Purchase Restrictions and Human Nature

[Stargazer65]

Do you ever notice, how when something gets a purchase restriction, people buy it like never before? If someone goes to the store for 1 dozen eggs, and they see a 3 dozen purchase restriction, suddenly they need 3 dozen eggs.

I wonder sometimes...if there was a shortage of something, and the store never restricted purchase, maybe they'd never run out.

 

[Kennywood]

During the pandemic, there was hoarding of paper towels and toilet paper. Excessive, but at least those items wouldn't expire.

Now, it's eggs, and you have nuts like this:



Eggs have an expiration. That's just insane.

 

[dizneegirl]

You can actually freeze eggs...

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

During the pandemic, there was hoarding of paper towels and toilet paper. Excessive, but at least those items wouldn't expire.

Now, it's eggs, and you have nuts like this:

View attachment 937496

Eggs have an expiration. That's just insane.

This has been making the rounds for a few weeks now for Costco pics. In general most can assume it's a business purchasing eggs. Not saying I don't disagree with limitations on things especially ones that are in a shortage but that it's not necessarily people buying flatbed carts of eggs for their homes.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I think a perceived shortage can also directly cause a real shortage.
Take the TP during the pandemic - everyone said there was going to be a shortage, so people went out and bought a bunch of extras. And when the shelves are low, and people are worried, they grab another few extras. So people who would usually have 8 extra rolls of TP at home, now have 88 extra rolls. And the whole town/state does that. Now there really is a shortage - and when the stores get a few on the shelves, they're snatched up really quick. "Next time I'm here they might be out again." "Oh the shelves are empty, it's an ongoing problem, I better buy another 48 pack." If people bought their normal amount, that never would have happened.

 

[DCLMP]

During the pandemic, there was hoarding of paper towels and toilet paper. Excessive, but at least those items wouldn't expire.

Now, it's eggs, and you have nuts like this:

View attachment 937496

Eggs have an expiration. That's just insane.

It is unless he is business owner that owns a restaurant. Business's do bulk shop there.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think it can depend on how much a particular item has gotten media or social media attention. And if an item never conceivably had a limitation before it may spark you thinking you need more than normal.

Most people know about the difficulties with eggs so it brought more attention to it, with that comes if you actually have gone into the store and not been able to purchase any eggs (which happened to my husband in December at our local Walmart) so the next time they have them in you might be more inclined to pick up more to stock up (we don't purchase eggs on the regular so it didn't happen with us but just mentioning why someone could do that).

Insert other items in place of eggs, like during the pandemic with sanitizing wipes (lysol and the like) among other things. Once you knew you might not be able to get it for a while you became more inclined to ensure you had it when you could.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think a perceived shortage can also directly cause a real shortage.
Take the TP during the pandemic - everyone said there was going to be a shortage, so people went out and bought a bunch of extras. And when the shelves are low, and people are worried, they grab another few extras. So people who would usually have 8 extra rolls of TP at home, now have 88 extra rolls. And the whole town/state does that. Now there really is a shortage - and when the stores get a few on the shelves, they're snatched up really quick. "Next time I'm here they might be out again." "Oh the shelves are empty, it's an ongoing problem, I better buy another 48 pack." If people bought their normal amount, that never would have happened.

That was so my mom in the early days. She would scour the internet and order more "just in case", she would ask me to keep an eye out on places and purchase her some if I saw it (I refused to), she would purchase toilet paper (normally a 4 or 6 pack but still) every time she would see it in stock at a store. I was like mom you're contributing to this mess you know. And she was only 1 person at her house. It flabbergasted me how she was but over time you could see how so many people were falling into that sort of thinking.

I understand wanting a smidgen more than normal at a time where you think or where you know inventories are lower than normal due to outside factors but to keep purchasing more and more just adds to the problem as well as encourages retailers (mostly online) to charge crazy high pricing because they know people are buying the stuff.

 

[tvguy]

I don't know what is going on with eggs.
Walmart is always fully stocked with Great Value Brand eggs. Expensive but available with no restriction.
My local chain grocery store always seems to be very low on eggs or out of eggs and when they have eggs it is a brand they have never stocked before.
Walmart is funny because three weeks ago they added a second full refrigerated case for them, doubling their inventory. They also seem to have a LOT more 60 cartons in stock than they used to.

 

[barkley]

During the pandemic, there was hoarding of paper towels and toilet paper. Excessive, but at least those items wouldn't expire.

Now, it's eggs

not hoarding by any means but I will admit to giving thought to and recently stocking my pantry with shelf stable items that CONTAIN eggs (pasta and mayo in particular) b/c I look back to points in time when individual crops have had bad years (freezing citrus, smoke damaged veggies) or as in the case of the pandemic there was a difficulty in getting individual ingredients to manufacturers. prices were higher and availability was decreased well after the fact when existing supplies were depleted absent normal on-going production.

 

[barkley]

I don't know what is going on with eggs.
Walmart is always fully stocked with Great Value Brand eggs. Expensive but available with no restriction.
My local chain grocery store always seems to be very low on eggs or out of eggs and when they have eggs it is a brand they have never stocked before.
Walmart is funny because three weeks ago they added a second full refrigerated case for them, doubling their inventory. They also seem to have a LOT more 60 cartons in stock than they used to.

I've noticed that the use-by dates on the great value eggs seems to have shortened a good bit. I could routinely buy them with a minimum date out 3 weeks but lately our local walmart's haven't had any with a date out beyond 2 weeks.

 

[tvguy]

I've noticed that the use-by dates on the great value eggs seems to have shortened a good bit. I could routinely buy them with a minimum date out 3 weeks but lately our local walmart's haven't had any with a date out beyond 2 weeks.

I noticed that too Sunday when we bought eggs. But apparently eggs are good, if refrigerated, for a month after the sell by date. And I just checked, it is a SELL BY date, not a USE BY date.

 

[NotUrsula]

FWIW, I've been seeing the "carts full of eggs" phenomenon at warehouse stores in late Winter/early Spring for a long time. Lots of churches and organizations like Boy Scout troops have breakfast fundraiser events, host retreats, or sell a lot of Valentine's Day baked goods. It will also be fish-fry season again soon.

The changing sell-by dates might mean that the eggs stores are able to get are coming from farther away, so more of the useful shelf-life is being spent on a truck. If that's the pattern, watch out for more broken ones in packages.

I'm wondering if the market for powdered eggs will pick back up again; they *can* be warehoused for months, & are useful for things like factory-processed baked goods, where the reconstitutued texture will not be obvious.

 

[barkley]

I noticed that too Sunday when we bought eggs. But apparently eggs are good, if refrigerated, for a month after the sell by date. And I just checked, it is a SELL BY date, not a USE BY date.

I'm familiar with use by vs sell by (vs best by) dates-i refer to the USDA guidelines frequently (have a chart posted in one of my pantrys) b/c I was raised on plenty of home canned goods that were acceptable and entirely safe to consume long beyond the time frame printed on current day marketed goods. we don't buy allot of eggs unless I know we will consume them by when I consider to be safe (wish we could get some kind of ultra long use out of them like we get on our local ultra pasturized milk-buy it today and it can sit in the fridge unopened for use in may ).

 

[barkley]

If that's the pattern, watch out for more broken ones in packages.

more of the cartons/flats around us are selling as sealed in plastic wrap so you can't open and check them. I suspect this is in response to pre egg shortage issues with a form of micro-shoplifting wherein just a single or two eggs from a carton were being shoplifted (now while shopping we have to check containers of soda and juice now to see if they've been pre-opened and a sip taken, see if the seal is broken on jars of jam/peanut butter...because we've gotten them home to discover they have to be returned or tossed).

 

[fla4fun]

I've noticed that the use-by dates on the great value eggs seems to have shortened a good bit. I could routinely buy them with a minimum date out 3 weeks but lately our local walmart's haven't had any with a date out beyond 2 weeks.

I bought store brand eggs at my local grocery store today and the carton has a date of 3/15/25, which is more than a month away. I do not know where the eggs are sourced from, but I am not aware of Florida being a large egg producing state so I believe they had to come from somewhere else.

My store typically carries Eggland’s Best and their store brand, with small quantities of boutique specialty items. The Eggland’s Best go in and out of stock, but they seem to always have plenty of their store brand (although not in every size-only extra large and jumbo today).

 

[tvguy]

I'm familiar with use by vs sell by (vs best by) dates-i refer to the USDA guidelines frequently (have a chart posted in one of my pantrys) b/c I was raised on plenty of home canned goods that were acceptable and entirely safe to consume long beyond the time frame printed on current day marketed goods. we don't buy allot of eggs unless I know we will consume them by when I consider to be safe (wish we could get some kind of ultra long use out of them like we get on our local ultra pasturized milk-buy it today and it can sit in the fridge unopened for use in may ).

All we buy is ultra Pasturized milk. We don't use much milk anymore, skim milk for everything but baking. A quart of whole milk on hand for that and having it last for months is a plus.
My daughter is adapting to unrefrigerated eggs in Germany. And she almost bought a dozen hard boiled eggs as they are on the shelf next to the raw eggs. She is used to here where hard boiled eggs are sold shelled in plastic pouches of two or six eggs, not a carton in the shell.

 

[HopperFan]

You can actually freeze eggs...

I have. Bought baby food silicone mold. Freeze dozen at time and transfer to ziploc. Just use for cooking not breakfast eggs.

 

[LuvOrlando]

The problem is H5N1 keeps forcing the culling of millions of birds. Add this to the fact many states enacted the VERY justified cage free egg laws at the same time and you have an expensive problem.

We go through a half dozen eggs a day here, they are the perfect food IMO so we always have a lot on hand. So yesterday I was considering the egg and chicken issue and having a new puppy with so many vaccines I can't help but wonder why there aren't animal vaccines for stuff like H5N1? WHy do humans pump food sources full of antibiotics but no vaccines? Wouldn't a vax H5N1 be better than risking another H1N1? Wouldn't it be better than the financial losses and flock losses and risk to wildlife?

Humans actually use chicken eggs for traditional flu vaccine production so in all this time with the advent of MRNA vaccines since 2020 not a single human has considered the money saved and potential public health benefits of protecting such an important part of the US Food Supply and National Security? Seems a solution worth considering to prevent another pandemic.

 

[easyas123]

I can't help but wonder why there aren't animal vaccines for stuff like H5N1?

There is, however - kinda sorta like in humans - it doesn't necessary keep the chicken from getting it, it will reduce the symptoms.
Reduced or absent symptoms = farmers unable to notice the infection, which in turn means the bird flu sweeps thru the flock(s) and causes more damage.

*I'm not a expert, just repeating what I've been told by family that have houses, as well as what was explained to a coworker at the big industry convention in Atlanta last month.