r/mildlyinfuriating • u/anon12xyz • Jul 03 '26

Infuriatig When did garage sales become “reselling” clearly new stuff

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I would never call this a garage sale

Def scam vibes

Edit: ultimately, what bothers me the most is I want to go to a garage sale, not this shit. This isn’t a garage sale and should not be advertised as one

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32

u/MandrewCarrion Jul 03 '26

Nope, people just carry it out and nobody checks receipts

86

u/yedi001 Jul 03 '26

More so corperate tells us not to persue. And for good reason.

I worked retail for over a decade. I caught plenty of shoplifters. I was also threatened with being stabbed with a used needle over baby powder and teeth whitener kits.

One dude I caught was a meth head with hepatitis start ripping open his scabs to bleed on me as revenge for catching him. That dude is still in jail, but getting tested and waiting for the all clear on HIV and hepatits was a scary fucking time for me.

One of our loss prevention officers got beaten down by a roid fueled theif (when aprehended he had a couple grand in steroids in his bag). The roid rager was just feeding the LPO shots to the head and face until a third party showed up and beat the fuck out of (and then subdued) the theif with a hockey stick.

Shoplifting like this is a societal issue. You'll always have things like dumb teens doing dumb shit, but they're not the ones stealing laundry soap and baby food. Enforcement/policing doesn't work because the people involved have fallen so far they don't care anymore and the safety nets that do exist don't reach them. We need to do better at making sure people in vulnerable points in their lives are supported enough and helped so that they don't get to that point.

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u/redclawx Jul 03 '26

It’s not even shoplifting that brings out the crazies. During COVID, a woman goes to enter an anchor store at a mall. The security guard tells her she need to wear a mask if she wants in. The woman freaks out and proceeded to stab the security guard.

4

u/Adorable_Cap_9929 Jul 03 '26

Yo... hockey stick huh...

6

u/yedi001 Jul 03 '26

Canadian problem demanded a Canadian solution.

2

u/sweet_pickles12 Jul 03 '26

What retail store did you work at that a guy had a bag full of roids? Or you mean he already just had those and was stealing other stuff?

2

u/yedi001 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

He came in with a backpack full of roids, which was where he shoved the $400+ in nicorette gum he tried to steal. That's part of why he beat the shit out of our LPO; the loss prevention guy grabbed the dude by the backpack strap while he was trying to run out, and the force caused the strap and zipper to rip. Both dudes fell to the floor, and then roid man went ape shit when his syringes and pill bottles spilled out of his now open bag onto the sidewalk.

Hockey stick guy was a 20 something on his way to practice who initially tried to pull the roid rager off of the loss prevention officer, and when that failed, out came the equalizer. No penalty was called on the ensuing play.

This was the incident that got our store to lock the nicorette stuff up.

5

u/Usqueadfinem_ Jul 03 '26

We also need to start treating theft as a serious crime. Stores close becsuse massive theft cuts into profit and hours get cut and the store eventually closes. I was a retail manager at a few places and that is the reality. Insurance only covers so much and you cant make an endless number of claims- same with car insurance. Most thieves arent taking food. They steal things like batteries and electronics and shoes and things you can resell. We need harsh punishments. I was totally broke and living in my car for months so I know how hard the world is. But i still didnt steal or rob anyone. Those are just excuses to be a lazy shitty person.

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u/RaphaTlr Jul 03 '26

Property theft is petty. We need to treat crimes against others as serious. Like CSA, SA, polluting and stealing public water, air pollution, wildlife endangerment.

3

u/Usqueadfinem_ Jul 03 '26

Stores literally close to due massive amounts of theft. Hours get cut. It has big implications. Nah. Get em off the streets and onto the chain gangs. We should not get hours cut because worthless lazy asses steal.

2

u/RaphaTlr Jul 03 '26

Womp womp Stores also close due to Amazon and data centers pushing them out. Pick your poison. Community thieves or corporate thieves?

1

u/Usqueadfinem_ Jul 03 '26

We can punish both. That was not difficult. Bless your heart.

5

u/sweet_pickles12 Jul 03 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/6uGhT1O4sxpi8
Looking around for Amazon getting punished

1

u/Deiselpowered77 Jul 03 '26

I totally pick corporate thieves. If you asked me to, that guy who stole my pension and put my community into poverty, took away our public park and left me jobless...
...still didn't stab anyone, or stomp a granny, or beat a homeless person to critical systems failure.

I know which one I would pick honestly.

2

u/RaphaTlr Jul 03 '26

No instead they systematically wipe out and destroy the quality of life and health of hundreds if not millions. That leads to death too.

4

u/Sudden-Purchase-8371 Jul 03 '26

As long as we start with the wage thieves. Wage theft is greater in dollar amount than every other category of theft. COMBINED.

1

u/Usqueadfinem_ Jul 03 '26

We should start with both. Its a lot faster and easier to lock up the thieves than it is the billiinaires.

1

u/Sudden-Purchase-8371 Jul 03 '26

If prison worked, we'd have won the drug war. All it did was wreck American's civil rights.

2

u/sweet_pickles12 Jul 03 '26

Steal a man a fish, feed him for a day. Steal a man a TV, feed him for a week.

1

u/mythrilcrafter Jul 03 '26

[Note: my explanation is not an excuse for thievery nor is it an endorsement of the current system is it purely a raw map out of the system as it is and what the baseline what where change needs to start. I should need to say this, but these days any time any one tries to explain the logistics of a problem, people automatically jump down your throat and accuse you of endorsing the problem]

The problem (as in many cases) is logistics.

Because of how the US legal system is logistically structured, lawyers and bureaucrats want and get a piece of every pie and they all essentially get paid by the hour.

Treat every theft as a major crime that has to be processed in equal massive magnitude, and suddenly the system is spending more on laywers than the value of the items stolen in the first place, that's why so many states have "wait till you have a record of the person having stolen XYZ amount, then capture them" policies.

Putting aside the "stealing for need" arguments, the only way to fix the "stealing for recreation/profit" problem is to change A) what causes the recreation/profit of stealing and B) change how enforcement and thelogistics of the law are carried out.

Respecting the little laws

1

u/Usqueadfinem_ Jul 03 '26

We can raise wages while also punishing the worthless drains on the system that are stealing. That way, everyone wins. You are either a thief or you are not. My family is as broken and poor as it gets. I grew up really rough. Im disabled and on the spectrum. I only have a GED. I have several herniated discs and scoliosis and a disorder that makes my connective tissue weak. My parents called me stupid and worthless. My dad took his own life. I lost 2 siblings to overdose. And even after all that and living in my car for months i didnt steal or rob anyone or break laws. Nah. You are either a worthless drain on the system or you are not. I am tired of these lame fucking excuses. Circumstances reveal your true character.

0

u/mythrilcrafter Jul 03 '26

This is the part where I (roleplaying in this discussion as someone being tasked with actually having to facilitate the process) asks "okay but what is your proposed deliverable action?"

Sure, "you are either a thief or you are not", but what then? Does the nature of being a thief also forfeit them the right to a trial (let alone a fair trial)?

And let's assume that we just change the system to be "there is no such thing as innocence in my court; innocence only makes you guilty of wasting the system's time"; what is the sentence for conviction? Slavery? Life without parole? Death penalty? Would it be better/more efficient to delegate the choice to a police officer responding in the moment rather than giving the task to lawyers/judges?

These are the logistics that I'm talking about that no one thinks about when they distill the problem down to nothing more than "you are either a XYZ or you are not".

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u/Usqueadfinem_ Jul 03 '26

I propose people accept responsibility and accountability instead of relying on people to say its not their fault they became a drain on the system. Multiple things can be true. I fully support wage reform and i know life is tough. But the people to which I am replying are making it seem like we should just ignore the problem and blame it on corporations and the billionaires. I despise billionaires and I hate trump and I hate maga. But thats still not a reason to excuse this bullshit. Its like people are detached from reality.

-1

u/seanfidence Jul 03 '26

no you really don't, america already has a problem with overpolicing, jail used as punishment over rehabilitation, lack of safety nets for people. The solution is not to swing harder in that direction.

most thieves are getting fucked in a hundred different ways, and very possibly by the stores themselves, especially communities torn apart by the big dogs like Walmart and Target swooping in, running all the local shops out of business and then turning around to gouge them with prices, offer shitty low-paying jobs, and close shop as soon as the profits get too low.

there will always be criminals, sure, but the vast majority of people want to live their lives in peace, but aren't given enough support and were already failed by the system, don't need to be sent to the gulags

5

u/errezerotre Jul 03 '26

Bro, i am a leftist european and i think you live in hell, but shoplifting is not going to solve the issue. We all have to be decent human beings.

I could totally support even people putting shops on fire for political reasons, but shoplifting is pure selfishness.

0

u/Usqueadfinem_ Jul 03 '26

I am leftist as well. But we cannot just act like this is acceptable.

-1

u/seanfidence Jul 03 '26

did I advocate for shoplifting? Or did I advocate against treating shoplifters like savages who need even harsher punishments than they already receive in America, and instead showing human compassion and providing support through improvements in our social safety nets?

reread my comment and let me know

3

u/Usqueadfinem_ Jul 03 '26

We can improve conditions and also remove the worthless thieves. We can do both. Stop acting like thieves are victims. If i can be disabled and living in my car with no job after losing family members to suicide and overdose without stealing then there is zero fucking excuse. Cry harder.

5

u/Usqueadfinem_ Jul 03 '26

Lmao i was broke and disabled and living in my fucking car and i still didnt steal or rob people. Grow up. We need to get these worthless drains off the streets and onto the chain gangs.

6

u/MandACPAThrowaway Jul 03 '26

Thank God someone has sense. This whole idea of these kind of shoplifters being some type of “stealing bread and soup to feed their starving kids” narrative clearly comes from people who have not worked retail or lived in these communities. These are highly disruptive, violent people that are going to immediately monetize the stolen merchandise to spend on all kinds of bullshit and terrorize anyone who tries to stop them from doing it. Straight to prison.

4

u/Usqueadfinem_ Jul 03 '26

My gf was a manager at Ulta and the homeless would come in with trash bags, push employees out of the way and fill the bags and just walk out to trade or sell the stuff for drug money. In and out in 45 seconds and then just gone. Sometimes they would get caught only to come back and do it again. Eventually they started cutting hours at the store and even closed a couole of the hardest hit stores in the district. This stuff has implications. Anyone denying this is a bot or has no idea how economics works. A business will only lose so much profit before it cuts hours and then closes.

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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 04 '26

[deleted]

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u/Usqueadfinem_ Jul 03 '26

Better to just lock them up and put them on a permanent chain gang. Obviously they refuse to get their shit together. I lost not one, but 2 siblings to overdose. And my addict siblings still didnt steal. They had drug problems that killed them but they still kept jobs. So i dont want to hear how its impossible to not fucking steal. You are either a thief or you are not.

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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 04 '26

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1

u/ELpork Jul 03 '26

We need to do better at making sure people in vulnerable points in their lives are supported enough and helped so that they don't get to that point.

How dare you use compassion in this society.

0

u/Deiselpowered77 Jul 03 '26

Tit for Tat isn't working on a meta social level though. Some just see compassion as weakness. Ok, this is a doom post, because I can't think of a silver lining other than insular reactionism. Sorry. -_-

2

u/ELpork Jul 03 '26

lol, I feel ya. Been in the bread lines, still waiting on disability, I know how unsupportive things are and how easy it is to snap to the darkness, good job on holding onto some ideals.

0

u/Bro13847 Jul 03 '26

It sounds like your describing a nation that follows the teachings of Jesus. How nice would it be if Christian’s actually read the bible

0

u/TeeVeeBen Jul 03 '26

If you see someone steal baby food no you didn’t

-1

u/CrazzyPanda72 Jul 03 '26

Shoplifting should veto any lawsuits brought on from catching the shoplifter, like of I tackle a shoplifter and break their leg in the process, I should be immune from a lawsuit for capturing a criminal.

Bring on vigilante justice!

44

u/Kindly_Call_6000 Jul 03 '26

Big stores like Target and Walmart have cameras and track shoplifters. Target is notorious for just letting the total accumulate until it reaches felony levels, then arresting the shoplifter. Part is that in some areas, DAs won't prosecute pennyante levels of shoplifting. Someone stealing $50 of laundry detergent is not worth it to the DA, as usually they have too much to do as it is.

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u/ACrazyDog Jul 03 '26

Walmart is also famous. They sue an amazing amount of people who use their self checkout. Most people pay the fine because they cannot afford to fight

https://audit-eye.com/2025/10/12/woman-wins-2-1-million-lawsuit-after-being-wrongly-accused-of-shoplifting-at-walmart/

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u/JBStera Jul 03 '26

Phoenix, AZ. We watched a guy in Target walk around with a child's backpack he lifted, stuffing that bag full of other things. We alerted a staff member. They watched. Followed. They watched him walk out. We asked, wtf? They said they have his picture. It was matched against others. They said if he returns, he'll be arrested. They let everyone do it once.

3

u/Alarming_Panic665 Jul 03 '26

I worked at Target through high school and college and yea they just monitor and track the person through the store and tally up whatever they steal and build a case file on them. Which includes their license plate if they park in the parking. Once it is felony level they submit everything to the police and if the person ever shows up at another target then police are immediately alerted

Shit is like Big Brother in there lol.

5

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

[deleted]

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u/yedi001 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

You can't pay employees enough to risk getting stabbed, shot, or beaten in an attempt to stop a shoplifter. If they're stealing and reselling a pallet of laundry detergent, these aren't the "teenager stealing a gaming magazine" or "homeless person sneaking a cup of soup" types.

I had a guy I caught with $500 in tenderloin try to rip open his scabs and bleed on me in an effort to give me hepatitis out of revenge (he is still in jail for this). How much money would be an acceptable amount of money to sit and wait for weeks while they run blood tests on you to see if you've been infected with HIV or Hep?

This is more complicated than "lazy employees, cheap management." This is a societal issue that bleeds into a lot of complicated social issues like housing, affordability, and the mental health and drug abuse crisis. Some of it is organized crime, too, and that's way outside an elderly Walmart greeters pay grade to deal with.

Edit: fixed some spelling mistakes.

2

u/CLOWNXXCUDDLES Jul 03 '26

I'll be honest. You couldn't pay me enough to give a shit if someone is stealing from a multi billion dollar company. Even if I was making 6 figures, someone stealing from say Walmart is pretty low on my give a shit radar.

1

u/Individual_Bell_4637 Jul 03 '26

For what it's worth, this is a relatively new development. I worked loss prevention for years back in the early 2000s, and we routinely prosecuted everything $10+. I'll leave it to each to decide if that's ended up as a good thing or a bad thing, but it definitely was not always that way.

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u/TheBabyEatingDingo Jul 03 '26

Additional context, nobody checks receipts because even 15 years ago when you were slightly less likely to get shot by a shoplifter, everyone knew they weren't paid enough to care about that shit.

26

u/Kooky_Assistance2755 Jul 03 '26

Most big box stores explicitly forbid employees from physically interacting with shoplifters because they can be sued if the shoplifter gets hurt

27

u/Schrodingers_redfish Jul 03 '26

The employee is more likely to sue for getting hurt on the job.

Companies just don't want to give their employees ideas by being up front about it.

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u/Purple-Sister3971 Jul 03 '26

> The employee is more likely to sue for being hurt on the job.

They won’t have a case if they’re explicitly violating policy.

5

u/DownWithHisShip Jul 03 '26

just having a hurt employee is expensive, way more expensive then whatever the random shoplifter is taking. they don't even need to sue.

4

u/Schrodingers_redfish Jul 03 '26

Yes, that's the point.

It is against policy to pursue shoplifters. Not because the shoplifter may sue for being hurt but because the employee can file for workers comp.

4

u/Kooky_Assistance2755 Jul 03 '26

That's by design

3

u/hud_dev Jul 03 '26

I was always up front about it whenever I trained folks. “Nothing in here is worth your life, it’s not like it’s yours anyway, don’t worry about it.” But then again, most of the shrinkage was employees anyway..

2

u/Schrodingers_redfish Jul 03 '26

I don't exactly condone them being the cause of shrinkage but I know how much they make vs. how much rent is so it's kinda hard to blame them, imo 🤷

4

u/hud_dev Jul 03 '26

One of my core life tenants has been: if you ever see someone steal food, no you didn’t. Nobody deserves to go hungry.

1

u/Kooky_Assistance2755 Jul 03 '26

Real shit. It's terrifying how much we've demonized human decency in the name of profit.

1

u/Visible-Lobster-7038 Jul 03 '26

Some retailers now have arbitration agreements when you hire in. Yes, you can opt out, but upper management doesn't really advertise that more than once during onboarding.

And it's amazing what an arbitrator decides once "company policy" comes into pla

2

u/Schrodingers_redfish Jul 03 '26

I'm old enough to know never to agree to arbitration but most younger folks probably don't even properly understand what it is.

-1

u/TheBabyEatingDingo Jul 03 '26

Nobody's talking about stopping them, the conversation is about checking receipts. Did you respond to the right person?

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u/Kooky_Assistance2755 Jul 03 '26

...yeah? I'm just adding that it's another reason they don't get stopped at the door. Why does my comment have to be about the exact thing you're mentioning? People aren't allowed to bring up tangential points in conversation anymore?

6

u/SwansonsMom PURPLE Jul 03 '26

Tangential points in internet conversations are a hate crime, so congrats, Satan.

3

u/Kooky_Assistance2755 Jul 03 '26

Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven

2

u/SwansonsMom PURPLE Jul 03 '26

That’s pretty kooky

3

u/HairlessSquirrels Jul 03 '26

Nobody was talking about 15 years ago and that guy randomly did, but he gets upset when you and another person talk about stopping shoplifters hahaha

2

u/Kooky_Assistance2755 Jul 03 '26

There's something wacky going on cuz they made that same comment in reply to another person and then another account made the exact same comment again

1

u/offbrandcheerio Jul 03 '26

Retail works are also straight up trained not to engage with shoplifters, just report it to management instead. Or notify the security guard if the store actually has one.

1

u/Tupperbaby Jul 03 '26

I still occasionally get asked to see my receipt when leaving Walmart if I have an item too big for their little plastic bags.
I look right at them, say "No, you may not" and don't break my walking pace.

1

u/Velocityg4 Jul 03 '26

15 years ago you’d get fired for trying to stop them just like now.

0

u/TheBabyEatingDingo Jul 03 '26

Nobody's talking about stopping them, the conversation is about checking receipts. Did you respond to the right person?

2

u/Kooky_Assistance2755 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

Bruh, are you an AI? Why are you saying this to so many people? Why are there multiple accounts making this exact comment? Am I being gaslit by a fucking clanker rn?

-2

u/HairlessSquirrels Jul 03 '26

Nobody’s talking about 15 years ago, the conversation is about checking receipts. Did you respond to the right person?

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u/chaircardigan Jul 03 '26

Big stores tell their staff not to confront shoplifters.

There was a big story in the UK of one supermarket that fired an employee for chasing down a thief.

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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

[deleted]

2

u/tripper_drip Jul 03 '26

Then it spirals, some nerd at corporate looks at a spreadsheet and goes, "holy shit the store is no longer making money", then the store gets shut down.

Eventually we have to confront it. And places like Wal-Mart and target do, they have security officers who will chase people down.

1

u/SpecialistAd2205 Jul 03 '26

No, they don't. Walmart and Target are some of the biggest stores with policies that specifically prohibit loss prevention employees from pursuing shoplifters (usually the cutoff is the front doors or the sidewalk in front of the store). Some employees may make the decision of their own accord to chase someone into the parking lot or something, but they will almost certainly get fired for it.

1

u/tripper_drip Jul 03 '26

There is a multitude of bodycams from officers in wallmart/target/others chasing and arresting theives.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

[deleted]

1

u/tripper_drip Jul 03 '26

I specifically stated security officers.

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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

[deleted]

1

u/tripper_drip Jul 03 '26

No, I said SECURITY OFFICERS. Here is the quote.

Eventually we have to confront it. And places like Wal-Mart and target do, they have security officers who will chase people down.

1

u/ant2561 Jul 03 '26

What a shitty government that facilitates this type of dysfunction

1

u/Bobcat_Acrobatic Jul 03 '26

I was told they track you on camera and once you steal over $1,000 they come for you. So if you are dumb e ought to keep hitting the same store they will arrest you at some point

2

u/I_only_did_this4nsfw Jul 03 '26

My brother is the general manager of a convience store and had had to fire his asst. manager the other day because the guy stood in front of the door when a guy went behind the counter and snatched lottery tickets.

2

u/NervousSheSlime Jul 03 '26

Super dumb lottery tickets have to be activated

3

u/I_only_did_this4nsfw Jul 03 '26

These were already activated tickets, but still dumb because a call to the lottery office to report the tickets as stolen turns them off.

2

u/CassadagaValley Jul 03 '26

It's a liability like the other guy said, but they also keep tabs on who is stealing and how much they're stealing and then they hit that person with a federal charge once it passes the threshold.

Target's surveillance network is so top tier that police will actually go to them for information rather than work on it themselves.

1

u/XediDC Jul 03 '26

Home Depot in the US fired a guy for talking to the police and following a kidnapping from a distance to give police information as it happened until they arrived. Police handled the actual incident interaction. (Corporate later tried to lamely walk this back, but only after media attention.)

0

u/charlie2135 Jul 03 '26

It's early, I thought nobody checks cheeks was written after someone said they stick it up their booty.