Heavily stocked toilet paper shelves at Woolworths Skygate, Eagle Farm. Photo / News Corp Australia
Heavily stocked toilet paper shelves at Woolworths Skygate, Eagle Farm. Photo / News Corp Australia
An Adelaide man has reportedly hoarded more than 5400 toilet rolls after panic buying left supermarket shelves stripped.
An anonymous grocer told 9 News in Adelaide they had been approached by the man, who has allegedly been contacting independent stores about his stash after being banned from online selling.
It comes as many shoppers continue to struggle to get their hands on the precious paper, despite assurances from the big supermarkets that stock levels are returning to normal.
Shelves were emptied of toilet paper last month due to fears the coronavirus pandemic could lead to shortages, forcing Coles, Aldi and Woolworths to introduce limits of one pack per customer.
In an email to customers last week, Woolworths' chief executive Brad Banducci revealed the supermarket giant had sold 20.5 million rolls of toilet paper in one week.
However, things were "slowly improving" and he urged customers to only buy what they need.
"Amazing as it might seem, we are still seeing almost double our normal demand for toilet paper. Just this week, that was over 20.5 million rolls," Banducci said.
"So despite much more stock coming in, we're still not where we need to be. It is slowly improving, but please help everyone by only buying what you need."
Heavily stocked toilet paper shelves at Woolworths Skygate, Eagle Farm. Photo / News Corp Australia
Online marketplaces such as eBay have acted quickly to prevent sellers from taking advantage of the toilet paper shortage.
After shortages in stores, listings for toilet paper at exorbitant prices began appearing online.
"eBay does not allow sellers to list items that attempt to capitalise on disaster or tragedy. We are conducting regular sweeps of the site to remove items such as face masks, hand sanitiser and toilet paper listed at inflated prices," an eBay Australia spokeswoman told news.com.au last month.
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"Sellers of these items and repeat offenders may be subject to a number of actions including account restriction."
Gumtree has temporarily banned the selling of masks, hand sanitiser, disinfecting wipes and toilet paper to prevent price gouging.
eBay has acted swiftly to stop people taking advantage of the toilet paper shortage. Photo / Supplied
Facebook has also banned the sale of hand sanitiser, wipes and coronavirus test kits.
Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has vowed to crack down on "supermarket gangs" who take advantage of the toilet paper shortage.
"I think they're sending some of the product overseas or selling it in a black market arrangement," he said.
Late last month, police arrested a man accused of stealing toilet paper from supermarkets in Sydney's southwest suburbs.
Police say two men allegedly stole multiple packs of loo roll from Granville and Auburn stores, where one of the men allegedly threatened an employee with a knife.
Many shoppers are still coming up empty when it comes to toilet paper. Photo / News Corp Australia
