Two brothers in the US are counting losses after they were forced to donate at least 17,700 hand sanitizers that they had bought across different states cheaply and were selling at exorbitant prices online.
Matt and Noah Colvin of Hixson, Tenneseee, drove thousands of miles to pick up as many bottles of the handwash as they could after the first death was recorded in the US, earlier this year – spending between $10,000 (£8,000) and $15,000 (£11,500) on their haul.
They had hoped to sell the $1 (80p) bottles for an inflated price of $70 (£54) each, with people panicking over the spreading disease. This actually was working with many sellers on sites like Amazon listing the products for as much as $120 at some point and still making sells.
This was before State Attorneys, and the platforms decided to act and ban the practice.
After Amazon put a block on accounts trying to make money from the crisis, the pair were left with thousands of bottles, unable to sell them and a looming investigation.
Yesterday, new videos appeared showing the brothers donating the bottles they were left with. But they are not off the hook yet.
‘I just want to make clear that donating the sanitizers does not mean they are off the hook legally. If evidence establishes they engaged in price gouging we will seek appropriate penalties,’ said Samantha Fisher, director of communications, Tennessee Attorney General.
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