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Be honest, zero judgment - how often do you steal from supermarket self-checkouts?

1000 replies

Alwaysthelastone · 29/09/2026 08:48

My theory is, “decent, up-standing” people do it a lot more than they’d ever admit. Let’s try to stop this thread descending into judgement and criticism of people who are just answering the question honestly. Otherwise they just won’t be honest. No judgement from me, as long as we’re talking large chain supermarkets only. I’ll admit that I sometimes forget to weigh fruit & veg, get to the till and can’t be bothered going back so don’t bother paying. Occasionally in the past when money’s been tight I haven’t paid for a few of the more expensive items like laundry detergent, nappies, the odd bottle of wine. But we’re talking 3 or 4 times I year. I’m not some sort of serial shoplifter and I consider myself a decent person (although I’m sure I’ll swiftly be told I’m not on here 🤣) anyway, would be interested to hear how often the mostly upstanding, middle-class MN population really does it…

OP posts:
Ponderingwindow · 29/09/2026 13:07

Never

there are many reasons. My own ethics are primary, but also, why would I risk destroying my very nice life by stealing something small like an apple? I would lose my job with any criminal charge. I would be an absolute idiot to take a risk like that.

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 29/09/2026 13:09

TealSapphire · 29/09/2026 13:01

YES.

Have done and would probably do it again, from supermarkets.

I'm not sure that everyone is being honest on here.

Why do you think people are lying? Is it difficult for you to come to terms with the fact that others haven't commited the crimes that you have committed?

VickyEadie · 29/09/2026 13:09

NEVER.

I'm utterly shocked that the OP thinks it's something anyone would do.

I generally try to avoid committing criminal offences.

OrdinaryGingerBloke · 29/09/2026 13:09

Never.

PrettyPickle · 29/09/2026 13:10

Alwaysthelastone · 29/09/2026 12:15

Even though it’s anonymous a lot of people still don’t like to be attacked by strangers online (I’m not bothered about it myself obviously!)

People stealing from shops occasionally is not the reason supermarket prices are rising. The economy is fucked. That’s the reason, and it’s not fucked because of people who nick the odd banana from a supermarket!

Stealing a child’s bike or someone’s jumper is personal and has a direct effect on that person. That is not the same as occasional theft of small items from supermarkets. There is no victim in the same way at all.

There are two separate questions here: Is it stealing? Is it a victimless crime?

On the first point, I don't think there is much room for debate. Deliberately failing to scan items at a self-service checkout so you can leave without paying is theft. Whether it's a bottle of wine, washing pods, nappies or "the odd banana", the act itself is the same. People's circumstances may explain why they do it, but they don't change what it is.

On the second point, I think you are making a distinction that many people make, but it is a shaky one. It is true that stealing a child's bike feels more personal and emotionally harmful than stealing from a large supermarket chain. A specific individual loses something they own, and you can identify the victim immediately. However, that does not mean supermarket theft is victimless.

The cost doesn't simply disappear. Retailers lose stock, spend more on security, employ loss-prevention staff, install barriers and cameras, and write off losses. Those costs are ultimately absorbed through a combination of reduced profits, higher prices, lower staff hours, or less investment. No single customer can point to a 50p increase and say "that's because of @Alwaysthelastone stealing washing pods", but collectively retail theft has real consequences.

The bit that particularly stands out to me is the inclusion of wine. If someone said they stole baby formula because they literally could not feed their child, I would still say it was theft, but I could understand the desperation behind it. Wine is different. That is not about survival. It is far harder to frame that as anything other than wanting something and not wanting to pay for it.

I think you are softening your own behaviour by comparing it with something worse. "I'm not stealing bicycles", "I'm not burgling houses", "It's only a supermarket". But morality isn't usually judged solely against the worst thing somebody could have done. Most people would still regard repeatedly helping yourself to items from a shop as dishonest, even if there are more serious crimes.

Where I would perhaps differ from some people is that I think motive still matters. Someone shoplifting food because they haven't eaten for two days is not morally equivalent to someone regularly helping themselves to bottles of wine because they think Tesco can afford it. The act is still theft in both cases, but most people would view the first with sympathy and the second with much less. Stealing is stealing. Desperation can be a mitigating factor.

Supermarket theft is not truly victimless. Regularly taking non-essential items such as wine strikes me more as entitlement than necessity. What I find most revealing about your comments is not that you admit doing it, but that you appear to have convinced yourself that because the victim is a large company, it somehow no longer counts as real theft. That is the part of the argument I find hardest to accept.

Thelonelyshrew · 29/09/2026 13:10

I can honestly say I have never done that.

OneFastPinkTraybake · 29/09/2026 13:10

The reason there's a charge on plastic bags is to encourage people to bring their own

andweallsingalong · 29/09/2026 13:11

Never, because...

I'm not a thief
I have more respect for the store / staff
I don't want prices to go up
I don't want shops to close or people to lose their jobs
People who do are the reason for the annoying random checks on scan as you shop schemes.

Why would you? Surely you can see you're stealing from everyone, not "just" the store.

Sixgeese · 29/09/2026 13:11

Never

PlasticineKing · 29/09/2026 13:11

Never.

Once, at around 19 I engineered my washing powder so it could be argued that I “forgot” to pay for it. I was very very skint and had no one to support me financially. I’m not proud of it. But it’s literally happened once in my life, never to be repeated either by accident or by choice.

Waitingfordoggo · 29/09/2026 13:11

Am99 · 29/09/2026 12:58

do the plastic bags count? I never scan those… out of principle really! Nearly everything I’ve bought has plastic in it anyway … it’s just not gonna save anything by paying a £ for a bag

Your ‘principles’ will make the price of bags increase for those of us who have different ‘principles’.

Outlandish suggestion, but why not just take your own bags to the shop?

MajorProcrastination · 29/09/2026 13:12

You: "Be honest, zero judgement" I sometimes steal stuff

Vast majority of replies: no, I never do that

You: what a bunch of stuck up goody two shoes judgy pearl clutching holier than thou "upstanding, middle class" mumsnetters

what happened to the zero judgement?

Whyherewego · 29/09/2026 13:12

Never. I once mis scanned so bought 6 of an item and when I got home realised I'd scanned 5 (as my Apple pay flashed up the transaction and it was obviously incorrect). In that case I did not bother going back to pay the 95p back.

Cadeaukatze · 29/09/2026 13:12

HeddaGarbled · 29/09/2026 12:56

it very much reflects the kind of place I think MN is -full of self-righteous, pearl clutchers who think in black and white

AKA “not shop-lifters” 😄

I agree it's full of people who can't see nuance.

But shoplifting is wrong, obviously.

The issue arises when people pretend they are upstanding citizens and it's morally wrong but actually the reason most people don't do it is because they don't want to get caught and face the consequences. Not because they are morally better than anyone else. Everyone has broken the law at some point, buying cigarettes at 15 (when the age limit was 16), going to a pub with someone else's ID at 17, speeding, "nipping" through a red light, cycling on the pavement etc.

MichLBee · 29/09/2026 13:13

Never. I don't see how you could anyway as it's all done by weight, isn't it? When I'm out with my baby and am doing a small shop, I put the items in the basket of the pram. One time I left a shop and realised I'd missed an item. I took it back, explained and apologied, and paid for it. If I can't afford something, I don't get it. Even if I didn't have morals, I wouldn't risk it as I'd lose my job at the very least and would lose a lot of good people in my life (rightly so).

AFPotts · 29/09/2026 13:13

I'm really surprised it's possible these days with all the cameras and weighing tills etc.

Are you being fully honest OP? Or are you on a wind-up, or like some pps have suggested, doing research?

HesterLeggatt · 29/09/2026 13:14

Never. I’m autistic so even the idea of not paying for something feels really wrong. I once accidentally forgot to pay for a cookie DS ate on the way round and had to drive back the next day to pay for it because I felt so guilty.

Peterbyres1 · 29/09/2026 13:15

Never. I am not a thief.

Thindog · 29/09/2026 13:15

Never.
Why not? Simply because I want to live in a society where stealing is not acceptable.

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 29/09/2026 13:16

MichLBee · 29/09/2026 13:13

Never. I don't see how you could anyway as it's all done by weight, isn't it? When I'm out with my baby and am doing a small shop, I put the items in the basket of the pram. One time I left a shop and realised I'd missed an item. I took it back, explained and apologied, and paid for it. If I can't afford something, I don't get it. Even if I didn't have morals, I wouldn't risk it as I'd lose my job at the very least and would lose a lot of good people in my life (rightly so).

It would be super easy using scan as you shop - I don't think my trolley has been checked in over a year. But I wouldn't do it because I'm not a thief.

Cadeaukatze · 29/09/2026 13:16

HesterLeggatt · 29/09/2026 13:14

Never. I’m autistic so even the idea of not paying for something feels really wrong. I once accidentally forgot to pay for a cookie DS ate on the way round and had to drive back the next day to pay for it because I felt so guilty.

Yes I wonder how many pearl-clutchers on here let their kids eat food they've not yet paid for when they are out shopping (no it's NOT the same as eating in a restaurant and paying the bill when you leave).

Oh and nicking stationery from work. Or even charging your phone in work if they haven't expressly said that you can.

TealSapphire · 29/09/2026 13:16

@MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack a few posters have said that it's not just teenagers or gangs, but middle aged women who you wouldn't initially suspect. Stands to reason there are some on here!

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 29/09/2026 13:17

Everyone has broken the law at some point, buying cigarettes at 15 (when the age limit was 16), going to a pub with someone else's ID at 17, speeding, "nipping" through a red light, cycling on the pavement etc.

I must be an outlier or one of the morally righteous or just bloody boring, because I've never done any of that. Not the speeding or the red lights because I don't drive (altho I've come close to meeting my Maker a few times because of the people who do those things); and I regard people who cycle on pavements as inconsiderate ignorant arseholes - to put it mildly.

Never saw the attraction of smoking, either.

Flowerpots276 · 29/09/2026 13:17

Never

Am99 · 29/09/2026 13:17

Waitingfordoggo · 29/09/2026 13:11

Your ‘principles’ will make the price of bags increase for those of us who have different ‘principles’.

Outlandish suggestion, but why not just take your own bags to the shop?

Because I use them as rubbish bags most of the time

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