Yes
No
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There are a ton of people trying to leave Florida and the gas stations are running out of gas. I keep a fairly sizable stock in case of hurricanes and I am considering taking ten gallons to the cars sitting in line at empty stations waiting for a truck to come and letting those waiting bid on the two five gallon containers. I get to make a few bucks and people who really need the gas the most get some gas.
Ethiclal? Yes or no?
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You might end up needing itOriginally Posted by t00nces2
If you do go and sell some you will be seen by most as a price gouger taking advantage of the situation
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I am a capitalist. Supply, demand... I would not go and demand a price, I would let them offer, I doubt it could be called gouging if they have the option of paying a price they are willing to pay. It goes to the three kinds of jobs offered: Good, cheap, and fast.... You can have any two.
By the same token, I am being called to put up storm shutters now, like right now. I have work scheduled and have regular customers to help. I tell people I will hang the shutters for $200 and people tell me that is a lot of money to hang the shutters. I tell them I will hang them next Thursday for $80. Hanging shutters sucks and I am busy and I would just a soon not have to bust my a$$ hanging shutters for people who call, one and done, two days before a hurricane is due to come through. Is that also gouging?
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The price to hang shutters sounds resonance when you take everything into account. You have reschedule other jobs and probably have overtime costs to deal with.
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Could be as you stated next Thursday would only cost $80 I assume the storm will have passed by Thursday...
The moment you "sell" gas you've broken the law. If you accept a donation for the gas you may still be arrested for the same charges. Sad to say even if you give it away you could start a riot,
Recently the state of Indiana contacted my brother saying they think he is selling diesel fuel to others and not passing on the additional fuel tax they had just raised(I thinke he said it was $0.20/gal raise in taxes). My brother a truck driver, owner buys fuel and stores it in a tank at his house, 4-5000 gal tank. He has been doing this for years and pays all the taxes because he is a retail customer. Now since his most recent purchase came a few weeks before the raise in taxes took place Indiana thinks he is selling it and pocketing some extra money.
It's all about the money with the government your good will could get you into trouble.
I say keep your gas and help those you deem worthy of it. Thank you for being prepared. It ain't that hard to be prepared. Put up a little extra gas and keep your vehicles topped off when a hurricane is possibly coming for a visit. Fill the freezer with bottles of water, I use empty soda bottles. Purchase extra food throughout the year and it will be there for emergencies.
Emergencies come in all sorts of flavors, weather, job lay offs, wife got pregnant, kid(s) moved back home.
I like you have some gas on hand, in my case enough for a couple months use. We don't go far on a regular basis so two vehicles with full tanks will be enough for us. Plus we have propane tanks for cooking.
I like your desire to assist others but at the same time unless this is their first hurricane season I say shame on them. Good luck but you probably don't need much since you are smart enough to be prepared, 73, Mike sitting here waiting to see how much we get of this hurricane here in coastal North Carolina.
"Profit begins when you buy NOT when you sell." {quote passed down to me from a wise man}
Now go beat the copper out of something, Miked
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If you truly want to help someone, help them and ask nothing in return, otherwise you're just another pos trying to make a buck off of the hurricane.
I did not and would not suspect you of anything but the highest intentions(in case you or anyone else might think that). My interest was only to warn you of what could be a hazard in giving out gasoline to folks in line at a gas station.
I suspect you will find a grate way to assist some folks in need. 73, Mike
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I'm sorry miked, my comment was not directed towards you. It was meant for the OP.
Maybe this was one of those times when I just should have ignored and moved on.
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I am sure you could sell it, but then again not worth the risk. It looks like they may run out of gas in Florida so I would keep it!
Last edited by hobo finds; 09-07-2017 at 12:03 PM.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
Thanks for posting this thread, its a real eye opener to what some of the people of the world have become.
Let your conscience be your guide.
Seeing a bunch of desperate people in the path of a deadly storm and thinking of it as a chance to price gouge because "i am a capitalist" is a stronger critique of capitalism than anything Marx came up with
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So, screw them. They should have prepared. Government regulations aside, if I make money on the gas I put away, I am a bad person and unethical. It would be more ethical to make everyone wait in the path of danger than it would be to make gas available to someone that was concerned to the point they are willing to pay an exorbitant price to make sure their family was out of the path of a powerful hurricane? What if someone knocked on my door and offered me $100 for five gallons of gas?
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Also, the above phrasing for the poll does not actually describe an ethically ambiguous situation.
Some people are stuck in a crap housing and there is only so much one can do to prepare. *A lot* of people live in apartments. It is unsafe to store large quantities of gasoline in apartments. But yeah, screw them. Also screw those people who planned to leave via plane until the airlines jacked all the prices over $1000 so are stuck in a situation they thought they'd already planned a way out of. And screw those people on fixed incomes who simply don't have the means to stock up for the apocalypse. And screw those people who have to work two or three jobs to make ends meet and don't have time to go out and stock up on extra gas just in case. So yes, you're proposing something unethical. No contortions you do will redeem the premise. There is a good book called The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein that looks at "disaster capitalism". Highly recommend it.
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I am one of those people working two and three jobs to make ends meet.
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Now, a question for all here who criticized me for being unethical instead of offering an opinion on the question: Do you sell your scrap to the yard that offers the cheapest price or do you shop around to find the yard that pays the best? Are you being unethical? Using your logic, why shouldn't you offer to gift your scrap to the handicapped woman with the car full of children and pets instead of choosing the young Mercedes driver that can afford to pay more? What is the difference?
Your example is a massive stretch. There are lots of differences. You are not a gas station. Instead you're suggesting opportunism and avarice based upon impending catastrophe. That isn't the same as shopping around. If you can't see the difference I don't know what to tell you.
Many of us, I'm sure, do help out other folks where we can. But your example doesn't take into account that many of us depend in part or completely on scrap for our income. To give away all our income is simply to switch places. Your comparison in practice offers martyrdom as the 'good' option. You do not depend on gasoline sales for your income and you will not be martyred for want of exploiting people who have zero options. If you can't see the difference I don't know what to tell you.
Your plan is premised on specifically exploiting people under duress. A more apt comparison would be if the disabled woman from your example (let's pretend a mobility disability) had her chair's motor die. And you had a spare motor. But because she desperately needed it and didn't have other options you, instead of selling it for a normal price to her, you sought out a wealthy disabled person who wouldn't blink at an unjustifiably extravagant price. If you can't see the difference I don't know what to tell you.
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some people disagree with me, but if someone offers me more than somethings worth, and i feel they understand it, i have no problem accepting.
"i'm sorry sir, my schedule is full for at least two weeks"
"If you can get here by friday, i'll pay an extra $200"
"i'll probably make someone mad, but i'll find a way to be there"
it usually means working till dark a few days
Currently looking for a job in or related to scrap/recycling. Relocation is possible for the right offer.
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Honestly, I see a bigger safety concern for you, t00nces. I think it's an uncommonly brave/inadvisable thing to stand aside of a throng of automotive operators, panicked and en route to escape, now stuck in traffic, edging out of one the states with the most diverse records for violent crime, all while dangling a precious commodity in front of them. Even if one doesn't just bash you in the head with an expired road flare and take the gas, I could also see a mass fistfight break out once the "winner" of your auction comes to claim their prize and the losers try to pry it from their hands. Everyone thinks they deserve something; it's just a matter of what they think it's worth in trying to get it that separates the man from the monster.
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