Well, if this doesn't just illustrate exactly what I was talking about in regards to folks knowing absolutely nothing about economics, then I don't know what will...
Prices fluctuate in accordance with supply and demand, ergo monitoring the going rate of a product in attempt to estimate it's market value is most certainly NOT price-gouging, especially not if you're actually charging LESS for your wares than the competition!
That's Economics 101 and only a total ignoramus would ever label that as price-gouing, so evidently certain folks don't even understand the definition of the term "price-gouging" given the absurdity of their overtly defensive statements about how they attempt to get a feel for the going rate and adjust their prices accordingly.
Price-gougers DO NOT charge less than the going rate, they charge substantially more, hence why it is called "price-gouging".
Quote:
Verb
(transitive) To cheat or impose upon; in particular, to charge an unfairly or unreasonably high price.
Synonyms: defraud, swindle
The company has no competition, so it tends to gouge its customers.
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Furthermore, scalpers don't strictly adjust their prices based on the current market value in accordance with supply and demand, but attempt to manipulate it through buying up as much of a product as they can in order to create or worsen a shortage, thus enabling them to artificially inflate their prices and reduce competition by depleting the local supply.
TL;DR: If you aren't deliberately charging well over the established market value beyond a margin of error, then you aren't price-gouging and thus have no valid reason to be offended by what I'm saying.