I HAVE been trying to think of ways to use a newspaper column to make things better. We are all going to struggle during the coronavirus crisis but we need to find ways to help each other.

I like that I get to write to you on a regular basis but I want to do more than that. You probably have enough messages from the CEOs of every company you have ever shopped with or logged onto the free wifi of.

I want to use this space over the coming months to share some positive messages. Let’s start with this: We can pull together to not buy anything from anyone profiteering during this crisis.

I have seen pictures on social media of people who went to the shops and filled their cars with hand sanitiser and toilet paper and are now trying to flog it online.

I think eBay and Amazon should shut them down. If they don't, we should make a pact to not buy anything from people like that. Leave them with a living room filled with a hundredweight of Andrex and no hope of shifting it. When their friends visit it will look like they have some kind of stomach trouble.

There were reports of one shop that was selling hand sanitiser, normally retailing at 75p, for £16. The only way I am paying over the odds for a small bottle of something that costs pence to make is if it has a designer label. Call it hand sanitiser and I will only pay £1. Call it “désinfectant pour les mains” and I’ll stump up the dosh.

Videos have appeared online of some shopkeepers selling loo roll for £10. I understand the rules of supply and demand but it is wrong to exploit someone's desperation.

There are 200 sheets per roll, so that's 5p per sheet. Do they know what I'm going to do with it? At that price it would cost the same to take your one remaining sheet of loo roll and get it photocopied 200 times.

I am not advising that you take the next bit of advice but it’s an option. If you find a shop selling loo roll at extortionate prices you could always try this:

Take it to the check out and let them scan it. When they ask for you to pay by card you could get your PIN wrong a few times. The cashier will have to void the sale and hand you the receipt and the slip of paper that shows the card was declined.

Take those two bits of paper and say: "It's OK, I'll use this instead."