Understanding panic buying

[Eckhart]

I'm thinking that it's not sustainable. To be clear, I mean that shoppers can't keep doing it for any length of time. For example, all the panic buying demographic bought 10 times their usual toilet roll shop this week, but now won't be buying any for quite a while, because they've got no room and they're sick of the sight of it, and they feel they have plenty.

So, the best response to panic buying is to just wait a little bit until the shops get over the demand-spike, then carry on as normal?

Interested to hear what others think.

I think it will go through several more peaks of panic buying before its over. Things will settle for a day or two, fresh deliveries today/tomorrow/Sunday, then any new announcement about containment measures or restrictions will see the panic buying restart.

The slogan, Stay calm and carry on, seems to have been forgotten

A lot of so-called panic buying is simply people stocking up but the media does like to spin a story.

Usually when you get ill you don't have advance warning. This time we do.

It makes good sense to have well stocked cupboards if you're going to have to self isolate. This seems a no-brainer to me.

I don't understand why the story isn't - how can the shops cope with the extra demand?

Obvs if people go a bit batshit on the toilet paper maybe ration it, but otherwise why shouldn't people stock their cupboards before so they don't have to shop while sick or depend on others? Sounds like a wise move to me.

To be fair, if we face being isolated in the house then I'm going to want enough food and household items to keep us going.

So it's not necessarily panic buying, it's stocking up for a potential period of isolation.

Yes. If we have three toilet rolls left and there's a good chance we could be confined to the house for a few weeks in the near future (which there is for all of us) is it panic buying or sensible to buy 18 rolls now?
Ive even seen people on here say they can just clean themselves in the shower. That really is taking the 'anti prepping' pride too far imo. Get over yourself and buy a few bog roll.

Stay calm and carry on, seems to have been forgotten. It's possibly more apt that you think.

This idea was brought in at the time of Spanish flu in 1918. The government took a politically motuvated decision not to intervene and basically let people die as they didn't want to distract from the war effort.

More people died from Spanish flu than in WW1.

I tend to shop every 2 days, so my reserves are normally low. Most people would consider my usual cupboard contents paltry.
I am not stockpiling but have gradually by buying a few extra things with each shop filled my cupboards to what most people have in if they do a big weekly shop.
I do have a well stocked freezer, 2 thirds is home cooked batch meals

I haven't got wardrobes full of loo rolls and beans . I think the panic buying of beans explains the need to extra toilet rolls...

The thing is we know and have been told that we may be stuck at home for a while. We’ll want to avoid supermarkets when more people are ill. We don’t know what the longer term effects on supply will be, especially with our complicated supply chains. So it makes sense to buy ahead.

There was a man behind me In Aldi today giving it chapter and verse about the ‘panic buying’ I honestly had to really bite my tongue because he was being so disparaging. I had a massive trolley load but it was because firstly, I always shop on Saturday’s and secondly DH has been away all week with work so we were very low. There were definitely more people than usual but Saturday is their busiest day. I really did have to bite my tongue when the loud mouthed buffoon started yelling ‘...and can you believe that they’ve cancelled all the football matches?’

I just wanted to yell at him ‘you bloody moron, don’t you know the reason for that and yet you’re still taking the piss out of others’ 🤦‍♀️😂🤬🤬🤬

My local Lidl had everything today except bog roll and pasta. Why those two things??

A lot of so-called panic buying is simply people stocking up

From chatting to staff in our local co-op today they have had people coming in and buying 5/6/7 packs of toilet roll, a dozen bags of pasta, the entire tray of tins of baked beans. They had one person come in and buy every single packet of mince. Word had gotten around to the surrounding areas that they are one of the few shops not rationing, mainly because they're a village co-op frequented by locals so why would they? Well after being cleared out by people driving in from elsewhere, from tomorrow they're going to be rationing.

Some of the increased buying is people stocking up but a lot of it is people acting like dicks.

There’s a vast difference between buying 18 loo rolls and 18 packets of the stuff.

Or like the lovely woman that was over heard debating buying infant formula since they’d no powdered milk... she had fresh milk in her trolley.

hoik imagine being in isolation for two weeks with a tray of baked beans!

I always have a full cupboard but at least I have a range of foods. Some people really are just bloody stupid.

Ha- she'd have a shock- formula is nothing like cow's milk, it's rank!

dream I’ve never tried it but I’d imagine it’s super-sweet? And extremely calorie-dense?

Agree that most people aren't panic buying. Some are, but the majority are just a bit more aware than usual so buying things a little earlier than they otherwise would.

For instance our aldi had no milk whatsoever today. We have two pints in the fridge already so i wouldn't normally have given it a second thought but now that i am aware of milk being scarce, i will be going out of my way to get some tomorrow

Do you think it's the same people panic buying some more stuff every day, or new panic buyers just starting after seeing all the other panic buyers? I think panic buying is contagious.

Its definitely contagious, seeing just 2 packs of toilet roll left kn the shelf made me buy both when I only needed one because I'm afraid when I come back for more in a couple of weeks there wont be any! Ditto the pasta, I have pasta but seeing the empty shelves makes me think I should buy more. Stupid I know

The thing is, we have been told that we could all be down with a nasty and potentially lethal virus. Our kids might have to fend for themselves. In my house four people will now be at home in the day requiring meals.

That this could go on for months.
Shops are fraught and some have mentioned an undercurrent of hosility among some youths, spoiling for things to kick off.

What do they expect people to do?

My friend in Spain says its bedlam in shops UK calm.by comparison. Somebody on here said in China the rush really started when schools shut.

Maybe if the Govt explained containment more, what that entails and that people could still access shops for essentials, it may help.

But ultimately people are scared. It should be no surprise that there is a 'stampede'.

I don't like tinned tomatoes and not mad keen on pasta.

I do however have two bottles of hand sanitizer and a very full freezer. I would think if I got Covid-19 I wouldn't be eating much.

Like cardboard. When DD25 was a baby, I'd run out of milk so tried Cow and Gate in my cuppa. It was fucking vile.

But I have been thinking about the Parable of the 'Rich Fool' lately (I'm an atheist, but always remember this)

'I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. I will tell my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry."' "But God said to him, 'You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you.'

How often do large supermarkets re-stock anyway? There's STILL no pasta...

Most pasta (certainly the Sainsbury's own) is made in Italy - so not surprising there's a shortage. Stock is probably slowed in being made & possibly being kept in Italy to feed the Italians on lockdown 🤷‍♀️

My Lidl today was completely empty of
Bread
Toilet rolls
Tinned veg
Tinned fruit
V few tins of tuna
Pasta
Bread flour
Very few eggs
S/r flour

And probably other stuff I didn't notice. It felt like the store was only half stocked. The level of panic was palpable.