When times are tough, the temptation of a five-finger discount can push consumers to shoplift — and it’s not like people are taking just flashy duds or pretty jewelry. Baby formula, pregnancy tests, vacuums and kitchen mixers — many of the most common items are expensive and are therefore being shoplifted, according to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation.
It’s not just people stealing things for personal use, but shoplifters go for products they can sell for near-retail price, notes ABC News. A few new products to the list this year include KitchenAid mixers, educational toys and games, GPS units and laundry detergent.
So what are the most common items snatched? Some might surprise you, some might not (everyone needs to brush their teeth, after all):
Cigarettes
Energy drinks
High-end liquor
Infant formula
Over-the-Counter Medicine
Allergy medicine
Diabetic testing strips
Pain relievers
Weight loss pills
Electric toothbrushes & replacement heads
Lotions and creams
Pregnancy tests
Denim jeans
Designer clothing/denim
Handbags
Electronics
Cell Phones
Digital cameras
Digital recorders
GPS devices
Laptops
LCD monitors & televisions
Home
High-end vacuums
KitchenAid mixers
What Are The Most Shoplifted Items? [ABC News]
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How:
Laptops
LCD monitors & televisions
High-end vacuums
KitchenAid mixers
WTF:
Home
As for the how – load into a shopping cart and walk out the door. If you’re lucky, you’ll be out and loaded into waiting vehicle before store security can get there (and if the store has a ‘greeters do not confront’ policy, so much the better).
Home, like Electronics, Over-the-Counter Medicine and others, are section titles in the original article. Copy/Paste fail comment redacted.
Carmen Sandiego has never been caught
In a new study, it was determined that the “Shoplifting Gene” is, evidently, found on the X chromosome.
y?
x_x
_
_
X_X
_Y_
___
Your move.
IF (n = XX)
THEN
(shoplifting)
ELSE
(paying)
END IF
It’s not genetic. It’s environmental.
All shoplifters have been exposed to dihydrogen monoxide during their most impressionable years.
That sews it…dihydrogen monoxide exposure causes shoplifting.
Hey man be careful with that stuff. It can be fatal if inhaled, it is also a powerful solvent and corrosive.
They are forgetting makeup. Makeup is one of the most shoplifted items anywhere. Some of the larger electronic on this list suprise me. How on earth does someone just walk out carrying a TV. Unless the door checkers aren’t doing their job or paying attention, this shouldn’t happen.
Between the legs under a muumuu. I was in a store when they caught someone trying this (she’d have managed it if the cord hadn’t dangled).
Also…strollers. You can hide a lot of shit in a big stroller.
I’ve even accidentally shoplifted using a stroller. Kept piling stuff up on the top part, then transferred the biggest item (a picture frame) to the “purse” area underneath the seat. Checked out, paying for all the stuff I’d piled on top, and didn’t even realize the frame was still down on the bottom until I went to fold up the stroller out by the car. If it’s that easy to do by mistake, I bet it’s super easy to do on purpose.
Go to some store, like Walmart, that offers checkout in the back of the store. Purchase a few items. Next as you head out of the store place the large ticket item in the cart with the bags with the items you’ve purchased on top of it. Since Walmart doesn’t have the receipt checkers anymore it takes a pretty alert staff to catch it.
+1 on makeup. At the grocery store I lease space in for my computer shop, they placed a locked gate in front of the cosmetics aisle at 9 PM.
They also keep condoms, pregnency test kits, etc. in a locked glass case with a sign stating, “Please See an Associate for Help With Family Planning”. I guess this is why I see so many knocked up women in the checkout lines.
Inside job. When I was working at a restaurant a few idiots we fired went to work at the Target nearby. They came in later offering steep discounts on all sorts of electronics/TVs. Ruined that real quick for those idiots by calling the store in the morning.
Ahhh embarrassingly enough I did frequently snatch up diet pills when I was a senior in high school. I was broke, family was broke and I was very unhappy with how I looked.
If only I was smart enough then and had the guidance from my parents to just eat better and be more active. Two kids and 8 years later, I am 30 pounds lighter than I was then.
The pregnancy tests in the dollar store are just about as accurate as the ones that cost $20 at the pharmacy.
They’re more like $5 at a grocery store, but yeah name brand pregnancy tests are way overpriced. These have worked perfectly for us: http://www.amazon.com/Wondfo-Pregnancy-Test-Strips-25-count/dp/B0002YIQEQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339432091&sr=8-1
Maury Povich should come out with his own line of pregnancy tests complete with small speakers that say: You ARE the father when it comes up positive.
When it’s negative, it says “Whatever, you don’t know me…I do what I want!”
Or- Maury smiling serenely if the test is negative, and Maury going like :O if it’s positive.
Yep. Back in my sluttier days, I relied on those dollar preg-tests for my peace of mind. I could get 2 or 3 of them for half the price of Walmart’s store brand test. Multiple tests = more reliable results!
Wherefore art thou Tide?
Desperate times calls for desperate measures.
Allergy medicine and weight loss pills are actually pretty damned obvious. Methheads grab the stuff.
Condoms didn’t make the list, but pregnancy tests did?
You general shoplifting population isn’t known for planning ahead.
When I worked at Best Buy (circa 1995), this is one of the ways TVs and computers would disappear:
1. Simply grab the item off the shelf as if you’re shopping.
2. Remove the soft tag (small white sticker with metallic sensor).
3. Wait until the trained ape at the front door is called away for any reason.
4. Walk out the door.
We responded to this by putting boxed computers on the high shelves. That helped.
Hey now! I worked at the front door of a Best Buy for a while and I have to point out a major error in your scenario.
I was not trained.