Quote:
Originally Posted by stubenhocker
Price gouging is when someone uses predatory pricing on an item you need, like food or fuel.
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No, that's called bringing the price up to support additional material being shipped in. Market pricing encourages shipping extra to an area that's short of it.
Back in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy hit the NY area, there were stories about multi-hour waits for gasoline. I thought that made no sense - gasoline was available everywhere outside the storm area for regular price. I was half tempted to rent a pickup, buy out the local Benny's of gas cans, fill them all at the local Quick-E-Mart, and make the 3 hour trip down to NY. Sell a 5 gallon can for $50, make a profit, and save some poor schmoe the hassle of waiting in line for 3 hours in exchange for an extra $30 out of his pocket.
Nope. All sorts of stories on the news about how NY was watching for people "gouging" by charging more than "normal" pricing. OK, I'll stay home, and the 100 gallons of gas I could have added to their local area stayed in MA. 20 people wasted a cumulative 60 hours of their lives, but their government saved them from voluntarily paying me extra to bring them some gas.
A thing is worth what someone wants to pay for it. That goes for gasoline, food, cars, what have you.