Price gouging / profiteering - illegal, or just unethical?
Discussion
Me and a friend bid something up to £100k recently, with no intention of paying to expose these a*****es. You can take a non-paying bidder hit a couple of times. The seller immediately gets 10% of the selling bid on their account (no £1 selling fee offers at the moment) 
No, it won't get through and will get cancelled eventually, but sale is screwed. Probably pointless, but several people do it. Sometimes happens when the press get wind of something interesting on ebay on a slow news day.
No, it won't get through and will get cancelled eventually, but sale is screwed. Probably pointless, but several people do it. Sometimes happens when the press get wind of something interesting on ebay on a slow news day.
Plenty of people are willing to take hits on eBay and have a marker on their account. There's the comedy ones which are fine, but I've seen plenty where a 4 pack of bog roll is being sold for £29.99 +£4.50 postage etc.
In America the chap who went around buying up antibac gels may get prosecuted for it - different laws.
But credit to FleaBay and Amazon, they can't keep up, but they are removing them.
And the reason for bidding up peoples auctions to stupid amounts, say you bid on bog roll at £55,000, then the seller gets hit with final value fees even if it's a £1 or free listing. Let's say the auction ends tonight, and the seller pays their FVFs monthly, that's a huge debit on their account, as you as the cheeky buyer won't pay. It could be over a month before they get refunded the FVF.
In America the chap who went around buying up antibac gels may get prosecuted for it - different laws.
But credit to FleaBay and Amazon, they can't keep up, but they are removing them.
And the reason for bidding up peoples auctions to stupid amounts, say you bid on bog roll at £55,000, then the seller gets hit with final value fees even if it's a £1 or free listing. Let's say the auction ends tonight, and the seller pays their FVFs monthly, that's a huge debit on their account, as you as the cheeky buyer won't pay. It could be over a month before they get refunded the FVF.
Durzel said:
Not illegal, unfortunately. Supply and demand.
It’s pretty grotesque, but where do you draw the line? As said above even exercise equipment has gone up, not just the obvious hand sanitiser, toilet paper, etc.
It is illegal in UK.It’s pretty grotesque, but where do you draw the line? As said above even exercise equipment has gone up, not just the obvious hand sanitiser, toilet paper, etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profiteering_(busine...
I supported my local off licence yesterday - I lke the bloks, he works hard and has a great range - plus he is opposite the Surgery where I was collecting a prescription....
Anyway, I was chatting to him and he was saying all the cash and carries he uses are all putting up Beer and Wine prices just now......
Anyway, I was chatting to him and he was saying all the cash and carries he uses are all putting up Beer and Wine prices just now......
Pistonheader101 said:
Exercise bikes that were £100 now £450
GF gym contacted their members and offered to deliver their bikes on a first call first served basis for a rent of EUR 33 a month. She has one now. Not paying gym fees of course and I thought good on them for making a few euro too to keep them ticking over, and help her (and me) in keeping some of the lard at bay.sherbertdip said:
Durzel said:
Not illegal, unfortunately. Supply and demand.
It’s pretty grotesque, but where do you draw the line? As said above even exercise equipment has gone up, not just the obvious hand sanitiser, toilet paper, etc.
It is illegal in UK.It’s pretty grotesque, but where do you draw the line? As said above even exercise equipment has gone up, not just the obvious hand sanitiser, toilet paper, etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profiteering_(busine...
Chapter I deals with collusion to fix prices/rig markets.
Chapter II, which is the issue here, has an important caveat.
It is that those doing so occupy a dominant position in the market.
I very much doubt the Fleabay opportunists come into that category.
Cooperman said:
They are modern 'Spivs'. I bet not many remember that term.
I do. Although I just missed the WW2 years, I remember my parents using that term about one of my sister's boyfriends!
.Anyone who has watched Dad's Army will recall Private Walker (James Beck).
vikingaero said:
Plenty of people are willing to take hits on eBay and have a marker on their account. There's the comedy ones which are fine, but I've seen plenty where a 4 pack of bog roll is being sold for £29.99 +£4.50 postage etc.
In America the chap who went around buying up antibac gels may get prosecuted for it - different laws.
But credit to FleaBay and Amazon, they can't keep up, but they are removing them.
And the reason for bidding up peoples auctions to stupid amounts, say you bid on bog roll at £55,000, then the seller gets hit with final value fees even if it's a £1 or free listing. Let's say the auction ends tonight, and the seller pays their FVFs monthly, that's a huge debit on their account, as you as the cheeky buyer won't pay. It could be over a month before they get refunded the FVF.
You can cancel a sale straight away if the buyer hasnt paid and get your fees back.In America the chap who went around buying up antibac gels may get prosecuted for it - different laws.
But credit to FleaBay and Amazon, they can't keep up, but they are removing them.
And the reason for bidding up peoples auctions to stupid amounts, say you bid on bog roll at £55,000, then the seller gets hit with final value fees even if it's a £1 or free listing. Let's say the auction ends tonight, and the seller pays their FVFs monthly, that's a huge debit on their account, as you as the cheeky buyer won't pay. It could be over a month before they get refunded the FVF.
Market pricing is by far the fairest and most effective way to allocate resources. This does mean potentially huge price spikes at times of massive demand.
Price surges help prevent hoarding and speculating and smooth demand so that in general people only buy what they need.
An example would be the toilet paper fiasco, if supermarkets had jacked up prices due to the sudden increase in demand, then most people would have stopped stockpiling and only those who actually needed it would have bought any - rather than some people having way too much paper and some people having none.
Price surges help prevent hoarding and speculating and smooth demand so that in general people only buy what they need.
An example would be the toilet paper fiasco, if supermarkets had jacked up prices due to the sudden increase in demand, then most people would have stopped stockpiling and only those who actually needed it would have bought any - rather than some people having way too much paper and some people having none.
sealtt said:
Market pricing is by far the fairest and most effective way to allocate resources. This does mean potentially huge price spikes at times of massive demand.
Price surges help prevent hoarding and speculating and smooth demand so that in general people only buy what they need.
An example would be the toilet paper fiasco, if supermarkets had jacked up prices due to the sudden increase in demand,
And to think UBER got slated for "market pricing" after the Australian and London terror attacks Price surges help prevent hoarding and speculating and smooth demand so that in general people only buy what they need.
An example would be the toilet paper fiasco, if supermarkets had jacked up prices due to the sudden increase in demand,
The supermarkets and their suppliers are now making hay whilst the sun shines, virtually all 'offers' have been removed the 'justification' that it's to stop hoarding is bullcrap it's just as much about profiteering.
speedyguy said:
And to think UBER got slated for "market pricing" after the Australian and London terror attacks
The supermarkets and their suppliers are now making hay whilst the sun shines, virtually all 'offers' have been removed the 'justification' that it's to stop hoarding is bullcrap it's just as much about profiteering.
Well yes of course their justifications are BS, it is all about profiteering, as everything they ever do is. But that’s not to say that this isn’t for the best and that it doesn’t help manage demand / hoarding.The supermarkets and their suppliers are now making hay whilst the sun shines, virtually all 'offers' have been removed the 'justification' that it's to stop hoarding is bullcrap it's just as much about profiteering.
tedblog said:
Countdown said:
Free market in all its glory.
Yes a free market a price is what someone is willing to pay, supply and demand , Isn't this exactly what car flippers do?Equally some of the "blame" must be placed at the door of the panic-buying morons. Price simply reflects the intersection of the supply/demand curves.
tedblog said:
Countdown said:
Free market in all its glory.
Yes a free market a price is what someone is willing to pay, supply and demand , Isnt this exactly what car flippers do?If someone is preventing others from accessing basic necessities in life then maybe their should be price controls. I'd happily support a law allowing supermarkets to charge 10x for the third pack of bogrolls and 100x for the fourth pack of bogrolls if it meant even distribution for pensioners etc. Substitute bogrolls for Paracetamol, Capol, nappies, baby formula etc
(And this is where I get told bogrolls are not essential - use leaves, shower afterwards....PH pedantry).
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