The sale of baseball bats and police-style batons for sale on the UK branch of online marketplace Amazon has risen over 5,000 percent during the past 24 hours.
This is according to Amazon.co.uk’s ‘Movers & Shakers’ chart, which as Amazon explains, tracks “the biggest gainers in sales rank in the last 24 hours”, as England experienced its fourth day of rioting and violence.
The Rucanor aluminum baseball bat jumped from 6,500th in sales to 125th overnight, for a 5,000 percent jump in sales that the site is reporting.
There is even a customer review by Harry Fish in Bristol, posted yesterday, which specifically cites the trouble as reason to purchase:
“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.”
Currently the most sought and best selling item from sports and leisure is a Gelert folding shovel costing £5.45. The item was ranked no. 1,299 before the week started but now proudly sits on the no.1 spot. To get there, the folding shovel saw a rise in sales by 129,800%. A folding shovel used as a deadly weapon? Surely the Brits just expect to do a bit of gardening after it’s all died down.
Beside the sale of baseball bats, the sales of items like the Military Police Telescopic Tonfa, an all-metal police baton, and five different styles of baseball bats, both metal and wooden. Overall, the top 7 Movers and Shakers in Amazon.co.uk’s “Sports & Leisure” category last night were all weapons that could implemented in riots or defending oneself.
The top ten also currently features items such as a telescopic chrim steel nunchaku, a self defence marker pen (seriously) and a Kubotan which is a small piece of metal, usually passed off as a key ring and is actually a dangerous weapon.
You can take it that the rioters obviously gave up trying to find Amazon so they could loot it and instead decided to part with their hard robbed cash to purchase some deadly weapons. Or maybe it’s purely the shop owners?
Either that or baseball is going to see a few rising British stars in the next few years.
