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5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk
- justincormack 15y agoI would expect Amazon to make a statement saying they wont ship them, now this has hit the press. EDIT judging from hullo's comment above they have pulled all these products. Not sure why this comment is getting so many downvotes, it is a PR issue not a law enforcement issue, if the press are calling the company over this and it is going to be in the papers they will do this.
- mtogo 15y agoYes, it would make perfect sense for Amazon to cancel thousands of orders because they could be involved in some kind of ongoing riot. Great idea. /s
- Alex3917 15y agoThis isn't thousands, it's only a few hundred. Remember, the British don't play much baseball so they would normally only be selling a handful of any given bat per day.
- hugh3 15y agoA handful of bats = one?
- Alex3917 15y agoMy best guess would be less than a dozen, based on my experiences using RankTracer. But I haven't actually looked it up.
- nagrom 15y agoSo, we refuse to sell bats to people who want to play baseball in the middle of the summer (the item's main and intended innocent purpose) because other people want to use them for other purposes? If you don't explicitly do that, you need to figure out a way to identify the potential nefarious users from the potential good ones. Do we allow a bat as long as you buy a mitt and a ball too? Only to people over the age of 25 because most of the looters are under 25? By postcode? There's no way that any business should be expected to do that - it's a police action. If parliament wants to make bats illegal, or controlled items, that's one issue (resting with parliament, not Amazon and just as contentious). To refuse to sell sporting goods in case they're used for offense is just silly. Do we then refuse to sell cricket bats, or broom handles, or 2x4s, or javelins or kitchen knives if there's an upsurge in their sales? Ultimately, the people responsible for the use of these items are the people who use them. Let's not try to increase the UK's tactics of using enterprises to carry out work to which the government doesn't want to admit.
- cchurch 15y agoI believe Britain already has restrictions on knife ownership. This is sad. Honest people resorting to ordering baseball bats on a website for their defense. Imagine that that was your grandmother left with no other option. "Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." --Ghandi
- shrikant 15y ago> I believe Britain already has restrictions on knife ownership. I'm not sure about laws, but I've recently noticed that establishments that do sell knives and razors usually keep them behind the counter, instead of on the shelves. The idea being that you can't just pick a knife up off the shelf and make off with it. [Knife crime is a serious issue in the UK - The Guardian even has a dedicated section to it! - http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/ukcrime http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/ukcrime]
- rcfox 15y agoGrandma does have another option: She could leave the city.
- burgerbrain 15y agoWhat makes you think she has that option?
- nagrom 15y agoOh, if it became popular, I have no doubt that the government would happily ban baseball bats. Here in Glasgow, it's relatively popular to use a sawn-off golf club as an impromptu spear. However, it shouldn't be up to a private company to regulate that.
- burgerbrain 15y agoAnd the a few days later we get to read a story about a family who had their bat order canceled getting beat near to death in their own home. Brilliant.
- pointyhat 15y agoThat's hilarious.
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- itg 15y agoAre the rioters buying these or the people and shop owners who want to protect their property?
- Robin_Message 15y agoSurely rioters? I find it hard to believe a shop owner is seriously going to try and hold the line by themselves against a mob. Also, a baseball bat is a classic disguised weapon but a shopkeeper will have no justification in having one so it is probably an offensive weapon in UK law. I've heard it said that D-cell Maglite torches are used by security guards not because they necessarily need a torch (a headtorch is generally more useful anyway), but because it can be carried and justified legally.
- srgseg 15y agoI find it hard to believe a shop owner is seriously going to try and hold the line by themselves against a mob Groups of shop owners are defending themselves. See this video http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2011/aug/09/london-riots-london http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2011/aug/09/london-riots-...
- troels 15y agoI find it quite believable that a poor immigrant whos entire economic security depends on his shop is going to defend it with is life.
- wisty 15y agoA rioter caught carrying a baseball bad would be in serious trouble. A bat is hard to conceal on a person. Anyone carrying one will become a target to the police, as they will know the rioter is a trouble maker. A shopkeeper can hide it under the counter.
- parallel 15y agoI've also heard this about large maglites. In fact they are often carried by being held near the globe end with the body of the torch resting on the shoulder. This allows the torch to be swung down onto a victim's collarbone breaking it and disabling that arm. (Apologies for the gruesome detail.)
- jlmendezbonini 15y agoShatter patellas (what are patellas anyways?), skulls...this can't be a real review: "Cuts looters off at the knees, 9 Aug 2011 This bat is perfectly weighted and will suit any UK shop-owner looking to protect their property. Thanks to the ergonomic handle, one easy swing should be enough to shatter patellas, skulls or any other bone on your targeted looter. Personally, I would recommend also investing in some fingerless gloves for extra grip." http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/cdp/member-reviews/ATYCJGIRKTZTS/ref=cm_pdp_rev_title_1?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview#RMHYZ33K7VQD9 http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/cdp/member-reviews/ATYCJGIRKTZTS/...
- portman 15y agopatella = kneecap
- rberdeen 15y ago4000% increate in the sale of Coleman PefectFlow 1-Burner Stoves on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/gp/movers-and-shakers/sporting-goods http://www.amazon.com/gp/movers-and-shakers/sporting-goods It must be significant.
- norswap 15y agoWell people in England are burning cars. Also they're poor. Surely they must have US-based backers ?
- amitparikh 15y agoNo, you picked an outlier. OP pointed out a trend -- 8/10 of the top "Movers and Shakers" are bats/batons. That is significant.
- yid 15y agoWith the ease with which the burner can be turned into a bomb, it's portability (like a large Molotov), and the $15 price tag, I would be really surprised if it were genuinely an outlier (in the sense of being a chance correlation with current events).
- brianleb 15y agoI hadn't thought of that. When I think of people buying little propane stoves, I always think of them doing it for survival. What I thought was that some people are getting their last minute emergency supplies just in case things get worse.
- pitdesi 15y agoIt's Amazon.com, not Amazon.co.uk, so no.
- patio11 15y ago27,000% percent increase in flashlights in Japan. Clearly the rioters threaten our power plants. http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/movers-and-shakers/378-9075017-8051532 http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/movers-and-shakers/378-9075017-80...
- guelo 15y agoThat doesn't make sense, by the time you get the bat the riots should be over. Are the local sporting good stores all sold out?
- DrCatbox 15y agoNeed is mother of all invention. Pick apart a leg from your kitchen table and defend your properties.
- knowtheory 15y agoDoesn't Amazon run a shipping hub out of London? If so they may do same day delivery. Either way, you're hedging the cost of a bat vs the chance that riots are going to go on for multiple days, or spring up outside of your shop?
- corin_ 15y agoNext day delivery if ordered before a certain time (5pm I think, might be 7pm). I'd place money on the riots still being around by the time an order placed today arrived.
- mortenjorck 15y agoPresuming, that is, that delivery is running normally.
- gwern 15y agoAnd what about future riots?
- mnutt 15y agoPeople are more likely to buy umbrellas online on days when it's raining. Though it will certainly rain again, whereas hopefully we won't see that many riots over our lifetimes.
- TeMPOraL 15y agoI have no way to check it, but I think that they just delayed delivery of this product on purpose because of the riots.
- netrus 15y agoMight become a Business Ethics Class classic. From my point of view, Amazon should not deliver. It is obvious the bats are intended to be used as weapons, which is illegal at least in Germany, no matter what circumstances.
- ctdonath 15y agoAh, so upstanding citizens should have no tools for defending themselves, loved ones, homes & businesses? Business Ethics Class classic indeed, and with no clear-cut answer. I'd contend that anyone ordering such products online under such circumstances is not part of the criminal element (who would instead just raid a sporting-goods store, or pick up any comparable object) ... and thus Amazon would do customers well to provide free overnight or same-day shipping.
- grecy 15y agoWe should sell them AK-47s and grenades. Probably higher profit margins.
- jfruh 15y agoThese loathsome people have no respect for Britain's glorious history or traditions. Real British patriots use cricket bats on their looting spree.
- dpapathanasiou 15y agoI admit I laughed, but this comment belongs more on reddit than here.
- nn000 15y agobecause developers have no sense of humor.
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- TheFunkyMonk 15y agoAs a recent Reddit convert who would like to follow the rules, why?
- ashamedlion 15y agoI don't want to speak for him, but I'll give my opinion of why: Reddit tends to be overrun with memes and jokes, and HN has always been more about lively discussion and facts. Reddit used to be like that a couple of years ago.
- todayiamme 15y agoBecause it is easier to create slapstick than meaning. Humor may be a part of life and discourse, but in certain cases, and especially on the internet, it distracts from the real issue at hand, as most slapstick fails to convey meaning. If you can make me laugh and then think, then more power and karma to you, but most of us are unable to produce such witty insight on the fly all the time. We try. We fail, and we spam. That's why HN doesn't like slapstick jokes. If one person starts using slapstick then it creates a chain reaction that distracts from the real issue at hand. Such slapstick doesn't create meaning. It ends up destroying it. I hope that made the issue clear to you.
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- RobPfeifer 15y agoReminded me of trainspotting: "Ah wonder if anybody this side of the Atlantic has ever bought a baseball bat with playing baseball in mind. Sick Boy, "Blowing It: Deid Dugs" (Chapter 4, Story 3)"
- yid 15y agoActually, the entire situation reads eerily like the Trainspotting novel. Looks like all the Francis Begbies are out in force.
- chriserin 15y agoUKers, just make sure you get ash bats, not maple. A shattered bat on the ball field is embarrassing. A shattered bat on the streets is dangerous. Likely there will be no bat boy to hand you a replacement.
- hugh3 15y agoSurely aluminium is the way to go?
- NathanKP 15y agoAn aluminum bat to the head would greatly increase the chance that the person will be killed rather than just knocked out. I certainly disapprove of the looters and rioters, but I don't think they deserve to die.
- dennisgorelik 15y agoLooter in action does not deserve to die? Why not? If looter was caught and is on trial - then few years in prison would be enough. But being killed while looting when police is overwhelmed - that's only fair.
- mileszs 15y agoI find your comment quite disturbing. I can get behind leaving a looter (slightly) bloody and bruised, I suppose, but the nonchalance with which you proclaim these other humans "deserve to die", and state that it's "only fair" is ... well, disturbing. That's the best word. It's disturbing. The whole damned thing is disturbing.
- dennisgorelik 15y agoIf the looter is alone and there is police squad nearby - there is no need to even beat the looter - catch him and send to prison. Unfortunately looting mob during mass riots puts store owners into totally different situation. They basically have only two options: run vs fight. I'm not sure if I personally would choose to fight in that situation, but if business owner chooses fight option, I would support him even if he kills looters during that fight. In part because that would make my neighborhood safer.
- hullo 15y agoAt least one of the items (the only explicitly martial one) appears to have been pulled, #2 as of my viewing, "Military Police Telescopic Tonfa - 21" was up 4,291% to #136, now 404s and doesn't return from search either. Doesn't seem to be the case of just being out of stock, as another one of the bats in the top 10 just shows as unavailable/out of stock.
- srgseg 15y agoJust to balance out the nightmarish images of London, here is a video of the community rallying together to clean up the mess the day after http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz7WGzsaHQE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz7WGzsaHQE
- ChuckMcM 15y agoHmm, no offense but that looks a bit staged (or perhaps its just near the end of the cleanup) a few people sweeping with brooms, most people milling about and watching them. A sad thing for me is when I start to tell a young person about a riot that I experienced and they think its 'cool.' There is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, 'cool' about a riot. You can read about mob dynamics, you can imagine heroic acts of protest or defense, but nobody seems to capture the pure evil that seems to permeate the air when rule of law loses its grip for a moment. The veil of civilized behavior, and the relative safety that brings with it, is quickly dropped by a few. Those few cause pain quite disproportionally to their number.
- srgseg 15y agoI think it's the result of people wanting to do something to show that the community cares, and realising that actually the local councils had already done a good cleanup job overnight. Nevertheless, I thought it was a heart warming gesture.
- petenixey 15y agoIt wasn't staged, it was happening all over London - people were out in Clapham, Peckham and Tottenham too. There were a lot of people out making a lot of difference both literally and psychologically
- SandB0x 15y agoI was in Clapham all morning with the cleanup crowd. There was nothing to do and the police wouldn't let anyone through to the damaged areas, which were full of forensics squads, firemen and surveyors. The last thing they want is the general public trampling over the crime scenes (i.e. the damaged properties,) The council had already cleaned up most of the other debris. I went home at about 13:30. At some point they probably let the crowd in for the photo op, but all the real work had already been done.
- figital 15y ago"Movers and Shakers in Sports & Leisure"
- int3rnaut 15y agoProps to the original poster--I've never thought about looking at a situation from this perspective before, and while it's not scientific, it's an interesting and unique way to look at a situation and certainly adds a new layer of dialogue.
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- btcoal 15y agoThank you to the original poster. I too suspect this is mostly people wanting to protect their homes and shops. I sincerely hope, though, that this is not used in pro-gun rhetoric here in the US.
- randomdrake 15y agoAs of now, there's 7000% increase in the sales of military police telescopic tonfas. Apparently they're out of stock of them and the link is no longer working on their site. The original link to the item is here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Military-Police-Telescopic-Tonfa-21/dp/B0049OD0CS http://www.amazon.co.uk/Military-Police-Telescopic-Tonfa-21/... You can search for the link in Google to check out a cached copy.
- ralfd 15y agohttp://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:CLBieouEW1kJ:www.amazon.co.uk/Military-Police-Telescopic-Tonfa-21/dp/B0049OD0CS+http://www.amazon.co.uk/Military-Police-Telescopic-Tonfa-21/dp/B0049OD0CS http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:CLBieou...
- ojilles 15y agoThe 2nd in the list has: "Usually dispatched within 4 to 6 weeks" That's no good, at least not for the implied use case!
- ashishgandhi 15y agoAren't we considering Amazon goofed up their arithmetic? There are a lot of things which are selling way more as per their numbers.
- neuroelectronic 15y agoI doubt it. These are specific items, so if they sold 1 the previous month and sold 50 the next, 5000%
- asciimo 15y agoNote that "Zumba Fitness Exhilarate: The Ultimate Experience DVD Set" is up 987%. Analyses welcome.
- artursapek 15y ago50,000% increase on a riot baton with no name but five stars? It's a broken link. I think Amazon is acting on this.
- Silhouette 15y agoProbably a smart move, since various acts including importing and selling such equipment are probably illegal in the UK, and carrying that sort of kit in a public place would be as well (other than for police officers and the like, obviously).
- superchink 15y agoApparently CNN has picked up on this and has a story pointing this out as well: http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/09/technology/amazon_riot/ http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/09/technology/amazon_riot/
- startupfounder 15y agoLooks like the interesting discussion is happening here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/forum/cd/discussion.html/ref=cm_cd_fp_ef_tft_tp?ie=UTF8&cdForum=FxXMJURA7JD85P&asin=B003XII2U6&cdThread=TxQSBU4OFV4E5L http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/forum/cd/discussion.html/ref=cm_c...
- CoryMathews 15y agoOn of the comments on the aluminum bat: "This bat is perfectly weighted and will suit any UK shop-owner looking to protect their property."
- Eliezer 15y agoBaseballs are up 2500%. I am not sure these stats mean quite what you think they do.
- jonknee 15y agoIf you're buying a baseball bat for the once every couple decade riots, you might as well see what it's all about.
- polshaw 15y agoI believe there is law that states that a baseball bat with no ball can be considered an offensive weapon.
- sebastianavina 15y agothat's why "Baden Baseballs (Pack of 3)" are up to 3000%
- sthulbourn 15y agoThat's because people assume you have to buy a ball to go with the bat, to make it seem legit.
- stcredzero 15y agoFunny, but I live in Texas, and I was just pricing aluminum baseball bats on Amazon yesterday.
- super-serial 15y agoWas there a beer shortage? My theory has always been that if there was no beer, everyone would slowly realize "man, baseball is f-ing boring."
- billpg 15y agoI'm glad to see baseballs in that list too.
- po 15y agoThis reminds me of the recent video floating around the web (which I now can't find) of korean americans defending their stores in the LA Riots with guns and ad-hoc militias. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots#Riots_and_the_Korean-American_community http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots#Riots_an... The sometimes we take the idea of "law and order" as provided by government for granted.
- CamperBob 15y agoAlso a 4500% increase in sales of four-man tents...? Not sure these statistics indicate anything.
- epaga 15y agoNote the 125000% jump in shovel sales though. That's a bit more hopeful.