Do you have toilet paper?

[Lamb]

Our local stores run out of stocked toilet paper within 15 minutes to a half hour. I have no idea what these people are doing! I am fortunate that I was planning on having surgery this year and have been putting supplies aside for a couple months so that I have toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning supplies. But I'm worried about what happens when I run low...will I be able to get more?? What are your tips for getting toilet paper?

 

[tango]

Our local stores are weird. One can be picked clean but the one less than half a mile away can be well stocked at the same time.

As a matter of routine we try to keep a modest reserve of just about everything that's important - when we get down to a certain level we look to restock, rather than waiting until we're almost out of it and then finding we can't get it anywhere.

 

[Lamb]

I went to the Amish store and they said they haven't had a shipment in 3 weeks and the lady I spoke with said it just didn't sound right that that's happening. They had plenty of paper towels, kleenex and napkins so I bought more while I was there. I forgot to look at eggs but I think that since they're Amish there will be plenty on hand!

Then I went to Walgreens up the road and they had a wall of single rolls with a limit of 2 so I bought two rolls so my daughter could have some at her apartment.

 

[psalms 91]

It seems to be ok here, it is low in the stores but at least it is possible to get

 

[tango]

One of our local stores has a limit of two per customer, but it's a limit of two packs regardless of size. So if they have the huge packs you can get two packs (i.e. 48 rolls) but if the best they have is a four-pack your limit is 8 rolls.

The daft thing is that the limits only go so far towards slowing people who really want to stock up. When I go shopping with my wife there's nothing stopping us going through the checkout separately, each taking the maximum they'll allow, then putting them in the car and going back for more. We don't do that because we have all we need, but someone intent on stockpiling would just go through multiple times.

 

[vince284]

No problem here.

 

[ImaginaryDay2]

Generally we can rely on a certain brand being stocked close-by. It's produced and shipped not far from here so it's easily stocked up. It sells fast, but new stock shows up soon after.

 

[NewCreation435]

Our local stores run out of stocked toilet paper within 15 minutes to a half hour. I have no idea what these people are doing! I am fortunate that I was planning on having surgery this year and have been putting supplies aside for a couple months so that I have toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning supplies. But I'm worried about what happens when I run low...will I be able to get more?? What are your tips for getting toilet paper?

order it online and have shipped to your house

 

[Lamb]

order it online and have shipped to your house

The delivery dates were between May 20 and June 6!

 

[Lucian Hodoboc]

I am fortunate that I was planning on having surgery this year

I hope it goes well.

 

[tango]

The delivery dates were between May 20 and June 6!

That's a long time to have to hold it....

 

[EZWarren]

I was lucky I bought 3 packs of toilet paper before the riots [Yes I am calling it that ] began. So I am good for at least 6-8 Weeks. I have 12 rolls at my house Triple Length.

ANYWAY, what is the deal with panic buying Toilet Paper it's not going to get you in the rear?

 

[tango]

I was lucky I bought 3 packs of toilet paper before the riots [Yes I am calling it that ] began. So I am good for at least 6-8 Weeks. I have 12 rolls at my house Triple Length.

ANYWAY, what is the deal with panic buying Toilet Paper it's not going to get you in the rear?

The thing with toilet paper is there's a lot of 'monkey see, monkey do' in there. It's big and bulky so it's very visible when people are buying more than usual - it takes up space in the cart and there's a big space on the shelves where it used to be. Toilet paper won't get you out of trouble if the virus does hit and doesn't do anything you can't improvise at a push, but people don't typically think rationally when they are scared.

Even when people aren't scared the idea of stockpiling isn't as irrational as some make it out to be. If you're familiar with the Prisoner's Dilemma, in some ways the question of whether to stockpile or not is like the Prisoner's Dilemma on steroids, where you're dealing with hundreds if not thousands of other prisoners and you have to decide whether to rely on all of them to do the right thing. If everybody maintains normal buying patterns everything continues to work but if a few stockpile and you aren't among them you risk being left out unable to get what you need. Of course there's a difference between maintaining a sensible personal reserve and the kind of stockpile that would last for literally years but, when governments look like they are making it up as they go along and changing the rules every couple of days, it's hard to be surprised when people act as if it's going to get much much worse.

 

[Lamb]

Here's a cool toilet paper calculator my husband sent to me:

Toilet Paper Calculator

How much 🧻 do you need to defeat COVID-19 🦠? Our toilet paper calculator comes to rescue!

www.omnicalculator.com

 

[Josiah]

I have TP.

And I have a gun.

Understand?



.

 

[tango]

It's easy to see why people stockpile toilet paper. Go into any Walmart and cough loudly, and see how many people soil themselves on the spot.

 

[EZWarren]

The thing with toilet paper is there's a lot of 'monkey see, monkey do' in there. It's big and bulky so it's very visible when people are buying more than usual - it takes up space in the cart and there's a big space on the shelves where it used to be. Toilet paper won't get you out of trouble if the virus does hit and doesn't do anything you can't improvise at a push, but people don't typically think rationally when they are scared.

Even when people aren't scared the idea of stockpiling isn't as irrational as some make it out to be. If you're familiar with the Prisoner's Dilemma, in some ways the question of whether to stockpile or not is like the Prisoner's Dilemma on steroids, where you're dealing with hundreds if not thousands of other prisoners and you have to decide whether to rely on all of them to do the right thing. If everybody maintains normal buying patterns everything continues to work but if a few stockpile and you aren't among them you risk being left out unable to get what you need. Of course there's a difference between maintaining a sensible personal reserve and the kind of stockpile that would last for literally years but, when governments look like they are making it up as they go along and changing the rules every couple of days, it's hard to be surprised when people act as if it's going to get much much worse.

I was going to say, even when not scared people tend to overdo things. I understand when something is on special you tend to get more which is fair enough, but scared or not, virus or not, stockpiling on Toilet Paper is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion.
I have a sneaky suspicion that people that are buying more than the should are maybe trying to sell it to make a profit.
I get if a family buys up to 5 packs of 10 Pack of toilet paper, that's reasonable, but if you're buying 20 packs of 10 Pack Toilet Paper, there's no way you need that many in a short amount of time.

 

[tango]

A couple of other considerations.

Firstly it's not about what you need in a short period of time, it's about what you think you'll need between now and whenever things return to normal. With no way of knowing whether things will return to something like normal in a week, a month or six months it's easy to see why people prepare for a worst case scenario. Toilet paper in particular doesn't go bad, so it's not as if anyone who does end up with 5 years worth of toilet paper will end up throwing it out because it spoiled. When some voices are calling to get everything open, others are calling to maintain restrictions for a couple more weeks and still others are calling for lockdowns lasting 10 weeks or more, it's hardly a surprise that people take whatever chance they get to stock for the worst case.

On a far more mundane level, the people that used to be at work at now at home. Every single bodily function that required toilet paper that was once performed at work is now being performed at home. That means a huge extra demand for domestic toilet paper. Commercial toilet paper is often of a lower quality and made in much larger rolls, rolls far too big to fit in a domestic toilet paper holder. So the supply chain for regular domestic paper is disrupted due to a surge in demand, even as the demand for commercial toilet paper collapes.

I'm thinking if we can't get more toilet paper before we open our last packet I'll be approaching a local paper manufacturer to see if they will sell me the giant commercial rolls. I can make something to hold it in the bathroom if needs be - it won't necessarily be pretty but it will do what is needed.

 

[ImaginaryDay2]

Costco. 7:30 am. 30 minute wait to get in.
Pallets full of the stuff

 

[Lamb]

Costco. 7:30 am. 30 minute wait to get in.
Pallets full of the stuff

That's a good score! I haven't been out in almost 2 weeks to know if there is any stock out there yet.