It may seem crazy that something as typical as salt or toilet paper will become a vital and much-treasured piece of merchandise when they are so easy to get now,  but it certainly can happen when a collapse is on the horizon. Just try doing without those staples and see how uncomfortable you get! Check out these others:

Food & Supplies
Rice, Beans, Wheat, Flour and Yeast. All these basic ingredients will be traded in mass and quickly hoarded.
Other grains whether marked for human or animal consumption will be hoarded quickly.
Water Filters/Purifiers including bleach will be impossible to find after the first few days.
Charcoal. Anyone without access to firewood will begin hoarding this immediately as they will see it as the only way to cook their food.
Deer and wild game may be shot and wiped from your local area quickly. This is a heavily debated topic but at the very least all the non-hunters trampling through the woods will make them harder to find.
Chickens, goats, cows, pigs and all other other forms of livestock will be worth their weight in gold, if not more. They will be hidden, hoarded, stolen, slaughtered, traded and sold quickly.
Cooking Oils will go fast. They can also be used to make oil lamps.
Milk, both powdered and condensed.
Salt is a precious and portable commodity. Salt has long been a cornerstone of economies throughout history. Greek slave traders often bartered salt for slaves, giving rise to the expression that someone was “not worth his salt.” Roman legionnaires were paid with salt—salarium, the Latin origin of the word “salary.” It is a vital nutrient and is used to preserve meat. At less than $.40 a pound salt makes a great barter item to stock up on, especially if it goes back to its pre-modern prices.
Cast iron frying pans and dutch ovens are long lasting and are made to be used over an open fire.
Gardening Supplies such as seeds, books, and tools.
Canning supplies including the jars, lids, pressure cookers, pectin, and other supplies. Most stores do not many canning supplies (even walmart has at best one shelf full?) so just a small handful of people could easily clean out an entire store.
Medicine & Health
Hygiene supplies such as shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste, feminine hygiene products, mouthwash, floss, etc
First aid kits
OTC meds. Tylenol, Advil, cold & flu, cough syrup. Caffeine and sugar withdrawals are going to make everyone feel like crap at first. Expect heavy pain reliever use the first few weeks (especially for headaches and general soreness).
Toilet Paper, Kleenex, Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, and Toilet Paper. Did I mention toilet paper?
Vitamins and Herbal Supplements. Taking a daily vitamin could mean the different between surviving comfortably or dying from a nutrient deficiency disease such as scurvy.
Wine/Liquors will not be on the shelves for long. They are also good bartering tools, can be used medicinally, and are useful for making many herbal medicines (vodka is good for this).
Gas masks, if they can be found, will fly off the shelves because of tear gas etc, and for the non-preppers, the “cool factor” of having a piece of actual survival gear will compel them to grab one.
Household Odds & Ins
Candles Lots of them, but unscented and long burning. Stocking up on scented candles can be a real mistake. That fresh linen smell or peppermint orange will really get annoying after several weeks of daily use.
Bleach. Make sure you get plain, NOT scented: 4 to 6% sodium hypochlorite bleach. Read the labels because, yes, you will be using this to purify your drinking water.
Backpacks, Duffel Bags. Don’t miss this. Everyone in your house should have at least one good quality good backpack or even a hiking bag. Hauling, supply runs, and bugging out are some of their many uses. Duffle bags might be cheaper but are a real pain to walk with compared to a backpack.
Large garbage cansand garbage bags can be used for trash, storage, water collection, hauling goods etc. Garbage bags have dozens and dozens of uses, the thick 55 gallon size being the best.
Cleaning and disinfecting supplies
Paper, pads, pencils, sharpeners, pens, and solar calculators
Sleeping Bags, Blankets, Pillows, Mats and Inflatable Mattresses. A manually operated handheld pump is a must if you want an inflatable mattress.
Buckets of all sizes and shapes. They will be used extensively. You never know how bad you need a container until you do not have one.
Plastic Wrap and Insulation
Glue, duct tape, nails, nuts, bolts, screws
Portable Toilets or 5 gallon bucket toilet lids.

The thing is, most of what is listed above makes perfect sense! These are items we will need. These are items we use every day and, in the future, when we are told we need to do without … talk about a hardship! This is why we suggest you start collecting now. Have that extra box or bag of flour, keep some extra buckets in your storage shed, and if you have animals keep them healthy, disease free, and make sure they are not too easy to get to.

Everything you have will be utilized and everything you run out of will be felt deeply by you and yours! For more information go to Be Survival.