AllPCB profiteering

[janoc]

I have just received this e-mail from teresa@allpcb.com:

Hi

 

Now the world is suffering from Coronavirus disease 2019, how is the situation in your city ?

 

ALLPCB is always on the way to support, We now send free face-masks to oversea customers,

Free masks is available when you submit PCB order( at least 5pcs and up to 20pcs for free according to order amount).

 

More ever, most of customers hope that we can sell some masks, our company has done great effort and finally we start to sell some extra masks in addition to the free complimentary.

 

Due to the limit stock, pls let me know asap if you have any interest.

... cut a long bit about WHO recommending social distancing and washing hands ...

Seriously, folks? This is some disgusting shit, exploiting the crisis and the lack of the masks world-wide for marketing. Calling this tone-deaf would be extremely charitable.

Well, I certainly do know which company I am not going to ever use again.

[wraper]

And in what way this is "profiteering"? Please read definition of the word. Also they already use face masks during PCB production, so it's not like they are going out of their way to obtain them.

[janoc]

And in what way this is "profiteering"? Please read definition of the word. Also they already use face masks during PCB production, so it's not like they are going out of their way to obtain them.

verb
gerund or present participle: profiteering

make or seek to make an excessive or unfair profit, especially illegally.
"seven food merchants were charged with profiteering"

Emphasis mine.

Exploiting the fact that it is impossible to find PPEs around the world today and that people are afraid of the disease, given the number of dead every day (just look at the numbers from Italy, Spain or France) to try to get business is a disgusting practice in my book. If they were in France it would be also illegal and they would get the masks confiscated.

I wouldn't have said a word if they were offering these masks for sale, for example, given that there is a surplus of them in China now and they are sorely needed elsewhere. Dodgy, but so be it. But using them to attract more PCB sales?? Seriously? When we have doctors dying here (3 in the last two days) because they don't have enough PPEs (respirators, even basic surgical masks) for themselves and can't even get them anywhere?

[wraper]

I wouldn't have said a word if they were offering these masks for sale, for example. But using them to attract more PCB sales?? Seriously? When we have doctors dying here (3 in the last two days) because they don't have enough PPEs (respirators, even basic surgical masks) for themselves and can't even get them anywhere?

They sell them if you ask. Also they are offering them without increase of actual product cost which is extremely cheap BTW. There is very tiny margin on those "at least 5pcs and up to 20pcs for free according to order amount", if not sold at loss.

Profiteering:

Business owners may be accused of profiteering when they raise prices during an emergency (especially a war).

make or seek to make an excessive or unfair profit, especially illegally.

They are attracting back some of lost sales at best. There is no profit on emergency there. It seems as if you would be much happier if there were no options of acquiring masks left at all.

[SerieZ]

Mmmmh, seems like you can do nothing right during these times...

I do not think many engineers and hobbyists going to base their choice of PCB Manifacturer because of this.....

[Zero999]

They said the masks will be free with PCB orders, so I don't see how this can be profiteering, unless they put their prices up to unreasonable levels. If they're still selling PCBs for the same price and aren't charging excessively for masks, then I don't see the problem.

[m98]

Seems like a harmless marketing stunt? Not sure what's apparently so unethical about the offer.

[jogri]

I wouldn't have said a word if they were offering these masks for sale, for example, given that there is a surplus of them in China now and they are sorely needed elsewhere. Dodgy, but so be it. But using them to attract more PCB sales?? Seriously? When we have doctors dying here (3 in the last two days) because they don't have enough PPEs (respirators, even basic surgical masks) for themselves and can't even get them anywhere?

Well, i don't think that millions of people suddenly decide to order custom PCBs just to get a face mask... They claim to have ~3k customers per month, even if everyone gets 10 masks that is just around one palette of masks per month. And keep in mind that those are not the FFP2/3 masks needed by medical personnel as the only job of those masks is to keep follicles/hair/dust away from the PCB. They sure as hell won't save you from getting infected with Covid-19, so what's your point? They give away/sell something medical personnel can't use as PPE against a virus, if i had to choose between wearing a mask that doesn't help at all (and collects everything you breathe in, creating a hotspot of viruses in front of your mouth) and don't wearing one at all i'd go without. Even a simple plexiglas faceshield is way more effective as it protects you from droplets.

[ataradov]

It is stupid marketing, and they do it all the time. And yes, I did not feel good about trying to push me another marking email using the virus as an excuse.

[Koen]

Four of my suppliers have offered to sell me masks at regular cost these past two weeks. I'm sure they mean well.

And tone it down about France, their "confiscation" means french companies couldn't supply their british and belgian customers.

[wraper]

And tone it down about France, their "confiscation" means french companies couldn't supply their british and belgian customers.

It might sound good to keep the masks within country but completely irresponsible towards everyone else. If everyone does that (not necessarily masks, could be other medical products), all of the world will be in a big shit since production is not evenly distributed across the countries. And France likely would end up with a short end of the stick.

[langwadt]

And tone it down about France, their "confiscation" means french companies couldn't supply their british and belgian customers.

It might sound good to keep the masks within country but completely irresponsible towards everyone else. If everyone does that (not necessarily masks, could be other medical products), all of the world will be in a big shit since production is not evenly distributed across the countries. And France likely would end up with a short end of the stick.

in a state of emergency, if a countries doesn't make enough of something to cover their own needs why would the government allow export?

[wraper]

in a state of emergency, if a countries doesn't make enough of something to cover their own needs why would the government allow export?

Because neighboring country can ban export of something else in need. Also it breaks supply chains. If everyone does that, overall situation will be much worse than if everyone just did nothing.

[wraper]

Say one man has food, another man has water, both in scarce amount. If they keep them for their own consumption only, both men will die.

[wraper]

Say one man has food, another man has water, both in scarce amount. If they keep them for their own consumption only, both men will die.

The man without water will die quickly. The other man lives. That's how the real world sometimes works too.

Dies and exports covid-19 to neighboring country.

[langwadt]

Say one man has food, another man has water, both in scarce amount. If they keep them for their own consumption only, both men will die.

say one man has a car with 4 wheels, another man has a car with no wheels, should the first give two wheels to the other so they can both have a car with two wheels?

[Koen]

Ho wow yes what an excellent comparison ho my god we are all seeing it in a new light now.


To add substance to this post, here's a french article about a side-effect of this "national confiscation" : french distributor of medical goods stopped importing masks from China because they would have been confiscated on arrival anyway.
https://www.la-croix.com/Economie/France/Coronavirus-course-contre-montre-Robe-Medical-fournir-masques-2020-03-22-1201085406

[wraper]

To add substance to this post, here's a french article about a side-effect of this "national confiscation" : french distributor of medical goods stopped importing masks from China because they would have been confiscated on arrival anyway.

Even before you saying this I thought something like this could happen.

[langwadt]

Ho wow yes what an excellent comparison ho my god we are all seeing it in a new light now.


To add substance to this post, here's a french article about a side-effect of this "national confiscation" : french distributor of medical goods stopped importing masks from China because they would have been confiscated on arrival anyway.
https://www.la-croix.com/Economie/France/Coronavirus-course-contre-montre-Robe-Medical-fournir-masques-2020-03-22-1201085406

I see, that kind of confiscation. I imagined something like the French government/organisations having "first right of refusal" before it could be sold to anyone else

[james_s]

I don't see what the problem is, they're giving away free masks, so what? If they didn't offer them then someone else would chastise them for hoarding excess masks. Damned if you do, damned if you don't, some people are just impossible to please.

The mask craze is stupid anyway, wearing a mask may offer some marginal degree of prevention from spreading the disease if the wearer is already sick, but it's unlikely to protect you from others. From the perspective of something the size of a virus is a mesh of gigantic gaping holes.

[Koen]

Macron has always been vocal for a more integrated, more involved, more cooperating EU and this was a brutal "fuck you we got ours". Here's a french article on its reception by EU : https://www.europe1.fr/international/coronavirus-les-masques-de-protection-sement-la-discorde-a-bruxelles-3953847

[jogri]

The mask craze is stupid anyway, wearing a mask may offer some marginal degree of prevention from spreading the disease if the wearer is already sick, but it's unlikely to protect you from others. From the perspective of something the size of a virus is a mesh of gigantic gaping holes.

Kinda true, but since the virus doesn't appear as individual strains of RNA but inside of small droplets/mist from someone coughing/sneezing the particles a mask has to stop are a lot bigger than just a bunch of RNA. FFP2/3 masks do a good job of holding back an aerosol, they have to be capable of holding back 94/99% of particles bigger than 600nm (a virus is roughly 1-400nm big). Btw, such a mask will be quite terrible if its wearer has the virus as almost all of those masks have outlet valves without filters.