As millions people search in vain, man hoards 18000 sanitizers

On March 1, the day after the first coronavirus death in the United States was announced, brother Colvin set out to pick up some hand sanitizer. He cleaned out the shelves of Dollar Tree, Walmart, Staples and Home Depot from major metro areas. Within three days they collected thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of packs of antibacterial wipes.

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Listing the items on Amazon, Colvin sold the bottles of hand sanitizer for between $8 and $70 each, multiples higher than what he had bought them for. However, Amazon suspended some of the sellers behind the listings including him, warning 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.

According to the New York Times, now, while millions of people search in vain for hand sanitizer to protect themselves from the spread of the coronavirus, Colvin is sitting on 17,700 bottles of the stuff with little idea where to sell them. The report believes that Colvin is one of probably thousands of sellers who have amassed stockpiles of hand sanitizer and crucial respirator masks that many hospitals are now rationing.

While the people in need call it selfish, hoarding resources for your own personal gain, Colvin feels it’s a public service. He says “I’m being paid for my public service.” Colvin said he would now probably try to sell the stockpile locally. After backlash he decided to donate them.