Has there been an increase in reverse shoplifting?

amother

Mon, Aug 17 2020, 10:20 am

amother [ Cerulean ] wrote:

What on earth is reverse shoplifting?

It's what it sounds like. It can involve either literally putting something onto a shelf or in some cases purchasing something that you actually owned to begin with (which some people do when there is a special on an item that is out of stock). This can make problems for stores because their inventory doesn't match up.

amother

Maroon

Mon, Aug 17 2020, 10:22 am

I am now imagining that all the "cool-rebel" kids are taking their old earrings, putting them back on cards and sneaking them onto the rack at Claire's (sorry FF referenced Claire's this am). Their sweater are put on hangers and being subtly slipped onto the rack at Forever 21, makeup is being added to the self at Target....
Quick Chani, distracted the sales associate while I put something on the shelf which I paid for. LOL

groovy1224

Mon, Aug 17 2020, 10:25 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Why would someone do the first option, and I don't get why the second option would mess up a store's inventory records? The fact that you own it already doesn't matter. So now you have 2 of the item..

amother

Mon, Aug 17 2020, 10:28 am

groovy1224 wrote:

The first option, I don't know. Maybe because they have reverse kleptomania. The second, I mean you bring in an item and walk out with it, but they write down as though you purchased it. So they have one more of the item than their records show.

watergirl

Mon, Aug 17 2020, 10:37 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I think I am misunderstanding you. Or I don't understand the kind of shops you shop at. Why would they write down that you purchased something if you did not purchase it? Wouldn't they know based on scanning it and you paying for it? The till would show if it was paid for.

So yesterday I went into a store and was literally wearing a skirt and snood I bought there. I walked out with it. They knew I bought it previously, if they even noticed it was from there.

Or, I walked into a fruit store while drinking from a water bottle. They sell the water bottles there as well. I leave with it. They would know I did not purchase it from them because one does not generally leave with an item unless you've paid for it. If you did, it would be literally shop lifting. They would not just notice I am leaving with the water bottle and just let me out unless they knew I paid for it. You don't just write down that someone paid for something if they did not. And that's not how stores work. If the store was that lax in policy, they would have a serious shoplifting problem in general.

watergirl

Mon, Aug 17 2020, 10:41 am

H/t Urban Dictionary. You learn something new every day!

shopdropping
Also known as reverse shoplifting, shopdropping describes the act of sneaking specifically marked items into a shop and placing them on display. This technique can be used for public art, to promote political views or advertise your services. In grocery stores, the labels on canned goods are replaced with art motives. T-Shirts with political messages are smuggled into normal retail outlets and cleaver fitness trainers place their business cards in weight-loss books.
Similar to the way street art stakes a claim to public space for self expression, shopdropping subverts commercial space for artistic use.

amother

Mon, Aug 17 2020, 10:43 am

watergirl wrote:

I mean if someone takes the item into the store, brings it to the counter, rings up the purchase and the till shows it was paid for, but the inventory hasn't changed. Some people have done this, for example, if a store was temporarily out of stock on an item while they had some kind of deal, such as "Buy X, get Y free" where the shopper wants item Y and is willing to pay the price of an X, which they already own.

Chayalle

Mon, Aug 17 2020, 11:29 am

amother [ Babypink ] wrote:

just yesterday I told dh that we should wake up at 3 am and drop one bottle of milk on every neigbors doorpost

The FBI is currently investigating the strange appearance of bottles filled with a strange white substance, appearing on certain doorsteps during the night in certain neighborhoods. Chinese involvement is suspected. Links to COVID-19 are being considered.

Just kidding.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Aug 17 2020, 11:29 am

watergirl wrote:

Thanks for the info, that makes sense. I just wish the spelling in this post wasn't so painful!* The words they are looking for are "motifs" and "clever".

I'd be a little scared if there were random cleavers. Who knows what the motives could be? Surprised

(*not you, watergirl, the Urban Dictionary)

amother

Wine

Tue, Aug 18 2020, 10:05 am

My friend told me that when she went shopping she took along a couple of bottles of milk and left them in the shopping cart (as if she forgot them, so that a worker should put it back on the shelf)
I thought that was weird. I would faster just throw it out.

amother

Natural

Tue, Aug 18 2020, 10:11 am

amother [ Wine ] wrote:

Silly.
If she taking it anyway why not just put it in the fridge, the next shopper was getting milk that sat out very long.
Not nice.

SixOfWands

Tue, Aug 18 2020, 10:12 am

amother [ Wine ] wrote:

That would create major health code violations for the store.

And honestly, would you want to purchase milk that had been in someone else's non-commercial refrigerator, then sitting out who knows how long?