More Americans report shoplifting as inflation climbs, survey finds
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shoplifting-inflation-walmart-lendingtree-study/Open linkView original on lemmy.worldSyndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.
View original on lemmy.worldhttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/shoplifting-inflation-walmart-lendingtree-study/Open linkView original on lemmy.world
100 replies
If you see someone stealing groceries or basic hygiene products, you have not seen anything.
I honestly don't care what they are stealing, it isn't my problem. The Walton Family steal my money in taxes to feed their employees. If someone takes a TV or video game back on occasion, I'm not saying a word. They're worth a combined 520 billion by the way.
I shoplift groceries constantly. At least once a week. One or two hundred dollars worth of stuff at a time. Sometimes more. I've mentioned it to my therapist but i don't think he grasped how much i was moving.
I just fill a cart and walk out. I don't think it's unreasonable stuff. Regular, wholesome food. No steaks or prime rib, etc. I don't hit the same places that much so if they're building a case against me it'd be hard to follow without colluding with other stores. But i have little choice. I have little regret but i know it's risky. The people who depend on me need to eat.
But God Damn is it easy.
change up your appearance, places like target will record you, let you build up enough in stolen goods it becomes a felony then bust you, AI is giving them a way to audit multiple locations and build up dossiers
Oh you know I stay away from target, Lowes, etc.
I notice that lowes has flock cameras on the parking lots now.
Yup. Check out deflock.me for maps. Home depot too. I usually park in an adjacent parking lot if i have to use their shithole store.
those are probably just the ones that made the news, just figure if they happen to see a recording, that mustache, wig, or facial scar could be reasonable doubt on camera. Heck pirate some shows of Face Off and steal some cosmetic supplies and make it a family hobby to apply make up, shit now I sort of want to do that.
I would like to see the jury try to convict me with a facial scar from that person's time in the war, hit up the thrift shops to create the assembles and be tear away so can make quick getaways if they tried to grab you. Also stretches, stay limber, and dont forget your cardio
I've been focusing on the tech so much and haven't considered the old-fashioned ways. Thank you, wise stranger.
dont forget the tech either, i dont know how reliable this is, but seems like it would be something i would look in on if times ever got tough for me
While it is technically possible to scan radio frequencies used by Target's loss prevention (Asset Protection) teams, doing so is generally discouraged and comes with significant legal risks.Discussions on Reddit (such as on the r/lossprevention and r/amateurradio communities) highlight the following key points:Frequency Types: Target and other large retailers primarily use business-band UHF radios for internal communications, with known frequencies and configurations documented on RadioReference Wiki.Legal and Policy Risks: While merely listening to unencrypted store radio channels may not be explicitly illegal depending on your jurisdiction, attempting to transmit, disrupt, or use those communications to evade security is a federal offense.Corporate Surveillance: Target’s Asset Protection team relies heavily on sophisticated camera networks, floor monitoring, and centralized tracking. They often track habitual theft over a long period rather than relying strictly on radio chatter to identify suspects
Begaydocrime.com had some very interesting and useful info on Gatekeeper systems.
You can even buy the controllers for them on eBay.
Also, it may seem obvious, but leave your phone at home.
Isn’t there a legal duty to mitigate damages? Letting someone get away with continued theft just to let the scale of the crime increase seems tantamount to consenting to the transfer of goods.
you sweet summer flower
I'm absolutely positive I saw you pay at the self-checkout. The receipt printer must not have worked, and the employee managing the self checkout was too busy handling the other 5 checkout lanes to help you.
I saw 'em last week, too. They went through a regular lane that time, I remember talking to them about the world cup. They forgot their receipt, though, and by the time I got out to the parking lot with it they were already gone.
I hate what society has made me, but i appreciate you, friend.
Stay safe out there.
Shoplifting is a drop in the bucket compared to wage theft. Every one of these articles that doesn't mention wage theft is a new reason to not trust the publication.
For me it's just so obvious that if you bring up theft you should talk about all theft and the context of theft especially if the whole articles about economic impact of theft. Wage theft doesn't sell advertisements I guess.
Yeah this is a perfectly legitimate tactic in the no-holds-barred class war that rages on. Theft is a significant sum, so I did some quick googling.
Estimated retail industry wages annually (US): 1.3T
Estimated shoplifting loss by retailers annually (US): 46B
That’s 3.5% of wages paid. If you assume wages are about 50% of what they should be, I’d say your “drop in the bucket” characterization is pretty much correct.
can you explain more in detail about wage theft?
Howdy, Wage theft is the idea that employers keep a lot of money they should rightfully giving to employees. This can be seen in small things that are often presented as common place, and big things that many employees don't have the time or resources to seek compensation for. One example is rounding policies on clocks. I used to work at a large retail chain that would round our times down to the nearest 15 minute mark. So if you worked until 4:14 and clocked out, you would only get paid as though you had worked until 4:00. Something one of my siblings experienced at a different workplace was a manager telling her she needed to stay until the next person showed up since said sibling did not have keys to secure the building and the manager needed to leave early. She agreed, expecting to be paid for her overtime. She never was, despite lodging a formal complaint with payroll and HR. Hope this helps! Cheers.
I’ve seen hourly employees converted to salaried as if that’s some kind of promotion for them, but when you do the math they are actually paid less and suddenly they are asked to work all kinds of extended hours with no tracking. What would you call this?
They act like “shoplifting is up” is some mystery of human nature and not literally the free market doing exactly what it’s designed to do. Squeeze wages, jack prices, gut every safety net you can find, then act shocked pikachu face when people start taking matters into their own hands. This ain’t a morality crisis it’s a pricing signal. Crime stats are just capitalism’s blooper reel at this point.
If you see someone shoplifting... No you didn't.
Yeah I am sure they really need that £40 jar of honey, bottle of fancy wine and the finest steaks...
I don't see people stealing potatoes, but I see quite a few stealing the expensive stuff.
The danger is the same, so you may as well treat yourself.
I would rather not live in a society full of rampant theft.
I'd rather not live in a society where theft is necessary to survive
I agree with that. But stealing luxury products? That isn't necessary to survive.
Let’s end this argument by you telling us where your line is on what people are allowed to steal to survive. Because that’s all this argument is about.
Where I live its always luxuries that people steal, like fancy wines. If someone is stealing bread or vegetables that is actual food.
What is the endgame if we just let everyone steal everything? A lot of theft here is done by gangs to resell for profit and I am absolutely not OK with encouraging that kind of behaviour.
Talk to billionaires first.
Yet you do, from the top to the bottom. Don't see you bitching about that, just poor people.
Didn't you read?? People were stealing organic avocados and fresh multi grain toast, not gruel and powdered milk.
Edit. Apparently it wasn't clear that this was sarcasm.
If you’re already set on stealing please explain why you wouldn’t steal nicer things?
Because in this person's fucked up mind, you should only still subsistence items because you're poor and don't deserve better.
Oh no, they're stealing a variety of things instead of subsistence living! How dreadful and awful! Let's blame them for not just taking beans and rice instead of a corrupt system that forces this to happen!
Seriously, fuck your mentality. It's the same as those reactionaries who parrot "well eat beans and rice!" when people are on hard times.
My comment was actually just sarcasm, which apparently didn't translate well.
Then tell all the corpos to stop it.
Welcome to capitalism!
So what are you doing to advocate for higher wages, universal healthcare, free education?
Well I live in the UK so we got that already
So in other words your personal anectode is completely worthless in a discussion about US shoplifting. Thanks, gtfo.
Maybe the higher wages has something to do with the discrepancy, innit? Fucking wanker.
And yet you're ignoring the rampant theft.
Oh hi Korhaka's new account, this discussion has already been had and you embarrassed yourself there too. Complaining about luxury thefts on a story about some bacon.
https://feddit.uk/comment/25657542
Okay. Who gives a shit. The corp can afford it.
So I don’t mean to shoplift, but since most big box stores barely have any employees working at them anymore and I have to do my own checkout, well, I’m sure that I sometimes forget to scan some things.
I accidentally scan all my items as bananas, because their system is so confusing
Surely you don't scan the bananas as bananas though?...
Bananas are onions now.
bananaonion for scaleFuck CBS.
weird, seems like there's an easy way to avoid most of this - just sell things are fair prices
That's just it, these companies are so detached from reality that they think they have fair prices. That's why they're all surprised_pikachu_face.png when shoplifting happens.
No one has ever shoplifted food... ever.
It’s not stealing if it’s food.
Locking up baby formula is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in a grocery store. And yes, I'm including the time I witnessed someone using aisle 5 as a toilet seat. The baby formula was locked up in that same aisle and as a new father without sleep, I had to let it go right then and there. One person came by and was grossed out; but was immediately pulling down their pants to let out a turd as soon as I pointed to the disgusting site that is baby formula locked behind glass. They took it to another level and started smearing their shit on the glass screaming "If I cover this window in shit, no one else will have to see it!"
I’ve never seen anyone steal food, and I never will. Diapers either.
Some of us never stopped when things were "good".
If I don't have money to buy food there is no fucking way I'm going to starve to death. If I have to steal to feed myself then so be it. I'll do my best and take from the big corps but if I'm in the middle of no-where I'll kick your door down just to get some food. Survival and rational thinking take two different paths.
I've never seen it. Nope. I see nothing.
Imagine how much we would progress if everyone shoplifted for a week as protest.
30%? Wild.
Shoplifting leads to higher prices. Companies aren't stupid, they will see it in their balances if stuff gets stolen. Amd to compensate for the theft, they'll rise prices. Good job, by shoplifting u increase the price for everyone else. Dickheads.
Everytime, and i mean EVERY SINGLE TIME, you have been told prices have increased because of shoplifting it has been a lie. Its propaganda and will continue to be propaganda. These companies will do anything they possibly can to siphon off as much as they can. Wage theft exceeds shoplifting.
It is absolutely propoganda. It is misinformation used to turn shoppers against each other and use them to protect corporate assets. I can recall multiple videos of security agents being unable to physically stop shoplifters at the door, but another shopper(s) came to the rescue and joined the scuffle. Why the fuck is that anyone's business but the business in question? It's not. But they love that you think it is.
If you see someone stealing, no you fucking didn't.
If the security guard/door greeter isn't being paid enough to stop them then I certainly am not going to stop them for free.
Yeah man, if youre poor you have no right to living standards /s
Just steal it then instead of paying for it?
So the poorest amongst us shall be the ones trying to not play the system by the means available to them? What a wise move in a capitalist dog-eat-dog-world my friend.
The prices don’t raise if it’s just free anyway ;)
good! fuck everybody else, my children need wine
By telling people not to shoplift you're increasing the price for them from 0$ to retail. Nice going.
By telling people to shoplift can mean that they end up in prison, costing them much more than just paying for groceries.
No what you should be doing is running interference for them so they don’t get caught.
Depends on the store, depends on the scale.
Raising prices is a last resort for stores. Before they do that most places such as supermarkets will cut hours in order to make up for a bad inventory. So shoplifting more directly causes retail employees to lose much needed hours.
Understandable; people are stressed for money. However, the costs of shoplifting are passed on to the other customers, which in turn increases inflation. it’s a short term fix for a bigger problem, and will create bigger issues when you are caught; a better idea is to vote for the right party (one that actually cares for people) or to become politically active.
This is a common myth spread by capitalists. They use the excuse of "shrink" to justify 10xing prices, when in reality there was never more than a miniscule amount of that 10xs total value stolen.
If they want people to stop stealing, they need to provide a better product.
To quote one of the more tolerable capitalists "The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates.”
Look at UK supermarket prices to see what happens when they are trying to compete on prices.
I could fill an entire sack with carrots and potatoes for less than the cost of a single pint at a pub.
Like... people will stop stealing if the food is better?
People will stop stealing food if they have reasonable access to food.
So what's the "better product" here? What are the stores supposed to do?
Shoplifting is not the same as piracy. The causes and solutions are different.
The stores pay their employees a living wage and stop price gouging food.
UK has both, and yet shoplifting is still rising.
It sounds like you have a very particular experience and relationship to the subject, HerbGrower? At a glance, the data seems to suggest something different. E.g., according to Uk food foundation prices for groceries in the UK have been rising (albeit more slowly recently), and many people in the UK experience food insecurity.
Offering a product cheaper doesn't really make the product better. With piracy the argument is that people don't steal content because they can't afford it but because it easier to download it for free without DRM than to buy it and watch on official channels. It happened to me many times that I was unable to buy and open a book because of the DRM but managed to download pirated epub in minutes. I would gladly pay for them if I could. The "better product" here is content that is easier to access.
With food people steal because they can't afford it, not because it's more convenient to carry food in your pants than in your shopping cart. Lowering prices and raising wages would be great but it's not the same as piracy and it's not "offering a better product".
Stop making record breaking profits every year, cut prices to something reasonable. Hire enough employees.
Stop using slurs while we’re at it.
Autocorrect, fixed
I find its usually the better food that they are stealing. I don't think wine is an essential product.
No they don't. They already charge as much as they think they can make money from. The price/demand curve is pretty basic microeconomics.
The whole thing is, what price maximizes the total revenue, given the supply/demand curve? Then if that revenue is high enough to pay for the costs of earning that revenue (which includes shrinkage), then the product is profitable.
Then it makes it on to shelves if it is profitable enough compared to other products, or if it will draw enough people in to buy other products to be worth losing the opportunity cost from putting that on the shelf vs something else.
So shoplifting does increase the price something needs to be to be profitable, but it doesn't do anything to raise the price people are willing to spend on it. So it'll more likely lead to closed stores, discontinued products, or added security measures (assuming those measures are less expensive than simply replacing the stolen products).
And for grocery stores, the margins are thin enough that it's more basic than in most industries.
In some neighborhoods, they just shut down stores.
Still lineups of people ordering oat milk lahtays for $7.