What's the difference between "building up my supplies" and stockpiling?

[BuckingFrolics]

The number of people who happily say "I started building up my supplies last month, last week" and who then go on to berate "panic buyers" and "stockpilers" is irritating me.

So your "supplies" stashed away were driven by anxiety and self protection. How is that different from today's panic buyers? It's just you were ahead of the pack. That's the only difference.

The "I was sensible and saw this coming and did the right thing" would be utterly meaningless if everyone had done that.

Yes, that's the point of being ahead of the curve. Predict what others will do and act first. The difference for me is I didn't feel panicked, I felt calm and rational. I didn't want to feel panicked, looking for food for my family, so I acted accordingly. There's nothing much I can do if all of society falls apart though so it'll only take me so far.

In what way are they berating panic buyers? I'm not berating them so it's hard to see what you mean. I guess I don't think it is currently appropriate to allow one person to buy all the stock in one go, is that what you mean?

Smugness

And you ‘build up your supplies’ other people stockpile

Building up supplies is done slowly.
A couple of extra tins and a pack of loo roll, bag of pasta and porridge oats each week over a few months.
Stockpiling is more panicked going buying packs of loo toll and ten tins of beans because you are worried.
Neither are wrong.
What is wrong is taking more of your fair share when stocks are depleted and being selfish. Taking three packs of something when there are only half a dozen left.
Someone who bought 5 packs of loo roll this time last year is fine
Some one who did this last week is very selfish.

We weren’t panicked either. We took sensible precautions without overloading the system.

Which means that now we have everything we need to comfortably last two weeks, quite comfortably another week, and then if need be, at least another week on tins and longlife foods. Which means we haven’t been out depleting stocks now while everyone is trying to find everything they need. We are not stressed, we are not frightened and we aren’t taking stock that other people need.

We won’t need to top up our fresh foods and perishables for at least two weeks which means we’re not panicking about deliveries and can wait til a slot is available. We’re completely hunkered down now for probably at least a month, to do our bit to avoid additional stress on the NHS during this crisis.

I’m not berating people at all. They are entitled to look for and buy the things they need. The key word being need; - no one actually needs 60 rolls of toilet paper or 40 tins of baby milk. Those people are selfish, entitled, scummy people.

'Ahead of the curve' is kind of the whole point of prepping.

I think the difference is 'building up stock' tends to happen when it won't cause bare shelves. There is no pressure on supermarkets and you generally wouldn't even know someone had bought extra.

'Stockpiling' happens when eveeyone realises at once that the shit is about to hit the fan, and that they aren't prepared. This results in empty shelves as a much greater number of people 'buy extra' at once.

The words actually mean the same thing but those are the images they conjure in my head

I think there's a number of things, do you buy it all in one shop preventing others from getting some, or do you pick up an item from one store, then the next day and the next - thus allowing others to get items and give the shop time to refill shelves.
Then, are you buying items you will actually use? What's the point in 20 tins of tomatoes if you will not use them?
How long will items last? We have enough to go onto isolation for 2 weeks - that way if we're in isolation as we are showing symptoms no one else is put at risk.
If we're in isolation due to Government lock down, we can pop out as and when, calmly to pick up the odd item we may like/want but without any panic if we can't get it. I can't get mince beef at the moment, it's not the end of the world but we would like some as we eat it regularly if it's there I'll get some

Doing it BEFORE the crisis hits is the difference

Someone who bought 5 packs of loo roll this time last year is fine
Some one who did this last week is very selfish.

Exactly.

I have maybe 15 tins of tomatoes in the cupboard. If I’d bought them this week or the past few weeks I’d consider that unacceptable; panic buying. But I didn’t.

I generally get bigger online orders of heavy long-life items so I don’t have to carry them home from the shops. Obviously I won’t be doing that in the current situation. But it wasn’t panic buying when done in normal times.

I’m well aware, of course, that many people can’t necessarily stockpile as they can’t afford to buy extra. I’m not berating them either, for not being able to prep. However, some of those people hopefully have more stock to choose from now, when supermarkets are struggling with supply, than they would if everyone was trying to buy everything they need right now.

It’s really not about smugness for me. Why on earth would I be horrible enough to be smug about the difficulties people are facing right now??

Analogies

Stockpiling It's like trying to run a 4hr marathon on your first run
Building supplies is training every week for 6 months before running the marathon

Only one approach works, the body develops slowly and nothing breaks down

Building supplies here. Tin or packet or 2 extra here and there.
I have been well stocked for nappies/wipes for months with having 3 under 2. Between myself and sil and mum buying when on offer. (Nothing to do with current situ) Thankfully not needing those for now.
Been buying extra meat and poultry and freezing. We have a fishman comes to the town once a week, i usually buy a few extra bits for freezer.
Had been saying to dp about a double fridge freezer back in jan as i now have 6 of us to cook for. Might ask about it again as i want to batch cook dinners etc. Esp for incase i end up ill enough to be bed ridden for a few days.

This.... when peple panic buy food they can't possibly eat and just throw it away. Picture taken yesterday in Suffolk...

That’s just horrendous.

We’re always very careful to prevent food waste anyway; we’re used to making sure every bit counts. Our food store will stretch further as we plan carefully how best to use it.

I bought in extra for Brexit and have never let it run down. I’ve been consistently bit slowly adding to freezer and cupboard for over a year. I don’t feel guilty for being organised. I am one less person elbowing people out of the way in Costco!

Because those buying in advance may be driven by similar motivations, but it doesn't affect others as it doesn't disrupt the supply chain to the extent that there are prolongated shortages which are causing issues for people. Those buying now are doing so whilst being fully aware that it means others are going without as the shelves are stripped bare. I know there aren't shortages, but it is odd the big supermarkets here are not recieveing any overnight deliveries at the moment.

I’m with Axis. I have a couple of weeks of meals in the freezer and pasta etc in the cupboards. People who have prepped (even a little) are actually reducing the pressure on stores. We aren’t panic buying and in fact need very little.

I think there is a big difference between very slowly building up a supply of stuff over an extended period of time and panic buying in large quantities when a crisis hits. The former allows suppliers to respond to a gradual increase in demand; the latter does not.

People picking up an extra tin or the odd packet of toilet roll in January/early February are not what has caused the current problem!

I always have extras of tinned/dried/long life food at home, but since late January I've been adding a couple of extra tins, pack of pasta, bag of flour etc everytime I go shopping. Shopping like that isn't like panic buying at all - the shelves were all well stocked at that point and being restocked regularly.

curiousaboutsamphire that’s not Suffolk! Look at the bus location and the euro sign on the poster....

I know! People who've long laughed at how we deal with leftovers are suddenly asking me what/how etc.

We used to live in the middle of nowhere and had 2 freezers and a stock of tinned food. We were flooded in fairly regularly, so it made sense to be a 'prepper'. We live in a small market town now... and my god it is weird!

I want a packet of spaghetti. Mainly because I made a large batch of bolognese last week and relaised we have about 6 strands of spag left. Nope! No pasta anywhere. Fortunately we found a packet of linguine in the cupboard of doom (the remnants of our prepper habits). There are 4 packs of passata in there too! So we are OK for a while.

It was weird to realise that there are no packets of dried beans avaiable either! There are going to be some very ill people if they don't know what they are doing! I have 2 tins of black bins and a tin of chick peas as I made a large batch of bean stew and hadn't got round to restocking. We have no bean stew left

Still... local farm shops are OK at the moment, lots of veg and local meat! I bet those people who lobbied against the local abbatoir are happy they lost now as it is telling everyone that they are still processing local livestock and will continue to supply local butchers.

Don’t forget that when cafes and restaurants and restaurants close all the food that they normally buy can be diverted to the public.

I think it’s fine to have a spare pack of toilet roll in, just in case. I think having 200 spare packs of toilet paper in is what is causing the problems.

@Ivegotnothing bugger! You are right.

I should have read the facebook post better - it says This is what is happening around the world when greedy bastards buy more than they should and is posted in a Suffolk page!

Google tells me it is Lisbon! Wonder when it was?

I should kow better, that friend is often caught posting fake news. My apologies!

Don’t forget that when cafes and restaurants and restaurants close all the food that they normally buy can be diverted to the public. One local pub is already packing up his catering pasta into smaller bags, giving it away to people he has recommended to him by a local care agency and taking some to local care homes. All of our cafes are making take outs and delivering... you pay over the phone, they leave it on your doorstep!