"I am selling toothpaste and giving an antigen test": the covid tests arrive at Wallapop

The bottomless pit of second-hand sites is sometimes surprising: you can find all sorts of crap and trinkets, but also some of today's most coveted products. Do you need an antigen test and there is not a single pharmacy that sells them? Well, go to Wallapop or Milanuncios.

“I am selling an antigen that I have left over, totally sealed and unused,” Francisco published this Tuesday from Albacete on the milanuncios website, along with a photo of the test in question, from the KaiBiLi brand. The price? Ten euros, more or less double the most usual price in pharmacies. It is striking -and should comfort the buyer- that Francisco clarifies that the test he sells has not been used, since these tests are solely and exclusively for single use.

For this reason, Emilia used the old tactic of “I am selling a pen and giving away two tickets for the Champions League final”. In her case, she changed the pen for a Mercadona toothpaste and the soccer tickets for an antigen test. Ten euros. The toothpaste, in this case, is also unused. Toothpaste for sale, unused. I send it by glovo on the day and I give away antigen tests«, This neighbor of the Madrid neighborhood of Fuencarral advertised.

And it is not the only case: on the same website there is an advertisement for a collection of pens for 12 euros that is a waste of offers by Elena, the user: «Lot of 40 pens and fountain pens. Entire lot for sale. Antiques, macramé thread tablecloths. Ikea sargadelos cutlery, Macao tableware, Chinese porcelain, Japanese porcelain glassware, dishwashers, washing machines, ovens, bathrooms, sklum, bicycles, scooters, toys, perfumes. Antigen test! «

Test sales set a new record

With Christmas just around the corner, the contagion curve skyrocketing in the sixth wave and the threat of the omicron variant, the sale of antigen tests marked an all-time high in the week from December 7 to 13. It was up 3.1% from the previous week and 32.7% from the peak in August, according to data from consultancy Iqvia.

From December 7 to 13, almost one and a half million tests were supplied, exhausting the existing stock and causing the availability problems that currently exist.

Since July 20, the date on which they began to be sold without a prescription in pharmacies, a total of 10,140,742 rapid antigen tests have been dispensed, most of them in Catalonia (22.12%), Andalusia (15.9 %) and Madrid (13.57%).