mine....

I'd fire them bright and early Monday morning. TN is a "right to work" state, after all, and I could fire them for any reason outside of Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act. My reason being, it's obvious that they are morally deficient and I cannot trust them as far as I can toss their white trash asses.

[Jirel]

9. Nice to hear happy news.

They deserve worse. But good on the tech companies for shutting down profiteering.

[TheBlackAdder]

93. Just wait until the State's Attorney's General gets a hold of these guys, & the Division of Taxation

[CurtEastPoint]

12. Notice the shirt? "Family Man?" Poor family. What an asshole.

[tulipsandroses]

13. Good, now he can donate all those things he bought to the needy

I am not one bit sorry for him.

[FM123]

16. Exactly!

[Hotler]

14. The hording American public is just as bad. nt

[FreepFryer]

15. They should be dragged thru the street tied to ambulances

Or at the very least, forced to hand them out in the areas they hoarded, 1 bottle per address, while wearing hazmat suits.

[2naSalit]

17. What an asshole.

[erlewyne]

72. HA ha

That's a great line!
The stores in my area are devoid of toilet paper. Odd? A local store
put a pallet of ass-wipes out front and they were gone immediately.
So the family greeting is now, do you need toilet paper?
I do not do it, but I have a stack of wash cloths next to my commode
and soap and my sink so all I got to do is wash my asshole when I am done
with everything in arm's reach. duh.

I changed our babies without toilet paper.

[marble falls]

19. I hope everyone of those guys get to deal with a prosecutor with elected political ambitions.

[jimfields33]

50. What Bill has congress passed making it illegal?

I’m sure they will sell it later for a modest profit. It lasts forever and most wont do a google search on it six months from now.

[marble falls]

109. There are laws against price gouging on Fed, state and local lawbooks ...

the problem is that in the eyes of those with enough TP, TP gougers are just capitalists.

[marble falls]

188. check this out ...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213102357#post2

[Cirque du So-What]

24. Sic semper fures

Fie on all profiteers at a time like this.

[Hugin]

25. I knew someone had been doing this...

Over a weekend, I saw several specific items disappear from Friday to Monday. Everywhere these items were gone in every dollar and convenience store over a wide area.

I would have expected it if I'd seen a crowd descend on the stores, but, there were no crowds.

It was Elizabeth Holmes and Martin Shkreli like medical fraudsters and profiteers inserting themselves in the supply chain to gouge those who really need these items on a regular basis to survive.

How did we get where unethical people exist who not only do these heinous acts, but, they often get away with it at a profit? We allowed critical services like medical care to become for-profit commodities.

It sickens me.

[Tarc]

27. It should be seized and distributed to local hospitals, local people, etc...

[BusyBeingBest]

69. A hard-hit city like Seattle or NYC should offer them

a chance to recoup a fraction of their money and purchase it from them to distribute where needed. Laws may prevent that, but it would be a way to resolve the situation without this stuff going to waste--waiting for them to become kind and generous and donate it is going to be a long wait for these dickheads.

[irisblue]

30. From the article

snip--"Mr. Colvin does not believe he was price gouging. While he charged $20 on Amazon for two bottles of Purell that retail for $1 each, he said people forget that his price includes his labor, Amazon’s fees and about $10 in shipping. (Alcohol-based sanitizer is pricey to ship because officials consider it a hazardous material.)"


snip--" He thought about it more. “I honestly feel like it’s a public service,” he added. “I’m being paid for my public service.”

As for his stockpile, Mr. Colvin said he would now probably try to sell it locally. “If I can make a slight profit, that’s fine,” he said. “But I’m not looking to be in a situation where I make the front page of the news for being that guy who hoarded 20,000 bottles of sanitizer that I’m selling for 20 times what they cost me.”



"Public Service". wow.


Wow, late stage capitalists, just wow.

[LisaL]

33. Well, he made it on the news for hoarding and trying to sell for profit.

Whether he was looking for it or not.

[defacto7]

68. What a narcissist. Take from the public to offer it to the public

for profit. Is that what you call public srrvice? Con man talk.

[tulipsandroses]

76. A public service? The gall of this asshole.

People did not need your "public service" Asshole. You hoarding the needed items that people could have readily bought at their local stores creates a problem. Can't you understand that jackass? So you think buying up all the stuff at the dollar store, therefore people in the neighborhood cannot get it, while you turn around and make a profit on said items is a a public service?

Sheet, I get upset every Christmas when folks do this with the latest " hottest" toy, but you know what, my niece can live without the next hot thing for a few months. I refuse to pay $100 bucks on eBay for a $20 toy. This is not the same thing. People are depending on some of these items to keep them and others safe.

[wryter2000]

32. I'm not normally a fan of Amazon

But good for them

[oldsoftie]

97. Me neither. I NEVER use them unless it just cant be avoided. They're a search engine.

If i need something i cant find local, if i cant find it elsewhere i'll look there and find it. Then I'll contact the seller directly.

[d_r]

37. Same day, same town

These times bring out the best and worst


https://wdef.com/2020/03/13/hixson-pizza-restaurant-starts-generosity-trend/

HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) — New York Pizza Department off Highway 153 in Hixson has found a way to help the Hamilton County kids who rely on the school system for their meals each day.

“I can’t think of my kid not eating,” NYPD owner Erik Cilen said. “So I said, ‘I got food here. If people need to come eat, bring your kids here, and I’ll come feed them.'”

After seeing the reactions from parents about being unable to feed their children due to school closures, Cilen had a late night idea. He’s prepared to give free food to every child, or family, that needs it during these uncertain times.

[Victor_c3]

49. That gives me an idea on how I can help

I didn’t think about school closures impacting children who depend on school breakfasts and lunches to eat.

At the very least I’ll have to donate some cash to a local food bank.

[virgogal]

95. 2 elementary schools in my area will serve lunch and breakfast even though there are no classes.

[Turin_C3PO]

161. That's what our schools

are doing. I live in a pretty poor area so the schools staying open for meals is a lifesaver for these kids.

[dalton99a]

45. The IRS should also investigate these people

An Amazon merchant, Matt Colvin, with an overflow stock of cleaning and sanitizing supplies in his garage in Hixson, Tenn.



Mr. Colvin with his wife, Brittany, and son, Logan.



Noah Colvin, Mr. Colvin’s brother, moving boxes of hand sanitizer from his brother’s storage locker on Thursday.

[Throckmorton]

107. Looks like their inside furniture turned into

Outside furniture. Maybe the livingroom is full of toilet paper?

[iluvtennis]

114. Cretins. nt

[SammyWinstonJack]

48. Haha

[usaf-vet]

59. Classic "Trumpster" would be my bet. There is a sucker born everyday and two to take em.

[Thekaspervote]

60. Can't fix stupid

[PatSeg]

66. That is reassuring to hear

Now these idiots should turn around and give away or donate those hand sanitizers and wipes.

After reading this, it dawned on me, that I have several gel products and alcohol, maybe people can make their own. Turns out it is very simple.

[mbusby]

100. Except that....

...all the aloe vera gel and alcohol have been bought up.

[Mr. Ected]

67. They should donate them to various organizations around the country

They would go from reptilian jagoffs to Mother Teresa level kindness in one fell swoop.

[SMC22307]

105. They'd still be jagoffs, jagoffs forced into doing something good. (n/t)

[Sugar Smack]

70. Because 300 or so bottles wasn't nearly enough.

[zackymilly]

71. Craigslist don't care. He can sell them there. n/t

[Brainfodder]

122. Muhaha!

You know what will happen doing that via Craig's?

MUHAHA!

[zackymilly]

135. Nothing. He's not selling a cell phone at midnight in a dark alley.

I've made 1000's of dollars selling on Craigslist for many years.

[Brainfodder]

137. MUHAHA!

Good luck with that, buy them all then....

MUHAHA!

[zackymilly]

139. You seem strange. n/t

[Brainfodder]

140. MUHAHAHA!

Asking for a beating, at bare minimum....

They should definitely take your advice!

[zackymilly]

142. Have you been tested? n/t

[Alea]

177. Overwatch for craiglist sales is a thing ya know

MUHAHAHA!

[Crunchy Frog]

89. He's got exactly what he deserves.

His hoard should be commandrered and distributed to the public in an equitable manner.

He should just eat the financial loss, and be grateful if he doesn't get prosecuted.

[projectiboga]

98. Play Stupid games win Stupid Prizes.

Amoral clearing out shelves in rural impoverished Mid-America. Well he will eventually loose some seller fees, initial sales tax and shipping to sell them for less than he paid retail.

Never a good idea to go all in on something with so much potential competition and low barriers to entry, plus the obvious risk of loosing his sales outlets.

Maybe he can figure out how to sell them at a small loss through food pantries.

[cab67]

99. I'm reminded of this

[SMC22307]

111. Ha ha, I'm so glad I watched that.

That young man is adorable and that obnoxious not-so-pretty-in-pink Texan got hers.

[NBachers]

160. I hope she was fronted by bad guys who said "That ain't the deal, lady- ya owe us phones, not money"

[IronLionZion]

165. Flashing that much cash can get a person robbed

bigly!

[Duncan Grant]

187. Thanks for posting!

Way to go, Mark. 👍

[Roland99]

101. CANADA too!!!

Vancouver couple resells $100K of cleaning products purchased at Costco amid COVID-19 pandemic
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/mobile/vancouver-couple-resells-100k-of-cleaning-products-purchased-at-costco-amid-covid-19-pandemic-1.4852363

VANCOUVER -- Manny Ranga and his wife Violeta Perez are cashing in on cleaning supplies online. The pair were seen going to a Costco in Vancouver on Thursday, filling their truck with boxes of Lysol wipes they said they planned to sell online amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

CTV News Vancouver spoke with Ranga Friday outside his house, just as the couple was about to unload five boxes of Lysol wipes from the trunk of their SUV.

...

Ranga told CTV News he’s “not the only one” stocking up on supplies for resale. He said he and his wife have three kids who can’t go to their private school because of the novel coronavirus outbreak, so they can’t work and need a way to make an income.

“The government’s not helping us pay our bills,” he said. “Kids can’t go to school, my kids go to private school. I pay $20,000 a year on private school and they’re not returning it.”

He and his wife are developers, and due to the COVID-19 outbreak he says sales have tanked.

“No one wants to go buy houses,” said Ranga. “And if you want to go see a house they want you to wear masks and things like that. It’s a bit out of hand right now.”

The Retail Council of Canda told CTV News “nobody was ready” for the level of panic-buying being seen across the country.

[SMC22307]

113. Gawd, assholes abound!

“The government’s not helping us pay our bills,” he said. “Kids can’t go to school, my kids go to private school. I pay $20,000 a year on private school and they’re not returning it.”

[Takket]

128. so that makes price gouging okay? Fuck these people

[Docreed2003]

103. Fucking scum of the earth...

Fucking assholes taking advantage of a situation for their of ends....this is infuriating

[PatrickforO]

106. It's good that Amazon did what they did, but why prohibit ANY US sales of masks or

sanitizer? Seems like people would still want them, even if he marked it up some but didn't gouge.

I guess they must not have wanted to put themselves in the position of dictating price controls. But they easily could have said 'suggested retail, with no more than a X% markup.'

[riversedge]

115. photo.........This is Matt Colvin of Chattanooga who thought it was a good idea to let @nytimes pub

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Brainfodder]

126. That's incredible!

Arrogant stupidity at its peak?

Scrawny cuss too, this won't be ending well.

I hope it doesn't.

[cab67]

116. Not that I want to help this douchenozzle...

...but if he was smart, he'd do the only right thing left to him (donate his remaining stock) and write it off on his taxes.

And if I were him, I'd stay away from local bars and restaurants for a good long while. I'm sure anything he orders will be "improved" by the kitchen and wait staff.

[Brainfodder]

118. Got named, they aint gonna live that BS down either.

[Major Nikon]

121. ...

[Henk_sg]

123. What a piece of shit

At the end of the article the dude talks himself into believing he'd doing a public service. He bought 2000 "virus packs" for $3.50 each and sells every damn one of them for $40 to $50 each. He claims shipping was $10 each, so in the end he made 60 to 70 grand and that wasn't enough. They should make him drink those damn things.

[Takket]

124. let's do this............

the government seizes his supply and reimburses him whatever he has a receipt for.

Otherwise, fuck him.

How does that sound?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

125. We scorn the Colvin brothers, but in Philosophy class, we praised Thales ...

https://epochproducts.com/blog/the-first-monopoly-in-the-world-was-about-olive-oil/



As a judge, would you praise these brothers, or would you wash your hands of it?

[empedocles]

131. Great story! I liked 'futureys' [like a futures contract]

[paleotn]

143. The founder of options....

We scorn such characters not for their insight, but for what they do with it. I fall back on of the foundational ideas of liberalism......wouldn't it be better for everyone, including those insightful folks, if they used that intelligence for the good of all instead of just themselves? I don't have a minuscule problem with someone getting rich, as long as they're not unfairly taking advantage of others to do so. Particularly in a crises.

[Warpy]

129. Good for Amazon!

Somebody needs to sit those two little twerps down and explain how many people hoarders like them kill by creating artificial shortages, more panic buying, and by jacking prices up beyond the ability to pay.

This is profiteering at it's ugliest. I hope they're awash in sanitizer but with nothing to eat. I hope they're remembered for the next couple of decades as punks who were willing to let people get sick for the sake of a few dollars. In fact, I'd like to see them sit in jail for a while to think this over.

Hoarding toilet paper has its funny side. This does not.

[paleotn]

145. Sanitizer bros.

May they be boiled in their own hand sanitizer they can no longer move. Taking advantage of others in a crises. That's the only crime where capital punishment should be the default sentence.

[MFM008]

147. Take a bath in it bitch

[Roland99]

148. Would love to see authorities confiscate it all and donate to shelters

or hand out to the homeless or setup distribution tables at area schools

[Drum]

149. I hope chokes on it. n/t

[musette_sf]

150. NYT has updated the article

and now this "public servant" seems to have been sufficiently publicly shamed into a modicum of ethical behavior:

After The Times published this article on Saturday morning, Mr. Colvin said he was exploring ways to donate all the supplies.

[LisaL]

154. Well, isn't that something?

I guess some people can be shamed into doing something proper.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

151. Oh Boohoo

Poor jackass contributed to the shortage and now can't profit off it.

[gopiscrap]

155. First of all, he's a pos

I also hope that if he makes any profit the IRS will make him declare it and tax him on it

[Niagara]

156. Unfortunately, I found another article about a couple

price gouging and profiting over 70k with Lysol disinfecting wipes. It probably won't be the last time that we read about these pieces of crap.


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213096590

[LisaL]

157. I bet there are also morons sitting with garages full of toilet paper.

[Niagara]

159. Probably and ready to rip people off for ridiculous profits

We need to win in November since apparently we need protection laws from price gougers.

[littlemissmartypants]

158. If he tries to donate for tax relief, he shouldn't be allowed to claim the write off. nt

[bucolic_frolic]

162. Hope they saved the receipts

Return might be the path of least red ink.

[cstanleytech]

163. Zero sympathy for him or any similar assholes. nt

[IronLionZion]

166. With their names and faces all over the news now

this is going to cost them in other ways even if they don't get robbed by heavily armed and desperate idiots

[gulliver]

168. Note a big corporation being on the side of "right."

[GaYellowDawg]

174. I say go eminent domain on his sorry ass.

Have the state gov't buy it at 10 cents on the dollar and give it away. Make him an example of what hoarding and price gouging gets you.

[Laffy Kat]

176. Good! Sometimes even capitalism will turn around and bite you in the ass. nt

[Hamlette]

178. While Lockheed, Halliburton, Honeywell, Northrop Grumman etc make billions from our wars

I'm glad there are safeguards in place for a time like this but still . . . we do nothing about big corporations profiting from our stupid neverending wars.

[roamer65]

179. Bet they are Dump loving fake Christians.

[Sapient Donkey]

180. He clearly made his money back already. He should be donating them to people who need them

of course given the markups he sold them at, i doubt this scumbag would actually do the right thing.

[C Moon]

181. Jot down their names: Matt Colvin and Noah Colvin.

They weren't concerned with the well-being of the country.
They were only focussed on making money on a deadly disease that was spreading across the world.
Family man (his t-shirt says)? What about the families you were planning on gouging after you emptied the stores of essential goods?

Gouging is a common knee-jerk reaction of get-quick thieves. Don't defend these bastards.

When we finally make it though this pandemic, I think the stores should refuse returns on mass quantities of toilet paper, paper towels and hand sanitizers. Because that is the next step for these assholes.

[bucolic_frolic]

185. Pickup truck entrepreneurs meet retail trade laws

But they can bathe in the stuff for 18 months if need be, so who's to judge success?