Beware the price gougers | Opinion – pennlive.com

The world has changed in the last ten weeks. The rapidly spreading Coronavirus has gone from the first American case noted on January 19 to more than 336,000 diagnosed cases--and at least 9,000 dead.

In an attempt to ward off the virus, Americans have emptied stores of critical supplies such as hand sanitizer and cleaning wipes -- and theyre hoarding things such as toilet paper in case of quarantine. N95 masks are disappearing, despite the Surgeon General noting that they should be saved for health professionals who need them.

A recent analysis by PennPIRG Education Fund found prices for many hand sanitizers and surgical masks on Amazon spiked at least 50 percent at some point since the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency. A four-pack of Purell hand sanitizer was selling for $159. Two containers of Lysol wipes cost $70.

Businesses will tell you that the market is responding to increased demand. Costs increase to ramp up manufacturing and expedite delivery. But when prices for these products climb 220 percent above their 90 day average, those explanations look as ridiculous as a $459 small bottle of hand sanitizer. Exorbitant prices have also been seen on eBay, Walmart, and Craigslist.

When people need something to protect their health and prevent the spread of a potentially-deadly virus, merchants should follow the Golden Rule, not the money.

Sadly, this rampant price gouging isnt a surprise. Its happened in recent years during other emergencies such as hurricanes. In a crisis, the urgent need for essential supplies -- whether its water, gasoline or sanitizer -- overrides any logic. That is why many states outlaw selling critical products at exorbitant prices during these times.

Amazons Fair Pricing Policy prohibits setting a price on a product or service that is significantly higher than recent prices offered on or off Amazon. And yet, PennPIRG Education Fund found significant price spikes for 1 in 6 products sold directly by Amazon to customers.

While Amazon says it monitors sellers and there is no place for price gouging on its online marketplace, its policing efforts are like a game of whack-a-mole. A shopper reports exorbitant prices or Bloomberg writes about them or a computer algorithm flags an overpriced product. The company, then, in its words, may remove the Buy Box, remove the offer, suspend the ship option, or, in serious or repeated cases, suspending or terminating selling privileges.

But because monitoring so many listings is so difficult, when Amazon removes one product, sellers mark up prices on other products or create new listings. The net result is that many consumers desperate to find cleaning supplies to help prevent Coronavirus infection pay way more than they should have to.

All businesses -- online and offline -- have both moral and legal obligations to our broader society during a time of crisis. And we expect a trillion-dollar company such as Amazon to set a high standard for others to emulate. It could set price ranges during emergencies for certain supplies, limit increases to a certain percentage over a 90-day average, or use their technological prowess to develop a different solution.

Thats exactly why more than 300 state legislators from across the country, including 20 from Pennsylvania, signed a letter to the top five online retailers encouraging them to make three significant changes to curb price gouging:

First, they should create strong policies that prevent sellers from increasing their prices in a significant way from what it was prior to the emergency. This would involve looking at historical prices for a particular product or other similar products. Any proposed price outside that framework could only be approved after a careful review by an employee of the online platform.

Second, given the hyperspeed at which modern shopping operates, companies should trigger price gouging protections prior to official emergency declarations. Price spikes for COVID-19 began back in February, which was before any state had declared a disaster.

Lastly, consumers should be able to report price gouging directly Fair Pricing Portal on each marketplace. Given the technological prowess of these companies, creating a simple mechanism on their websites shouldnt be a big lift. Additionally, that data should be shared with attorneys general to enforce price gouging statutes.

These are only a few options to prevent price gouging. Engineers at these companies have designed massive platforms to enable people to shop all around the world. That same ingenuity can be put to use to protect everyone.

If we dont quickly fix this problem, its going to happen again. During each crisis, whether an outbreak or natural disaster, Americans have enough safety issues to worry about. They shouldnt have to also worry about getting bilked by opportunists who dont do unto others what they would have done to them.

State Rep.Tim Brigg (D) represents-District 149, and Emma Horst-Martz, is an associate with PennPIRG, a consumer advocacy organization.

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Beware the price gougers | Opinion - pennlive.com