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While hundreds of parents struggle to find formula for their babies, amid a national shortage, online sellers have begun to speculate with prices and offer bottles and cans up to 300% more expensive than usual price.
Websites such as eBay, OfferUp, Amazon and Craigslist, and within Facebook communities have reported these situations, but in many cases, find that the platforms are doing little to punish predatory sellers.
Lisa Davids, a mother of five, told NBC that on eBay she has found the formula your baby needs at double, triple or quadruple what it costs in stores.
In one case, he found a can of 12.4 ounces of Enfamil Gentlease listed at $60 Dollars before shipping, more than triple what Target, Walgreens and other stores are currently charging.
A similar situation occurs at Amazon, where the Enfamil EnfaCare formula sells for about $166 dollars for a six-pack of 13.6-ounce cans, compared to $166.99 dollars you paid for the same product at retail stores like Walmart or Target.
Although eBay’s published policies prohibit “inflating the price of products in response to an emergency or disaster” and demand that “ar items deemed essential” are “offered at a reasonable price,” several ads that have been reported by parents remain active.
A spokesperson for eBay’s Scott Overland said the company has been working to address price gouging through the baby formula crisis.
For their part, within the Facebook groups dedicated to the sale of formula, members say that Unpaid volunteer admins have been tasked with finding and removing exorbitantly priced sales posts .
But the scope of such price increases is difficult to measure; parents with newborns say they generally don’t have time to file complaints with government agencies.
However, this practice has been increasing because there is not yet a federal law that prohibits price gouging, and many state laws do not cover formula sales, said Teresa Murray, director of consumer watchdog for the US Public Interest Research Group
And while many independent seller platforms have policies that explicitly prohibit this practice, companies are often unable to apply them properly, he added.
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