> Hoarders/scalpers are not aiding price discovery, they are manipulating the price by artificially changing supply or demand. They don't have to do so sustainably either.

one could reasonably argue otherwise. let's take the example of toilet paper in the early weeks of quarantine. with or without the action of scalpers, such a massive shift in demand was going to cause toilet paper to go out of stock regardless. without scalpers, you are shit out of luck when this happens (perhaps literally). with scalpers, you at least have the ability to buy it at an eye-watering price. even before you run out, knowing that you have to pay $20/roll is a strong signal that you ought to use one or two squares per wipe instead of 3+.

Hinges on what you believe would have happened to stock that scalpers bought, had they not done so. It may have left enough on the shelf for the would-be customers of scalpers to meet their needs. On the other hand, that leftover stock may have been obtained by panic buyers.

On a hunch I'd say a scalper would purchase more off the shelf than a panic buyer, because with the goal they have in mind they a) want a large quantity to resell to a large number of people and b) want to drain shelf stock to increase their odds of success.

that's why I used the toilet paper example. I don't think scalpers have enough storage space to clear an entire region's stockpile of tp. I did read a story of a guy who did exactly that with hand sanitizer, literally bought the entire supply from every store within 100 miles. that does change the analysis.

I'm definitely not advocating for hoarding or scalping, I'm just curious about what specifically the systemic inefficiencies are that prevent sellers from undercutting the hoarders and scalpers by raising prices on their own.

rightfully or not, raising prices in these situations is considered distasteful by most people. the long-term damage to the brand is probably not worth the short-term profits. retailers would rather just run out of stuff or limit customers to two boxes of pasta to maintain their image.