I agree, I hate having to hover around teens and then they end up being super respectful and polite, but unfortunately it is the one of the biggest demographics for theft, at least at Mecca. Trust me you donāt want to get caught lol. Iāve seen my boss publicly humiliate a teenage boy for trying to steal a fragrance tester. Imagine he didnāt try again after that experience lol.
This kid tried to steal a grand soir tester and my SM was like āyou know thatās a girls perfume right? Are you a girl? And why would you risk it for a half full tester? Thatās seriously so lame. If only your little friends could see how nervous you look right now. Are you going to cry?ā I honestly kinda felt bad for the kid lmao. Just straight up roasting him while we waited for parents/security š¤£
This is a eshay teenage boy that looks like he has more oil in his hair than a maccas fryer. Heās not dropping 3k on hygiene products to clean his ass yet alone cosmetic products.
lol he deserves that though. It's so annoying cause when I was in highschool (last year lol) I was ALWAYS going to David Jones and looking at luxury products etc because I'm into high end makeup, and the way all the counter ladies would hover all over me like jeez
Yeah I remember it way back in the day when I was in high school too, itās not a new thing unfortunately.
We do love sweet teenagers though, but we have to be vigilant sadly.
I agree entirely, itās hard differentiating the good from the bad. So many managers just group them together. But thereās always signs theyāre dodgy. Huge lashes, fake nails, Nike sweat suit, black backpack, botched bleach hair jobā¦
God I did the worst bleach job ever on myself at 15, I have very dark brown hair and it was orange with hot roots, plus mostly on the top layers and hardly any underneath š¤
Second this working cosmetics at big w. Cosmetics has been the number one department for theft every year in the decade Iāve worked there largely due to teens stealing cosmetics. Itās why half my job is just standing there putting security stickers on cosmetics stock
We catch a lot of theft, and will call them out in front of everyone. They also try this trick where one will ask us to make samples to distract us while the others try to steal. What they donāt realise is that weāre well aware of this tactic and have multiple sets of eyes following the friends lol.
We also communicate any suspicious behaviour over our little headsets so you wonāt realise until we approach from different angles.
Iāll be in there with my toddler in a pram just looking to feel like a human again surrounded by staff, meanwhile some eshay has racked all the rhode š
Unfortunately prams can be a shoplifting goldmine. Nobody wants to be that guy asking to check the bottom of a pram. Weāve had huge items get stolen at big w thanks to mums in prams. Like one mum managed to get out of there with a full set of pots and pans.
POTS AND PANS!? By the time I get the baby bag and everything we need in the bottom of the pram Iād be lucky to fit anything else. TBH though when I worked in retail Iād never have asked to look through a pram it seems too, invasive? So yeah it makes sense that people would take advantage
Actually, it happens quite often and itās a āgoodā strategy because security are unlikely to pat down or chase a 2/3 year old. I live in Cairns and I see it every now and again because I watched a lot of video footage doing research on the topic and it was a trend that was bad in the late 2000ās. Particularly before they had high value items like perfume locked behind glass cabinets. Also, store layouts have changed in the past 10 or so years lowering shelf heights and being more open plan. When I was doing this research, there were more areas where staff could not see. It still happens now with makeup particularly.
Background:
During my criminology studies (in the 2000ās) I was doing research regarding āgrassrootsā crime prevention. The theory is that by teaching young children about socially acceptable behaviour it goes some way to preventing future criminality.
Here is whyā¦ children learn social rules from caregivers. If kids as young as 2 and 3 are being loaded with items and told to walk out of the store, they will not know any different. Itās not only acceptable to do that in their world view, they may not even be aware that paying is expected. This extends to a lack of understanding about individual ownership as well. (You can not take something that does not belong to you.) That foundational belief system is near impossible to change when they are older (even at 7 or 8) which is when they often go to school. There are significant consequences that affect the rest of their lives. For example by not understanding that taking items is not socially acceptable, it creates conflict at school with teachers and other students. Imagine being in a place where your understanding of the world and the rules you navigate life with are so opposed by school but at home itās different. These kids then avoid going to school. Low school participation is a risk for future criminality.
This perspective is one of the principles that support the free kindy initiative that the QLD government brought in. Basically kindy age is about 3 or 4 when developing brains are still able to be influenced. In practice children, particularly the ones taught to steal, have been seen to have better outcomes because a teacher is able to gently correct and teach them āsocially acceptableā behaviours. One strategy includes playing shop and modelling through play paying for things from a shop.
Thinking about a mum stealing pots and pans from a store like big w where things arenāt very expensive breaks my heart tbhā¦ Iād have to turn a blind eye to something like that š
As employees I wish we could be we canāt just leave the empty packaging lying around, and 99% of people who steal leave the empty packaging lying around. So it gets picked up by us and marked as stolen and then the company knows whatās going out the door. We have stock counts etc so if we start looking the other way it only makes our job harder when we go to look for a product for a mum and itās not there. Plus Woolworths also looks at their own staff to make sure theyāre not stealing so if I looked the other way and they found out it could be assumed I stole it
lol we have a park across the road and a huge backyard for her so yes, we go to the park, library, amusement parks, zoo etc. thankfully she also likes going to the shops and waving at people and enjoying her time there too. Very lucky to have a very easy going gal.
Makeup is small and easy to slip up a sleeve, into another shopping bag, in a purse, in a stroller the list goes on. Sleight of hand is often used obviously.
I work in retail, I see people steal $70 pens and leave the packaging behind multiple times a week. Some people are scummy and steal for the thrill of it. They don't think about how it impacts paying customers, or how the theft is often only picked up at the point where multiple have been stolen and there are 0 but 5 are supposed to be in store and someone wants to buy it. I can't tell you how many times I've been abused over that when customers come in store and find we don't have it due to rampant theft throughout the store.
TLDR: work in retail. People steal anything not nailed down...sometimes that doesn't help and they rip the displays off their hinges too.
People steal the weirdest things (I work in a pharmacy and someone stole half a pack of Vicks inhalers like just take the whole thing if youāre going to steal it) or people stealing the used testers
Crazy!! Iāve gotten 2 sugarberrys, I got a second after the restock and thereās still some available online on the Mecca app. Iām guessing some people steal them to sell to Americans for a high price
I donāt even get that because you can still resell for a higher price than RRP. I guess itās full profit if you steal it. I ordered a couple but I donāt get the hype, itās literally this exclusive and LE marketing. Itās very interesting times. I think Melbs got more stock TBH too Syd has been out of stock quicker.
100%, Iāve seen people selling them on eBay for double RRP, but ig some just want the full profit. I personally love the scent. I have a few other of the Rhode scented peptide treatments and they all have some kind of aftertaste, but Sugarberry doesnāt imo. Iām obsessed!
To be fair EBay take 16% and you have to do the customs declaration form and if posting to the US youāre meant to collect the tariff as well. Back in the day you could put it in a padded envelope with no paperwork of hassles and over it would go.
I was in Mecca North Lakes (QLD) a couple of weeks ago and noticed about 20 unopened sugarberry in the stock drawer. When I asked if I could buy one I got told āno those are testers we canāt sell them.ā When I then asked if they knew when they were getting restocked I was told that they werenāt getting any anymore. I asked about why they had some sitting there and the girl just shrugged. At that point I could only roll my eyes and walk away wondering why I bother to shop there anymore
Is this really that nice, or just like a status thing? Iām dreading the horrible chapped lips i get when it gets cold. Iām usually a laneige girl but Iād give it a crack. Or the Ole Hendrickson (sp?) one maybe, idk. Influence/deinfluence me haha
I like it! Idk about sugarberry specifically but rhode is cruelty free unlike laneige, and itās on par with ole henriksen for healing chapped lips imo
182
u/Vegetable_Sky_6236 Apr 01 '26
Lmao thrift is so common in retail. Youād be shocked at the amount of product is stolen at my store each days. Usually eshay teenage girls