[Hayek1957]

Let’s discuss price gouging for a minute.

The price a private seller establishes includes the price of the raw components, processing, packaging and shipping, taxes, overhead and profit. While we already know the reasonable price for many typical products in the event of an emergency, the demand for these products or services often increase due to a variety of reasons that are often beyond the control of a private seller.

Example is of a factory worker that is compelled to work overtime to keep producing components for the product. That worker must be paid extra for their labor and the expense for that additional labor is reflected in the final price of the product.

When EBay retracts a listing, they are only expressing their opinion as to what constitutes a fair price. This is only their opinion and may not reflect current market conditions.

I am not arguing that some sellers are exploiting this crisis for profit maximization, but the product is available and no individual is being forced to purchase that product.

Disclosure: I do not sell anything on EBay or any other marketing platform.