Understandable; people are stressed for money. However, the costs of shoplifting are passed on to the other customers, which in turn increases inflation. it’s a short term fix for a bigger problem, and will create bigger issues when you are caught; a better idea is to vote for the right party (one that actually cares for people) or to become politically active.
This is a common myth spread by capitalists. They use the excuse of “shrink” to justify 10xing prices, when in reality there was never more than a miniscule amount of that 10xs total value stolen.
If they want people to stop stealing, they need to provide a better product.
To quote one of the more tolerable capitalists "The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates.”
Offering a product cheaper doesn’t really make the product better. With piracy the argument is that people don’t steal content because they can’t afford it but because it easier to download it for free without DRM than to buy it and watch on official channels. It happened to me many times that I was unable to buy and open a book because of the DRM but managed to download pirated epub in minutes. I would gladly pay for them if I could. The “better product” here is content that is easier to access.
With food people steal because they can’t afford it, not because it’s more convenient to carry food in your pants than in your shopping cart. Lowering prices and raising wages would be great but it’s not the same as piracy and it’s not “offering a better product”.
It sounds like you have a very particular experience and relationship to the subject, HerbGrower? At a glance, the data seems to suggest something different. E.g., according to Uk food foundation prices for groceries in the UK have been rising (albeit more slowly recently), and many people in the UK experience food insecurity.
“Food pricing” is usually an average. Meat has gone up a lot but veg remains very cheap. While I am not fully vegan I also don’t see why anyone needs to eat meat.
If I was under the poverty line again I could go back to feeding myself for under £25/month and it would still be a fairly healthy diet. Housing costs so much more, even renting just a bedroom is like £500+ per month now.
No they don’t. They already charge as much as they think they can make money from. The price/demand curve is pretty basic microeconomics.
The whole thing is, what price maximizes the total revenue, given the supply/demand curve? Then if that revenue is high enough to pay for the costs of earning that revenue (which includes shrinkage), then the product is profitable.
Then it makes it on to shelves if it is profitable enough compared to other products, or if it will draw enough people in to buy other products to be worth losing the opportunity cost from putting that on the shelf vs something else.
So shoplifting does increase the price something needs to be to be profitable, but it doesn’t do anything to raise the price people are willing to spend on it. So it’ll more likely lead to closed stores, discontinued products, or added security measures (assuming those measures are less expensive than simply replacing the stolen products).
Understandable; people are stressed for money. However, the costs of shoplifting are passed on to the other customers, which in turn increases inflation. it’s a short term fix for a bigger problem, and will create bigger issues when you are caught; a better idea is to vote for the right party (one that actually cares for people) or to become politically active.
This is a common myth spread by capitalists. They use the excuse of “shrink” to justify 10xing prices, when in reality there was never more than a miniscule amount of that 10xs total value stolen.
If they want people to stop stealing, they need to provide a better product.
To quote one of the more tolerable capitalists "The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates.”
Look at UK supermarket prices to see what happens when they are trying to compete on prices.
I could fill an entire sack with carrots and potatoes for less than the cost of a single pint at a pub.
Like… people will stop stealing if the food is better?
People will stop stealing food if they have reasonable access to food.
So what’s the “better product” here? What are the stores supposed to do?
Shoplifting is not the same as piracy. The causes and solutions are different.
The stores pay their employees a living wage and stop price gouging food.
Offering a product cheaper doesn’t really make the product better. With piracy the argument is that people don’t steal content because they can’t afford it but because it easier to download it for free without DRM than to buy it and watch on official channels. It happened to me many times that I was unable to buy and open a book because of the DRM but managed to download pirated epub in minutes. I would gladly pay for them if I could. The “better product” here is content that is easier to access.
With food people steal because they can’t afford it, not because it’s more convenient to carry food in your pants than in your shopping cart. Lowering prices and raising wages would be great but it’s not the same as piracy and it’s not “offering a better product”.
UK has both, and yet shoplifting is still rising.
It sounds like you have a very particular experience and relationship to the subject, HerbGrower? At a glance, the data seems to suggest something different. E.g., according to Uk food foundation prices for groceries in the UK have been rising (albeit more slowly recently), and many people in the UK experience food insecurity.
They voted for this in 2016.
“Food pricing” is usually an average. Meat has gone up a lot but veg remains very cheap. While I am not fully vegan I also don’t see why anyone needs to eat meat.
If I was under the poverty line again I could go back to feeding myself for under £25/month and it would still be a fairly healthy diet. Housing costs so much more, even renting just a bedroom is like £500+ per month now.
Stop making record breaking profits every year, cut prices to something reasonable. Hire enough employees.
Stop using slurs while we’re at it.
Autocorrect, fixed
I find its usually the better food that they are stealing. I don’t think wine is an essential product.
No they don’t. They already charge as much as they think they can make money from. The price/demand curve is pretty basic microeconomics.
The whole thing is, what price maximizes the total revenue, given the supply/demand curve? Then if that revenue is high enough to pay for the costs of earning that revenue (which includes shrinkage), then the product is profitable.
Then it makes it on to shelves if it is profitable enough compared to other products, or if it will draw enough people in to buy other products to be worth losing the opportunity cost from putting that on the shelf vs something else.
So shoplifting does increase the price something needs to be to be profitable, but it doesn’t do anything to raise the price people are willing to spend on it. So it’ll more likely lead to closed stores, discontinued products, or added security measures (assuming those measures are less expensive than simply replacing the stolen products).
And for grocery stores, the margins are thin enough that it’s more basic than in most industries.
In some neighborhoods, they just shut down stores.
Still lineups of people ordering oat milk lahtays for $7.