Playing Ketchup
Ketchup packets have become so rare that selling them online is apparently now a thing.
The packets, made scarce by pandemic-related demand, are now being sold on eBay and other platforms for $10 or more apiece. (A 31-ounce bottle of Heinz, by the way, goes for $3 and change at retail.) According to the Wall Street Journal, one guy who wanted $4 per packet warned, “There’s a shortage. Don’t try to lowball me, I know what I’ve got.”
I have two reactions:
1) Gratitude that I’m not the only weirdo pack rat out there who saves those things.
2) Greed. Here’s what I have in my pantry:
I’m too lazy to open an eBay account to sell my cache, but anyone interested can contact me through the magazine. Bidding starts at $50 per packet, but I’ll throw in the mustard free for anyone who buys four or more ketchups. (It pays to be reasonable.)
If only Andy Warhol were still with us.