"$22 profit on a a bottle of sanitiser worth having your corporate reputation destroyed?"

As people across Australia struggle to get their hands on basic items during the coronavirus pandemic, a Priceline store has been slammed for selling in-demand hand sanitiser for $24.95 a bottle.

The Central Park store in Sydney has been accused of “price gouging” after they moved all their stock behind the counter and started selling it for at least triple the price of what you’d normally see in-store.

However, Priceline has defended themselves by saying the sanitiser in question was specially sourced hospital-grade sanitiser.

Priceline are price gouging. Selling bottles of hand sanitizer for $25. I have a 4yr old in my family going through chemo for cancer. She has almost no immunity. I can’t get hand sanitizer anywhere. Priceline taking advantage of families like mine. #boycottpriceline #covid19au pic.twitter.com/p9EhJSIHZx — meagan loader (@meagan_loader) March 16, 2020

The Priceline website shows their most expensive hand sanitiser to be a 200mL bottle for $7.49.

Fucked beyond belief — Marc Fennell (@MarcFennell) March 16, 2020

.@PricelineAU This is some BS, where is your integrity?! If this store has gone rogue, time to show some leadership and sort it out. — GreatSoutherner (@GreatSoutherner) March 16, 2020

@PricelineAU ⬆️ $22 profit on a a bottle of sanitiser worth having your corporate reputation destroyed? — Greg Stonham (@GregStonham) March 16, 2020

Staff at the store told Junkee they had been instructed not to speak to media, but their head office provided a statement saying all Priceline Pharmacies have been advised to sell products at their normal retail prices.

“We are aware that some customers have queried the pricing of a specific sanitiser in our Central Park franchise store in Sydney,” they said.

“This particular hand sanitiser is hospital grade and not normally ranged in Priceline. The store owner needed to source directly from the supplier and not through the Priceline Pharmacy supply chain.

“The retail price charged is in line with a normal retail selling price given the specifics of this product and the sourcing cost of the product. The store has decided to now sell these items behind the counter and will also ensure each enquiry comes with a pharmacist consultation to ensure full clarity of purchase, including why this particular item is more expensive than normal sanitiser.”

I feel sorry for other Priceline franchisees seeing their brand trashed like this. @PricelineAU better get out the truth on this and the fix on this now and very publicly. — Ian Parry-Okeden (@IanParryO) March 17, 2020

Many stores, including other Priceline franchises, are totally sold out of hand sanitiser as people step up their hygiene practices during the coronavirus pandemic.

In America a Tennessee man is being formally investigated for price gouging after he bought more than 17,700 bottles of hand sanitiser and attempted to sell it online to make a profit.