Nothing Personal, It's Just Business

Some of these might seem pretty obvious but I just know from other ppl irl they don’t seem to do/know this and spend heaps of money when they don’t necessarily have to. Sorry if this is disappointing 😂

💸My fav thing to do is scope out stores I like on their online store. For example I like c1tybe@ch a lot, and they stock a lot of nice CK underwear. But a bitch knows I’m not finna pay $49.99 for a pair of underwear, and for some reason my hook hasn’t been working on their tags.

SO I checked them out online, not only did they have a waaaay larger range of CK on their site than in store, but at least half the range was reduced. So I bought a pair of underwear and 3 bralettes for half price or more, things that were better than they had in store. I saved $90.00 from that.

💸A fake/decoy/spare email- so you know when you go online or in store and they always harass you for your email with the offer of 30% off your next shop when you sign up! (I kno it’s annoying when SA do that but trust me they’re being forced to by their managers-speaking from personal experience here).

Give them the spare email, take advantage of the money off. It may not seem like much but I have gotten basically free postage, or a considerable chunk of money taken off my orders online from doing this. Saving any amount is good. I got $15 off an order from l@terg@tor which left me paying hardly anything. Sometimes you can even earn points and get money off.

💸The shops “per kilo/LB etc” scam. Sneaky ass grocery shops love doing this. Once I was shopping with my dumbass man child ex, and he wanted grapes and was like “mad they’re only $3 a kg!” But they were prepackaged in a bag. He went to grab them and I was like hold up bitch, and I weighed the bag and the bag was 2.2kg. So I plucked off the excess amount til it was a kg. He didn’t even consider this. I know it doesn’t seem like much money but honestly it ALLLL ADDS UP. Grocery shops do this with a lot of their prepackaged shit, always check.

💸If something you like is on sale, grab a few. This seems so obvious but like my friends for some reason don’t do this. I am not out of my fav exfoliator and cleanser. They’re nearly full but they cost $10 each, they’re on sale for $5.70 so I got 2 or 3. This is especially great for people who don’t have a consistent or steady income, what happens if you run out at the same time you run out of money? Skin gon be fucked up til your next cheque.

💸DO SOME RESEARCH- LEARN YOUR SKIN TYPE AND LEARN ABOUT INFREDIENTS. DIY your shit. A full set of acrylics cost me $50, and that’s for a basic ass set, and infills every 2-3weeks is $35. Fuck that mess. Watch YouTube tutorials. Buy(or lift) the products and equipment you need. Say for tips, glue, monomer/polymer and top coat (or bond-aid, base coat etc if you wanna be full professional and bougie) costs $80 (in Australia that’s about what it’d cost for the absolute basics depending) that’s $80 for MONTHS or possibly a years worth of nails. And it’s a fun skill to learn.

Skin care, $30 for 60g of bentonite clay mask? I think the fuck not you trick ass bitch. Do your research on skin and learn what you need. 1kg of organic natural bentonite is $20-30 on eBay. That’s literally years worth of amazing skin cleansing action. Don’t believe what cosmetic and skin companies peddle out to you. They giving you shitty chemical filled product at fucked up inflated prices. You don’t need 28 different petrochemical oils and fragrances on your face. $80 for farsali face oil? Don’t be tricked by the pretty colours and sparkles it’s glorified fools gold. $12 bio oil is the BEST shit I have ever used on my face. It doesn’t stop there, what’s great for healing your skin? Zinc. What’s expensive as fuxk? Zinc supplements that you don’t even know are going to work if you ingest them. What costs $6 and no one knows about? Sudo-cream. Nappy cream. Zinc oxide cream. You got a pimple or broken skin? Smear that white gold on your face before bed like a mask and wake up and wash it off tomorrow to see that goood shit work. DO YOUR RESEARCH. $150 for a lash growth serum huh? If it’s $150 it gotta work. And you know what, it does. I use it. My lashes are fuxkin long and lush. Do you know what doesn’t work? Paying $150 for 10ml of product. There is a glaucoma eyedrop medication that is the same shit as what they put in lash serum which is what makes them grow. An online pharmacy can have it for under $10. You’re welcome. (Don’t put the eye drops in your eye, just the lash line)

💸if you’re not into walk out lifts at grocery shops and you buy them, know what you need before you go in. Then go online or check their catalogues to see what’s on sale. Always check the reduced section. Don’t blindly pay for shit. Check multiple grocery shop catalogues and online to see where has the sales on what you need. PRO TIP: in Australia at least, there is a law that say, if steak is advertised at $8/kg, and you scan it and it comes to anything MORE than $8/kg, you get it for free. So ALWAYS FUXKIN CHECK WHO DOESNT LOVE FREE MEAT EXCL VEGANS/VEGETARIANS!?

💸Another probably obvious one, is to do grocery shopping towards the closing time. Fresh/cooked foods will be reduced as fuxk because they can’t sell them the next day. I’m talkin roasted chickens/meat, pre-made salads and sandwiches, sushi, pre-made pasta/rice etc you can always grab a bargain.

💸NUTS, expensive as fuck right? Well they are in Australia homeboy. Some places have bags/containers of nuts and a self serve nut bar. Compare the prices. A kg of almonds might be $10 from the self serve bar, and a 650g container of almonds might be $8, what would you buy?

Highkey IDC what crimes you commit as long as it isn’t abuse-related?

Do drugs? Okay

Underage drinker? Not my business

Steal? Fine w me

Rape? Die

Pedophile? perish

Child abuser? GoodbYe

A Question:

do y’all think this is a magnet detector? it’s a small square panel in a nördström’s dressing room. I tried to examine it a bit but it wouldn’t move. it also has what seems to be a layer of black felt or something over it.

I’m not trying to be dramatic (okay maybe a little) but you guys need to be careful

One of my best friends has been lifting a TON lately. He’s all hyped up on lifting big ticket items because he’s never been caught. He lifts Fossil watches ($700 today), fitbits, and a bunch of other shit. In short, he’s reckless and keeps insisting that he knows how to do it, and he wouldn’t risk lifting something if he didn’t know he could do it. I’ve been lifting with him twice before and he’s so fucking careless - he grabs shit and conceals without paying close attention to blindspots, cameras, employees, and completely ignores if there are other customers around. In his defense, he’s never been caught.

I’m not saying you will definitely get caught (despite the title), especially if you are careful. But I’ve gone through periods of time where I’ve been just as reckless, and looking back, it wasn’t worth it. No Natasha Denona, Gucci, or Apple product is worth ruining my future. Or his. Or any of yours.

PLEASE don’t get caught up in the liftblr culture of lifting a thousand dollars worth of shit every time you go out. I love lifting as much as the next person, but nothing is worth landing a felony, or jail time.

What is boosting?

-Selling items stolen from retail stores. Be aware this is a felony level crime and could land you in prison. If you’re uncomfortable with that, you might want to consider another way of making money. However, it is extremely hard to prove that items are stolen and as long as you keep your business professional and legitimate looking, no one will ask questions and you will be fine.  

What do you sell?

-High-end makeup is 95% of my personal boosting (Urban Decay, Too Faced, Lorac palettes; blush, bronzer, highlight, and contour palettes; basically anything popular that you would see on Instagram or Youtube. I stay away from skin color face products as this is varying and tends to take longer to sell. Also things like foundation go bad more quickly and people are more icked out by buying these things from an unofficial seller.)

Keep an eye out for new releases. Follow brands on Instagram or watch makeup videos on Youtube. Do your research and know your market. When brands release new palettes, jump on the bandwagon and snatch a bunch of them up. They will sell like hot cakes for about a month or so after the initial release.

Limited edition products. These are best to collect and wait a few months to a year to list. These items go up in price as supply disappears and collectors will be looking for these items after they’ve left the market

-Designer anything, but specifically wallets. Wallets are easy to lift in my experience because they are small. If you choose to go this route, you will probably want to get a golf detacher. A lot of the wallets I’ve lifted have pencil tags on them and they can be easily taken off with a magnet. Some very expensive wallets and bags (Michael Kors) have screamer tags (the ones with a blinking red light and a speaker). These tags emit one beep when they are detached, but it doesn’t seem too loud and could possibly be muffled. This will require an Alpha S3 key. Be aware I have not detached any of these, so I don’t know from personal experience how loud it is, but I’ve seen videos and it seems possible.

-Electronics. If you choose this route, I would recommend an S3 key as most electronics are either in those clear boxes or spider wrapped. Spider wraps do not make noise when taken off. However, DO NOT cut the wire on a spider wrap as it will emit an extremely loud noise that can’t be turned off. I used to work at Target and we literally had to throw them in the trash compacter and completely destroy them to get them to stop. Hard drives and flash drives have been the best sellers in my experience. Video games and DVDs don’t have a good resale value, plus they are internally tagged so you would have to open them to detag and it just isn’t worth it.

Where do you get this stuff?

-Ulta is the easiest place to get high-end makeup. Sephora is also possible, but this is a little tricker as the SAs there seem to be trained better, care more, and security seems to be better. Kohl’s also sells The Balm and Lorac if you have one of those in your area. 

-Kohl’s is where I get Juicy Couture purses and wallets. These boost okay. Typically you have to discount them by about 50% to get them to sell cause it’s not a super high-end brand, but eventually someone will buy them. 

-Macy’s is where I get Michael Kors wallets. I’ve also heard of a lot of people lifting Kate Spade at Nordstrom, but I’ve never personally done this. 

-Walmart for electronics. The SAs there don’t care because it’s such a crappy job. Just be aware Walmart has good LP so you have to make sure you have a good blind spot and you don’t act sketchy.

Where do you sell?

-Poshmark is where I got my start. It’s limited to the US, so this might not work for some people, but it’s a nice start because the app does a lot of the work for you. You don’t have to worry about weighing stuff for shipping this way because it’s flat rate. This is best for purses and wallets because I’m not sure they sell as well on eBay. I also sell a lot of my used stuff on there, which adds to my pool of money. If you have stuff you want to get rid of to make room for lifted stuff, look into Poshmark. However, they take 20% commission and the people on Posh can be kind of rude and entitled and offer you like $5 for a brand new Naked palette and it can get a bit frustrating at times. 

-Mercari is an app almost identical to Poshmark. It isn’t as well known so stuff might not sell as quickly, but they are in beta testing right now and are not taking commission currently, so you get every dollar that you make. Again, the people can be kind of rude though because they’re the same ones that are on Poshmark.

-Amazon is another option, but I personally haven’t used it. My lift partner used to sell video game codes on here and said it was relatively easy and he made a few hundred dollars but ended up getting his account suspended because you’re not allowed to sell just the codes. 

-Ebay is where I do the majority of my boosting these days. They take !0% commission I believe and there’s an additional couple percent commission that Paypal takes when you make a sale, but it’s still less than any other selling marketplace I’ve found. Ebay already has a very large makeup selling community so you will get more hits on here than on any other site. People also tend to be a little more civil here because it’s more of a professional atmosphere whereas Poshmark feels kind of like a social media site.

How do you sell the stuff?

-Poshmark/Mercari is pretty easy. I tend to price my stuff at about 20%-30% off retail. It doesn’t tend to sell for what I list it because people on Poshmark are always trying to get a deal, so you might have to do some negotiating with people. I’ve sold about 10-12 Naked palettes on Posh for $42 or $43 and people don’t tend to want to pay more than that so be prepared to end up only making about half of retail after commission and everything. Still worth it in my opinion cause it’s pure profit, but keep it in mind. Poshmark is nice because it takes care of shipping for you. You just print the label they email you and package the item.

-Ebay is far easier in my opinion. People are more likely to just buy stuff and not negotiate, especially if you have a good deal already. Depending on the popularity of the item, I sell for an average of a $5 discount. Some items are more in demand though. For example, I consistently sell Anastasia Brow Wiz pencils for $19.99 plus free shipping. People think they’re getting a great deal saving $1 and some people buy multiple ones from me. When you add in about $2 for shipping and the Ebay and Paypal commission, I make around $15 per pencil which isn’t a lot but they’re so small and I can easily get 10-12 pencils in one Ulta trip so it’s a good way to make some quick money. Do a little research to see how people are pricing the item and then undersell them by $2-3. If it’s been a week or so and you have hardly any views and no watchers, lower the price by $1-2 until people become interested. Similarly, if things are selling well at a certain price, raise it by $1-2 to make the most of your profit.

I usually offer free shipping because the stuff I sell is less than 10 oz and shipping is only about $2-3 per item. You can prepay and print your labels at home through eBay as well which makes it much easier. Then you just have to drop your items off at the post office. For heavier stuff, you might want to charge like $3 for shipping to offset the cost a bit. For the US, if your item is under 13 oz, first class mail is the way to go because it’s cheap and you get free tracking. For expensive items, use priority mail because it’s safer. I don’t know what the mailing services are like in other countries though.

What do you do with the money?

-Boosting is basically like selling drugs. Transfer the money to your bank account and take out cash as soon as you can. If you live at home, perhaps get a locking cash box to keep under your bed to hide. If you’re old enough and/or able to, I would also recommend getting a bank account not connected to your parents in any way. I have 2 bank accounts and 1 is exclusively for boosting. Only connect this bank account to your Paypal and Poshmark for deposits. It’s basically just a way to funnel your money. 

-Then spend it as you please!

You won’t see money immediately. It takes a bit of time to get used to the different selling platforms and to build up your profile. On eBay, I would recommend using stock photos to seem like more of a professional business. On Poshmark though, people want to see actual pictures of the product. Always be polite to people if they have questions about products. Some people will ask you to prove if the item is authentic so just send them a picture of the serial number on the product or some other identifier that can assure them you have the real item. Sometimes people will try to bargain. Go with it! Remember, boosting is pure profit, so if you have someone who’s only interested if you take $5 off, ask them if you can meet in the middle and make it $3. Sometimes that’s enough to make the sale. Offer free shipping if possible because this entices people and makes them think they’re getting an even better deal.

I first started listing a few palettes in July and have been boosting pretty hard since about September. I can pretty much rely on it right now as I steal most of the things I need for daily life like groceries and stuff. This is obviously not a replacement for a job or career, but it’s good especially if you’re struggling or trying to get through college. It’s a lot easier and less stressful than having a shitty retail job in my opinion and I make more doing this than I would working full time minimum wage. It’s also a good supplemental income if you do have a job.

As always, be smart about it. Don’t get greedy. Don’t think you can walk out with a stack of 25 Naked palettes under your arm and call it a day. It does take work. I’ve probably put in a few hundred hours between the actual stealing, listing and photographing items, negotiating prices and answering questions, and packing and shipping items. But I’ve made about $6,000 before all the commission and stuff so I believe it’s well worth the work.

- st*bucks has an “assume the best in people” policy, meaning we cannot accuse anyone of stealing anything. At most we can ask to scan something at the register, but we can barely see over them most of the time

-part of assuming the best in everyone, is never accusing customers of taking other people’s drinks or mobile orders.

-best time to get anything would be when the store opens, there is usually only 2 or 3 employees, and there is so many tasks to do they don’t have time to stand at the register and stare people down

-if there is only one barista and no one at the register, tell them you don’t know what you want yet and let them take their time. Most stores have the bar opposite of the coffee and cups

-there are no cameras facing the lobby unless the door is in the middle of it. Cameras are to make sure employees are ringing things up correct and washing their hands, the camera over the door is for if the store gets robbed

-baristas and cashiers are not allowed to call the police! Only the store manager. Managers usually have the most pins on their apron, don’t ask it just works out this way.

-once you steal something, get the fuck outta the store!! Why would you stay? They have a million stores you could go to.

So I’m a huge fan of lululemon, particularly their leggings and I’ve went to two different stores to nab them. Here are my tips/tricks into getting them☺️

🍋 Go at a really busy point of the day, I would usually say about 12-3 on weekends and 3-6 on weekdays. These are when they are booming. check google it’ll give the busiest times when you search a specific store/shopping center/mall

🍋Depending on the store size is how lucky you’ll be, as well as combining it with busy times. All stores regardless of size have 1-2 girls standing to help people, and girls at the register. if you’re in a smaller store this won’t be good. The SAs tend to stand near the dressing rooms so they can be unlocked.

🍋Cameras are the tiny black domes and are placed masterfully in the corners of the store and near the bras. (From what I’ve seen) I have no knowledge if they are actively watched or not. I always assume they are. The good thing about this is that lulu tends to have a lot of free space so they have random tables with shorts or accessories that can work as a blind spot. The reason they work is because it’s not a set structure of the building so putting a camera in a space that is usually empty isn’t ideal.

🍋Methods will depend on how busy the store is or not. I like to on floor conceal what I’m going to take. So that may mean I wrap the leggings inside my jacket or drop them inside my bag while looking in the clothes racks. I grab decoys and head into the dressing room. DO NOT expect to walk into the dressing room with 5 pairs of leggings and a couple decoys. They will hold extra pairs of the same item, ESPECIALLY leggings. I have SEEN this happen to other girls holding a couple pairs and they can only take in one at a time. Your VERY best bet is to on floor conceal. The only way I could see you getting past bringing in multiple leggings is if you bring a friend to grab a couple pairs while you’re in the dressing room to “find the right size” and that is without the SA counting or noticing.

🍋Tags are hook, they are also a bit finnicky, I may explain this wrong but you should be bending your hook UP, to the top of the tag and then turn it. Also the pin is metal and you have to pull it out, it won’t just fall out. I grab the hook from the bottom with my one hand and pull the pin while I’m detagging. These tags also make clicking noises so I would cough to hide them. So again remember to grab the pin from the bottom and pull, then hold you hook bending up. If you do not bend the hook you will not get the pin. The hooks they sell online are not the same thickness. So please bend UP with the hook tag.

🍋RFID’s are also hidden in the price tag. I have personally forgotten to rip them and nothing ever happened but to deactivate them, cut or bend the price tag till it snaps. (They are made out of hard cardboard)

🌸Extra: Dress rich and sporty it really helps because then the SA’S will leave you alone more. Also please take your hangers with you, seriously DONT leave them, it’s a HUGE red flag and they will go after you. I would not suggest putting an article of different clothing on a hanger either. These are young girls but they are still pretty dedicated.

This is a list of what I think an efficient lifting purse should be like. Keep in mind that thoses are just suggestions. 

1. The damn thing : the purse

When you pick out a lifting purse, you need to think about two things, how others see it and how convenient it is.

1.1 How others see it

-Your purse shouldn’t be too flashy. People (including LP) will look more at a bright pink purse than at a brown one.

-Don’t go for the big black MK purse either. Stores know about the lifter-black purse thing  and they’ll probably watch you more if they see you walk in with a big black purse.

- The purse itself should be a purse. Not a backpack, not a fanny pack. Nothing that would be suspicious and weird to carry in a mall. If you don’t have a purse that fit those criterias or you’re a guy and don’t carry a purse, I would suggest using a bag from a store that’s close to where you’re lifting. It’s not as convenient as a good lifting purse, but it’s way less sus.

1.2 How convenient it is

- Your purse should be structured (it should hold it’s shape). A structured purse doesn’t look any different when it’s full. You don’t want LP to be able to tell that you came in with an empy purse and left with a full one. If your purse isn’t structured you’ll have to use the Ziploc method and it can get pretty annoying.

- Your purse shouldn’t have a wide opening. The idea with this is that you can keep it open at all time to slip things in easily but LP  can’t easily see what’s inside.

- Your purse should have small pockets inside. Your can keep your lifting tools hidden and organized in thoses.

2. What is inside it (your lifting tools)

**You don’t have to have all of these tools, they’re just ideas.

- If you want, you can place a sweater at the bottom of your purse to keep metal objects from making noise when you drop em in your purse.

- Booster cup if you wanna take tags with you (This is the safest option but make sure to use the cellphone method to test out your booster cup before)

- Magnet and hook (hide those as much as you can because you can get arrested for having those on you)

- Hairties, cards, condom or whatever you use to take off gator tags.(The condom has the added advantage of protecting you from STDs tho)

- Scissors and sewing kit (useful when you don’ have a magnet or hook : just cut a hole where the tag is and sew the clothing back up)

- Something sharp like tweezers or a pen to peel off RFIDs and soft tags if you have short nails.

So y'all want some tips for the store with the red bulls//eye🎯? We’ll have I got some tips for you, straight from the horse’s (AP) mouth. Now remember this guide may not be true for every single target but from all the one’s I’ve worked at as AP (6 so far) I can say with certainty that most follow the same layout/ pattern when it comes to camera placement. Note: I want to apologize if this “guide” is super lengthy and all over the place. I’m literally typing everything down as I remember so it is a bit jumbled and mixed up

    🎯 So for cameras, again its important to note this may not ring true for all stores but has been from my viewpoint. Electronics is always fully covered! Health and beauty is hot or miss with full coverage but NYX, NO.7, Soap and Glory, L'Oréal, PIXI, the eyelash display, nail care (not nail polish but like the nail tools and tweezers) and expensive shampoo, men’s razors have always been covered. Home/ bedding usually never had any cameras there except for in vacuums which will always be covered since they’re the biggest booster pushout item. In toys the only camera is usually pointed to the lego aisle and that’s it. Clothing will have cameras scattered throughout mainly focusing on teenage clothing, activewear, and swimsuits. There’s never any cameras in market and school/office supplies since AP doesn’t really care about that stuff since most of it isn’t super high value. However this is only true of the still cameras. The store will always have between 4-7 PTZs that can move around and go into places without still cameras like market or bedding. However the cameras are only moved when an actual person is in the office to move them. Otherwise they’re usually focused on the area with the most high theft. Example the electronics PTZ will most likely be facing like the console aisle that holds the games and controllers. 

    🎯 Now let’s go into the type of AP the stores have. There are 4 levels of AP here: 

           1) There’s the TPS who is uniformed and stands at the door to act as a deterrent for the majority of their shift. TPS cannot perform apprehensions by themselves. If the TPS is in the store by themselves and they notice someone is stealing they will attempt to burn them into dropping the merch since they cannot stop them. TPS can only receipt check merchandise that isn’t in a store bag. If it’s all in plastic bags- no receipt check. All in reusable bags?- no receipt check. 

            2) The next level is APS, who is your undercover position. Their role is to fiddle around on camera, watching any suspicious people and to go out on the floor in plainclothes and follow people around. APS can perform solo apprehensions as well as calling TPS to aid them in apprehensions. 

            3) Next level is APTL which is basically the same as APS but has more responsibilities and is held more accountable for how the team performs.        

            4)Final level is ETLAP, the big guns. They’re in charge of the entirety of the store, ensuring everything is safe and the merch is protected. They focus on both internal and external equally. Note: not every store has one of each position. Some stores might not have a TPS or APS and only have an ETLAP. Other stores might have 3 TPS and 2 APS etc etc. 

    🎯Now onto apprehensions. Obviously we need all 5 steps in order to perform an apprehension. We can’t do fitting room stops so if you go into the fitting room and leave we can’t stop you. However, if you have visible merchandise on your person we can stop you. Example:/ you conceal headphones into your jacket pocket. You go into the fitting room. We can’t stop you. However, you exit the fitting room and a portion of the headphones box is visible we can stop you. When doing apprehensions usually the person performing the stop will go outside and wait for you to exit. Once you go through the doors, aka pass all points of sale, AP will step in front of you and ask you to follow them. We are allowed to go hands on and if you fight the cops will definitely be called. If you come in and see TPS at the door and as you leave they’re missing they might just be outside ready to apprehend. If you have someone waiting in the car they should be able to see whether someone is waiting outside or not. If you already know you’re about to get caught, I’d run out of the fire exit. We can’t make fire exit stops so just run the fuck out and don’t stop until you’re blocks away.

    🎯Now back to cameras and methods: Clothing is tricky. There are of course cameras there, however it’s almost impossible to find clothing once it’s stolen since they’re all over the place. The only way we know clothing has been stolen is A) We watched them steal it with our own eyes, or B) They left the fucking tags. This chain isn’t supposed to use removable tags on clothing since it makes it unappealing so the RFID will be inside the price tag. DO NOT FREAKING LEAVE TAGS. Bring an exacto knife or nail scissors in your handbag and cut the shit in half and take it with you!!! Fitting rooms are hit or miss. Some places are extremely strict and keep the rooms locked and will count the items before you go in. Others don’t have anyone over there and all the doors are unlocked. Scope yours out to see how secure the fitting room is over there. If there is an associate there, they are supposed to stop you from bringing any non clothing items into the fitting room. 

    🎯Moving on… So there’s cameras over NYX, but you still want it? Well if your store uses those push dispensers you are in luck. Basically the push dispensers will push another product back out after you select one. This shit is so hard to review on camera. Also the smaller it is ex/ eyeliners and lipstick the harder it is to spot on camera. If you want something bigger, say a PIXI face mist and they don’t use push dispensers? Take it from the back of the display. We track known thefts by camera movement. If the front product doesn’t move it’s nearly impossible to find. That being said, remember the cameras are above not below or to the side. NEVER TAKE AN ITEM FROM THE TOP SHELF. We can see exactly how many of each box there are signs the camera is pointing down towards it. The best place is the bottom shelves since the top shelves cover most of the products aside from the front ones. 

    🎯Now continuing, if you’ve shopped here before you might have noticed the yellow security tabs on some makeup such as eyelashes and razors. These will make the doors go off. If the doors go off and you have only bagged items they are allowed to check regardless. Now you don’t want to leave packaging behind right? Just rip that sucker off and leave it somewhere not in beauty or electronics (bedding or behind paper towels is ideal). We can’t identify what was stolen with only the yellow tab so you should be all clear as long as you were being cautious. Another thing: the sleeve or take two put back one method is so god damn fucking hard to catch on camera so utilize that as best as you can in cosmetics. 

    🎯Personally, I would say utilizing self checkout is one of the absolute worst methods. Never ever ever use anything other than cash if you opt to choose this method since we can run cards district wide to catch activities in other stores as well as previous activities in that store. Self checkout is also always overseen by an attendant who is trained to spot theft through either ringing everything up and leaving without paying, passing merchandise over the scanners without actually scanning it, and sticker swap where you use a different barcode for an item. I would say you’re 10x more likely to get caught using a self checkout method. Now we probably won’t catch you the first few times but we will continuously build cases. Sticker swapping is hard to get all 5 steps on so we normally let it run until we can get all five steps. Just don’t do SCO it’s way too easy to track. There are people not on the scene whose job it is to track sticker swapping and send us reports to help us find these cases. If you’re going to sticker swap, do it with similar items. Want a pair of $50 headphones? Swap it with a $10 headphones. Never swap with target brands like heyday though. We will know those aren’t heyday headphones. The camera that you see isn’t accessible to us in the office. The cameras are gonna be above you on the ceiling, looking down so we can see every item you scan and check if it matches up or not. If you bag and go, the light at the top of the self checkout turns red. Once the attendant realizes someone didn’t pay since only they can remove the transaction before some else can use it, they will inform AP and we can see exactly who scanned it.If you were lucky enough to not have been spotted by AP during your visit but are found out later, our best face shot is usually gonna be the exit shot which isn’t the greatest quality at times. 

    🎯We normally base repeats on certain features like hey does this look like the guy that pushed out toys last week? Nah the hairline is different. Go crazy with the disguises. Wear a wig, cover up existing tattoos or apply temporary realistic fake ones. Contour your nose, wear glasses or take them off. Change you body shape through different trips by wearing tighter/looser clothing. Make sure each time you visit you look like a completely different person and we usually won’t piece all the thefts together. The way you dress is very important. If you dress shabby/ look homeless we’ll watch you. A group of young people? We’ll automatically watch you. For stores near colleges ex/ Mississippi state if you wear a college shirt well usually watch you for a bit cause young people are easier to catch and more likely to steal. Dress maturely and like you have money. But don’t overdress cause you’ll still stand out. Dyed hair stands out to us and lots of tattoos or piercings. Guys with hats and sunglasses and backpacks automatic watch. Your purse is very important! No totes EVER. Always use a structured purse if you’re going to conceal and make sure it’s normal sized. 

     🎯Now for pushouts. Pushouts are very iffy, it all depends on luck and your store layout. You can get away with a lot more using the pushout method, and they usually won’t notice until right when you leave so don’t come back after a long while when pushing out and wear a disguise!!! We catch repeat pushout subjects super fucking easily so don’t do it often.

    🎯Now let’s talk about after the theft. We do write reports about thefts that we find happened due to stuff like empty packages, noticing items are missing from the counts, customers or associates giving us pointers. If we find an empty package but there’s no camera in the area we don’t write a report since we don’t know who stole it. If someone pushed out a cart of groceries but it was all in reusable bags that you can’t see inside of we literally cannot write a report since we have no idea what you took since there’s no cameras. Even if we have one selection out of the entire cart full of stuff we will write a report. Police reports are written for known theft of between $26-$75+. Each district has a different minimum when it comes to police reports. Police also usually don’t take shoplifting reports to seriously if it’s after the fact. If you’re driving, please park far away. Like in a different shopping strip far away. If we get a plate you are screwed since it makes it so much easier for us to identify who you are.

    🎯So electronics. Not the wisest move, but if you must make sure you bring the items forward on the peg after you take one and do not fucking take something from the top. If it’s in a boxleeo protector you need an s3 key to open it but leaving the box behind is pretty damn evident. Note: if you use tools (s3 key or magnet) or any kind of weapon is seen on you (razor, scissors, gun etc) the cops will be called immediately so be cautious when using tools. If you’re a minor and you get caught we have to call your parents no matter what and they have to come. If they don’t we go to the police since we can’t release you due to liability issues. 

     🎯Let’s talk about behaviors now. Don’t be an idiot. We obviously don’t catch everyone. I’d say we only catch about less than 2% of theft that occurs. As long as you’re being cautious and keep up a good appearance you should be fine. Don’t cart build, putting lots of high dollar merch in the cart is an instant red flag. Don’t look down every aisle or look up at every person that walks by. Innocent shoppers shop mindlessly, they don’t pay attention to every person that walks by. Its also weird to go to different areas of the store sometimes. Most people getting groceries aren’t gonna stop by for electronics so don’t bring unnecessary attention to yourself. If you look nervous, are sweating and it’s not hot, have red cheeks it might raise some flags, especially after we have someone service you. We do have rfid target stickers that we stick on high theft merch. The stickers will always be visible. Again, cut through it or simply peel it off. They will make the doors go off. If you’re unsure if anything has manufacturer rfids inside ex/ plan b, buy something cheap like $10 wireless headphones and when we check you at the door we’ll just dismiss it. If you walk out and you beep but you didn’t buy anything we won’t even acknowledge you at the time, but we will go back and review to see what you did. Try your best not to beep as you go out. If someone beeps and they don’t turn around we usually research to see what they did. Sometimes when people beep and they turn around I won’t even check them because the innocent thing to do is turn around and be like ??? Why am I beeping? Do you need to check me?

    🎯Hidden cams: Bulls/eye does utilize hidden cameras. If you notice an aisle has no visible camera but something is out of place in the ceiling it’s probably a hidden camera. They can see through the tiniest hole. A weirdly placed vent or miscolored ceiling tile is usually a dead giveaway there’s a hidden camera. Not all stores use hidden cameras though since most only get like 2 and they usually use it to spy on employees in the back for internal theft.

    🎯DO NOT hit  the same thing repeatedly! Fixed cameras can be moved if we think they’d be useful covering something else! If we notice an insane amount of like nail polish theft we can move say the NYX camera over to cover the nail polish. 

That’s it. If anyone has any tips not mentioned feel free to add! Also if you tag this or reblog this outside the community I will find you and kill you 🔫😉. 

CUMULATIVE HAUL

This haul is from one week!

🌷 Forever 21: blue t-shirt, gray t-shirt

🌷 Sephora: Urban Decay Naked3, Becca backlight primer, NARS Madly blush, MUFE matte velvet foundation, Benefit They’re real mascara, ABH Glow kit

🌷 Urban Outfitters: striped tank top, gray t-shirt

🌷 Nordstrom: Thierry Mugler Angel travel spray, Thierry Mugler Alien travel spray, Calvin Klein bra [x3], Calvin Klein panties, Kate Spade crossbody purse, Kate Spade wallet [x2, one not pictured bc sold]

🌷 American Eagle: black striped t-shirt, brown striped t-shirt, brown top

🌷 Abercrombie&Fitch: denim shorts, high waisted denim shorts

🌷 Victoria’s Secret: pink waistband panties, blue lacy panties

🌷 Barnes&Noble: notebook, book [x2, not pictured]

🌷 B&BW: tangerine hand cream

🌷 BB&B: OPI nailpolish [x2], tree hut body scrub, crest whitening strips [not pictured]

🌷 Lush: Ro’s argan body conditioner

🌷 GAP: panties [x4] (these are called “breathe” and they’re hands down the comfiest panties I’ve ever worn, go get yourself some!)

This haul is a mix of presents and “because i wanted them” self-gifts😗😳 Also cool news!! The Lazy Oaf pants have heart-shaped pockets with bows on them!!!!

❤️Topshop❤️

• Gold heart and cross pendant - £8.50

• Orelia gold eye and star hoops - £20.00

• Lisa Angel silver Taurus constellation ring - £18.00

❤️Anthropologie❤️

• Tocca perfume in Cleopatra - £18.00

• Sugarfina Peach Bellini sweets - £9.00

• Pink tortoiseshell comb - £12.00

• Faux pearl cuff bracelet - £38.00

• Jewelled cuff bracelet - £38.00

• Amethyst layered necklaces - £44.00

• Glass inlaid hoops - £44.00

• Jewelled pearl drop earrings - £42.00

• Pack of three dainty earrings - £48.00

• Embellished pearl earrings - £34.00

• Shining star gold hoops - £38.00

• Gold bee earrings - £32.00

• Blue druzy earrings - £34.00

• Clear drop earrings - £34.00

• Jewelled Taurus purse - £26.00

• Esmeralda embellished floral clutch purse - £60.00

• Printed gold and purple drawstring gift bag - £14.00

• Gold and purple velvet purse - £24.00

• Embellished blue velvet moon phases purse - £24.00

• Floreat embroidered sleep dress - £68.00

❤️Urban Outfitters❤️

• Renaissance mesh top - £24.00

• Red velvet skirt - £49.00

• Lazy Oaf tartan trousers - £75.00

❤️Zara❤️

• Blue sequinned dress - £79.99

So I’m sick as a dog with nothing to do and I thought I’d give you guys some insider info from the retail places I’ve had jobs.

Basically all of them abide by the don’t assume rule where they’re supposed to ask you if you’d like to see pants to ~match that top~ and passive shit like that.

old navy: has LP at each store. Associates do get rewarded if they help catch lifters. They will file a police report and try to get your car tags. Mine filed the police report after they left, however, making it rather safe to lift from. They only monitored fitting rooms on the weekend. We were taught to look for large bags and strollers. V easy to lift from. Company is also very shitty. They hired me and like 20 other people for the crazy $1 flip flop sale and then stopped scheduling us. Never said we were seasonal employees. They just don’t care about the people they’re hiring.

Forever 21: no lp, but managers do watch cameras. I learned about lifters bringing magnets into places when I worked here, lol. My manager held a meeting one day because they found a purse literally FULL of sensors that had been detagged and left. They have greeters at the doors to stop people who beep and fitting rooms are always monitored, though the employees are usually swamped with racks of go backs and don’t care. Company is shit and don’t care about employees. They would literally lock us in there at night even when we were there HOURS past our shifts. One girl had a blood sugar crash and NEEDED food and they wouldn’t let her take 5 minutes to walk to the food court. Fuck this place, rob them blind.

Sephora: employees talk to each other on headsets and refer to suspected lifters as NORA. so if you hear a casual sentence about Nora being in skincare, for example, ditch your stuff. They will call security real quick. Don’t feel sus if they offer you a basket, they literally make us offer one to each customer. At my store there is ALWAYS someone in perfume and literally their only duty is to make sure no one steals perfume. If you even stepped a foot away from perfume when you were scheduled to be there you would be written up. Never go to perfume to lift. Cameras weren’t really monitored at my store.