People on Kijiji are jacking up prices of hand sanitizer and disinfectant

As coronavirus continues to spread around the country, demand for hand sanitizers, protective masks and similar products has skyrocketed.

Many store shelves have been emptied as people make efforts to stock up—including resellers.

Some resellers have started using platforms like Kijiji to sell the products at much higher prices.

Journalists from TVA Nouvelles set up an appointment with a man who was selling two large bottles of hand sanitizer for $200.

After responding to the online ad, the team met up with the man who gave a neighbour's address instead of his own. The man refused to answer any questions when he saw the camera.

Another ad shows a seller asking $80 for under a litre of Purell and agreed to meet.

“I sell by the ton, so there is not much left,” they said.

One man claimed that he bought too much disinfectant for himself and offered a 500 ml bottle for $100

“But I'm telling you, when you look for it [the disinfectant], you can't find it,” he said when the crew met with him.

Psychologist Gilles Vachon, he said, “I find it infinitely sad. Ask yourself: if everyone knew how I was behaving right now, would it be defensible? Would I be able to look in the mirror?”

Kijiji has been working to remove ads like these since Friday. Thousands of them have already been blocked and deleted.

Kijiji’s community relation manager, Kent Sikstrom said, “People are trying to exploit the situation, to take advantage of the situation. It's an ongoing effort.”