A St. Paul-based online retailer has agreed to stop selling scarce items at inflated prices during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office.
Red Star Trader buys food and household items wholesale and resells them on eBay at a markup, Ellison’s office said in a news release. When these items became scarce in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, Red Star Trader raised its prices significantly.
For example, the retailer bought 50-pound bags of rice from local stores for about $30 apiece and then offered them for sale online for $120, Ellison’s office wrote in a filing in Ramsey County District Court.
Under an executive order signed by Gov. Tim Walz on March 20, such price gouging is illegal during the peacetime emergency declared in response to the pandemic.
The owners of Red Star Trader signed an assurance of discontinuance this week, agreeing to stop selling staple goods at inflated prices. They face a 20,000 civil penalty if they do not abide by the terms of the document.
The owners of Red Star Trader could not be reached for comment.
