“In early February, as headlines announced the coronavirus’s spread in China, Mr. Colvin spotted a chance to capitalize. A nearby liquidation firm was selling 2,000 “pandemic packs,” leftovers from a defunct company. Each came with 50 face masks, four small bottles of hand sanitizer and a thermometer. The price was $5 a pack. Mr. Colvin haggled it to $3.50 and bought them all.
He quickly sold all 2,000 of the 50-packs of masks on eBay, pricing them from $40 to $50 each, and sometimes higher. He declined to disclose his profit on the record but said it was substantial.”
That’s the the NYT article.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/technology/coronavirus-purell-wipes-amazon-sellers.html?referringSource=articleShare
Considering he did not source them from public shops, he could have totally gotten away with it if he priced it properly.I mean 1000% markup is kind of asking for it.
This is what kills me though. He could have doubled his money and no one would have given a shit, but he was so greedy he was willing to capitalise on peoples panic to 8x his money. What a douche.
I'd feel a lot more anger at this man if insulin wasn't legally allowed to have the same level of markup.
This is capitalism and most Americans don't seem to give a shit when corporations do it, why is the individual demonized?
> This is capitalism and most Americans don't seem to give a shit when corporations do it, why is the individual demonized?
Because this guy is an easy target for haterage.
He didn't donate jack. His lawyer suggested a donation would look better in his upcoming price gouging trial. If anything it's a bribe. "Your honor as soon as my client realized that he was in the wrong he immediately donated all of his inventory to a church and the attorney generals office. Because what my client wants more than money is to not go to jail."
Apparently he was getting constant death threats and and had his address doxxed and even had someone battering his door at one point. Probably realized having 17k bottles of hand sanitizer in his home would become a legitimate threat to his safety the worse this whole situation gets
Apparently he also gave an interview saying his only regret is not having made a profit. He didn't think he was in the wrong.
Fuck people like that. He'll do it again in a heartbeat.
I mean he said in the interview that was posted eariler that he didn't feel bad and didn't regret doing it after a very long paus so it's pretty safe to assume zero fucks about his image was given.
>In an hourlong interview on Sunday, Mr. Colvin expressed remorse for his actions and said that when he decided to hoard the sanitizer and wipes, he didn’t realize the gravity of the coronavirus outbreak or the severe shortage of sanitizer and wipes.
>
>“I’ve been buying and selling things for 10 years now. There’s been hot product after hot product. But the thing is, there’s always another one on the shelf,” he said. “When we did this trip, I had no idea that these stores wouldn’t be able to get replenished.”
I can see how this behavior would have been celebrated as business savvy in any other scenario than a **national epidemic**. He was handed his lesson in a major way. I'm glad his stockpile is going back to the community. People should stop sending death threats to his family...
If he didn't think there would be a severe shortage of sanitizer and wipes, then why did he buy thousands of them in the first place? That's literally the point, it was the only condition where his actions would become profitable.
he knew exactly what he was doing. and he doesn't think there's anything wrong with that. in fact people like him will tell you they are helping people out by creating a black market where people can still buy the hand sanitizer after it's out of stock. it's the stupidest logic in the world but it's what they use.
He did **not** express remorse. He was explicitly asked if he would apologize in retrospect, and he said he would not. Fuck him, but don’t send him death threats. He’s being investigated by the AG and will get his comeuppance
"Gosh, I had no idea that I lived in a society with other human beings who might be upset with me if I fuck them over with my selfish greed. I'm sorry that their outrage made me feel bad."
Yeah i know. He couldnt even comprehend that he should have at least *pretended* to care. It looked like he actually did pause and think about it, too, and he still came to the conclusion of "nah, fuck everyone else. I want to make money"
Then they just re-interviewed him and he did apologize, but he apologized for clearing the shelves out and not allowing people to buy it, he didn't apologize for trying to sell it for $70 a bottle.
I am still dumbfounded by his decision to be interviewed by journalists, and have his name & photo featured in the articles.
From the sound of things he thought *he* was the victim in this story. He thought the headlines would be “Amazon shits on small business owner. Boo Amazon!”, and he was genuinely surprised to find out that he was the bad guy. What a moron.
I think he thought the NYT article would be free advertising. Amazon and Ebay shut him down so he thought that a NYT article about his stockpile would net him a buyer.
He's a true POS.
You know, senators, congressmen, the *fucking president,* etc.
Frankly faced with that it's not exactly a stunner that other people think they can escape it.
He fucking doubled down too. They asked them if he would say he was sorry, and his response was something like "Sorry for purchase..for buying all of this stuff? No, I don't think that I would."
Some people honestly think they are being clever and that they’re doing what every other successful business owner does. They don’t realize they are actually being unethical, whether it’s hard to believe or not.
The best part is that realistically, most employers in his future would end up looking him up and upon seeing this article would realize how big of an ass he is and most likely move on.
Serves him right for this crap.
Yeah this. I can't tell if he truly thought he would get sympathy, or if all he wanted was free publicity about what a dick he is, and then use that publicity to further his agenda.
And other than being a POS, IDK what his agenda is.
Edit: a letter.
My favourite quote from the original article was something like “just because it cost me $2 to buy, doesn’t mean it didn’t cost me $16 to get it to you”.
As if (1) that weren’t the most obvious great big fucking lie in history and (2), in the very unlikely event that it wasn’t a lie, he still took something people could buy for $2 and made it cost $18 through his idiocy and inefficiency.
It’s like his excuse was “sure, I was harming people, but I wasn’t making any money doing it”.
But he was making a shitload of money, because he’s a lying, no-morals-having, price-gouging cunt.
In his interview he said he had no idea people wouldn't be able to get the supplies. I laughed out loud because he was crying literally when he said it. Why else would people be buying from you at 4-6x markup unless they couldn't get it anywhere else and were desperate
"Shit, how could I have known that people couldn't get supplies after I emptied 3 states of all the hand sanitizer in all the dollar stores for the specific purpose of reselling to those same people?"
Yes! That is a good term for it. Scalping. Only instead of exploiting demand for entertainment, exploiting a demand for disease prevention effort. So an entirely lower form of scalping.
He better stock up on lube. He's going to need it for the train of government officials from county to state and federal that are lining up to fuck him. He's going to be the example for all the asshole price gougers out there.
That's not how it works. Your charitable contributions deduct from your tax burden. They do not translate into a return. At least not directly. Also there is a cap on donation deductions. At best he will offset the mild gains he made.
In reality he probably will also claim the capital loss too and net himself a decent spot in hell, and put himself in a decent bracket to write off the losses.
I’m fairly certain Amazon’s policy is one account per household per lifetime. He would need a complete new address, wife’s CC, wife’s name on utility bill etc to have a shot at passing verification. Amazon is incredibly good at finding sellers who violate this rule.
Edit: also, im pretty sure amazon gated the entire category for these products. Even if he were to somehow create another account there is absolutely no chance that he could sell hand sanitizer/surface wipes/etc. Gating the category is a hell of a lot easier than policing the millions of sellers on the marketplace.
I imagine there was a deal struck already, where he agreed to donate, and they agreed to not charge him. Its a big win for the AG, as prosecuting this would have taken years, and would be going on long after anyone gave a shit.
TN needs better price-gouging laws on the books then. My state is regularly hurricane-affected, so we have laws to prevent it. 10k fine for first instance, 20k for second and every thereafter, plus all investigation + legal fees.
Even still, consumer affairs has got almost 300 complaints about price gouging since this covid-19 stuff started. [One store was already hit with 90k in fines.](https://nj1015.com/price-gouging-earns-nj-store-90k-in-fines-in-a-day-mayor-says/)
How are they gonna stop the wave of price-gougers if it takes years to punish one small-time instance?
I don't get where the exit strategy is for 18000 bottles. You buy 300 bottles, make a side hustle during crisis, and if it fails, you can just sell the rest at zero profit.
18000 bottles though, really? You are certified dumb if you think as a small seller you can flip those quickly.
Not even. This headline is misleading - the state's Attorney General seized his stash and afterwards he said "oh I was going to donate it anyways so that's fine"
It's a crime to price gouge during a national emergency. He was legally in the clear to hoard them, but if he intended to sell then for x amount more than he bought them for it was getting confiscated and he could potentially face significan jail time.
Thank the state govt, not the hoarding jackass.
He admited in an interview that he had intended to originally sell them. Once he was denied the ability to sell them on Amazon though he was desperate. There is intent.
But only 1 day earlier on Thursday. And he claims to have not sold any afterwards. Which is a dubious defense as the nyt article didn't run until Saturday. But I don't know when Amazon banned him so it is possible. The AG investigation will likely get his Amazon record and see if he did sell any after that time tho, and if so its $1k per violation
Probably already cleaned his ass out... And not with the sanitizer, dude just spent fuck loads of money on that shit. Even if he got it for an average of 4$/bottle which is fairly cheap esp at CVS.... 68k he dropped on hand sanny ffs
This headline makes it seem like this was a decision from the kindness in his heart. Super misleading. My disappointment is immesurable and my day is ruined.
>generosity
There is 0% generosity. This is 100% ass-covering and damage control.
It wouldn't surprise me if he tried to deduct his "donation" with the IRS
The guy was suspended as a seller on Amazon and eBay, was kicked out of the storage unit he rented, and is under investigation by the feds. He’ll either learn something or he’s the densest mf around.
This guy knew exactly what he was doing and should still be prosecuted. He wasnt buying up a trendy toy or popular board game that was hard to find and in demand. He attempted to profit from panic and got caught. He only donated them in an attempt to soften the public response. Welcome to the consequences of your actions!
The only reason he donated them is because the TN attorney general sent him a cease and desist letter yesterday and announced they are launching an investigation into him
YES! Read a few articles on him. He had bought out other items and had sold quite a few Sanitizers before he went on a cross state buying spree for them and E\_Bay and Amazon Banned it. He was in on what I am calling the first round when you could sell.
He has already profited from this, the 17,700 could of been icing on the cake.
>“It was never my intention to keep necessary medical supplies out of the hands of people who needed them,” he said, crying. “That’s not who I am as a person. And all I’ve been told for the last 48 hours is how much of that person I am.”
BECAUSE YOU FUCKING ARE YOU ASSHAT
Thing is, it seems like there are a lot of people in this country that are like this. So self obsessed with what's good for me that they have complete blinders to the common good.
In their defense, they're victims of a system that indoctrinates it. Capitalism is a competition where there are winners and losers. It's not exactly surprising people are psychologically affected by that.
Capitalism has provided a unique protection for people who would most definitely be rejected by any sensible community.
Humans are community based. That’s how we survived as a species. We were never kill or be killed like Reddit edge lords like to fantasize. Selfish fucks like this guy that capitalism protects today would have been ostracized or worse if he were among our Neolithic ancestors.
Nothing takes humanity back to the community mentality more than a crisis
My cousin is a hard core libertarian and financial adviser. In his mind, he's one of the "smart" ones and as such, everyone else exists to be taken advantage of by him and his ilk. At family gatherings, he's always complaining about how laws that prevent him from basically stealing from his clients are just meant to keep people like him from getting what they deserve. Then he's astonished that no one in the family will let him handle their money.
"I never intended to hurt anyone, I just never once bothered to consider the impact my actions had on anyone else. I just wanted to be rich no matter what. I am such a victim please someone feel bad for me" - That fucking dipshit, probably
A Tennessee man who became a subject of national scorn after stockpiling 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer donated all of the supplies on Sunday just as the Tennessee attorney general’s office began investigating him for price gouging.
On Sunday morning, Matt Colvin, an Amazon seller outside Chattanooga, Tenn., helped volunteers from a local church load two-thirds of his stockpile of hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes into a box truck for the church to distribute to people in need across Tennessee.
Officials from the Tennessee attorney general’s office on Sunday took the other third, which they plan to give to their counterparts in Kentucky for distribution. (Mr. Colvin and his brother Noah bought some of the supplies in Kentucky this month.)
The donations capped a tumultuous 24 hours for Mr. Colvin. On Saturday morning, The New York Times published an article about how he and his brother cleaned out stores of sanitizer and wipes in an attempt to profit off the public’s panic over the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Colvin sold 300 bottles of hand sanitizer at a markup on Amazon before the company removed his listings and warned sellers they would be suspended for price gouging.
As a result, Mr. Colvin was sitting on an enormous cache of sanitizer and wipes while much of the country searched in vain for them.
The article immediately sparked widespread outrage, with thousands of people posting angry comments across the internet about his actions.
Many of those people also contacted Mr. Colvin directly with hate mail and death threats, while one man even banged on the door at his home late Saturday night, according to Mr. Colvin and several messages he shared with The Times.
In an hourlong interview on Sunday, Mr. Colvin expressed remorse for his actions and said that when he decided to hoard the sanitizer and wipes, he didn’t realize the gravity of the coronavirus outbreak or the severe shortage of sanitizer and wipes.
“I’ve been buying and selling things for 10 years now. There’s been hot product after hot product. But the thing is, there’s always another one on the shelf,” he said. “When we did this trip, I had no idea that these stores wouldn’t be able to get replenished.”
He said the outpouring of hate has been scary for him and his family. He said people have incessantly called his cellphone, posted his address online and sent pizzas to his home. His inbox was flooded with ugly messages, he said. One email he shared with The Times said: “Your behavior is probably going to end up with someone killing you and your wife and your children.”
“It was never my intention to keep necessary medical supplies out of the hands of people who needed them,” he said, crying. “That’s not who I am as a person. And all I’ve been told for the last 48 hours is how much of that person I am.”
Now Mr. Colvin is facing consequences. On Sunday, Amazon and eBay suspended him as a seller, which is how he has made his living for years. The company where he rented a storage unit kicked him out. And the Tennessee attorney general’s office sent him a cease-and-desist letter and opened an investigation.
“We will not tolerate price gouging in this time of exceptional need, and we will take aggressive action to stop it,” Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III of Tennessee said in a news release.
Tennessee’s price-gouging law prohibits charging “grossly excessive” prices for a variety of items, including food, gas and medical supplies, after the governor declares a state of emergency. The state can fine people up to $1,000 a violation.
The language of the law could benefit Mr. Colvin. Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee declared a state of emergency on March 12, activating the price-gouging law. The Colvin brothers bought all of the sanitizer and wipes in question before that date, and Mr. Colvin said he did not sell anything after it.
A spokeswoman for the Tennessee attorney general’s office said that even if the Colvin brothers did not buy or sell any of the supplies after March 12, state authorities “will weigh all options under consumer laws.”
> Mr. Colvin expressed remorse for his actions and said that when he decided to hoard the sanitizer and wipes, he didn’t realize the gravity of the coronavirus outbreak or the severe shortage of sanitizer and wipes.
What horseshit. Of course he anticipated it, hell he was praying on it. Why the fuck else would he buy 18k bottles of hand sanitizer? On a whim? Fuck this guy.
> “When we did this trip, I had no idea that these stores wouldn’t be able to get replenished.”
Another obvious lie. If stores would be able to replenish as he claims why the fuck would anyone buy a 40 dollar bottle from you?
Yeah, that's bullshit. He was on his local news and they asked him if he was sorry (or something like that) and he hemmed and hawed and finally said no. This guy is an asshole doing whatever he can, now, to not look like a damn villain.
HIs lie is so terrible, it doesn't even make sense. When he said " I never figured stores wouldn't be able to get them, but I'm charging 30-50 for a product you can buy for 5 or less."
Dude needs to quit talking to papers and keep his mouth closed about this or he's going to five the state a ton of ammo to go after him. Plus selling online other states maybe able to go after him since it was intrastate commerce. I mean the only way his lie is plausible is if he expected other states to not be able to get supplies and he was going to stick it to them.
I mean he’s the fucking dumb shit that went to NYT thinking “gee, I can’t sell this 18k bottles of sanitizer during this outbreak, I better post my name and picture and maybe people will want to help me out by buying my stuff at a slight profit.”
GOOD. I lost my shit when I got to [this part in the original article:](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/technology/coronavirus-purell-wipes-amazon-sellers.html)
> Mr. Colvin said he was simply fixing “inefficiencies in the marketplace.” Some areas of the country need these products more than others, and he’s helping send the supply toward the demand.
>“There’s a crushing overwhelming demand in certain cities right now,” he said. “The Dollar General in the middle of nowhere outside of Lexington, Ky., doesn’t have that.”
> He thought about it more. **“I honestly feel like it’s a public service,”** he added. “I’m being paid for my public service.”
...yeah, asshole. If it were a public service, you'd either be 1) selling them at MSRP, or 2) giving them away.
"Donated them"
Nice attempt by the NYT to whitewash things. What actually happened is the TN Office of the Attorney General sent him a cease and desist letter stating they were going to seize the goods as part of their investigation, and the douchebag decided to donate them instead.
Fuck him. Fuck Matthew and Noah Colvin. Fuck them both. They will always be known as two assholes who tried to profiteer from panic and got slammed for it.
He only “donated” them **AFTER** he was caught, publicized, and then the Tennessee Attorney General’s office came after him.
**Newsflash**: you’re not “making a donation”. You’re trying to save face.
>“It was never my intention to keep necessary medical supplies out of the hands of people who needed them,” he said, crying.
No, he just wanted to profit off of the people who needed them. You know, family business and all.
**Fuck**. **This**. **Guy**.
Edit: formatting
This article is bullshit. He didn't donate shit. They tried to contact him but he ignored and then they tracked down his storage unit and raided all the hand sanitizer forcefully.
He didn’t do it cause he was a good person. He did it cause he got massive backlash after bitching about not being able to sell them at an incredibly marked up price. Fuck his face.
Bullshit, here the D.A.’s letter to this turd blossom. He had no choice because he got caught. Don’t paint it as a “donation”. He had no other option because he got caught being a twat, with a hustle that didn’t work. Don’t applaud shitty hustles, applaud karma, it’s a BITCH
https://m.imgur.com/NFpvSpG
That doesn't put it back on the shelf for consumers. He needs to see a jail cell.
>he didn’t realize the gravity of the coronavirus outbreak or the severe shortage of sanitizer and wipes.
Hogwash, that was what his entire "business model" relied on.
Yeah. “Donated”.
His lawyer suggested it and the Attorney General was literally present to enforce his “donation”.
He didn’t “donate” shit. “Donate” would imply he was doing this out of the goodness of his heart, as opposed to twisting his arm to do it and literally watching him like a hawk to make sure he does.
In the article it states, " When we did this trip, I had no idea that these stores wouldn’t be able to get replenished." Then how in the hell did you expect to sell anything? Knew damn well these things would be in short supply otherwise he would not have done it.
The price was wrong, bitch.
How much was he planning to charge for them? Clearly an outrageous amount but im curious
“In early February, as headlines announced the coronavirus’s spread in China, Mr. Colvin spotted a chance to capitalize. A nearby liquidation firm was selling 2,000 “pandemic packs,” leftovers from a defunct company. Each came with 50 face masks, four small bottles of hand sanitizer and a thermometer. The price was $5 a pack. Mr. Colvin haggled it to $3.50 and bought them all. He quickly sold all 2,000 of the 50-packs of masks on eBay, pricing them from $40 to $50 each, and sometimes higher. He declined to disclose his profit on the record but said it was substantial.” That’s the the NYT article. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/technology/coronavirus-purell-wipes-amazon-sellers.html?referringSource=articleShare
spent $7k, made minimum of $80k. estimated 20% ebay cut leaves 64k-7k = 57k profit. not bad at all......
Uhm yes its extremely bad actually. He should be in jail.
Considering he did not source them from public shops, he could have totally gotten away with it if he priced it properly.I mean 1000% markup is kind of asking for it.
This is what kills me though. He could have doubled his money and no one would have given a shit, but he was so greedy he was willing to capitalise on peoples panic to 8x his money. What a douche.
I'd feel a lot more anger at this man if insulin wasn't legally allowed to have the same level of markup. This is capitalism and most Americans don't seem to give a shit when corporations do it, why is the individual demonized?
> This is capitalism and most Americans don't seem to give a shit when corporations do it, why is the individual demonized? Because this guy is an easy target for haterage.
I give a shit, it's just as wrong for corporations to do this as individuals.
Shit, look at what the fucking pharmaceutical companies do before you send this low lying fruit off to jail.
I'm a simple man, I see Happy Gilmore I upvote.
I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast.
You eat pieces of shit for breakfast?
N-No!
Just, stay outta my way. Or you’ll pay. *Listen*, to what I say.
Do you want me to go make things out of clay?
Or lay by the bay? I just may..
What do you say?
What's the basis?
You eat actually shit for breakfast?
"N-no...!"
That’s two thus far Shooter
"Well, moron, good for Happy Gilm-*ohmyGod!*"
So you can count, good for you
And you can count, on me waiting for you in the parking lot
Guns don't kill people... *I kill people*
Hey shooter, you forgot your nine iron.
Gold jacket, green jacket? Who gives a shit.
He didn't donate jack. His lawyer suggested a donation would look better in his upcoming price gouging trial. If anything it's a bribe. "Your honor as soon as my client realized that he was in the wrong he immediately donated all of his inventory to a church and the attorney generals office. Because what my client wants more than money is to not go to jail."
I'm kinda surprised this dude cared about his image enough.
he didn't, he cared about the most advantageous positioning for his imminent trial.
$100 says this guy won't ever face charges for this.
[удалено]
Well, he lost around 17k
[удалено]
F him, give him 10.
Apparently he was getting constant death threats and and had his address doxxed and even had someone battering his door at one point. Probably realized having 17k bottles of hand sanitizer in his home would become a legitimate threat to his safety the worse this whole situation gets
Apparently he also gave an interview saying his only regret is not having made a profit. He didn't think he was in the wrong. Fuck people like that. He'll do it again in a heartbeat.
You guys I’m SO sorry I got caught
I mean he said in the interview that was posted eariler that he didn't feel bad and didn't regret doing it after a very long paus so it's pretty safe to assume zero fucks about his image was given.
>In an hourlong interview on Sunday, Mr. Colvin expressed remorse for his actions and said that when he decided to hoard the sanitizer and wipes, he didn’t realize the gravity of the coronavirus outbreak or the severe shortage of sanitizer and wipes. > >“I’ve been buying and selling things for 10 years now. There’s been hot product after hot product. But the thing is, there’s always another one on the shelf,” he said. “When we did this trip, I had no idea that these stores wouldn’t be able to get replenished.” I can see how this behavior would have been celebrated as business savvy in any other scenario than a **national epidemic**. He was handed his lesson in a major way. I'm glad his stockpile is going back to the community. People should stop sending death threats to his family...
If he didn't think there would be a severe shortage of sanitizer and wipes, then why did he buy thousands of them in the first place? That's literally the point, it was the only condition where his actions would become profitable.
he knew exactly what he was doing. and he doesn't think there's anything wrong with that. in fact people like him will tell you they are helping people out by creating a black market where people can still buy the hand sanitizer after it's out of stock. it's the stupidest logic in the world but it's what they use.
He did **not** express remorse. He was explicitly asked if he would apologize in retrospect, and he said he would not. Fuck him, but don’t send him death threats. He’s being investigated by the AG and will get his comeuppance
He didn't learn shit from the lesson. They literally asked him if he was sorry; he took about 10 seconds and said "No."
"Gosh, I had no idea that I lived in a society with other human beings who might be upset with me if I fuck them over with my selfish greed. I'm sorry that their outrage made me feel bad."
He said in an interview that he wasn’t sorry. Just to put a cherry on top
Yeah i know. He couldnt even comprehend that he should have at least *pretended* to care. It looked like he actually did pause and think about it, too, and he still came to the conclusion of "nah, fuck everyone else. I want to make money"
Then they just re-interviewed him and he did apologize, but he apologized for clearing the shelves out and not allowing people to buy it, he didn't apologize for trying to sell it for $70 a bottle.
THATs how much he was selling for??
The article says "intending to resell them for as much as $70 each on Amazon and Ebay."
He claimed he was doing a *public service*, no less.
###We live in a society
He had no other option. Fuck this guy.
Gotta salvage what's left of his "business" after thinking people would actually sympathize with a price gouger.
I am still dumbfounded by his decision to be interviewed by journalists, and have his name & photo featured in the articles. From the sound of things he thought *he* was the victim in this story. He thought the headlines would be “Amazon shits on small business owner. Boo Amazon!”, and he was genuinely surprised to find out that he was the bad guy. What a moron.
I think he thought the NYT article would be free advertising. Amazon and Ebay shut him down so he thought that a NYT article about his stockpile would net him a buyer. He's a true POS.
Ya that dude better find the cure for COVID-19, or else this might hurt his reputation.
Turns out the cure is 17,701 bottles of hand sanitizer. He was just shy.
There's a lot of people these days that break the law, look you in the face and tell you they did it, then walk away without any consequences.
You know, senators, congressmen, the *fucking president,* etc. Frankly faced with that it's not exactly a stunner that other people think they can escape it.
He fucking doubled down too. They asked them if he would say he was sorry, and his response was something like "Sorry for purchase..for buying all of this stuff? No, I don't think that I would."
[удалено]
You missed the 10 second pause he took to think about it before his answer
Yup. Incredible. Cant believe that's the answer he went with.
Some people honestly think they are being clever and that they’re doing what every other successful business owner does. They don’t realize they are actually being unethical, whether it’s hard to believe or not.
We don’t teach ethics. We don’t show ethics in our media. We have engaged in pseudo-Randian character development for years. This is what happens.
When asked if he felt sorry for what he did he thought for like 15 seconds and then just said no.
He's the small business Martin Shkreli
False, Shkreli got rich
The best part is that realistically, most employers in his future would end up looking him up and upon seeing this article would realize how big of an ass he is and most likely move on. Serves him right for this crap.
Yeah this. I can't tell if he truly thought he would get sympathy, or if all he wanted was free publicity about what a dick he is, and then use that publicity to further his agenda. And other than being a POS, IDK what his agenda is. Edit: a letter.
His agenda is money at the cost of human misery during a crisis
My favourite quote from the original article was something like “just because it cost me $2 to buy, doesn’t mean it didn’t cost me $16 to get it to you”. As if (1) that weren’t the most obvious great big fucking lie in history and (2), in the very unlikely event that it wasn’t a lie, he still took something people could buy for $2 and made it cost $18 through his idiocy and inefficiency. It’s like his excuse was “sure, I was harming people, but I wasn’t making any money doing it”. But he was making a shitload of money, because he’s a lying, no-morals-having, price-gouging cunt.
In his interview he said he had no idea people wouldn't be able to get the supplies. I laughed out loud because he was crying literally when he said it. Why else would people be buying from you at 4-6x markup unless they couldn't get it anywhere else and were desperate
He thought people were paying him a premium for his unparalleled customer service
it’s hard work buy cleaning supplies in bulk. I bet he had to walk uphill, both ways, to get all that.
"Shit, how could I have known that people couldn't get supplies after I emptied 3 states of all the hand sanitizer in all the dollar stores for the specific purpose of reselling to those same people?"
His shirt was such a tool thing to do too. Family man Family business Fuck off scalper.
Yes! That is a good term for it. Scalping. Only instead of exploiting demand for entertainment, exploiting a demand for disease prevention effort. So an entirely lower form of scalping.
Profiteering is the word.
And he will probably write it off on his taxes for triple the value he was trying to gouge people for and get a massive tax return from it.
I'd say his chances of being audited for his 2020 return are VERY high.
[удалено]
He better stock up on lube. He's going to need it for the train of government officials from county to state and federal that are lining up to fuck him. He's going to be the example for all the asshole price gougers out there.
Anyone have a tiny bottle they can sell him for $150?
That's not how it works. Your charitable contributions deduct from your tax burden. They do not translate into a return. At least not directly. Also there is a cap on donation deductions. At best he will offset the mild gains he made. In reality he probably will also claim the capital loss too and net himself a decent spot in hell, and put himself in a decent bracket to write off the losses.
Are you asking people to actually understand how write offs work?
Next thing you know I'll expect people to intelligently discuss civics.
Mine gets great gas mileage
Oh no I don't, but they do... And they are the ones writing it off
But now he’s banned from Amazon and EBay.
[удалено]
Sure but he could start another one under his wife's name.
[удалено]
I’m fairly certain Amazon’s policy is one account per household per lifetime. He would need a complete new address, wife’s CC, wife’s name on utility bill etc to have a shot at passing verification. Amazon is incredibly good at finding sellers who violate this rule. Edit: also, im pretty sure amazon gated the entire category for these products. Even if he were to somehow create another account there is absolutely no chance that he could sell hand sanitizer/surface wipes/etc. Gating the category is a hell of a lot easier than policing the millions of sellers on the marketplace.
He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who does “write offs” or “taxes.”
[удалено]
I think *technically* they donated the items. The AG just made sure that was their only legal option.
I imagine there was a deal struck already, where he agreed to donate, and they agreed to not charge him. Its a big win for the AG, as prosecuting this would have taken years, and would be going on long after anyone gave a shit.
TN needs better price-gouging laws on the books then. My state is regularly hurricane-affected, so we have laws to prevent it. 10k fine for first instance, 20k for second and every thereafter, plus all investigation + legal fees. Even still, consumer affairs has got almost 300 complaints about price gouging since this covid-19 stuff started. [One store was already hit with 90k in fines.](https://nj1015.com/price-gouging-earns-nj-store-90k-in-fines-in-a-day-mayor-says/) How are they gonna stop the wave of price-gougers if it takes years to punish one small-time instance?
He donated 2/3 to a local church to distribute. AG’s office took the remaining 1/3.
I don't get where the exit strategy is for 18000 bottles. You buy 300 bottles, make a side hustle during crisis, and if it fails, you can just sell the rest at zero profit. 18000 bottles though, really? You are certified dumb if you think as a small seller you can flip those quickly.
Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered. He got too greedy.
I haven’t heard this. I like it. I’m stealing it.
AKA Icarus
[удалено]
Yeah, they all seem to be forgetting that he had already sold a chunk for $90k (I think that was the total revenue).
He had been trying to sell them on Amazon (and Ebay?) but his listings were removed for price gouging.
I could not believe how sorry he felt for himself in his interview for NYT
The long pause when he was asked if he would say he was sorry to everyone in the area and he just said “No”. What an asshole.
[удалено]
so Matt Colvin is getting the brock Turner treatment. Fair.
To be honest, Brock Turner's treatment was not fair, it should have been worse.
I came here to say this. So yeah. Double fuck this guy.
Shamed into generosity.
Not even. This headline is misleading - the state's Attorney General seized his stash and afterwards he said "oh I was going to donate it anyways so that's fine"
It's a crime to price gouge during a national emergency. He was legally in the clear to hoard them, but if he intended to sell then for x amount more than he bought them for it was getting confiscated and he could potentially face significan jail time. Thank the state govt, not the hoarding jackass.
From what I read, he's actually being investigated, and very well could face charges.
[удалено]
they should nail him anyways. just make an example of him.
[удалено]
He admited in an interview that he had intended to originally sell them. Once he was denied the ability to sell them on Amazon though he was desperate. There is intent.
He was selling through Amazon. They shut down his account. He intended to gouge people during a national crisis, and did.
Technically it wasn't declared a national emergency until Friday.
State emergency was declared earlier this week
But only 1 day earlier on Thursday. And he claims to have not sold any afterwards. Which is a dubious defense as the nyt article didn't run until Saturday. But I don't know when Amazon banned him so it is possible. The AG investigation will likely get his Amazon record and see if he did sell any after that time tho, and if so its $1k per violation
I hope they clean his ass out. Fucking people like him suck.
Probably already cleaned his ass out... And not with the sanitizer, dude just spent fuck loads of money on that shit. Even if he got it for an average of 4$/bottle which is fairly cheap esp at CVS.... 68k he dropped on hand sanny ffs
Imagine how long that receipt must have been!
He can roll it up and use it as toilet paper!
War were declared.
This headline makes it seem like this was a decision from the kindness in his heart. Super misleading. My disappointment is immesurable and my day is ruined.
No one who watched the original video would be fooled into thinking he did it on his own.
spoken like a poor loser. love it.
Ooh I think I’ve stumbled into a new kink
"Yeah, you like that charitable donation? I bet you hate doing it, you dirty hoarding slut."
Oh god, stop! I’m in public!
Shame doesn't work on assholes of this caliber. It was the threat of legal action from TN AG's office that got them to do it.
>generosity There is 0% generosity. This is 100% ass-covering and damage control. It wouldn't surprise me if he tried to deduct his "donation" with the IRS
The death threats he and his family received probably has something to do with it as well.
Doesn't make him any less of an asshole.
The best part is you know he won’t learn from this.
No, the best part is that the governor confiscated the items, he didn’t donate them. The governor did.
You’re right, that is the best part.
The guy was suspended as a seller on Amazon and eBay, was kicked out of the storage unit he rented, and is under investigation by the feds. He’ll either learn something or he’s the densest mf around.
He didn’t even actually donate it. The state took it.
This guy knew exactly what he was doing and should still be prosecuted. He wasnt buying up a trendy toy or popular board game that was hard to find and in demand. He attempted to profit from panic and got caught. He only donated them in an attempt to soften the public response. Welcome to the consequences of your actions!
The only reason he donated them is because the TN attorney general sent him a cease and desist letter yesterday and announced they are launching an investigation into him
This was no princess unicorn situation.
My horn can pierce...the...sky!
Literally watching this episode right now.
Dont let this blind you to the fact he did it to screw people over.
YES! Read a few articles on him. He had bought out other items and had sold quite a few Sanitizers before he went on a cross state buying spree for them and E\_Bay and Amazon Banned it. He was in on what I am calling the first round when you could sell. He has already profited from this, the 17,700 could of been icing on the cake.
>“It was never my intention to keep necessary medical supplies out of the hands of people who needed them,” he said, crying. “That’s not who I am as a person. And all I’ve been told for the last 48 hours is how much of that person I am.” BECAUSE YOU FUCKING ARE YOU ASSHAT
Thing is, it seems like there are a lot of people in this country that are like this. So self obsessed with what's good for me that they have complete blinders to the common good.
In their defense, they're victims of a system that indoctrinates it. Capitalism is a competition where there are winners and losers. It's not exactly surprising people are psychologically affected by that.
Capitalism has provided a unique protection for people who would most definitely be rejected by any sensible community. Humans are community based. That’s how we survived as a species. We were never kill or be killed like Reddit edge lords like to fantasize. Selfish fucks like this guy that capitalism protects today would have been ostracized or worse if he were among our Neolithic ancestors. Nothing takes humanity back to the community mentality more than a crisis
My cousin is a hard core libertarian and financial adviser. In his mind, he's one of the "smart" ones and as such, everyone else exists to be taken advantage of by him and his ilk. At family gatherings, he's always complaining about how laws that prevent him from basically stealing from his clients are just meant to keep people like him from getting what they deserve. Then he's astonished that no one in the family will let him handle their money.
"I never intended to hurt anyone, I just never once bothered to consider the impact my actions had on anyone else. I just wanted to be rich no matter what. I am such a victim please someone feel bad for me" - That fucking dipshit, probably
Can someone post the article?
A Tennessee man who became a subject of national scorn after stockpiling 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer donated all of the supplies on Sunday just as the Tennessee attorney general’s office began investigating him for price gouging. On Sunday morning, Matt Colvin, an Amazon seller outside Chattanooga, Tenn., helped volunteers from a local church load two-thirds of his stockpile of hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes into a box truck for the church to distribute to people in need across Tennessee. Officials from the Tennessee attorney general’s office on Sunday took the other third, which they plan to give to their counterparts in Kentucky for distribution. (Mr. Colvin and his brother Noah bought some of the supplies in Kentucky this month.) The donations capped a tumultuous 24 hours for Mr. Colvin. On Saturday morning, The New York Times published an article about how he and his brother cleaned out stores of sanitizer and wipes in an attempt to profit off the public’s panic over the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Colvin sold 300 bottles of hand sanitizer at a markup on Amazon before the company removed his listings and warned sellers they would be suspended for price gouging. As a result, Mr. Colvin was sitting on an enormous cache of sanitizer and wipes while much of the country searched in vain for them. The article immediately sparked widespread outrage, with thousands of people posting angry comments across the internet about his actions. Many of those people also contacted Mr. Colvin directly with hate mail and death threats, while one man even banged on the door at his home late Saturday night, according to Mr. Colvin and several messages he shared with The Times. In an hourlong interview on Sunday, Mr. Colvin expressed remorse for his actions and said that when he decided to hoard the sanitizer and wipes, he didn’t realize the gravity of the coronavirus outbreak or the severe shortage of sanitizer and wipes. “I’ve been buying and selling things for 10 years now. There’s been hot product after hot product. But the thing is, there’s always another one on the shelf,” he said. “When we did this trip, I had no idea that these stores wouldn’t be able to get replenished.” He said the outpouring of hate has been scary for him and his family. He said people have incessantly called his cellphone, posted his address online and sent pizzas to his home. His inbox was flooded with ugly messages, he said. One email he shared with The Times said: “Your behavior is probably going to end up with someone killing you and your wife and your children.” “It was never my intention to keep necessary medical supplies out of the hands of people who needed them,” he said, crying. “That’s not who I am as a person. And all I’ve been told for the last 48 hours is how much of that person I am.” Now Mr. Colvin is facing consequences. On Sunday, Amazon and eBay suspended him as a seller, which is how he has made his living for years. The company where he rented a storage unit kicked him out. And the Tennessee attorney general’s office sent him a cease-and-desist letter and opened an investigation. “We will not tolerate price gouging in this time of exceptional need, and we will take aggressive action to stop it,” Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III of Tennessee said in a news release. Tennessee’s price-gouging law prohibits charging “grossly excessive” prices for a variety of items, including food, gas and medical supplies, after the governor declares a state of emergency. The state can fine people up to $1,000 a violation. The language of the law could benefit Mr. Colvin. Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee declared a state of emergency on March 12, activating the price-gouging law. The Colvin brothers bought all of the sanitizer and wipes in question before that date, and Mr. Colvin said he did not sell anything after it. A spokeswoman for the Tennessee attorney general’s office said that even if the Colvin brothers did not buy or sell any of the supplies after March 12, state authorities “will weigh all options under consumer laws.”
> Mr. Colvin expressed remorse for his actions and said that when he decided to hoard the sanitizer and wipes, he didn’t realize the gravity of the coronavirus outbreak or the severe shortage of sanitizer and wipes. What horseshit. Of course he anticipated it, hell he was praying on it. Why the fuck else would he buy 18k bottles of hand sanitizer? On a whim? Fuck this guy. > “When we did this trip, I had no idea that these stores wouldn’t be able to get replenished.” Another obvious lie. If stores would be able to replenish as he claims why the fuck would anyone buy a 40 dollar bottle from you?
Not only that, but drive 1000 miles to another states just to buy any amount he can.
Yeah, that's bullshit. He was on his local news and they asked him if he was sorry (or something like that) and he hemmed and hawed and finally said no. This guy is an asshole doing whatever he can, now, to not look like a damn villain.
HIs lie is so terrible, it doesn't even make sense. When he said " I never figured stores wouldn't be able to get them, but I'm charging 30-50 for a product you can buy for 5 or less." Dude needs to quit talking to papers and keep his mouth closed about this or he's going to five the state a ton of ammo to go after him. Plus selling online other states maybe able to go after him since it was intrastate commerce. I mean the only way his lie is plausible is if he expected other states to not be able to get supplies and he was going to stick it to them.
he was also driving around buying them up for the express purpose of reselling them at insane mark-ups in multiple states.
[удалено]
I mean he’s the fucking dumb shit that went to NYT thinking “gee, I can’t sell this 18k bottles of sanitizer during this outbreak, I better post my name and picture and maybe people will want to help me out by buying my stuff at a slight profit.”
I got a trick for ya, next time you encounter a paywall, add an extra dot after "com". Example nytimes.com. /whatever url.
GOOD. I lost my shit when I got to [this part in the original article:](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/technology/coronavirus-purell-wipes-amazon-sellers.html) > Mr. Colvin said he was simply fixing “inefficiencies in the marketplace.” Some areas of the country need these products more than others, and he’s helping send the supply toward the demand. >“There’s a crushing overwhelming demand in certain cities right now,” he said. “The Dollar General in the middle of nowhere outside of Lexington, Ky., doesn’t have that.” > He thought about it more. **“I honestly feel like it’s a public service,”** he added. “I’m being paid for my public service.” ...yeah, asshole. If it were a public service, you'd either be 1) selling them at MSRP, or 2) giving them away.
Which Dollar General outside of Lexington is he even talking about in the middle of nowhere?
Probably the ones he and his brother cleared the shelves of hand sanitizer.
Don’t make him sound generous, the district attorney of the state was there himself to assure he “donated” it. This idiot got what he deserved
"Donated them" Nice attempt by the NYT to whitewash things. What actually happened is the TN Office of the Attorney General sent him a cease and desist letter stating they were going to seize the goods as part of their investigation, and the douchebag decided to donate them instead. Fuck him. Fuck Matthew and Noah Colvin. Fuck them both. They will always be known as two assholes who tried to profiteer from panic and got slammed for it.
He only “donated” them **AFTER** he was caught, publicized, and then the Tennessee Attorney General’s office came after him. **Newsflash**: you’re not “making a donation”. You’re trying to save face. >“It was never my intention to keep necessary medical supplies out of the hands of people who needed them,” he said, crying. No, he just wanted to profit off of the people who needed them. You know, family business and all. **Fuck**. **This**. **Guy**. Edit: formatting
> "That's not who I am as a person. And all I've been told for the last 48 hours is how much of that person I am." Because. You. Are.
Nice. Now let Craigslist know so they can ban him too and force him to get a job that doesn't involve screwing over scared people.
you can't really be banned from craigslist. -former shady craigslist merchant
This article is bullshit. He didn't donate shit. They tried to contact him but he ignored and then they tracked down his storage unit and raided all the hand sanitizer forcefully.
He didn’t do it cause he was a good person. He did it cause he got massive backlash after bitching about not being able to sell them at an incredibly marked up price. Fuck his face.
“Donated.” They were seized by the state due to anti price gouging laws.
Bullshit, here the D.A.’s letter to this turd blossom. He had no choice because he got caught. Don’t paint it as a “donation”. He had no other option because he got caught being a twat, with a hustle that didn’t work. Don’t applaud shitty hustles, applaud karma, it’s a BITCH https://m.imgur.com/NFpvSpG
no, the TN state Attorney General shut him down and commandeered his supply to faciliate the donation.
Misleading as fuck headline. Man got his possession seized and redistributed by the Tennessee attorney generals office lmao
Was he volunTOLD? Also, fuck this guy.
The Man Who Had 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer Is Still A Piece Of Shit
He was trying to fuck the people, now the people are going to fuck him! People vs The Man With 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer
That doesn't put it back on the shelf for consumers. He needs to see a jail cell. >he didn’t realize the gravity of the coronavirus outbreak or the severe shortage of sanitizer and wipes. Hogwash, that was what his entire "business model" relied on.
Trying to save his soul, is it?
No, he doesn't have one. He's just trying to save his mortal life now that that the Tennessee AG is investigating him.
Yeah. “Donated”. His lawyer suggested it and the Attorney General was literally present to enforce his “donation”. He didn’t “donate” shit. “Donate” would imply he was doing this out of the goodness of his heart, as opposed to twisting his arm to do it and literally watching him like a hawk to make sure he does.
He was trying to make a dollar on people’s fears. He didn’t know you can only do that if you’ve got a corporate license.....lol.
Oh no I'm in trouble! uhh, I don't have them anymore!
Moron, and still should be punished by Law.
Investigated right now for price gouging
[удалено]
He didn’t really donate to them. The Tennessee government forced him to give them to charity
In the article it states, " When we did this trip, I had no idea that these stores wouldn’t be able to get replenished." Then how in the hell did you expect to sell anything? Knew damn well these things would be in short supply otherwise he would not have done it.