# Stop the panic buying



## Sunny (12 Mar 2020)

I am hearing that supermarkets are operating a one person in and one person out policy because they are so busy. I have heard of full trollies being dumped because people ran out of time in the queues for the check out. There are empty aisles.

What are people expecting to happen? No Country including Italy have experienced shortages in the supply chain. Shops will not be closed. You are not going to starve to death. Can people please calm down? It is must be frightening for people who are struggling to makes end meet seeing these pictures everywhere of people packing up trollies full of groceries that they don't need. They must be wondering what their families are missing. 

This is serious but it is not going to lead to the end of the world. Common sense still applies.


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## mtk (12 Mar 2020)

This too will pass.


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## Jazz01 (12 Mar 2020)

Sunny said:


> What are people expecting to happen


no one knows what is going to happen. This is all new for everyone, so, to a certain extent, I can understand the panic buying. I guess it's the herd mentality - "everyone else is doing it, so I must".

The problem is indeed for people who are struggling to make ends meet but also for the older population who are looking for a few days of goods and will struggle due to lack of stock on the shelves, and the huge increase in people in the shops themselves. Hopefully sense will prevail and this will ease up sooner, rather than later.


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## Purple (12 Mar 2020)

mtk said:


> This too will pass.


Said the man who swallowed a goldfish.


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## Purple (12 Mar 2020)

Jazz01 said:


> no one knows what is going to happen. This is all new for everyone, so, to a certain extent, I can understand the panic buying. I guess it's the herd mentality - "everyone else is doing it, so I must".


Yea, but toilet rolls? Really? Is that at the top of the list?


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## TarfHead (12 Mar 2020)

I saw a video on Twitter of TESCO Clare Hall, showing the shutters down and a queue of people with empty trolleys waiting to be allowed in.  As already commented, 'herd mentality'.  In this case, more of a 'flock'


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## JSnowWinterfell (12 Mar 2020)

I have not seen a more hardened battlefield in the aisles of Aldi since Winterfell


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## Brendan Burgess (12 Mar 2020)

Sunny

Please edit the thread title. We do not allow shouting on askaboutmoney.

Brendan


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## Jazz01 (12 Mar 2020)

_In a bid to limit the spread of the coronavirus the Government has announced a number of new measures "to slow the virus in its tracks and push it back"..._

So now we've thousands of people in supermarkets across the country squashed in, panic buying, standing very close to each other, using trolleys, exchanging money, coughing / spluttering / general exchange of things that shouldn't be shared... All in advance of a few thousand people returning from "the races" at the end of the week / start of next week...


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## odyssey06 (12 Mar 2020)

I think they would've wanted to make the announcement about schools closure at 9pm Sunday or Tuesday night.
It was 7am Washington time with Leo gave the speech.
Something spooked them into bringing forward their timetable.


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## odyssey06 (12 Mar 2020)

Even The Guardian reporting on it... Within minutes of Leo Varadkar’s announcement on Thursday of closures and restrictions shoppers packed supermarkets across Ireland to stock up on toiletries, tinned food, pasta, rice and other products.








						Markets fall again as global Covid-19 cases near 130,000 – as it happened
					

Stock markets plunge again; number of cases nears 130,000 around world; Canadian PM Justin Trudeau self-isolating. This blog is closed




					www.theguardian.com


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## odyssey06 (12 Mar 2020)

Product purchasing restrictions to be introduced by @Aldi_Ireland from tomorrow. Tissues, antibacterial handwash, pasta & tinned tomatoes among the products that will be limited to four items per customer. Follows a similar move from @lidl_ireland today


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## Leo (12 Mar 2020)

odyssey06 said:


> I think they would've wanted to make the announcement about schools closure at 9pm Sunday or Tuesday night.
> It was 7am Washington time with Leo gave the speech.
> Something spooked them into bringing forward their timetable.



It was planned for tomorrow, that would have allowed more time for parents to plan, especially as lots of schools were going to be closed on Monday. My guess is the letter sent to principles earlier in the week was leaked too widely so they brought it forward.


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## WolfeTone (12 Mar 2020)

Just to add, without need to start another thread - stop the panic selling!

Im hearing of all sorts of markets, from Dublin, London, New York and Singapore,  dumping shares like they are toilet roll. 

Perhaps a new market equilibrium, or new market currency, is emerging?


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## ardmacha (13 Mar 2020)

Leo said:


> It was planned for tomorrow, that would have allowed more time for parents to plan, especially as lots of schools were going to be closed on Monday. My guess is the letter sent to principles earlier in the week was leaked too widely so they brought it forward.



I expect they were planning for the weekend but the large number of cases today spooked them, although almost all these cases were a consequence of cases they already knew about.


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## odyssey06 (13 Mar 2020)

Shelves being restocked in my local Tesco express, delivery truck was pulling away as I entered ... bread milk butter and eggs have been purchased. Thank you to the staff member who got the eggs from the crates for me as shelves were still empty


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## Monbretia (13 Mar 2020)

I want to go to Lidl this morning for a just a few things, mainly their veg specials this week, but can't face it if the place is crowded.  I was going to go at 8 when they opened but then figured some people who are working at 9/9.30 might be going early so figured 8.45 was a better time to try it.   Still haven't left now so will go and see anyway.

My simple reasoning for going today is that's me done, I'm staying away from everywhere for next two weeks at least, was stocking up long before now so plenty already in.


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## odyssey06 (13 Mar 2020)

Monbretia said:


> I want to go to Lidl this morning for a just a few things, mainly their veg specials this week, but can't face it if the place is crowded.  I was going to go at 8 when they opened but then figured some people who are working at 9/9.30 might be going early so figured 8.45 was a better time to try it.   Still haven't left now so will go and see anyway.



Let us know how you get on... I'm wondering if the main supermarkets will be mobbed maybe the local shops, butchers etc might be OK.


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## Sunny (13 Mar 2020)

Monbretia said:


> I want to go to Lidl this morning for a just a few things, mainly their veg specials this week, but can't face it if the place is crowded.  I was going to go at 8 when they opened but then figured some people who are working at 9/9.30 might be going early so figured 8.45 was a better time to try it.   Still haven't left now so will go and see anyway.
> 
> My simple reasoning for going today is that's me done, I'm staying away from everywhere for next two weeks at least, was stocking up long before now so plenty already in.



I think this is actually one of the dangers on introducing these measures too early. We are only at the beginning of this. Will what was done yesterday help? Maybe. Will it stop it? No. Are we going to be back to normal in two weeks? Certainly not. So the danger you of you 'not going anywhere' for two weeks is that by the end of the two weeks, you will be told that they are actually stepping up the measures and you will simply be fatigued after already spending two weeks isolating. 

There is no need for people to completely isolate themselves for 2 weeks. There simply isn't. Avoid large gatherings. Reduce social gatherings. Maintain the highest hygiene possible. Use hand sanitiser. Stay at home if you are anyway ill. Follow the official advice. I have heard of people not letting their kids outside to play for the next two weeks or limiting interaction with their friends. It's just crazy. We will end up with an anxiety or mental health crisis if we continue along these lines....


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## TarfHead (13 Mar 2020)

Copied from a Facebook comment "_LIDL are restricting customers to two power washers and one trumpet each_"


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## Acorn22 (13 Mar 2020)

The coronavirus is a very temporary situation.  I hope people keep that in their minds and know it will end sooner than we know.


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## Ceist Beag (13 Mar 2020)

Sunny said:


> I have heard of people not letting their kids outside to play for the next two weeks or limiting interaction with their friends. It's just crazy.


Agree with everything else you said Sunny but I think there has to be limiting of interaction with friends here. That's not to say a total isolation but indoor play dates should be discouraged. Playing outside is considered low risk so that should be fine once the children are taught to wash their hands immediately when they come back in and to follow the other advice given.


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## Monbretia (13 Mar 2020)

Sunny said:


> you 'not going anywhere' for two weeks is that by the end of the two weeks, you will be told that they are actually stepping up the measures and you will simply be fatigued after already spending two weeks isolating



I live a very quiet life anyway  and spend a lot of it fairly isolated probably by most people's standards so it's no real hardship. I work from home on my own but a lot of my work is being cancelled anyway.    I wouldn't be in many social gatherings at the best of times so it's more avoiding shopping and coffee shops sort of thing.  Going to make me some scones now in a minute   I also fully expect it to last a lot longer than two weeks, this is the tip of the iceberg I think.  Now I'll go for lots of beach walks as usual and I have stocked up on paint and lots of diy/gardening jobs to be done so house will be pristine by the time I'm finished!

Anyway I went to Lidl, not that busy at all, cashier said it was hectic at 8 when they opened but by the time I got there at 9 it was no busier than a normal day.


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## odyssey06 (13 Mar 2020)

The aim of the measures announced yesterday is to slow infections so that e.g. 200 people a week catch the virus over five weeks instead of 500 people a week catching the virus over two weeks. The goal is to give health services and society time to handle the pandemic. This wont be over in 2 weeks.


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## Purple (13 Mar 2020)

I've a 10kg bag of brown basmati rice, lots of spices, dried beans and pulses, tins of tomatoes etc. I stock up every few months and did so 3 weeks ago (coincidentally) so I reckon I've enough food for at least a month.

I've also got plenty of flour and sugar so we'll have biscuits and cakes and lots of veggie curries, chillies and bean stews. Didn't stock up on bog roll but sure a few feet of garden hose attached to the tap at the sink and you're sorted!


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## Leo (13 Mar 2020)

ardmacha said:


> I expect they were planning for the weekend but the large number of cases today spooked them, although almost all these cases were a consequence of cases they already knew about.



I think it was more that the cat was out of the bag (I saw the letter on Tuesday), and some schools may have been considering making an announcement before the official one was made.


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## Up Rovers (14 Mar 2020)

Because people are stocking up on prescriptions the pharmacies are only issuing one month supply at a time rather than the possible 3 or 6 months that some people would normally purchase.  Because of this restriction we will all be paying more because the 'reading the prescription' fee appears to be kicking in for each month rather than a one off.  My charges had definitely gone up yesterday.


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## odyssey06 (16 Mar 2020)

LIDL and Tesco to assign priority for shopping by elderly customers between 9am and 11am - not entirely sure what this means in practice








						Lidl and Tesco to implement priority shopping for elderly people and home carers
					

Priority shopping will be in place across Lidl’s 163 stores in Ireland between 9am and 11am every day until further notice.




					www.thejournal.ie


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## odyssey06 (27 Mar 2020)

Update from Dunnes stores:
We have implemented designated shopping hours for the *elderly (60+), vulnerable and family carers between 11am and 1pm daily*. In line with government guidance and to protect those more vulnerable, we ask customers with children to avoid coming to the store during these designated hours and to shop at other times.




__





						Special Opening Hours
					

We have designated shopping hours for the elderly, vulnerable & family carers. Learn more.




					www.dunnesstores.com


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## odyssey06 (27 Mar 2020)

Shopwatch:
Went to LIDL D3 just after 1. There was a spaced queued of about 20 people waiting outside to get in. Took me about 12-15 minutes to get in as it was a 1 in 1 out system.
ALDI across the road seemed to be operating same system.
Shelves fairly well stocked, eggs back on the shelves. Was able to get some basic pasta and pasta sauces also.


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## DeeKie (28 Mar 2020)

Probably be busy today after Leo’s announcement yesterday


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## noproblem (28 Mar 2020)

Might be a good idea if supermarkets put triple the price or more on more than 1 of certain scarce items.  Flour and pasta shelves fairly empty. For example,  Ikg flour at €3.50, 2x 1kg flour €10 each. Would teach a few greedy people a lesson.


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## Thirsty (28 Mar 2020)

Whats wrong with buying 2kg of flour? 

I've had to buy far more groceries than usual; I need to feed myself and I no longer eat out. 

I don't see anything greedy about it.


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## noproblem (28 Mar 2020)

Thirsty said:


> Whats wrong with buying 2kg of flour?
> 
> I've had to buy far more groceries than usual; I need to feed myself and I no longer eat out.
> 
> I don't see anything greedy about it.


Oh dear oh dear, i'm only making the point with regard to people who stockpile buy and leave nothing for everyone else. I just used the flour as an example.


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## Thirsty (28 Mar 2020)

Buying sufficent food is not panic behaviour; if you believe it will be difficult to get food in the short term, it's perfectly rational.

It amuses me that its always someone else's behaviour that's the problem, never our own.


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