Are you a panic buyer?

[Insideimsprinting]

Just that really. I would Just like to know why. There are lots of threads about people finding it ridiculous and not being able to get their normal shop, we're being told there is no need so why have you done it? Can you explain your panic, fear? Especially since its not happening across the board with all food stuffs andjust certain items.
Why toilet roll and not washing up liquid, shower gel etc, why pasta but not pasta sauces c why beans but not tinned soup etc

Think before my shift starts I'll put some toilet roll away so I get a chance before the store opens tomorrow

I wouldn't say I have been panic buying but other people may differ.
I'm by myself just now (hours away from family and husband works away. Rural setting and no online delivery). Its just me and my baby.

When I went to the supermarket I didnt buy more toilet roll or soap and I'm lucky that I already have plenty of pasta and rice from before all this started.
However I did find myself picking up an extra pack of baked beans, a few packs of super noodles, frozen veg and an extra bottle of wine.
Basically enough that if we have to stay in the house for a week or 2 we will be able to eat basically as normal.

Our just in time supply chain is very efficient - it's one of the reasons goods are so cheap in the UK - because storing and managing unsold stock is priced in to the things you buy. But JIT means that a swell in demand, even a relatively small one, can clear the shelves as the stuff hasn't been made yet. But it also means that (with a "pull" supply chain, where increased demand pulls production) they can just make more quite easily.

People don't need to be buying crazy amounts of loo roll for loo roll to run out, and also loo roll isn't a finite good anyway. There just aren't loo roll mountains waiting somewhere that we need to start bidding on. They are made in the UK, in the main - there's maybe one distribution centre between the factory and the supermarket. You can probably buy as much loo roll as you feel you need and don't worry about clearing the shelves. They can make more pretty easily, and quickly.

For those of you smugly refusing to buy more than you need for a week, what are you going to do if we’re all told to stay in and shops are closed? Presumably you won’t be buying extra then either? You’ll just starve?

I don’t believe for one second those on their high horses don’t have enough in their cupboards to survive.

It’s not hard to see where the toilet roll panic buying has come from either - we’ve all seen what happened in China and toilet roll, for whatever reason, was the one thing they ran out of. People feel the situation is out of control and stockpiling goods makes them feel more in control. It’s not hard to understand.

The people I feel very sorry for are those that can’t afford to stock up. Hopefully they are the ones that will get help when the time comes rather than those who stubbornly refuse to buy extra now because for some unfathomable reason it’s beneath them.

It might be that stocks are low, not because anyone has bought a lot, but because a lot of people have bought a little extra?

I bought a pack of paracetamol yesterday, for example, that I wouldn't normally have bought. I don't have any in the house, and thought it better to have some just in case. I usually buy it as and when I need it, and dumped the remains of my last box in about October because it was over a year out of date.

I don't class that as panic buying, but if a lot of people did the same it would have a profound affect.

I haven't bought extra loo roll or food, as I always have plenty. But I can see why people that don't have a stock in would add a few extra bits without it being excessive - but again it all adds up.

What is your definition of panic buying, OP?

Stockpiling Chocolate is ok yes?

I haven’t been panic buying and I don’t think I could actually buy the last item on the shelf as I know I would feel too guilty!

However, I have been stocking up over the last month or so with extra tins of soup, more bread flour, loo rolls than usual etc. I usually shop in Costco so do buy in bulk generally and have maybe spent about £30 more each week.

I have health anxiety following the sudden death of my mum a few years ago which is obviously much worse at the moment but I am working hard to keep it under control so my dc aren’t affected.

I bought more than usual in my shopping delivery this week but that is simply because there is a possibility I will have to self-isolate for 14 days due to the virus and / or be asked to work from home for an extended period of time. If that is the case, I want to have enough food and provisions in the Janeway household for that eventuality as my local shops are running out of a lot of items. While I could get a delivery while isolating or WFH, I went to Tesco this morning for fresh veg and they didn’t have a single toilet roll for sale. Shelves of pasta, tinned tomatoes, flour, hand wash etc were all decimated so I am not surprised people are panic buying to be honest.

I don’t see myself as being a ‘cunt’ for doing this as a PP implies, I see it as a sensible precaution. I haven’t bought 20 tins of beans, 10 packs of pasta or 50 toilet rolls just enough extras to cover our household for more time at home than normal.

Morrisons 7.30 last night. Cashier had come in at 1pm shelves full. By 5pm no toilet roll or hand wash at all, everything else there was stuff left she said it was very surreal as they have limits on how many each customer can get. That is not just buying the odd extra bit, the rest of the store being a bit emptier than usual but still stuff there would explain buying a bit extra.

I am not sure what he would do if he had to self isolate

Probably use just eat or deliveroo.

I panicked a bit with paracetamol when this started. I have 6 kids and MIL lives with us. I realised that if we all go down with temps at the same time I can’t go to the shop and pick up enough for all of us. So did pick up more each time I was out until I had enough for us all for 4 days.

I keep a high stock of pasta, tomatoes and frozen veg all year round in case of snow/norovirus/etc anyway as it’s a fear of mine getting caught with just the corner shop in bad weather. I’m glad I do as the “one per person” limits on things like pasta mean I can’t do my usual shop.

If I'm going to be honest.

I panic bought a little online. I did it a week ago as my friend lives in Milan and was telling me about the situation over there. She suggested I got masks but they were alreadyaall sold out. So I got 4 packs paracetamol, 1 baby paracetamol, reusable cloth pads 🙈, 2 packs cough drops, 2 hand soap, 3 small hand disinfectant, and the like. I didn't purchase toilet paper or a ton of pasta. Just our usual food. I did however, this week after the lockdown, order more freezer food and more long lasting food than normal.

I suppose it is a form of panic buy, buying more than you need. I didn't get 20 cans of formula, or 5 large bags of pasta or the like. But yes I did get a little extra. Now Denmark is on lockdown and I'm happy I did it online, to avoid being around all of the other shoppers and risk exposure.

While I didn't go crazy, I am part of the problem, I realise that, however I think my instincts to protect my family as well as self preservation have just kicked in.

Everyone here saying they aren’t panic buyers, they are stockpilers, sound like panic buyers.

I went to buy something in Asda the other night and I couldn’t believe the scenes. People were elbowing each other to grab the last few toilet rolls, the painkillers had been ransacked, there was so pasta, no pasta sauce, no baby wipes or nappies, no liquid soap and no hand gel.

The weirdest thing was that all the shelves around the emptied items had been destroyed, stuff was all over the floor, like people had grabbed in a frenzy and tried to cause as much damage as possible. It’s such a weird, ignorant mob mentality.

I always have enough food in the house for about 6 weeks maybe longer and have done for years.

I think it is called being sensible and, to be honest, can't understand why more people don't ensure they have some stocks.

Anything could happen that stops you getting to the shops such as snow, floods, car breakdown, illness etc. If the reason is snow or flooding then, obviously, you can't get a home delivery either.

We always have plenty of tinned items such as tomatoes, baked beans, black beans etc. We also have at least 3 bags of pasta, 2 bags of rice along with bags of red lentils, green lentils, brown lentils, chickpeas and various beans. Also lots of different nuts, raisins and other dried fruits. We are vegetarian so eat lots of things like that.

In our freezer we always have milk and bread plus home made soups and home made meals. Lots of frozen veg too.

Also plain flour, sr flour, rice flour, gram flour and coconut flour so we can make our own bread - all different ones including indian breads.

We buy the Nicky 18 roll packs of loo roll, usually 2 at a time and when we have half a pack left we buy again. We are getting low but only bought 1 pack last week as felt it was greedy to buy more.

We also always have at least 2 big bottles of washing liquid, fabric conditioner and washing up liquid along with shower gel and handwash.

Even if someone is on a very low budget they just need to buy 1 or 2 extra items each time they shop and gradually get a stock. An extra tin of tomatoes is 30p. A bag of pasta 50p.

Often it is cheaper to buy in bulk anyway. The 18 pack of loo rolls is £4. How much are the packs of 2 or 4?

Perhaps after this more people will ensure they do have at least a small stock.

I want panic buyers to explain to me what they think they will need ALL that toilet paper for! It's not a norovirus ffs. Leave some for others!

I've also never seen so many people buying kitchen rolls in costco before 🤔

I have bought a couple of extra packs of toilet paper because I couldn’t find any when I was down to my last two rolls and I was feeling pretty anxious about it. Apart from that I’m actually not that well stocked for food and I don’t intend to buy any extra for now. Maybe denial is my way of managing my anxiety. Who knows.

I think people like to imagine this mythical panic buyer as the selfish twats who clear out shelves into multiple trollies; because then they don’t have to feel like they’re contributing to the issue: “I’m not one of those selfish years, I’m just picking up a few extra bits...” It’s hard to imagine you as an individual having an effect of empty shelves, but imagine 200 individuals all picking up “extra bits”.

While I’m sure there are definitely people who have gone overboard; the vast majority of the empty shelves are due to people buying a bit extra, thus throwing off the “just in time” system.

So it’s not 1 person buying 100 packs of loo roll, it’s 100 people buying 1 extra pack of loo roll that they otherwise may not have bought that week.

Very few people are in fact being selfish, they’re all just picking up extra bits, but it has the effect of empty shelves.

Not a panic buyer yet but I might be in another couple of weeks if the shops near me don't get some more bog roll soon. Every supermarket has been sold out for well over a week now. We've got enough for now bit it's not going to last forever!

I would panic buy now if I could but there’s not much left in shops local to me to buy!
I went to do our normal grocery shop last night, as I always do and the supermarket looked like it had been raided.
There was no toilet paper, paracetamol, frozen veg, tinned tomatoes/pasatta etc,pasta. Very little fresh or frozen meat, nappies, baby milk or cereal.
8 people live in my house so I am now slightly worried that we don’t have enough food in. So I did buy more than I needed of the things I could get.
Husband, older children and myself have now decided that if we pop into any shop and see loo roll, tinned goods, pasta etc that we will buy some even if we have some at home so that we’re able to feed ourselves if we can’t leave the house for a week or more.
I also found it quite funny that the shelves where hand soaps should’ve been were completely empty but the shelves next to them were rammed full of bubble baths and shower gels. Surely they would clean your hands just as well?

Lots of wealthier people get a fortnighlty or monthly online shop and have well stocked cupboards as standard. I find it hard to judge people who normally live hand to mouth trying to get 2 weers of stuff put by and trying to limit the number of times they shop - putting them in the same position as wealthier people.
I do think bulk buying items that would last your family 6 months or a year is selfish though - if done in a panic. Totally different than building up slowly over a year like a prepper would.

I’m also not a panic buyer, neither is DH, but we both have hang ups from poverty during childhood and food scarcity. In my family money was tight. DH was born before rationing ended and was hospitalised with malnutrition. To be completely honest that was due neglect more than lack of money.

We both get the stressed about money and food. We do not buy excessive loads of food/medicine/cleaning stuff all at once though.