Price gouging during Hurricane Harvey: Up to $99 for a case of water, Texas AG says - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE=catbarf;52625680]Like forbidding price gouging and enforcing steep penalties as punishment? What exactly would you suggest here? I mean if this was 'gougers charging $100 for water, gov't says it's A-OK' then you might have a point, but here this is an example of people being shitty and exploitative [I]in spite of[/I] clear regulation, which is just human nature. If it were a warehouse manager in a socialist country demanding jewelry in exchange for the needed supplies in his warehouse, it would be equally stupid to blame that on socialism. It's happening in defiance of the law, not because of it.[/QUOTE] I think you're misunderstanding. I know price gouging is regulated in this instance and nothing better could have been done in this scenario besides assholes not being assholes. I was originally trying to explain out why all these people were using this incident to attack capitalism. It is indicative or reminiscent of a much larger problem that people aren't happy about. I just picked your post at the time because you were responding to one of them.

It's good to see that this parasitic behaviour is being recognised for what it is and punished accordingly, because obviously it should always be hard to expect a little human decency from people. Bumping prices up by a dollar or two is one thing but this is just outright disgusting.

There are always going to be individuals who will do anything to game the current scenario, but let's not try to disregard places like HEB, Anheuser-Busch and many other businesses who are doing their part to help out in these trying times. I'm just happy these asshats are getting punished for playing their sick little game. A slap in the wrist i'm sure, but it's better than letting them get away with this.

[QUOTE=Shirt.;52625673]400 miles is 1 tank of gas or around $40-$70 depending on were you live and your method of transportation. Of course water is heavy so for the sake of convenience lets double that. contract a guy in southern Oklahoma so you can use his hose (of course with a filter) to fill up 10 5 gallon jugs. Now lets say he gets 10% of all profits which if I were to sell a single jug at 5$ per bottle thats 40 bottles sold or 200$, enough to break even. Now think of the population of the effected area immediately after the storm dies down, they're panicked and don't know how long it will take for government services to arrive but your there, now, on the spot with water and creature comforts like Rolo's and Coca-Cola. You would sell out before the day is done. Ripping people off is subjective. Is it ripping people off when your there to provide relief at reasonable price before the state sponsored relief show up? is it ripping someone off when they gladly pay for it? If someone thinks that your price is relevant to the situation at hand then they will pay.[/QUOTE] What about time? A drive is roughly 7 hours (one way and assuming traffic is good), that doesn't involve toll roads, you are also assuming you can get access to the effected areas. Time is money. When you take a regular retail item that costs 1 dollar for a gallon and you charge 10 dollars simply because you can and because you know desperate people will buy it makes you a terrible person. You are preying on desperate people, that isn't some smart business move that you are trying to trying to peddle. It is predatory, unethical, and illegal. I'm not like everyone else in this thread knocking on capitalism, but i am knocking on predatory practices that want to bleed people dry. If you want to act like a parasite be ready to get treated like one. You'll get burned by the community in a heart-beat. If you expect to continue to do business after pulling some unlawful and unethical shit like price gouging, good luck. If lack of customers don't kill you the fines will. I'm glad Texas takes care of its own and we have lots of people helping and supporting the communities. I love seeing all the convoys and national guard trucks filled to the brim with water heading south because i know people are going to be helped vs taken advantage of. Most importantly the corporations which are doing their part to help.

[QUOTE=MR-X;52626112]What about time? A drive is roughly 7 hours (one way and assuming traffic is good), that doesn't involve toll roads, you are also assuming you can get access to the effected areas. Time is money. When you take a regular retail item that costs 1 dollar for a gallon and you charge 10 dollars simply because you can and because you know desperate people will buy it makes you a terrible person. You are preying on desperate people, that isn't some smart business move that you are trying to trying to peddle. It is predatory, unethical, and illegal. I'm not like everyone else in this thread knocking on capitalism, but i am knocking on predatory practices that want to bleed people dry. If you want to act like a parasite be ready to get treated like one. You'll get burned by the community in a heart-beat. If you expect to continue to do business after pulling some unlawful and unethical shit like price gouging, good luck. If lack of customers don't kill you the fines will. I'm glad Texas takes care of its own and we have lots of people helping and supporting the communities. I love seeing all the convoys and national guard trucks filled to the brim with water heading south because i know people are going to be helped vs taken advantage of. Most importantly the corporations which are doing their part to help.[/QUOTE] Not to mention competition with the Cajun Navy, who originated in Louisiana, and brought pallets of water and supplies with them.. and gave them away for free. Pure capitalism in a crisis is evil.

[QUOTE=MasterKade;52624870]This isn't true? A high price tag means people that need it who can't afford it don't get it, and people who can afford it are essentially robbed[/QUOTE] If you can't afford it you don't need it. If for some reason a $100 case of water is the difference between life and death for me, $100 is cheap. Otherwise I'm just not going to buy it at a trash price.

[QUOTE=duno;52626160]If you can't afford it you don't need it. If for some reason a $100 case of water is the difference between life and death for me, $100 is cheap. Otherwise I'm just not going to buy it at a trash price.[/QUOTE] I guess homeless people don't need houses after all. Hell,people don't even need healthcare,cause if they needed it they could afford it.

[QUOTE=duno;52626160]If you can't afford it you don't need it. If for some reason a $100 case of water is the difference between life and death for me, $100 is cheap. Otherwise I'm just not going to buy it at a trash price.[/QUOTE] Something tells me you never paid for anything in your life outside of using the credit card your parents gave you.

[QUOTE=Shirt.;52625364]Where you see price gouging I see opportunity. With the market price ceiling of water being $100, I could go to oklahoma get a couple jugs filled and sell bottles for $10 and make much more sales while being more competitive in a capitalist environment. Actually [B]what's stopping[/B] my neighbor Joe Billy Bob from doing the same thing for $9 dollars a bottle or $8 etc. These people selling water for $100 dollars aren't capitalists, they're chumps who won't sell a pint because [B]they have no concept of a competitive market.[/B][/QUOTE] Who's the bigger chump, the person who doesn't prioritize the opportunity of massively spiking prices in response to sudden crisis demand, or the person who doesn't recognize that price-gouging during an emergency is [B]illegal in the state of Texas[/B]. That's what's stopping your neighbour, you amoral selfish dumdum. [QUOTE=Shirt.;52625673]400 miles is 1 tank of gas or around $40-$70 depending on were you live and your method of transportation. Of course water is heavy so for the sake of convenience lets double that. contract a guy in southern Oklahoma so you can use his hose (of course with a filter) to fill up 10 5 gallon jugs. Now lets say he gets 10% of all profits which if I were to sell a single jug at 5$ per bottle thats 40 bottles sold or 200$, enough to break even. Now think of the population of the effected area immediately after the storm dies down, they're panicked and don't know how long it will take for government services to arrive but your there, now, on the spot with water and creature comforts like Rolo's and Coca-Cola. You would sell out before the day is done. [B]Ripping people off is subjective. Is it ripping people off when your there to provide relief at reasonable price before the state sponsored relief show up?[/B] is it ripping someone off when they gladly pay for it? If someone thinks that your price is relevant to the situation at hand then they will pay.[/QUOTE] The law doesn't agree with your capitalistic idealism. Go down to Texas and try this, but don't blame me if you get fined into bankruptcy. [QUOTE=duno;52626160]If you can't afford it you don't need it. If for some reason a $100 case of water is the difference between life and death for me, $100 is cheap. Otherwise I'm just not going to buy it at a trash price.[/QUOTE] So if you can't afford a case of water at whatever price the seller wants to offer it you have nothing to blame but yourself when you and your family die of thirst? Never have children, please. You sound just like the Nestle CEO who rejected the notion that drinking water is a fundamental right.

[QUOTE=duno;52626160]If you can't afford it you don't need it. If for some reason a $100 case of water is the difference between life and death for me, $100 is cheap. Otherwise I'm just not going to buy it at a trash price.[/QUOTE]And for those who do not have a hundred dollars just lying about after a massive disaster?

[QUOTE=duno;52626160]If you can't afford it you don't need it. If for some reason a $100 case of water is the difference between life and death for me, $100 is cheap. Otherwise I'm just not going to buy it at a trash price.[/QUOTE] People need water to live [editline]29th August 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=duno;52626160]If you can't afford it you don't need it. If for some reason a $100 case of water is the difference between life and death for me, $100 is cheap. Otherwise I'm just not going to buy it at a trash price.[/QUOTE] Also you sound like a greedy sociopath that proves capitalism is a terrible system

[URL="https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1576832"]In other words, duno sees nothing wrong with what happened to this guy?[/URL] After all, he wasn't able to meet the hospital's reasonable capitalist prices for their services, and if he can't afford it, he doesn't need it. :^) duno, were you made to read Atlas Shrugged in high school? And did you take it seriously?

Is bottled water supposed to be free during emergencies?

[QUOTE=duno;52626246]Is bottled water supposed to be free during emergencies?[/QUOTE] It should be

[QUOTE=duno;52626246]Is bottled water supposed to be free during emergencies?[/QUOTE] Depends on where you get it. If you go to Walmart before the storm it'll cost a standard amount of money. Though usually you can get some for free at a shelter or supplies stop. During Ike we were able to get a box of MRE's and a case of water bottles for free from a government organized pick up zone. Though you have to wait in line, and there's no guarantee they'll have enough for everyone.

I thought price gouging during times of crisis was illegal in the US, I know it is in my state. [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Didn't read the OP" - OvB))[/highlight]

Owner of the Cowboys & owner of the Texans have each pledged 1 million a piece. JJ Watt has raised over 1.5m on his own and celebs like Kevin Hart(25k) and Rock(75k) are donating aswell. Rock and Hart could easily donate more but it's better than nothing I guess.

[QUOTE=duno;52624825]It's not price gouging, it's the market meeting the demand. Look at it this way, a very high price tag means the water gets to people who truly need that water.[/QUOTE] How much you need water shouldn't be dependent on how much money you have/are willing to spend. That's taking advantage of people in a crisis for a profit. You cant use money as a defacto level for how much people need things when everyone doesn't get paid the same.

[QUOTE=-nesto-;52626319]Owner of the Cowboys & owner of the Texans have each pledged 1 million a piece. JJ Watt has raised over 1.5m on his own and celebs like Kevin Hart(25k) and Rock(75k) are donating aswell. Rock and Hart could easily donate more but it's better than nothing I guess.[/QUOTE] Kevin Hart raised his donation to $50,000 and has a fundraiser up like JJ Watt, had a few hundred thousand raised so far last I checked. Kevin has also challenged other celebrities to donate in a similar manner to the ALS challenge thing that happened a few years ago. Owner of the New England Patriots also donated $1,000,000 NFL donated $1,000,000 Houston Astros owner donated $4,000,000 DJ Khaled donated $25,000.

[QUOTE=duno;52626160]If you can't afford it you don't need it. If for some reason a $100 case of water is the difference between life and death for me, $100 is cheap. Otherwise I'm just not going to buy it at a trash price.[/QUOTE] This is literally the most pompous and awful post I've seen this week, thanks.

[QUOTE=OvB;52626354]Kevin Hart raised his donation to $50,0000 and has a fundraiser up like JJ Watt, had a few hundred thousand raised so far last I checked. Kevin has also challenged other celebrities to donate in a similar manner to the ALS challenge thing that happened a few years ago. Owner of the New England Patriots also donated $1,000,000 NFL donated $1,000,000 Houston Astros owner donated $4,000,000 DJ Khaled donated $25,000.[/QUOTE] Ahh, awesome. Heard about it on the radio but they didnt say anything about Hart urging and raising more.

[QUOTE=duno;52626160]If you can't afford it you don't need it. If for some reason a $100 case of water is the difference between life and death for me, $100 is cheap. Otherwise I'm just not going to buy it at a trash price.[/QUOTE] are you trolling or serious? If you're trolling, its a good joke, but if you're serious, I'm sorry about how sheltered you are. If you really think that people should be charged 100 dollars to live, I take pity on someone like you. You've drunken the overpriced water of late-stage capitalism and it shows.

[QUOTE=-nesto-;52626369]Ahh, awesome. Heard about it on the radio but they didnt say anything about Hart urging and raising more.[/QUOTE] [url]https://www.instagram.com/p/BYUKlyPj9Fw/?hl=en&taken-by=kevinhart4real[/url] [url]https://cdn.crowdrise.com/o/en/team/kevinhart?utm_source=KHSocial&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=KevinHart[/url] [editline]29th August 2017[/editline] The Kardashian's also pledged $500,000 and Beyonce has pledged to help as many people as she can. Houston Rockets owner donates $10,000,000. Yes you read that right.

[QUOTE=duno;52626246]Is bottled water supposed to be free during emergencies?[/QUOTE] Clean drinking water should be free full stop.

[QUOTE=Levithan;52626616]Clean drinking water should be free full stop.[/QUOTE] Tap water?

[QUOTE=OvB;52626647]Tap water?[/QUOTE] you... pay for that and its not exactly clean in a lot of parts of the US

[QUOTE=duno;52626160]If you can't afford it you don't need it. If for some reason a $100 case of water is the difference between life and death for me, $100 is cheap. Otherwise I'm just not going to buy it at a trash price.[/QUOTE] Good lord I'm all for a mix of capitalism and socialism in order to achieve a solid mixed economy, but this post just reeks of ignorance. "Oh you may be dehydrated to the point of death, but if you can't afford it by god you sure don't need it!". You're talking about people's lives. In a time of need water should not be locked away behind some paywall that you most likely won't have the funds to afford. People have debts, people they need to support, and some just don't make that much to shell out $100. Not everyone is in such a comfortable place in life. Your post is so ignorant, arrogant, and so extremely in the wrong. I highly suggest you take a good look at your ethics and reevaluate yourself if this is how you feel. [editline]29th August 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=OvB;52626647]Tap water?[/QUOTE] They can't trust the tap water in times of crises like that, things get polluted/stop working properly.

[QUOTE=Judas;52626655]you... pay for that and its not exactly clean in a lot of parts of the US[/QUOTE] In the respect that most places won't charge you for it if you ask for it. [editline]29th August 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Nookyava;52626660] They can't trust the tap water in times of crises like that, things get polluted/stop working properly.[/QUOTE] There are currently only a handful of areas with boil orders, but that is the reason people gather bottled water in times of crisis. However I was meaning in a more general sense and not necessarily in crisis. Since the comment was about "full stop."

No one is being charged $100 to live and neither is anyone getting denied water because this system is working. You are going to get $99 a case for water at a gas station because everyone bought it out and the supply is not there. Would you rather have no water to buy at all or have the option to buy $99 water? If the gas station is selling at $99, the situation is apparently so dire that consumers are willing to pay a price like that, or else they would just hit up a walmart. These high prices naturally develop and everyone is better off. We don't need breadlines in a hurricane.

[QUOTE=OvB;52626672]In the respect that most places won't charge you for it if you ask for it. [editline]29th August 2017[/editline] There are currently only a handful of areas with boil orders, but that is the reason people gather bottled water in times of crisis. However I was meaning in a more general sense and not necessarily in crisis. Since the comment was about "full stop."[/QUOTE] Got'cha. Yea in a general sense there's enough places that you can get water. Tap water isn't always the cleanest, but it's safe. You can walk into any restaurant and they are required to give you water (most will do it anyway). Most work places like Lowe's and such have water fountains you can utilize, and water fountains in bigger cities exist. We're very fortunate to have such an easy access to clean drinking water.