Panic buying

[springyzone]

I was just reading a Coles report about their latest financial year and they mentioned the effects of Covid, panic buying etc and how they expect that to settle down more by 2022.

Now, I am in Melbourne, lockdown capital of Australia (although Sydney is catching up).

Here are my experiences.

March 2020. 1st round of lockdown. Shocking. Toilet paper was off the shelves for 5 weeks, unless you were in the right place at the right time. Being a senior, I was later able to pop in at 7am but even that didn't guarantee products on shelves.

Other things in short supply were mince, pasta, rice, pasta sauce, even cooking oil took a hit.

Second lockdown (the really long one) About mid 2020 to Nov: Initial panic buying but it settled down almost immediately. Never got to anything like the first time. I think media didn't harp on it as much so didn't set everyone off.

6th lockdown (now, Aug 2021). Not even a ripple as far as affecting buying habits. I guess most people know that the goods will still be there, there is no need to overbuy, although I guess most people have a spare pack of toilet rolls stashed away, they don't live as close to the edge as they once might have.😁

So.. what is the experience like for those in other states? Are they still having the panic buying each time a new lockdown starts?

[papermoon.lady]

Same area... All good here too.

Last year I even saw disgusting pics of food the hoarders had thrown away because they didn't understand they can't hoard fresh food. Unbelievable. 

[domino-710]

Anyone with a problem - just yell. lol

[repentatleisure1952]

Our nearest Aldi also has restrictions...

Only allowed to buy 2 diving suits, 1 trumpet & 1 mig welder.

[domino-710]

[springyzone]

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@katistrophik wrote:

Where I am in Sunny Coast Q, the supermarkets now place a restriction on the amount of "panic' products that can be purchased, since the first debacle where everyone seemed to think a 2000 rolls of toilet paper was the cure for COVID.

We don't have it too bad here, and really feel for those of you who are going through all this yet again.

Yes, I think the supermarkets now swing into automatic  product limits on some items as soon as there is a lockdown. It's a good thing.

I remember seeing a photo last year at the start of it all,  of a family in a neighbouring suburb. Their house was a hoarders delight. Never seen anything like it. One whole wall of the lounge room was stacked with crates of food, toilet paper etc. Kitchen ditto and even the top of the fridge was loaded.

I think they must have bought up every case of  bottled water in the area too.

Even the bedrooms took the overflow from the kitchen, with so many stacks it is a miracle anyone could move around the house.

That's one family that should not have had to do much shopping for at least the last year!

And during one lockdown, I was in Aldi and saw one man buying about 30 jars of pasta sauce. I mean, I can understand one or two or even 5, but whole trays of it? Who eats this much spaghetti or whatever, you'd think you'd get tired of it.

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[countessalmirena]

I have a terrible vision of a man "wiping" his nether regions with pasta sauce after having cooked reams of toilet paper for 8 minutes.

[wide-world-of-stamps]

We're in a smallish country town, and the locals here don't tend to panic buy as much as in the city.

The main problem last year was that busloads of people came from out of town (even from as far away as Sydney) and stripped the shelves, which luckily hasn't happened since.

That caused the locals to buy extra of everything (generally not in hoarding amounts, but definitely more than usual) when the stocks were slightly replenished so that we all didn't run out again ourselves.

I think that is part of the later "panic buying" - people know that the shops will still be open during lockdowns, but they're worried about others emptying the shelves so try to get in first.

[repentatleisure1952]

[nicnacs_4u]

Noticed yesterday at my local supermarket(Eastern suburbs) certain type of people were stocking up on toilet paper,paper towels,nappies etc loads of it and apparently no limits on how much they could buy.Lots of people around were shaking their heads in disbelief,me included!😮

[chameleon54]

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@nicnacs_4u wrote:

Noticed yesterday at my local supermarket(Eastern suburbs) certain type of people were stocking up on toilet paper,paper towels,nappies etc loads of it and apparently no limits on how much they could buy.Lots of people around were shaking their heads in disbelief,me included!😮

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In defence of " certain types of people "........ ( was it our new migrant population ? )  we have had it pretty cushy in Australia during our adult lives. Few of us have experienced war, famine, economic or social depression. It tends to scar those who have had to live with very little and tends to trigger the hoarding instinct in many. 

Both of my parents grew up in the years immediately following the depression and second world war. Everything was scarce and even basic necessities such as nails, tin and wood where impossible to get. The old farm homestead sheds are full of containers of bent roofing nails and little scraps of steel that where saved for future use. Some of the walls in old farm sheds are clad in 200 litre ( 44 gallon ) fuel drums that where cut open, flattened out and used as wall iron. Furniture was made from packing cases with bits of cloth nailed on for cupboard door curtains or chair covers. Although naturally tidy people, both of my parents tended to hoard stuff, as did most other farmers of the era.

I am renovating a shack built in 1940. Everywhere inside the walls are little scraps of timber nailed together to make longer pieces of wood and the floor is a bit of cement smeared over old house bricks and flat stones.

Having lived in extreme poverty myself when first married and starting out in farming  ( thanks to Paul Keatings 27% interest rates on loans soon after buying my first farm ) I have the hoarding bug myself. Visiters to my farm are amazed at the collection of steel, roofing iron,  wood etc. lined up in rows. It has come in useful over the years with all fences, gates, sheds and some farm equipment made out of scrap materials. Its all good stuff, painted or galvanised and is indiscernable from the brought item.

With our generous social security, safety net, most Australians have been blessed to live in a state of relative prosperity and privilege compared to many in the world and so have difficulty in understanding what it is like to really live without even basic foods and necessities.