A couple of ambitious Tennessee brothers thought it would be a great business move to buy as much hand sanitizing products as they can and resell the products for about 70 times worth its value.
Hixson, Tennessee residents Noah and Matt Colvin reportedly bought almost 18,000 bottles of hand sanitizer when they heard about the coronavirus outbreak.
Hoping to capitalize off of other people’s fears, the brothers spent nearly $15,000 on the investment. The brothers used Amazon to sell the bottles at various prices up to $70 although they purchased the hand sanitizers at around $1 each.
“The bulk of it was purchased just driving around to retail stores in the Chattanooga area,” said Matt Colvin to local news WRCB. “The pricing on Amazon was definitely higher than retail.”
Colvin reasoned that the pricing was a result of shipping costs and Amazon fees. Amazon saw that people were inflating the prices of household products and proceeded to put blocks on these accounts. The Colvin brothers were no exception and soon would find it hard to sell the hand sanitizer.
With several boxes of the high demand product sitting in a storage facility, the Colvin brothers were desperate to just get their investment back.
“If I can make a slight profit, that’s fine. But, I’m not looking to be in a situation where I make the front page of the news for being that guy who hoarded 20,000 bottles of sanitizer that I’m selling for 20 times what they cost me.”
When word got out it sparked a social media outcry and now, an investigation. Matt Colvin is under investigation by the Tennessee Attorney General. A cease and desist order was sent to the Colvin family with the accusation that they were charging unfair prices.
Meanwhile, the Colvin brothers have been discussing possibly donating the hand sanitizers.
“I just want to make clear that donating the sanitizers does not mean they are off the hook legally,” said Samantha Fisher of the Tennessee Attorney General’s office. “If evidence establishes they engaged in price gouging we will seek appropriate penalties.”
Matt Colvin still holds on to the idea that he was just trying to create a business, not take advantage of the pandemic.
“I didn’t think it was going to blow up into a situation where everyone is being told to stay home,” said Colvin.
Initially, Colvin was not apologetic about his actions, but after the sanitizer was confiscated and he started receiving death threats he changed his mind.
“If by my actions anyone was directly impacted and unable to get sanitizer because I purchased it all, I am truly sorry for that,” said Colvin.
To date, the hand sanitizers have been donated to a local church.
The story is still developing.
