COVID-19 hoarders. Any lessons learned?

I stock up on important things when they are plentiful and relatively cheap so I have them when they become scarce and don't have to pay high prices. Also, I like to diversify my investments and one part of that diversification is to invest in things with intrinsic value, things like nonperishable food and guns and ammo being high on the list. And as I do with all investments, I buy when the cost is low.

The panic caused a big drop in the stock market, and I took the opportunity to buy a bunch of good stock at clearance sale prices. It's all looking really good now, and should only get better (unless the communists win big in the coming election). So to all those who took part in the panicked selloff, thanks, but I do hope you learn your lesson about letting the smiling liberals on TV influence your behavior.

I did screw up on a couple of things though:
1, I thought I had plenty of reloading supplies but I underestimated just how long a shortage might last. I still have a lot of ammo, but I'm running out of my reloaded ammo.

2, It hadn't occurred to me that canning lids would become scarce, so I thought I might run out of them (they are available, but at outrageous prices). Turned out though my garden didn't do as well as expected so I had plenty.

Another thing this situation shows us is that hoarders are more prevalent and more selfish than we might have thought, and they will cheat their neighbor if they can. This says much about human nature, and tells us what we might expect from people in a real survival situation.

For example, you see the canning lids I mentioned selling on Amazon for way more than they normally sell for. It looks to me like there are probably people going into stores and buying every one of them as soon as any are stocked, and then selling them for a huge profit. This is an unethical practice called profiteering.

I would not put anything beyond people who do things like this. If food was scarce they would grab and hoard any of it they could get their hands on, and if you didn't want to pay their exorbitant price for it (or couldn't), they would let you and your family starve, even while food sat in their garage being eaten by rats.

I don't think this applies to all people by the way, or even most. But it does most certainly apply to enough to be a big problem for the rest of us.

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COVID-19 hoarders. Any lessons learned?