What is with the toilet paper hoarding?

[Sibley]

I'm good on TP, which is good because the store was out. Stopped on the way home. My area is shutting down, and I'm kinda anticipating that my office will be closing as well. Most of the schools have closed for 2-4 weeks. I'm hoping to just stay home for a while - my asthma is causing problems even without being sick, so I'd likely be in trouble.

Aldi's was nuts. No bread, TP, paper towels, tissues, napkins, meat, pasta, rice. Canned goods 80% empty with a purchase limit. Plenty of milk, eggs, cereal. Mix of everything else. I was able to get about half my list. Luckily, the stuff I needed I was able to get. The things I couldn't get I will be ok, if sad. I may have to ration cookies (currently addicted to their fudge stripes).

[BigMoneyJim]

The hilarious thing was overhearing people saying "but we actually need it".

Like the people in the airport asking to cut in line because they have to catch a plane....

Does anyone know how to make a home made bidet from common items found around the house?  Asking for a friend.

Sure! Just stock up on bottled water, the cheap ones in the flimsy PET bottles. ... Oh ... damn.

[Wrenchturner]

In many parts of the world, it's rude to eat with your left hand.  You can figure out the rest.

[marble_faun]

Our plan is to use our baby's cloth diapers as toilet paper if the local supply really runs low.  Though hopefully it won't come to that!

It's funny to hear about all the panic buying in response to "other people panic buying."  It's still panic buying and contributes to the chaos!

[Sibley]

Ugh. My parents are stupid. I TOLD them to do a big shopping trip.

Anywhere online that actually has TP? They're in Detroit area.

[frugalnacho]

No toilet paper, no bread, no vegetables, no cheese, no meat. This is bonkers.  I've never experienced anything quite like this.

I've heard from people on the inside at some stores that despite the public message of "nothing is wrong more tp is on the way so don't worry" there have been major supply line interruptions, and there will be nationwide shortage soon with no one getting more for a month or more.  I do not know how credible those sources are, so take that with a grain of salt.

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

No toilet paper, no bread, no vegetables, no cheese, no meat. This is bonkers.  I've never experienced anything quite like this.

I've heard from people on the inside at some stores that despite the public message of "nothing is wrong more tp is on the way so don't worry" there have been major supply line interruptions, and there will be nationwide shortage soon with no one getting more for a month or more.  I do not know how credible those sources are, so take that with a grain of salt.

No, it's a demand shock; there is no supply shock (yet). There is more TP on the way. My city was out for half a week but everyone at Hyvee had a package in their cart today. I have a 6 month supply myself purchased a month ago. Tons of cheese and I don't buy meat that often but it was mostly available in abundance. The only things with low stock here today were beans and rice. Maybe people are embracing David Ramsey's advice ;)

[frugalnacho]

More toilet paper on the way through the end of next week, then a glut, or so the rumor goes.  Just a rumor I've heard, so don't take it as true or not.

Went to 2 stores tonight, and they were out of most everything.  Apples, bananas, bread, asparagus, broccoli, onions, potatoes, water, toilet paper, sanitizer.

Empty bread aisle:



Meat department:

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

More toilet paper on the way through the end of next week, then a glut, or so the rumor goes.  Just a rumor I've heard, so don't take it as true or not.

Went to 2 stores tonight, and they were out of most everything.  Apples, bananas, bread, asparagus, broccoli, onions, potatoes, water, toilet paper, sanitizer.

Empty bread aisle:



Meat department:

Nice pics! Very striking though still an extremely well stocked store compared to the USSR. The potential future glut is probably related to the bull-whip effect which results in an oversupply in inventory as an over-response to a sudden surge in demand. I have some goat meat in my freezer I can mail to you.

[YYK]

All this panic and hardly anyone's sick yet. I can't help but imagine the chaos if a disease that was as infectious as this but killed way more came around.

[frugalnacho]

There was some food stocked still, I'm not going to starve, I just can't get half the things I want.  I've gotta use plain feta instead of the garlic feta I like when I make my quiche. This is supposed to be a first world country god damnit!

[GuitarStv]

There was some food stocked still, I'm not going to starve, I just can't get half the things I want.  I've gotta use plain feta instead of the garlic feta I like when I make my quiche. This is supposed to be a first world country god damnit!

Is that really even living???

[OtherJen]

Yeah, don't be these guys, folks.

He Has 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer and Nowhere to Sell Them

[Schaefer Light]

Higher prices would discourage people who don't need TP from stocking up on it.  I blame "price gouging" laws.

[ender]

Yeah, don't be these guys, folks.

He Has 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer and Nowhere to Sell Them

I wish that we had laws about people like this.

On March 1, the day after the first coronavirus death in the United States, brothers Matt and Noah Colvin set out in a silver S.U.V. to pick up some hand sanitizer. Driving around Chattanooga, Tenn., they hit a Dollar Tree, then a Walmart, a Staples and a Home Depot. At each store, they cleaned out the shelves.

Over the next three days, Noah Colvin took a 1,300-mile road trip across Tennessee and into Kentucky, filling a U-Haul truck with thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of packs of antibacterial wipes, mostly from “little hole-in-the-wall dollar stores in the backwoods,” his brother said. “The major metro areas were cleaned out.”

-----
The next day, Amazon pulled his items and thousands of other listings for sanitizer, wipes and face masks. The company suspended some of the sellers behind the listings and warned many others that if they kept running up prices, they’d lose their accounts. EBay soon followed with even stricter measures, prohibiting any U.S. sales of masks or sanitizer.

Good.

I hope assholes like that guy lose tons of money from this. I highly doubt they will though.

People like them actively make the situation worse.

[Schaefer Light]

Yeah, don't be these guys, folks.

He Has 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer and Nowhere to Sell Them

I wish that we had laws about people like this.

On March 1, the day after the first coronavirus death in the United States, brothers Matt and Noah Colvin set out in a silver S.U.V. to pick up some hand sanitizer. Driving around Chattanooga, Tenn., they hit a Dollar Tree, then a Walmart, a Staples and a Home Depot. At each store, they cleaned out the shelves.

Over the next three days, Noah Colvin took a 1,300-mile road trip across Tennessee and into Kentucky, filling a U-Haul truck with thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of packs of antibacterial wipes, mostly from “little hole-in-the-wall dollar stores in the backwoods,” his brother said. “The major metro areas were cleaned out.”

-----
The next day, Amazon pulled his items and thousands of other listings for sanitizer, wipes and face masks. The company suspended some of the sellers behind the listings and warned many others that if they kept running up prices, they’d lose their accounts. EBay soon followed with even stricter measures, prohibiting any U.S. sales of masks or sanitizer.

Good.

I hope assholes like that guy lose tons of money from this. I highly doubt they will though.

People like them actively make the situation worse.

I would argue that Amazon made the situation worse by preventing them from selling their product at the price the market would bear.

[ender]

I would argue that Amazon made the situation worse by preventing them from selling their product at the price the market would bear.

How so?

Overblown panic and reactions like buying all of a medical supply in order to create artificial scarcity and then price gouge make situations like Corona considerably worse.

Societally, people like the guys here are bad actors who actively make things collectively worse for their own selfish gain.

Just the same as how we have laws against most things that damage other people, I have no problems with effectively preventing people from doing this type of thing in our society.

How many people will end up with no hand sanitizer because of this? How many vulnerable people will not be able to have hand sanitizer as a result of some assholes trying to profit?

Medical professionals are going to have problems with supplies because people like these bought up supplies.

[GuitarStv]

I would argue that Amazon made the situation worse by preventing them from selling their product at the price the market would bear.

How so?

Overblown panic and reactions like buying all of a medical supply in order to create artificial scarcity and then price gouge make situations like Corona considerably worse.

Societally, people like the guys here are bad actors who actively make things collectively worse for their own selfish gain.

Just the same as how we have laws against most things that damage other people, I have no problems with effectively preventing people from doing this type of thing in our society.

How many people will end up with no hand sanitizer because of this? How many vulnerable people will not be able to have hand sanitizer as a result of some assholes trying to profit?

Medical professionals are going to have problems with supplies because people like these bought up supplies.

This type of price gouging is really the purest form of capitalism.  It is an individual mobilizing capital because they see a market opportunity.  This will go through a boom and bust cycle and resolve itself eventually . . . so who cares if anyone dies because of shortages in the interim?  Five years from now prices on hand sanitizer will be really low again . . . and at the moment the rich will be able to use their money to get the supplies they need.  Really no down side.  :P

[Sibley]

Ugh. My parents are stupid. I TOLD them to do a big shopping trip.

Anywhere online that actually has TP? They're in Detroit area.

Ok, crisis averted, thanks to @Dollar Slice for the tip. Dad found a package of TP, it's not their preferred brand, but they only have themselves to blame because I told them.

[OtherJen]

Ugh. My parents are stupid. I TOLD them to do a big shopping trip.

Anywhere online that actually has TP? They're in Detroit area.

Ok, crisis averted, thanks to @Dollar Slice for the tip. Dad found a package of TP, it's not their preferred brand, but they only have themselves to blame because I told them.

I’m sure they will survive, just like @frugalnacho and his plain feta. ;-)

[frugalnacho]

There was some food stocked still, I'm not going to starve, I just can't get half the things I want.  I've gotta use plain feta instead of the garlic feta I like when I make my quiche. This is supposed to be a first world country god damnit!

Is that really even living???

I'm basically in Auschwitz. No bananas, and using plain feta.  And my regular supply of toilet paper is down to only about a month left. 

All joking aside though the stores are looking pretty grim, and have been getting progressively worse for the past month.  We still aren't in any danger of starving, but it's definitely becoming a major inconvenience.  I am slightly concerned what it's going to look like in another month if this virus spreads wild like it's been doing in Italy. 

[GuitarStv]

There was some food stocked still, I'm not going to starve, I just can't get half the things I want.  I've gotta use plain feta instead of the garlic feta I like when I make my quiche. This is supposed to be a first world country god damnit!

Is that really even living???

I'm basically in Auschwitz. No bananas, and using plain feta.  And my regular supply of toilet paper is down to only about a month left. 

All joking aside though the stores are looking pretty grim, and have been getting progressively worse for the past month.  We still aren't in any danger of starving, but it's definitely becoming a major inconvenience.  I am slightly concerned what it's going to look like in another month if this virus spreads wild like it's been doing in Italy.

I went to get groceries first thing in the morning like I usually do.  Instead of 1-2 cars in the parking lot, the lot was full before the store opened.  Shelves were already half bare by the time I got a cart.  Really hoping that people calm the hell down in the next couple weeks or it will get grim.

[frugalnacho]

Our plan is to use our baby's cloth diapers as toilet paper if the local supply really runs low.  Though hopefully it won't come to that!

It's funny to hear about all the panic buying in response to "other people panic buying."  It's still panic buying and contributes to the chaos!

It is, but what else are you supposed to do? It's very Noble and enlightened to sit back and say "there is no reason to panic everyone!" Meanwhile all the supplies people are panic buying are gone and now you have none if you didn't participate in the insanity.

I don't think your message is very reassuring to the people sitting at home with no toilet paper and no hand sanitizer.

[frugalnacho]

There was some food stocked still, I'm not going to starve, I just can't get half the things I want.  I've gotta use plain feta instead of the garlic feta I like when I make my quiche. This is supposed to be a first world country god damnit!

Is that really even living???

I'm basically in Auschwitz. No bananas, and using plain feta.  And my regular supply of toilet paper is down to only about a month left. 

All joking aside though the stores are looking pretty grim, and have been getting progressively worse for the past month.  We still aren't in any danger of starving, but it's definitely becoming a major inconvenience.  I am slightly concerned what it's going to look like in another month if this virus spreads wild like it's been doing in Italy.

I went to get groceries first thing in the morning like I usually do.  Instead of 1-2 cars in the parking lot, the lot was full before the store opened.  Shelves were already half bare by the time I got a cart.  Really hoping that people calm the hell down in the next couple weeks or it will get grim.

It's absolute insanity.  Im hopeful that this pandemic thing isn't going to be as bad as many are predicting, but the panic right now is real.

People panic every time there is a snow storm forecasted, but this is a whole new level I've never witnessed in my 37 years. 

[OtherJen]

There was some food stocked still, I'm not going to starve, I just can't get half the things I want.  I've gotta use plain feta instead of the garlic feta I like when I make my quiche. This is supposed to be a first world country god damnit!

Is that really even living???

I'm basically in Auschwitz. No bananas, and using plain feta.  And my regular supply of toilet paper is down to only about a month left. 

All joking aside though the stores are looking pretty grim, and have been getting progressively worse for the past month.  We still aren't in any danger of starving, but it's definitely becoming a major inconvenience.  I am slightly concerned what it's going to look like in another month if this virus spreads wild like it's been doing in Italy.

I went to get groceries first thing in the morning like I usually do.  Instead of 1-2 cars in the parking lot, the lot was full before the store opened.  Shelves were already half bare by the time I got a cart.  Really hoping that people calm the hell down in the next couple weeks or it will get grim.

It's absolute insanity.  Im hopeful that this pandemic thing isn't going to be as bad as many are predicting, but the panic right now is real.

People panic every time there is a snow storm forecasted, but this is a whole new level I've never witnessed in my 37 years.

Same. After living here for 40+ years, I assumed the panic level would be “forecast of 6 inches of snow tomorrow” x10. I was so naïve.

[ender]

It's basically an arms race.

If 5% of people freak out and initiate operation-hoarder-level-9000, the remaining 95% are forced to determine if they are going to take their chances by not hoarding themselves to some extent too or face the risk of being bystander casualties.

[American GenX]

Yeah, don't be these guys, folks.

He Has 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer and Nowhere to Sell Them

I wish that we had laws about people like this.

On March 1, the day after the first coronavirus death in the United States, brothers Matt and Noah Colvin set out in a silver S.U.V. to pick up some hand sanitizer. Driving around Chattanooga, Tenn., they hit a Dollar Tree, then a Walmart, a Staples and a Home Depot. At each store, they cleaned out the shelves.

Over the next three days, Noah Colvin took a 1,300-mile road trip across Tennessee and into Kentucky, filling a U-Haul truck with thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of packs of antibacterial wipes, mostly from “little hole-in-the-wall dollar stores in the backwoods,” his brother said. “The major metro areas were cleaned out.”

-----
The next day, Amazon pulled his items and thousands of other listings for sanitizer, wipes and face masks. The company suspended some of the sellers behind the listings and warned many others that if they kept running up prices, they’d lose their accounts. EBay soon followed with even stricter measures, prohibiting any U.S. sales of masks or sanitizer.

Good.

I hope assholes like that guy lose tons of money from this. I highly doubt they will though.

People like them actively make the situation worse.

I would argue that Amazon made the situation worse by preventing them from selling their product at the price the market would bear.

Exactly.  If the buyer is willing to pay that much and gets what is advertised, then it's a fair deal.  That's capitalism working as it should.

[GuitarStv]

It's basically an arms race.

If 5% of people freak out and initiate operation-hoarder-level-9000, the remaining 95% are forced to determine if they are going to take their chances by not hoarding themselves to some extent too or face the risk of being bystander casualties.

I bought a bunch of stuff a couple weeks back, so guess we've been part of team hoarder for a while.  But now I'm feeling like I should have hoarded more.

[Milizard]

There was some food stocked still, I'm not going to starve, I just can't get half the things I want.  I've gotta use plain feta instead of the garlic feta I like when I make my quiche. This is supposed to be a first world country god damnit!

Is that really even living???

I'm basically in Auschwitz. No bananas, and using plain feta.  And my regular supply of toilet paper is down to only about a month left. 

All joking aside though the stores are looking pretty grim, and have been getting progressively worse for the past month.  We still aren't in any danger of starving, but it's definitely becoming a major inconvenience.  I am slightly concerned what it's going to look like in another month if this virus spreads wild like it's been doing in Italy.

I went to get groceries first thing in the morning like I usually do.  Instead of 1-2 cars in the parking lot, the lot was full before the store opened.  Shelves were already half bare by the time I got a cart.  Really hoping that people calm the hell down in the next couple weeks or it will get grim.

It's absolute insanity.  Im hopeful that this pandemic thing isn't going to be as bad as many are predicting, but the panic right now is real.

People panic every time there is a snow storm forecasted, but this is a whole new level I've never witnessed in my 37 years.

Same. After living here for 40+ years, I assumed the panic level would be “forecast of 6 inches of snow tomorrow” x10. I was so naïve.

I'm a west-sider (lake-effect snow country), so people here don't stock up unless a blizzard is forecast.   I don't even then. I could cross-country ski the 1 mile from my house to Meijer or Walmart if I really needed to.  6 inches of snow is just a night of snow, NBD.

[DadJokes]

Yeah, don't be these guys, folks.

He Has 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer and Nowhere to Sell Them

I wish that we had laws about people like this.

On March 1, the day after the first coronavirus death in the United States, brothers Matt and Noah Colvin set out in a silver S.U.V. to pick up some hand sanitizer. Driving around Chattanooga, Tenn., they hit a Dollar Tree, then a Walmart, a Staples and a Home Depot. At each store, they cleaned out the shelves.

Over the next three days, Noah Colvin took a 1,300-mile road trip across Tennessee and into Kentucky, filling a U-Haul truck with thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of packs of antibacterial wipes, mostly from “little hole-in-the-wall dollar stores in the backwoods,” his brother said. “The major metro areas were cleaned out.”

-----
The next day, Amazon pulled his items and thousands of other listings for sanitizer, wipes and face masks. The company suspended some of the sellers behind the listings and warned many others that if they kept running up prices, they’d lose their accounts. EBay soon followed with even stricter measures, prohibiting any U.S. sales of masks or sanitizer.

Good.

I hope assholes like that guy lose tons of money from this. I highly doubt they will though.

People like them actively make the situation worse.

I would argue that Amazon made the situation worse by preventing them from selling their product at the price the market would bear.

Imagine blaming Amazon for busting up a monopoly.

What these guys are doing in that story is no different than a large company buying up all of its competition, only to jack up prices when they are the only supplier remaining in the industry.

[OtherJen]

There was some food stocked still, I'm not going to starve, I just can't get half the things I want.  I've gotta use plain feta instead of the garlic feta I like when I make my quiche. This is supposed to be a first world country god damnit!

Is that really even living???

I'm basically in Auschwitz. No bananas, and using plain feta.  And my regular supply of toilet paper is down to only about a month left. 

All joking aside though the stores are looking pretty grim, and have been getting progressively worse for the past month.  We still aren't in any danger of starving, but it's definitely becoming a major inconvenience.  I am slightly concerned what it's going to look like in another month if this virus spreads wild like it's been doing in Italy.

I went to get groceries first thing in the morning like I usually do.  Instead of 1-2 cars in the parking lot, the lot was full before the store opened.  Shelves were already half bare by the time I got a cart.  Really hoping that people calm the hell down in the next couple weeks or it will get grim.

It's absolute insanity.  Im hopeful that this pandemic thing isn't going to be as bad as many are predicting, but the panic right now is real.

People panic every time there is a snow storm forecasted, but this is a whole new level I've never witnessed in my 37 years.

Same. After living here for 40+ years, I assumed the panic level would be “forecast of 6 inches of snow tomorrow” x10. I was so naïve.

I'm a west-sider (lake-effect snow country), so people here don't stock up unless a blizzard is forecast.   I don't even then. I could cross-country ski the 1 mile from my house to Meijer or Walmart if I really needed to.  6 inches of snow is just a night of snow, NBD.

Yeah, I know. We have family in GR and Muskegon. Much lower population densities. How are your Meijer shelves?

[marble_faun]

Our plan is to use our baby's cloth diapers as toilet paper if the local supply really runs low.  Though hopefully it won't come to that!

It's funny to hear about all the panic buying in response to "other people panic buying."  It's still panic buying and contributes to the chaos!

It is, but what else are you supposed to do? It's very Noble and enlightened to sit back and say "there is no reason to panic everyone!" Meanwhile all the supplies people are panic buying are gone and now you have none if you didn't participate in the insanity.

I don't think your message is very reassuring to the people sitting at home with no toilet paper and no hand sanitizer.

For toilet paper, seriously consider reusable cloth wipes for these types of situations.  In our house, we already use cloth "paper towels" every day and never worry about running out.  Our cloth baby wipes come from the same brand. (Cloth-eez, in case anyone is curious!).  You can also just spray water on your nether-regions using a squirt bottle.  This is what women do in the days after giving birth.  There are plenty of options that don't involve ransacking stores and creating disruptions.

Hand sanitizer isn't necessary for most of us.  Better not to hoard it so that particularly vulnerable people and medical workers can have it.

[Milizard]

There was some food stocked still, I'm not going to starve, I just can't get half the things I want.  I've gotta use plain feta instead of the garlic feta I like when I make my quiche. This is supposed to be a first world country god damnit!

Is that really even living???

I'm basically in Auschwitz. No bananas, and using plain feta.  And my regular supply of toilet paper is down to only about a month left. 

All joking aside though the stores are looking pretty grim, and have been getting progressively worse for the past month.  We still aren't in any danger of starving, but it's definitely becoming a major inconvenience.  I am slightly concerned what it's going to look like in another month if this virus spreads wild like it's been doing in Italy.

I went to get groceries first thing in the morning like I usually do.  Instead of 1-2 cars in the parking lot, the lot was full before the store opened.  Shelves were already half bare by the time I got a cart.  Really hoping that people calm the hell down in the next couple weeks or it will get grim.

It's absolute insanity.  Im hopeful that this pandemic thing isn't going to be as bad as many are predicting, but the panic right now is real.

People panic every time there is a snow storm forecasted, but this is a whole new level I've never witnessed in my 37 years.

Same. After living here for 40+ years, I assumed the panic level would be “forecast of 6 inches of snow tomorrow” x10. I was so naïve.

I'm a west-sider (lake-effect snow country), so people here don't stock up unless a blizzard is forecast.   I don't even then. I could cross-country ski the 1 mile from my house to Meijer or Walmart if I really needed to.  6 inches of snow is just a night of snow, NBD.

Yeah, I know. We have family in GR and Muskegon. Much lower population densities. How are your Meijer shelves?

I'm in the Muskegon area. My DH just got back from Aldi & Meijer (mostly Meijer), and got most of our usual stuff-- veggies, salad, bread, cheese, and meat were all in stock. He also got more tissues, though I'm not sure why.  My son and I have allergies, so we always keep extra anyway.  He managed to get more of my preferred flavored water, which tends to run out during 11 for $10 sales like this week.He had to get a non-preferred brand of spaghetti sauce, but that's okay. Their TP was low a couple days ago when he bought more, but I'm not sure what the situation is today with that. Overall, I think Meijer has done well getting things restocked. Aldi, I think too, as he got the meat there.

ETA: I had a chance to ask my DH. Meijer was out of TP today. He didn't check Aldi.

[Roland of Gilead]

Exactly.  If the buyer is willing to pay that much and gets what is advertised, then it's a fair deal.  That's capitalism working as it should.

No it isn't.  If capitalism worked like that then the gasoline companies should have been able to collude to make the price of gas $50 a gallon in his area so he could not have afforded to drive the U-haul truck around to collect all the sanitizer.

People say they want this pure type of capitalism but they don't realize how many systems are in place to protect them from pure capitalism.

[SunnyDays]

The people with massive hoards of products that have been banned from on-line sites will simply show up at grocery store parking lots and sell out of their trunk.  Of course, they might get lynched there......

[Jack0Life]

I just use facial tissues in place of toilet paper if I do run out. Flush just like TP.

[Roland of Gilead]

The people with massive hoards of products that have been banned from on-line sites will simply show up at grocery store parking lots and sell out of their trunk.  Of course, they might get lynched there......

They would probably also be breaking the law, technically, by selling on store property.

[Milizard]

I just use facial tissues in place of toilet paper if I do run out. Flush just like TP.

It works in an immediate emergency, but it isn't good for sewer or septic.

[YYK]

Heard that some people are buying pounds upon pounds of bananas too. I don't get it at all. What's the point of stockpiling something that's going to turn to mush before you can possibly eat it all?

[NotJen]

Heard that some people are buying pounds upon pounds of bananas too. I don't get it at all. What's the point of stockpiling something that's going to turn to mush before you can possibly eat it all?

Frozen bananas have many uses, so hopefully no one is letting these go to waste.  My usual habit is 2 bananas a week, but I'll admit I was considering getting at least 2 weeks worth on my next grocery trip!

I'm taking my chances - I haven't stockpiled a thing, including food.  I was in stores Mon, Tues, and Wed and things all seemed normal.  But now that sh!t is getting real, I don't know...  My normal grocery shop is on Monday, and I'm trying to hold out until then.  My hope is that my eating style is different from most Americans, so I'll be able to find what I want.  Someone local posted a picture of the empty shelves - empty shelves of potatoes, but there was plenty of produce in the background.  I think I'll be fine for now.

[Alternatepriorities]

I figured out the TP hoarding!

[John Galt incarnate!]

 Consumer psychologist Paul Marsden  said panic buying  is "about ‘taking back control’ in a world where you feel out of control.”

[Boofinator]

Heard that some people are buying pounds upon pounds of bananas too. I don't get it at all. What's the point of stockpiling something that's going to turn to mush before you can possibly eat it all?

Frozen bananas have many uses....

Banana ice cream is the best! Especially mixed with peanut butter and/or fudge.

[MrThatsDifferent]

I just use facial tissues in place of toilet paper if I do run out. Flush just like TP.

No No No! They aren’t designed to dissolve like TP, don’t flush, throw in the trash. Educate yourself and be responsible.

[Boofinator]

It's funny to hear about all the panic buying in response to "other people panic buying."  It's still panic buying and contributes to the chaos!

Actually, no, it is not panic buying, but rational buying (at least after the snowball gets rolling).

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6667849/toilet-paper-panic-has-basis-in-reality-people-arent-crazy/

E.g.: Last week, my wife said we were running low on toilet paper and to put it on the grocery list for next week. I responded, um, no, we need to buy toilet paper, now. Good thing we did, as within a couple days all of the shelves were bare and we'd be shitting in the shower this week (thanks MMM forum members for the great idea!).

[American GenX]

Banana ice cream is the best! Especially mixed with peanut butter and/or fudge.

I like banana ice cream shakes, or even a version using blended ice with milk instead of ice cream, but please don't put peanut better on there - I won't eat it.  And I'm not allergic.  I once bought some mixed flavor ice cream and didn't read the ingredients closely enough.  I started eating it and really disliked the taste.  There was peanut butter in it!

[lilactree]

So this is how Demolition Man's 3 seashells is implemented... the great TP shortage of 2020.

Love it. LOL

But seriously people, just consider a switch to cloth. After years of using my own homemade stuff (by which I mean an old towel cut up into squares) I splurged last year on a set from Cheeky Wipes. No connection to them other than being a satisfied customer. I heard of them because my sister got a set when she had her twins a couple of years ago and she heard of them because a good friend got them when she had a baby. When my set arrived there was damage to part of the container and they sent me a replacement part immediately. I think it took the owner less than an hour to reply to my email.

If you cut up an old towel, do you need to sew the edges so it won't unravel when washed?
I think for old T-shirts the answer is "no"? I seem to recall reading somewhere that one could use old T-shirt squares for nose-blowing.
Also, what about old bedsheets? Need to sew edges?

[GuitarStv]

Good thing we did, as within a couple days all of the shelves were bare and we'd be shitting in the shower this week (thanks MMM forum members for the great idea!).

No, you shit in the toilet.  You wash your ass off in the shower.  I take no responsibility for people who shit in the shower.  That's on them.   :P

[American GenX]

With the TP hoarding, I think people are going to be more conservative in their use of TP as well, and there could be a lot more "stinky" and stained underwear out in public.  The coronavirus won't be the only reason to avoid public places.

[Metalcat]

Still no panic buying at the half dozen major grocery stores by my house.

Apparently in other parts of the city it's been so insane that stores had to be closed by the authorities, but the huge store across the street is as normal as ever and I've been there three times this week.

I didn't bother getting any TP though since I have it delivered by Amazon monthly.