Price Gouging is dumb

Price gouging is dumb. Let's go beyond the legality in Georgia where this happened (It is illegal), but price gouging in a country like ours is a short-sighted strategy. The conditions for gouging have a time limit and when things return to normal, the one thing people will remember is that you acted like an asshole. And unless you are the only gas station in the effing county, people who were affected by your shitcannery will vote with their wallets and spend their money somewhere else and will tell God and Neighbors they should not spend a cent in your business. Some will take it more personal and attack your place of business in legal ways or in less honorable tactics and at the end, your “smart business strategy” is a net financial loss.

When I lived in Miami and after one of the first hurricanes I went through, I had to get gas because I was almost out of it from driving back and forth to work and power was out all over. There is a small gas station near our house, also out of power, but they rigged a small generator to provide power to the pumps. They charged the running price for gas prior to the hurricane and limited it to $5, $10 and topping at $20 per person in cash. One island was set for cars and the other for people walking in with jerrycans. The immediate result was that they did not lose money, they actually made it, people were supplied with the juice and whatever other items they needed from the station’s store and the owners were rewarded with a new loyal base of customers who repaid their efforts with constant post-hurricane business.

And that is the way you do it.