People who steal shopping carts piss me off

[ScrappyB]

Stealing is a pretty strong word.  It's not like they're taking the fucking thing to some kind of "cart chop shop" to break down and sell for parts or something.

Actually, some people do. They sell them as scrap metal to unscrupulous recycling companies.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/02/19/md-man-charged-with-stealing-shopping-carts/

Imagine you went to a golf course where they allowed you to use a golf cart to ride and carry your golf bag between holes. That doesn't mean it's suddenly your golf cart to take home with you.

Shopping cart theft is a huge problem for retailers. They lose $800 million a year in shopping cart losses, which gets passed along to everyone. People who steal shopping carts are no better than shoplifters IMHO and deserve to be chased down by security and prosecuted.

[SpaceProg]

Why does this thread remind me of Trailer Park Boys?

BUBBLES!   (My fave char in that particular show.)

[Nightangel8212]

My old roommate used to bring the shopping carts home with him when I lived with him. But he was on foot and had to push it like four miles to get the groceries home every month. He would leave the cart outside the back door, and 90% of the time, it was still there when he had to go back to the store, so he would simply bring it back and reuse it. I personally don't have a problem with it. The only thing I have a problem with are those idiot teenagers who ride in them down hill and crash into a tree for 'fun.'

[largeham]

I frankly couldn't give a shit. I also don't really care if people shoplift.

[SpaceProg]

^ Shoplifting causes the prices of goods to be higher across the board.  The more shoplifting, the more loss is put into the price of the items sold.

[ScrappyB]

My old roommate used to bring the shopping carts home with him when I lived with him. But he was on foot and had to push it like four miles to get the groceries home every month. He would leave the cart outside the back door, and 90% of the time, it was still there when he had to go back to the store, so he would simply bring it back and reuse it. I personally don't have a problem with it. The only thing I have a problem with are those idiot teenagers who ride in them down hill and crash into a tree for 'fun.'

So he basically had his own personal cart that didn't belong to him, taken without permission, that no one else could use. And this is different than stealing... how? It's the equivalent of someone taking your car without asking and saying it's all right because they bring it back when they visit your house.

You can buy a personal shopping cart that folds up for around $50. There's no valid reason for a store's shopping cart to leave the grounds without the owner's permission.

[ScrappyB]

^ Shoplifting causes the prices of goods to be higher across the board.  The more shoplifting, the more loss is put into the price of the items sold.

Yup. Same for cart theft. If you shop at stores where theft is a problem (and it's a problem at just about every retail store) then you're paying more thanks to the people who steal. It's not a victimless crime. Ultimately we're all the victims.

[largeham]

^ Shoplifting causes the prices of goods to be higher across the board.  The more shoplifting, the more loss is put into the price of the items sold.

Do you have any evidence for this? Beyond it providing an excuse for increasing prices? And of how much prices were increased by? Also, I would say some companies are willing to take the risk considering the proliferation of self-checkouts.

[Askold]

^ Shoplifting causes the prices of goods to be higher across the board.  The more shoplifting, the more loss is put into the price of the items sold.

Do you have any evidence for this? Beyond it providing an excuse for increasing prices? And of how much prices were increased by? Also, I would say some companies are willing to take the risk considering the proliferation of self-checkouts.

Shoplifting is a loss of income to the shop and stolen carts have to be replaced which also costs money.

How do you think the shop covers those expenses? Are the owners going to pour their own money in to make up for the chocolate bars that were stolen? If they can't prevent all theft then the money they get from other sales must make up for the stolen goods.

And all the increased security and other preventative measures also cost money so they need to cover those as well. But since placing alarms into every single item is not cost effective they counter theft by making it harder to steal some stuff (those alarms in clothing and some electronics) or simply making the price so high that it will cover the stuff that would get stolen anyway.

[Art Vandelay]

^ Shoplifting causes the prices of goods to be higher across the board.  The more shoplifting, the more loss is put into the price of the items sold.

Do you have any evidence for this? Beyond it providing an excuse for increasing prices? And of how much prices were increased by? Also, I would say some companies are willing to take the risk considering the proliferation of self-checkouts.

Does it really need to be explained to you why fucking shoplifting is a bad thing? Really now, this is just a whole new level of stupid I haven't seen on these boards since Chagen/Agni/Whatever stopped posting.

[largeham]

Shoplifting is a loss of income to the shop and stolen carts have to be replaced which also costs money.

And all the increased security and other preventative measures also cost money so they need to cover those as well. But since placing alarms into every single item is not cost effective they counter theft by making it harder to steal some stuff (those alarms in clothing and some electronics) or simply making the price so high that it will cover the stuff that would get stolen anyway.

Boohoo, I don't care about companies losing incomes.

How do you think the shop covers those expenses? Are the owners going to pour their own money in to make up for the chocolate bars that were stolen? If they can't prevent all theft then the money they get from other sales must make up for the stolen goods.

Wastage and shoplifting and similar costs are generally factored in in a company's accounting.

Does it really need to be explained to you why fucking shoplifting is a bad thing? Really now, this is just a whole new level of stupid I haven't seen on these boards since Chagen/Agni/Whatever stopped posting.

Please do explain.

[Art Vandelay]

Does it really need to be explained to you why fucking shoplifting is a bad thing? Really now, this is just a whole new level of stupid I haven't seen on these boards since Chagen/Agni/Whatever stopped posting.

Please do explain.

As was explained already, the cost of the lost stock as well as preventative measures (alarms, security guards, cameras, all that jazz) is passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. They kind of have to be, since, you know, a store has to still turn a profit despite the additional expenses if it wants to stay in business. Not to mention the moral issues of fucking stealing in the first place.

[dpareja]

How do you think the shop covers those expenses? Are the owners going to pour their own money in to make up for the chocolate bars that were stolen? If they can't prevent all theft then the money they get from other sales must make up for the stolen goods.

Wastage and shoplifting and similar costs are generally factored in in a company's accounting.

Which has to be balanced by some sort of increased revenue stream, the main one for retail stores being how much they can get for what they sell.

[Askold]

Boohoo, I don't care about companies losing incomes.

So?

I'm not saying that you should be crying "Oh the humanity!" over a stolen apple. Those companies got to the business knowing the risks, but this is just  a simple rule of capitalism. If the profits are smaller than the costs then a company will go bankrupt. They counter this by increasing the prizes.

Wastage and shoplifting and similar costs are generally factored in in a company's accounting.

Yes they are. And the profit from the sales must be high enough to cover the cost of those items that weren't sold. This includes food that expired before sales, broken items and the stuff that was stolen.

When they buy (for example) chocolate bars or apples or something the price of those to the customer must cover:

a) The cost to the shop when they bought them.

b) Overhead costs.
(Worker salaries, rent, electric bills, etc. etc. these costs are divided between all the merchandise they have.)

c) Shrinkage.
The merchandise stolen, damaged or simply expired before sales. Since the items that weren't sold will not be making a profit the prize must be high enough to cover the loss of some merch. If the shrinkage increases then so will the price.

d) Profit.
Yes the company wants to make a profit. This is capitalism get over it. If the price is too high and not enough people buy the product then the will either lower the price (if they can still cover the costs from a-c with the lower price) or simply stop selling the item.



Here, this article explains how shoplifting affects stores.
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4709716_shoplifting-affect-retail-stores.html

There aren't any exact numbers since the shops won't reveal all data.

[Sleepy]

Going beyond the ways in which shoplifting can harm other consumers, do you honestly think it's okay to take items without paying for them?