"I found a gap in the market"
Two British university students made £10,000 selling Coronavirus masks whilst 10,000 people in Hong Kong queued for 30 hours for them.
The Sun reports that “enterprising students” Gabriel Becker and Luke Gabriel decided to profit from the virus after it was identified in Brighton, UK.
Gabriel, 17, was inspired by his own experience travelling to London when he tried to buy a mask for himself.
With help from his Becker, the pair bought masks from a GP surgery that was closing down and a medical supplier in Spain for only 17p per pack.
After sanitising them, the Bournemouth-based pair stored the masks at Gabriel’s parents’ house before selling 1,400 of them on eBay for £8 each.
“I was looking at news about the coronavirus and looking at buying masks because I was going to London,” Gabriel said. “Then I noticed they were extortionate.”
“I looked deeper and deeper and saw there weren’t many people selling them,” he continued. “I found a gap in the market. I have been interested in business since I saw how much money you can make.”
“I was down to my last £20 and put it into this business and prayed it worked,” he said.
“I went into a doctor’s surgery that was closing down and bought masks from Spanish suppliers. It just took off from there.”
Becker added, “on the first morning we had four sales. By lunchtime that was up to 500 sales and 1,000 by the afternoon.”
The pair plan to start selling T-shirts with the money.
Meanwhile, SCMP reports that 10,000 people were seen queuing in Hong Kong for masks, with queues lasting up to 30 hours.
Luck Well International Holdings in Kowloon Bay had announced they would release 6,000 boxes of surgical masks for sale during Hong Kong’s shortage on Wednesday.
Consequently, thousands turned up to get their hands on the masks with queues hitting 10,000 within hours.
People queued up overnight and the company began telling people to stop joining the queue at 1.30am on Wednesday.
“Please stop braving the cold weather and [stop] queuing up … Please take care!” the company posted on Facebook on Wednesday.
Jerry Law, project manager at Luck Well International Holdings, expressed his sympathy for Hong Kongers during this time.
“We feel disheartened that people have to queue for some 20 or 30 hours for masks,” he said. “Not that Hongkongers can’t afford to buy the masks, but we run out of methods to get them. We can count on no one else but ourselves, so we hope other people and businesses can do their part.”
The death toll from the Coronavirus currently stands at 567 with 28,403 confirmed cases globally.
About 10,000 people, most of whom queued up overnight, are standing in line on Wednesday to buy masks offered by a Hong Kong trading company in Kowloon Bay.
Video: SCMP/Alvin Lum. pic.twitter.com/jMrz4Zglt9
— SCMP Hong Kong (@SCMPHongKong) February 5, 2020
In recent news, Michelle Phan addressed the racist abuse related to the Coronavirus on her social media.
Meanwhile, a Chinese woman was asked to leave her market stall in Wales due to Coronavirus concerns.
What’s more, Asian passengers have reported Coronavirus-related discrimination from Uber and Lyft drivers.
Other industries around the world are also being impacted by the effects of the virus. Donnie Yen‘s latest film Enter The Fat Dragon has pulled its China release due to cinemas being closed in China.
Coronavirus test kits were recently likened to “winning lottery tickets” in Wuhan.
On Amazon.co.uk, a pack of 50 3-ply masks is currently selling for almost £340.
In related news, rapper 50 Cent recently suggested to President Trump that he should send “motherfuckers back to China” in an attempt to solve the crisis.
In other related news, UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Weili Zhang recently slammed her opponent Joanna Jedrzejczyk for making a racist Coronavirus joke.
Additionally, a 13-year-old Chinese boy was reduced to tears after a group of Italian racists hurled slurs at him about the virus.
Meanwhile, a 62-year-old Chinese doctor in Wuhan has died after treating patients for the virus.