AIBU to “steal” this?

If course you are wrong and no people wouldn’t steal if they knew nobody would buy it - or they would only steal for themselves.

you must realise that your behaviour is directly contributing to the higher prices in the shops?

I would hate to find out a friend was behaving as you do. It would make me re-evaluate our friendship.

Buying baby formula from a druggie.

wt actual f

now ive heard it all

The people that steal from us are not the ones that go out and sell it, generally, some of them do but that's less common.

They steal from us, they take it somewhere, they get money or drugs, then other people sell it. Those ones don't keep the money. It's part of organised crime and exploitation like everything else around the homeless and drug addicts.

20 years ago shoplifting was a very different game, sneaky scared people too shook to go and mug someone. Now people come in and steal a trolleys worth of the same stuff, and the trolley, they use or threaten violence routinely and it's predominantly driven by organised gangs like the county lines thing

Shoplifting is one of those things I really don't care about. You got a bargain. Well done for making sure your baby had milk. Wish someone would knock on my door like that.

Hate to tell you it's handling stolen goods. There was an old woman on tiktok who had been buying from a man at the door cheaply for stuff like this. Police had been watching the seller and because she'd purchased items from him a number of times and was caught on camera she was charged with handling stolen goods. She was insistent she didn't know where he'd got them from but knew.he had issues. Didn't stand in court she was found guilty. Awaiting sentencing.

I personally wouldn’t engage with a drug addict and would definitely not encourage them to be knocking on my door! I agree with others who’ve said that it’s just as bad as if you’d gone on the rob at tesco yourself. But then, money is tight. Money is tight for my family too! But I think I’d rather use a food bank or buy the basics than get goods off this guy.

So you've had a 3rd child that you basically can't afford and have to get a junkie to steal for you to be able to manage your household.

Your friend is absolutely correct. And thankfully has morals. Don't be surprised if she is going to cool your friendship. I would.
I can't believe you weren't ashamed to put this post up.

Breastfeeding isn't totally free...I remember being very hungry and eating more while I was breastfeeding. I still think it's preferable to formula if you can manage it. It might be a bit late now depending how old your baby is. La leche league gives breastfeeding support I think.

I suppose we have to be in this lady's position to judge if it's reasonable or unreasonable.

It's easy to say we would or wouldn't do something if an opportunity, or certain circumstances do not arise for us. I would probably do things I wouldn't think of doing if I was struggling to a certain degree.

So it might not really be about funding someone's drug habit, but trying to survive somehow, especially if you have a family to support. I would say for many in this particular situation, it can be considered reasonable enough.

Cannot believe you buy stolen goods from a drug dealer — and moreover buying baby formula from them. Why do you make babies if you don’t have a decent way of providing for them?

Well he's obviously stealing from the shop & then selling you stolen goods to fund his drug habit.

Perhaps you should cut out the middle man & steal from the shop yourself.

I certainly wouldn't buy from him. Theft costs everyone else & is a very selfish thing to do. Funding his drug habit is a bad thing to do too.

I'd like new Ferrari, should I steal one because I can't afford it?

I'm not going to judge you

It’s wrong you are encouraging his behaviour and this means most people have to pay more for their shopping plus you are encouraging him to use drugs what you are doing is wrong no excuses

This! Like wow I would not want these types of people knocking on my door and I doubt you have cctv/ ring cameras

How do you know a shop assistant has been beaten up or abused?

Someone mentioned him possibly stealing from big supermarket chains so ‘it’s ok’ but it’s more likely being stolen from your smaller local stores…

Clearly receiving stolen goods

Yes, because this man's thinking is "here is a woman who is my source of income. Kill the baby" 🙄

Wider issues? Like people expecting something for nothing? People greedy and jealous that they don't have the same things that the Jones' down the street have? People having children they can ill afford, thinking, the government will pay for them? That perhaps, somewhere down the line, some people forgot to have morals because as long as they get what they want, no matter how they get it, it's "okay"?

We're a very small shop with a pretty consistent markup across ranges and sometimes find ourselves cheaper than supermarkets in certain items. I also know the items they gouge on but those gouges are funding cuts in other areas. Wholesale price of mangoes is a good example, they sell the equivalent for cheaper than I can buy them but also they charge an unreasonable amount for pink ladies, which do have a higher cost price but not to the extent the difference in retail price would have you think. Toiletries as a dept are another one that they gauge on generally.

I don't really like the supermarket business model but it's pretty good for the customer IMO

True, but if the margins are that low one can’t really say they are overcharging for individual items.
An interesting article I’ve found:

amp.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2023/may/08/uk-supermarkets-profiteering-sainsburys-tesco

They work on volumes and volumes alone. Making 1.8% on what amounts to the majority of retail spend in the whole country is mega mega money.

uhh…maybe on a wider scale the two wars currently going on

lol

also

Jesus fucking Christ

Oh and if anyone was ever in the position where they were scraping the barrel for baby formula then there are plenty of charities, food banks and local agencies that can help supply this.
But I don’t think this is the case here if you are happily paying £10 a week on scented laundry balls 🙄

That’s really interesting. I’ve heard before that the actual profit margins in supermarkets were quite low, but I’m surprised they’re that low.

Apologies for daily mail link https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13571051/Cop-tackles-knife-thief-stole-Poundland.html
Does this look victimless @AmiABadPersonn ?