To wonder why shoplifters are so thick and selfish?

[girlfriend44]

Pharmacies have today revealed they are suffering from increased shoplifting too.
Where us this all going to end

If people keep stealing there won't be any ships left will there?
Have they ever tried running a business?
What would they do if people kept stealing?
How low as well stealing from an independent pharmacy. It's hard enough for them as it is.

They are there for people in the community as well to help them?
Makes no sense.
People are thick and selfish.
Are they trying to ose everyone down?

🙄😪

I think we should really tackle the elephant in the room that is the extreme poverty some people in this country are living in despite this being one of the wealthiest countries in the world. I'd be looking at that before I mouthed off about shoplifters.
And you can say 'they are doing it to make money' but if you have to resort to that to make money what sort of depressing life are you living?
I've shoplifted before.. and it was due to poverty. In my late teens I was effectively homeless for a while. Had to rob food. It's awful. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
And then there are the addicts.
You can be on your high horse all you want but calling names isn't going to address the problems that are causing the rise in shoplifting. Just makes you feel smug.

How is shoplifting essential to anyone's existence?

😂 this old wives tale.

”shrinkage” isn’t some smart accounting secret. It’s just written off stock. Stock written off for damage, loss, not selling, being ruined, missing sell by date etc as well as stolen form various parts of the supply chain.

if you’re not hysterical about shops disposing of your returns because they can’t be arsed to sell them on, it seems odd to be hysterical about shoplifting.

plus, they do not put prices up for this. It’s a cost that works its way through the p&l but pricing strategy is an extremely complex area based on market intelligence and covering costs (of which shrinkage is a tiny proportion) is only part of it. There is far, far more complexity to that than pricing a product.

This is spot on. And there's also the fear of being seen as not coping. That social services might get on your back. A lot of people in these types of situations can be very distrustful of authority or any type of organisation. Due to have been continually treated like nothing etc

As I said previously I had to steal food in my late teens. I had absolutely no idea what a food bank even was and it just would not have occurred to me that anyone might help me. Having the confidence to ask and the expectation that people are on your side is a privilege people don't even understand they are raised with.

Your making yourself sound a bit thick tbh.
IME most of the suppliers we see (work) are in 3 main categories class A drug addicts, crack is £5 a rock, they will steal daily to feed their habit, can be male or female, women often in very abusive relationships stealing for two reasons, alcohol for the partner and/or themselves (as I'm sure you can imagine alcohol use is higher in those living with daily abuse) or they don't have access to the money they need to feed themselves and their children because he has it. There are complex reasons why they don't tell people and many have no or limited support. The third is relatively recent over the last ten years or so, groups of youths masked from trollies and just run out with them, high end expensive items, the same people issued linked to drug simply in some way, not at the top.
A lot more complex than thick and selfish.
HTH

Social services are more likely to get on the back of convicted shoplifters with kids than those who ask for help.

You probably shouldn’t accuse people of being thick given you’re struggling to string a grammatically correct sentence together.

Not that I was talking about pharmacies but they, as with any independent retail business, are much more likely to go out of business due to the rampant expansion and aggressive tactics of high street chains, online pharmacies and things like Amazon than your local shop lifter

You probably shouldn't pretend to be a bleeding heart if you have to resort to insulting people about their Grammer...

One of the pharmacies near me has everything locked behind doors on shelves. You have to ask for it.

Stuff like cleansers and cotton wool aren’t, but all medicines and sun tan lotions.

For people in vulnerable positions/shit areas, the Care of the Chemist scheme is widely publicised. You can get a wide range of medication free, if you don't pay for prescriptions. The signs aren't just in English, they are in the main languages.
Baby formula will be sorced from one of the food banks, if you go to a local church they will help. But as said, Healthy start vouchers are still available.

People are stealing because they sell it on, or don't want to spend their own money on it. I've lived in rough bits of Liverpool and Knowsley, shop lifting is a way of life. There was a neighbour who if the queue in the local co-op was too long, he'd just rob what he wanted.
The staff in the Home Bargains, Heron, B&M are on minimum wage and have less disposable income than the robbers, but have to put up with them on top. These so called vulnerable people have/had no worse a life than the people they come into contact with and blight the lives of. The same ones are robbing children's bikes/scooters/garden toys (and the odd dog if they can).

Imagine being so morally bankrupt that you think thinking about others and difficult situations makes you a bleeding heart.

Normally I wouldn’t comment on someone’s spelling/grammar but the OP is throwing around accusations of people being thick and it’s a case of those in glass houses…

At this point MN is turning into a long form version of twatter,....sorry, X.

Oftentimes, I dream of placing a post on here for some measured, reasoned opinions and debate, but it quickly devolves into tabloid, pitchfork waving territory - good for ad views, shit for life

Yes... that wasn't my point. It won't seem like that to them though will it? If youre a teenage mum who's been hassled and treated like scum most of her life.
It's harder to make the sensible decision. You would think you were doing what you needed to survive

Oops, sorry.
Thought I was in chat but it's AIBU.

I shall tarry and get my coat.

I lived in Kirkby, on Merseyside. We had rows of shops close because of theft. So did Norris Green. Absolute scum of the earth. All had children removed. All had chance after chance, the best council houses, free white goods. No-one around them had it any better, but we managed to not carry on as they did.

You are wrong though because you contradict yourself! You can't have it both ways. Saying it's a rough area yet these people haven't had it any worse than anyone else..
It IS linked to poverty. Statistics don't lie. Shoplifting is massively linked to poverty. Not always obviously but for the most part.
And yes stealing to sell is also linked to entrenched generational poverty. Lack of ambition.. lack of engagement with society.
What does writing everyone off as thick do but entrench it more?
Swear to God people don't really want to address it they just like feeling superior and letting out some anger.
We live in a capitalist hellscape and it's getting worse.

Maybe if the big supermarkets cut their profit margins… I will always turn a blind eye. Waitrose and Asda etc don’t need the money.

I wonder why there is such an increase in crime?

Waitrose doesn't tend to be in poorer areas
There are certainly no waitrose ,s near me.

It's also interesting if you look at the actual statistics regarding shoplifting in the UK there's been a massive increase in pension age people shoplifting..
Now try and tell me that's not about poverty and survival?
We've got people on this thread wanging on about selfish teens nicking makeup or whatever... the actual biggest rise is amongst those over 65 and they are stealing food.

Lack of morals. Too many kids are not brought up properly. Benefits culture, money is not something earned anymore to many people, it's something given.

The Argos model must look appealing to many retailers.

And again 40% of theft is done by staff. If they were so concerned stealing would close the shop and therefore put themselves out of a job they probably wouldn’t do it

How do they know that 40% of shoplifting is done by staff?

How do you explain the pensioners stealing then?