Yes. Restocks will happen as quickly as possible, purchase limits will be put in place, and availability will be restored. Also, the privations created were entirely the results of these folks' poor behavior in terms of weighing the risks inherent to the logistics of their price gouging, and whether or not their sales platform would facilitate that behavior. Mayhaps they'd be well served returning their stock to the locations that actually have a local need for it seeing as otherwise, they'll have nuked the Market in their localities via a glut of supply. Their sacrifice in financially eating the cost of the extra relocation will undoubtedly weigh in on whether or not State's Attorneys General pursue prosecution, and to what degree.
As a bonus, we all have a series of examples of what not to be that have soared into the limelight to remind us all that even if we are stuck in a pandemic, at least we weren't horrible enough to have to figure out what to do with more stock than we can feasibly sell or distribute for more than it cost to consolidate it into a single location because we were intending to pull one over on everyone else.
Win/win. Supply goes home. Everyone reminded not to be a dick, and a few people have learned a very valuable lesson about logistics, society, the economy, and what not to do during an international fucking pandemic. Maybe no one else has to deal with the damage caused by asshole speculators.
But also a lot of people wouldn't be able to access supplies. In both cases a lot of people get screwed. In the "floating price" case it just isn't highly paid software engineers on HN.
So you prefer no one to have access to the items at any price (empty shelves), rather than a limited supply being available at a higher price?
Why do you prefer that? Why do you think that individuals have no ability to adjust their personal spending such that they can purchase TP or hand sanitizer even at 2x, 3x or even 5x price points.
No. I'd prefer that price gouging is illegal, preventing individuals from buying what they don't use for profit. I'd also prefer systems that allow for distribution based on need rather than only allowing the wealthy to buy supplies.
