Who is panic buying??

[Mulhollandmagoo]

Out of curiosity (and slight irritation at having to spend all day at shops/supermarkets to scrape together a weekly shop) who is panic buying?? As everyone I hear talking about it are annoyed by it, everyone on here is annoyed by it and everyone on social media is annoyed by it.....but the shelves are bare!

So where are these elusive panic buyers?

No body thinks they’re panic buying

We normally shop every day. But I haven’t got time every day to go round to different shops and find all the things we need, because they’re half stocked. So I bought 3 weeks worth of food in one go.
It’s no more than we need, we will eat it all and I won’t shop again. But I would never do that normally. That has caused more demand on the shop today than there would normally be. I imagine many are in my situation.

When I was shopping, I heard almost non stop people exclaiming
‘This is ridiculous’
‘This is so crazy what is everyone doing?!’
‘They’re all stupid, panic buying’

And yet, they too were in Tesco at 6am. With a trolly full of toilet roll.

I agree with a PP that the supermarkets are in large part responsible for this. They could have brought limits in sooner but they're so greedy, they literally thought Christmas had come early. My DF was a delivery driver, I worked in the warehouse and have also been front line staff in a supermarket; I can well imagine the stress of the people in line down the supply chain. What a mess.

I'm in the army. Finished work today after quite a Long week & had to go to three shops before I could find any fresh fruit or veg. I'm not trying to be difficult but just because you're home for lunch... surely you panic buyers aren't all cooking swede for lunch?

My weekend diet is going to be bizarre based on what's left in the shops. It makes no sense.

Now they start to break cover! All armed with reasons why they are special and aren’t panic buying, no.

I'm panic buying but not to excess, it's hard not to, I haven't filled a trolley and don't have tons of loo roll and pasta stored away but I have been buying a little more.

For instance today at our local supermarket I noticed there were hardly any tampons there, my period isn't due but I still bought a box because I was worried there wouldn't be any left when I needed them, same with washing powder, I have half a box but the shelves were almost bare so I picked one up.

I bet the majority of us have bought at least a couple of things extra than normal, it doesn't need to be trolley loads extra to cause an impact.

I get annoyed with myself because I know I've added to the problem albeit in a tiny way but yes I do feel my anxiety go through the roof when I go to the shops and see the empty shelves and then buy an extra pack of something "just in case".

Family of six here. Four of us are adults and suddenly we are all at home for all meals.
No school dinners.
No lunches at work.
No takeaway on Friday night.

Plus I normally do one regular shop plus a wee call in the shop on the way home for milk, bread, fresh veg and whatever I didn't realise I needed in the weekly shop. As well as a wee run into Boots or similar for shampoo, etc etc and possibly a call into B&M or somewhere similar for their offers...but I don't do any of that now because we are trying to social distance.

The result is a massive weekly shop that makes it look like we are never coming out again but it really isn't hoarding we will go through it all before the next weeks shop.

I think this shows that as a species we all eat far too much.

Not always out of necessity, sometimes out of habit and/or boredom.

I think having a larger family makes buying extra food, especially given the most recent updates more acceptable, based on the fact more people will be home for more mealtimes, but surely wouldn't result in the shelves being completely ransacked?

What bugged me, is that I had to go to four supermarkets to find the bare essentials such as formula for my little girl, and then a fifth to get nappies in the right size, and half the places had no bread, half had no milk, most places had no basics like eggs, cheese or baked beans and and anything they did have was all picked at and thrown around. Luckily I don't eat much rice or pasta so no need to buy it, but that was al completely gone too

If we all shopped normally to our current situation i.e more people in the house temporarily, we'd be fine. I don't want to over buy as it's selfish and could be wasteful, but I feel a bit like my hand is being forced as I don't want to get down to my last few wipes/nappies and go out to get them and there be none left.

The proper panic buying was done last week and now the supermarkets can't get the goods out of the warehouse quick enough to restock. I've tried six shops locally in the last two days and still haven't managed to fulfil a standard week's shop with no extras at all. I have, however, managed to secure a job in the local Aldi warehouse (starting next week) where they are crewing up like mad to try to meet demand!!!

I’d guess there were very few hoarding panic buyers. Everyone in the shop buying two tins of beans instead of their usual one is enough to make the just in time delivery algorithms collapse. Hopefully it will settle down soon.

I saw one person with an entire trolley of just meat - must have easily been £600.

@Gertie75

For instance today at our local supermarket I noticed there were hardly any tampons there, my period isn't due but I still bought a box because I was worried there wouldn't be any left when I needed them

This is my current train of thought, I don't want to be part of the problem, but I don't want to be screwed by the people causing the problem either.

@Whataboutthismess that's definitely not panic buying, that's buying a weekly shop that your family are going to eat. That's what everyone should be doing.

But there's gotta be people out there with hoards of loo roll, pasta and tinned corned beef and I'm curious as to their thought process behind it

It's the fact they are buying anything and everything. Stuff they'd never usually eat.
People who have never made a fucking loaf in their lives buying up bread flour or tins of random crap that will end up just sat in cupboards. No meal planning etc, just buying for the sake of it.

Fresh food is still widely available. Ready made sandwiches are still readily available. The people who have bought extra freezers to stockpile will be noticed by uptick on their smart meter reading for electricity.

I have seen people on MN effectively say those struggling to find food now were stupid for not stocking up. There was an attitude of superiority. Obviously those over buying have money to be able to do this. And space to store what they have bought.

I'm in France and although we're already on lockdown and only allowed out for very good reasons (including food shopping) I don't think people are panic buying. We normally buy a week's worth of shopping but I think a few days is more normal here. Just before lockdown it was crazy busy at the supermarket, everyone had full trollies but no one had 20 packs of loo roll or pasta. DH went today and it was a little sparse but we won't starve. It seems much calmer than last week/earlier this week. Small local shops are good too, not busy and I got the veg I needed midweek at ours, no fresh milk or eggs there though!

I didn’t panic buy as such. I am wheat free , dairy free , I have ibs and I have a bladder that reacts to food in an awful way ( think water infection ) every time I eat something it doesn’t like.

I have about ten foods in the entire supermarket that I can eat without making my self very sick. I saw the way this was going a few weeks ago so I went in and stock piled all the foods I can eat. As an example one of my main sources of food is Tesco free from rice crispies and rice milk. Something I eat bowls of everyday.

I don’t have the luxury to be able to just eat what is left in the supermarket.

I'm about to panic buy, not in the sense of grabbing more than I need or grabbing what I would never get just because it's there but because I'm getting there this morning for when the store opens its doors to see what difference it makes

ebay is selling bread mixes for £12. It's ridiculous

Panic buying rant incoming...

Bored shitless of seeing posts criticising ‘panic buyers’; it’s literal NHS and CDC advice to ensure you have enough of a stockpile at home to see you through a possible period of quarantine or isolation, to buy more when you do go to the shops so you can reduce the number of trips you take and opportunities to infect or be infected. Because you can’t hate a virus people seem to have banded together to hate panic buyers lol. Yet judging by the number of posts I’ve seen judging them, and the empty shelves, I’m not convinced everyone sharing anti-panic buy memes is strictly buying only what they require for the day or week...

It’s easy to only buy what you need when you have friends and family nearby to drop off supplies or you’re young and fit enough that the virus will probably not floor you and you’ll recover quickly. Not so easy when you’re facing possible months of isolation with nobody to help you. Really gonna judge someone for buying extra when they’re scared of that scenario? ‘Just buy what you need until you need it’ sure, let’s wait until you get sick until you traipse out to the shops to get paracetamol, enough to see you for a couple of weeks of daily use. Oh no, wait, you can’t buy that much at once. And probably can’t go to the shops while feeling that shit. And should be isolating with symptoms anywhere. Now who’s wishing they had enough toilet roll and painkillers in the house?

Sure, judge the guy who bought all the sanitizer and the flogged it for profit (I admit, j find it difficult not to when it comes to essentials like baby items and soap etc.) But maybe he’s just lost his job, has no savings and kids to feed and is doing whatever he can think of to survive. The real problem is supermarkets not bothering to implement buying restrictions any sooner so that stockpiling could have been at least somewhat mitigated, everyone could get a little extra to see them through without some people taking loads and others finding nothing left, but it’s easier to sanctimoniously judge the woman in the queue ahead of you who for all you know might be buying for several elderly relatives. Seems like ‘be kind’ has gone out the window pretty fast...

And no, I’ve not panic bought as I’m someone who tends to have a few backups of everything in anyway. I have five large hand gel bottles as it was cheaper to buy a multipack online when I had my first baby last year, when I’m down to my last few baby wipe packets I buy ten more, that kinda thing. Always have cartons of ambient milk, pasta, bread in the freezer. Started being this way after having my baby as there just isn’t time for regular trips to the shop so it’s much easier to go less often. So I’m in the extremely fortunate position not to have to stock up. We already are. Before some genius rushes to dismiss everything I’ve said by accusing me of sitting on fifty toilet rolls at home.

People are still panic buying. Or hoarding is a better way to put it.

I saw my neighbour yesterday unload their car of about 100 toilet rolls and a brand new enormous TV.

At Asda the other day, DH saw two fights at the checkout when customers were told it was a limit of two items per customer. One was trying to buy 20 cartons of milk and the other was trying to buy 9 chickens.

I admit I laughed at my parents for Brexit stock piling. But they were right.

I'm not panic buying but I have had to stockpile formula (5 tubs) some people in my area are buying loads and selling them for profit online so I have to beat them to it...but I do need to make sure my babies are fed I have a 12 week old and a 15 month old so I can't get out as much anymore and I haven't let them out of the house for weeks so the only shop I do is when my mum can watch the babies while I nip out and grab essentials... it's so hard to get milk, nappies & baby wipes I went to 4 different shops yesterday and there was none to be found

‘Buying a few extra things’ or buying an extra loaf of bread/block of cheese because you’re eating at home rather than at work is not going to lead to the bare shelves we have seen in supermarkets.

Of course it will. Hundreds of people buying a bit extra will easily empty the shelves. Supermarkets don't have masses of excess stock lying around, they get in what they think they'll sell and there hasn't been time to adjust the quantities yet.

This is my current train of thought, I don't want to be part of the problem, but I don't want to be screwed by the people causing the problem either.

Exactly :) and nearly everyone feels that way too. It’s a social phenomena imo borne of survival instinct and fear. Not something to rip into individuals for. But it gives people the chance to hate on something, portray themselves as morally superior, and garner lots of outraged likes I guess.

Be careful not to take every single panic buy post on social media as true, too. My friends and I caught a lady out in a massive lie yesterday which was funny. She posted she’d just been to our local supermarket and it was rammed, people shoving each other out of the way, one old lady pushed to the ground and hurt. How awful, why do people do this ffs, oh my god. In the bread aisle specifically, this assault. Because there was only a couple loaves left.

By pure coincidence I had been in that exact shop at that exact time and went past bread aisle when I went in: absolutely fine lol. Really calm and quiet, plenty of bread, no old lady on the ground. They can’t have restocked in the possible split second between her witnessing this and me arriving. I’d mentioned to the checkout lady on the way out it was very quiet and she said yep it has been, eerily so. No ambulance for this mysterious old injured woman outside. My friend confirmed she meant the same supermarket and said that’s odd, my mate’s just been in there and said it’s been fine. She doubled down of course and said it was carnage and like Xmas etc. But not before she had plenty of outrage likes and shares and comments. And if I hadn’t have been there myself I’d have believed it and gone about my day worrying about scenes of chaos in my local with the perception we are readying apocalypse haha. But just a lie.