{"id":287,"date":"2021-03-06T00:29:47","date_gmt":"2021-03-06T05:29:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/michigan\/edfund\/resources\/price-gouging-what-watch-protect-your-wallet\/"},"modified":"2022-08-06T07:22:09","modified_gmt":"2022-08-06T11:22:09","slug":"price-gouging-what-to-watch-for-to-protect-your-wallet","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/michigan\/edfund\/resources\/price-gouging-what-to-watch-for-to-protect-your-wallet\/","title":{"rendered":"Price gouging: What to watch for to protect your wallet"},"featured_media":13224,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":false,"_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":""},"campaign_tax":[157],"display_option":[],"issue_tax":[],"resource_type":[67],"region_tax":[],"state":[5,7,8,9,12,13,16,18,23,24,25,28,29,2,32,33,34,36,38,40,41,42,46,50,52],"topic_tax":[124,121],"class_list":["post-287","resource","type-resource","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"details":{"helper_taxonomies":{"topics":[121,124],"collection":false,"press_type":false,"person_type":false,"resource_type":67,"event_type":false,"campaigns":157,"department":false,"level":false,"states":[2,5,7,8,9,12,13,16,18,23,24,25,28,29,32,33,34,36,38,40,41,42,46,50,52],"act_option":false,"display_option":false,"primary":{"topic":124}},"subtitle":"","excerpt":"Our popular tips to prevent and report price gouging have assisted in record-breaking reports to states\u2019 attorneys general, and also has led to new and strengthened related laws in states.","featured_image":13224,"caption_override":"","updated_on":null,"sidebar_action":null,"related_event":null,"hide_hero_image":false,"location":"","external_link":{"publication_name":"","url":""},"file":null,"sidebar_action_query_string":""},"helper_people_group":{"title":"Authors","entities":null},"helper_downloads":{"title":"Downloads","files":null},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

March 6, 2021<\/em><\/p>\n

by Grace Brombach, Consumer Watchdog Associate<\/em><\/p>\n

Price gouging is an issue that jeopardizes the safety and financial security of consumers and can reveal itself during the most difficult circumstances.\u00a0 National and state emergencies often become a playground for bad actors looking to profit off of products that are necessary but in short supply. From wildfires, hurricanes and snowstorms, to a pandemic that has completely altered life as we know it, the last year has offered price gougers far too many opportunities to take advantage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. PIRG suspected price gouging on critical supplies, and our first analysis into prices for surgical masks and hand sanitizers proved our suspicions correct. Since then, we\u2019ve released two additional reports: one that compares prices between major online retailers and another that compared pre-pandemic prices to those one year later for 750 \u201cessential\u201d products on Amazon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our popular tips to prevent and report price gouging have assisted in record-breaking reports to states\u2019 attorneys general, and also has led to new and strengthened related laws in states including California<\/a>, Massachusetts<\/a> and Colorado<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Consumers should:<\/h5>\n