Special Report: The Mask Middlemen - How pop-up brokers seek big paydays in a frenzied market

FILE PHOTO: Dr. Nicole McCullough, a global health and safety expert at 3M, demonstrates the correct way to put on a N95 respiratory mask at a laboratory of 3M. March 4, 2020. Picture taken March 4, 2020 REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi/File Photo

Kolfage aims to be one of the new mask middlemen. As the novel coronavirus has spread around the world, an improvised, chaotic market has sprung up. Brokers claim to have access to tens or even hundreds of millions of masks – generally outside the normal supply channels and at prices much higher than the former retail price of about $1 each.

Reuters spoke to five new mask brokers, three in the United States and two in China, which is the world’s largest mask manufacturer and accounts for about half of global production. These middlemen described a wild marketplace, in which they seek to quickly connect sellers and buyers before competitors can move in and sell stockpiles out from under them.

“This is just an impossible situation to manage,” Cuomo said publicly on March 22, describing a bidding war over medical equipment that’s pitting states against states, in which prices can rise within 20 minutes. Christian Fjeld, who worked on FTC legislation as a staffer in both the House and Senate, says a patchwork of state laws aim to stop companies from charging prices generally defined as “excessive” or “unconscionable.”

Powell said his company has issued warnings to its customers about pop-up brokers. But he said some clients are considering these offers anyway, placing orders and hoping for the best. 3M recently issued a public statement warning that products being marketed under its name could be counterfeit. 3M said it has not raised its prices in the pandemic but says it can’t control what others are charging. On March 25, 3M Chief Executive Officer Mike Roman sent a letter to Attorney General Barr and other officials saying the company wanted to help crack down on counterfeiters and profiteers.

The chaotic market compounds the challenges faced by besieged hospitals such as Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, New Jersey. Twenty-two Covid-19 patients have died at the facility, which now has 139 patients presumed to have the virus, according to hospital figures as of Sunday.

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Take a good hard look, that's what a N-95 mask looks like, not the cheaper 3m front gate masks. Those don't do shit.

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