This price will make you sick. A Garment District hardware store is selling 1200 ml bottles of Purell for $79. The same bottle retailed for as little as $5.49 before the coronavirus scare.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what we pay for them,\u201d an employee at Scheman & Grant Hardware at Eighth Avenue and 38th Street claimed to media, as the store readied to close for the night on Friday. \u201cEveryone who comes in the store,\u201d buys them, he said while sitting on a stool and guarding the store\u2019s declining hand sanitizer stockpile.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sold about fifty of those today.\u201d But Ace Hardware, to which the store is affiliated, was offering 1200 ml bottles of Purell for only $9.99 online though it was out of stock Friday night.<\/p>\n
Before selling out Friday, Scheman & Grant Hardware also had 2-liter bottles of Purell on sale for an even more astounding $109.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s five times\u00a0what Amazon was offering them for online, before they too sold out.<\/p>\n
The price sounds like scoring, Mayor de Blasio stated when asked about the store\u2019s sky-high sanitizer Friday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like my Department of Consumer Affairs to pay them a visit immediately,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A manager at the Ace Hardware-affiliated store declined to comment. Ace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not surprising that desperate New Yorkers were shelling out $79 for the virus-obliterating goo. Demand for hand sanitizers spiked 1,400 percent from December to January,\u00a0media reported, <\/a>resulting in widespread shortages across the country.<\/p>\n Half dozen stores nearby to Scheman & Grant in the Garment District including a Staples, a CVS a Duane Reade, a 7-11 and a Gristedes. All were sold out, although a knockoff Purell called \u201cAssured Instant Hand Sanitizer could be had at a bodega at 31st and 8th for just $9.95.<\/p>\n The coronavirus scare has created a high demand for masks and cleaning products especially hand sanitizer.<\/p>\n And with many many stores and online retailers running out, desperate buyers were willing to pay sky-high prices for anything that was left.<\/p>\n Sam\u2019s Club had been offering 2-liter Purells for $20.87, but was out of stock Friday night.<\/p>\n eBay has meanwhile taken the high road, banning the sale of masks and hand sanitizer entirely in response to price hike.<\/p>\n The online retailer told sellers on Thursday that it is rejecting listings for hospital-grade masks, hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes,\u00a0media reported on Friday.<\/p>\n Ryan Lopez, 29, a restaurant worker in Times Square area dropped in Scheman & Grant to buy a sink handle, and reacted with disgust to the Purell prices.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes me mad, man. It\u2019s not right what they\u2019re doing,\u201d he said. They\u2019re taking advantage of everything that\u2019s going on. My boss at work was talking about. He has to make his own hand sanitizer out of alcohol and aloe Vera because look at these prices.\u201d<\/p>\n Read Also<\/p>\n Cracks-down-on-face-mask-worth-over-charging-amid-covid19-epidemic-in-nyc\/<\/a><\/p>\n