Consumers accuse small retailers of price gouging on Covid tests

Consumers accuse small retailers of price gouging on Covid tests

When Ja'Kiem Crayon tells customers the price for a single at-home test at the Manhattan-based pharmacy where he works, he's often in for an argument. "They come in, they're like, OK, give me five," said Crayon, who works at Tisane Pharmacy and Cafe on Manhattan's Upper East Side. "And I'm like, well, they're $25 apiece. And then the eyes pop out of the head." Crayon said customers often point to examples of lower prices at large chain drug stores, where a single test might sell for under $10 — if they're in stock. It's an assertion pharmacy workers across the country have been fielding as state attorneys general warn against price gouging during a crisis amplified by a constrained supply of tests. But Crayon and others say the mismatched supply and demand has forced wholesale prices up that they then have to pass down to consumers. "The vendors that sell to us have been raising their prices tremendously," said Crayon, adding that customers "forget that we're a mom and pop shop." Read CNBC's latest global coverage of the Covid pandemic: Until recently, the pharmacy was able to get single swab test kits for $11 each, Crayon said earlier this month,