Many businessmen resorts to hoarding of goods. In this country or I think in most countries it is against he law to hoard government controlled items like rice, cooking oil, sugar, flour or any other consumable items deemed a necessity in our everyday lives. However, the practise of hoarding is still pretty rampant.
Why Businessmen Hoards.
The main and only motive for hoarding of goods is to make a higher profit. This is especially so when there get news that prices will be going up and this is not difficult to predict if businessmen keeps an eye on a few factors.
Price of petrol- Once petrol prices goes up, it is almost guaranteed that most items will follow suit.
Natural Disasters – A big flood in countries or areas producing that certain food will also see a price increase.
Disease outbreak. - will also cause some items to go up.
Budget announcements – the easiest item to predict are cigarettes and alcohols.
Businessmen who has a keen foresight will know what to hoard. Like I said, most does it to make a higher profit, but there are some who use this opportunity to get more customers and maybe kill off the smaller competitors. They will sell all their hoarded items at the old price even after a new price has been announced to gain publicity. They will not be loosing money and at the same time, people will be flocking to his shop to take advantage of the cheaper goods.
While it may be considered good business sense to hoard as it applies to the basic principle of buying low and selling high, the consequences might be harsh. Authorities do keep a keen eye on this practice to protect consumers and the offence of hoarding carries heavy fines.