From the Associated Press:
Hours after Twinkie-maker Hostess announced its plans to close its doors forever, people flocked to stores to fill their shopping baskets with boxes of the cream-filled sponge cakes and their sibling snacks -- Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and Zingers.Stansel plans on making a big profit from his Hostess haul.
Late Friday and Saturday, the opportunists took to the websites eBay and Craigslist. They began marketing their hoard to whimsical collectors and junk-food lovers for hundreds -- and in some cases -- thousands of dollars. That's a fat profit margin, when you consider the retail price for a box of 10 Twinkies is roughly $5.
...John Stansel of Tampa, Florida, blanches at the thought of eating a Twinkie. He's a self-described health nut.
Yet he, too, rummaged shelves late Friday at a neighborhood Walgreens and then again early Saturday at Target and a grocery store. He spent about $100 for 20 boxes of Twinkies and Ding Dongs. His goal: sell them for about $1,000 and put the money to good use.
"Maybe I will hire a personal trainer for myself or go do some shopping at Whole Foods or donate the money to a charity to fight diabetes," Stansel, 40, said. "No matter what, I figure I am getting sugar off the streets."
Do you believe he's going to "donate the money to a charity to fight diabetes"?
If you believe that, you'd probably be foolish enough to pay $50 for a $5 box of Twinkies.
Even funnier, Stansel, who has a "disdain for junk food," considers himself to be a health crusader.
Although he may not succeed in turning his hoard of Hostess into big bucks, he says, "No matter what, I figure I am getting sugar off the streets."
"Off the streets"?
The guy is going to SELL them. How is that getting "sugar off the streets"?
Stansel is a "self-described health nut."
I think he's a nut.