People keep stealing

Moonchild

Moonchild

Registered Guest
Hi,

I know there’s probably not that much I can do in regards to thieves. But I was hoping if any of you had any tips to what I could do to avoid theft as much as possible? I know it’s not 100% inevitable but I’m sure there are measures that I can take that will reduce the tendency?

It’s usually the young teen girls.. I suppose they still lack regard for others and maybe do not understand that it’s a small struggling business.
But I was hoping that a note in the dressing room appealing to their conscience could have them think twice? Any idea what I could write on it (if it’s a good idea at all) to not sound like I suspect everyone?

Other than that, I could install fake security cameras but I’m afraid it would make people feel uncomfortable cause the store is in reality very small.

I really hope you have some good ideas. Maybe some of you have personal experience with having a phyiscal store as well

Thank you in advance
 
I have no personal experience with running a physical store, but I know theft can be a major problem. And so disheartening!

Do you have a sense for where in the shop the bad behavior is taking place? If in the dressing room, I wonder about using a "check in" system of some sort? Department stores here in the U.S. frequently require shoppers to present their try-ons to staff in order to get a ticket that states the # of items before getting access to the dressing room. When you are done, staff checks that you are either returning (or buying) what you took in.
 
When I had a booth in an antique mall... there was stealing and tag switching. It was awful. Someone would get a $100 for $9 just by switching the tags and the check out person didn't know any different. So long as they saw my dealer # on the tag it was a sale for me. Ugh.

I worked the mall too, 2 days a week. I have to tell you that human presence sure kept that stuff down. My sales partner and I were constantly on the floor, zipping from here to there. If we saw some possible shenanigans and shadiness, one would text the other. We also sold more than others when we worked the floor. People - good and bad - need the human contact.

But people can really suck too. I got stories. And people can be amazing. I got stories there too.
 
I feel you! When I had a retail shop I had a lot of theft. I now have a home based studio open to the public by chance or appointment. I have not experienced the same degree of shoplifting but it still happens on occasion.

I have been thinking of putting this sign in my dressing room. I actually can't decide if it's a good idea or not - would love to hear anyone's thoughts on this?

I tried to think like a shoplifter when I wrote it, rather than just post the usual stuff.

My late mother, god bless her, was a wonderful person but she was a shoplifter. It was very confusing as a child to be with a parent who pockets things in stores, stuffs things in her bag or bra, or wears something out under her coat, and tells me it's okay. She would rationalize by saying "the store can afford this," or "the store won't miss this, they had a lot of them" or "it was too expensive!" And the spell for me was finally broken - the realization that my mother was stealing, was morally wrong - when she stole something from a museum, and told me she had to take it because it was getting dusty. That we could take better care of that item ourselves, she admonished. I was perhaps 8 years old. And I told her it was wrong, as she slipped it in the trunk. And she said, no we were rescuing this antique from the lazy dusty museum, we were heroes. But I no longer believed her. And then she got arrested, lol.

Anyway, shoplifters rationalize. So I want to put this sign up:

If you shoplift something from me today, here's what happens next: almost everything here is listed online in my Etsy shop. I’ll sell it later, and then can’t find it. I’ll have to refund that customer and they’ll be disappointed and leave me a bad review. Bad reviews make my other items appear lower in Etsy search results, I'll lose my "star seller" status, and I’ll have a harder time supporting myself.

If you’re thinking about stealing something because you think it’s too expensive, come talk to me! My prices are flexible.

If you’re thinking about stealing something because it’s thrilling, try dumpster diving. I’m quite serious. It’s also thrilling and doesn’t hurt a small business owner. Or find another legal way to get that adrenaline rush.

If you’re thinking of stealing something from me because you just feel “you need it,” again, come talk to me. I would rather give you an item that’s special to you for nothing or charge you my cost, than find it’s missing later and have to be searching everywhere and refunding my Etsy customers.

If you’ve read this far and it made you think, that’s good. This is not your average shop, and this is not a faceless corporation. Please don’t shoplift from small businesses, from artists, from your neighbors, from a place where someone is just trying to do a little good in the world, keep vintage items in circulation, and put food on their table.

You have choices and you can choose today to do better. Right now. Make the right choice.
Thank you, Jen
 
When we installed fake security cameras in our 3 level antique store, the thefts dropped dramatically. And human presence with a roaming worker or 2 works if you have someone and can afford to pay them. If it is just you in the store, that's hard to control. I like the "Smile you are on camera" sign too, but not in the dressing room as that can seem bit creepy :).

I never minded seeing a security camera in a store when I was shopping, and it does help.

Long ago, I had huge area in a shop for my vintage and antique clothing and the shop lifting and damage to items was so sad. When I was there it was fine as I kept an eye and let folks know I was there, but when other dealers were working in the shop they did not give a tinker's damn except to watch their own stuff and hang around the front desk. I installed my own fake cameras at my expense (they even moved around every few minutes via batteries inside) and it really helped a lot.

So sorry you are experiencing this. Shoplifting is rampant in my city and police rarely respond to calls when it does happen. So the thieves know that and they keep coming back to steal more from the same stores over and over. At our big box grocery store they even told the workers to not stop the thieves, just tell a manager but never approach the thief or try to stop them from leaving the store with the stolen goods. Believe it or not, when one worker got so frustrated at the same thief coming back to steal and giving the employee the finger or cursing at him as he walked out with the goods, the worker followed him out of the store and demanded he give back the stolen items. Guess what? The worker got fired. Crazy.
 
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I don't have any experience to share, but I sympathize. This must be incredibly frustrating. This is the exact reason why I would only ever have an online store. A physical store is such a nice idea, but I'd be worried about exactly this problem.
 
What a conundrum! One wants to deter theft, of course, but at the same time appear like a friendly shopkeeper who doesn't assume the worst of every customer.
I think signs explaining why not to shoplift, etc, are unlikely to have much effect. Appealing to the morality, or common sense, of someone with such an impulse is most often fruitless.
I think I'd try placing a fake camera outside, but facing, the entrance to the changing room (and making it obvious by it's placement or a sign), may be worth a try. I would never place one, or pretend to place one, inside the changing room. Such an invasion of privacy, real or not, is creepy and I wonder at the legality...
I also agree with the use of a large number that a customer picks up, along with a key to the locked changing room, designating the amount of items they are taking in. Of course, they could always surreptitiously leave after their time in the dressing room, taking the clothing, key, and tag with them, I suppose. But in a small store, this may not be an issue.
 
We had that problem as well...lost some really amazing pieces. If they really want to steal they always somehow manage to do it.
Counting the pieces sounds good if they are going to try on. My worst thefts were not items being tried on. The worst was a family of gypsies,
5 came in, the younger man occupied my hubby at the back of the shop and the grandmother stole a canton shawl, victorian lace blouse, edwardian peignoir, sequin cape in her coat...and they all took off before my hubby realized what had transpired.
 
We had shoplifting in the store this summer and in one instance we know who the person is and what she took. Of course she didn't need it or couldn't afford it - her mother would have bought the two items for her, but she took them while her mother was buying other items for her. So there was no reason - just kleptomania.

On a related note. We hold teas in the museum and were shocked by how often cutlery is taken - by sweet little old ladies too! The sugar tongs especially disappear often!
 
We have visible actual Ring cameras in nearly every room and signs that say smile you’re on camera. Definitely helps with the theft and isn’t that expensive. We can view the live feed of all of them on the iPad we use for checkout.

Other local businesses will 100% post videos of people who steal and call them out. Fear of being recorded and publicly humiliated is the best recipe to stop teen thefts.
 
I had been wondering about the legality of security cameras in dressing rooms... I live in Michigan.
Turns out: "Security cameras inside dressing rooms are legal in 37 states. Only Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Utah prohibit the use of cameras in changing rooms."
I'm thankful to live in Michigan! The idea of someone watching me change gives me the willies and I would not patronize a store that did so. The practice may keep potential thieves out of the store, but it may also keep out potential honest buyers. JMHO, and I'm speaking from a non-store owner perspective.
And concerning the 37 states where security cameras are permitted: "In some states, only real-time surveillance is allowed, while other states allow business owners to record fitting room footage."
So, in order to post shaming videos, the fitting room must be located in a state that allows the recording of the footage. (I can imagine some rich parent angrily prosecuting a store with illegal recorded footage of their wayward offspring!)
Just something to keep in mind.
 
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The Vintage Vendeuse said:
So, in order to post shaming videos,,,
Click to expand...

I think maybe Justine meant individual rooms in their shop, rather than in the actual dressing rooms (but I don't know, I just assume).

We had a very large main room, and another back room that if we were short staffed, people could simply squat beneath a rack and layer clothes on, and walk out (which they did sometimes). This was more prevalent in the winter months when people wear layered clothes everyday in the Midwest.

We had fake video cams, too, which did help a bit, but honestly, to be able to capture video of thieves and post them to shame them is brilliant, imo.
 
Wow thank you all so much for amazing responses! After some consideration of my options, I have two:
1. Put up a camera ( I have one that is very real but I’m not sure it can stay alive for more than a few hours.)
2. Put a little super cute pic up of my cat in the dressing room saying something along the lines of, “When you steal from this business, you’re robbing her from getting her medicine and food”

Cause my cat is quite expensive due to her random herpes outbursts :/
I’m not sure if’s a good idea or not
 
Theft is sadly, a downside of having a physical (brick and mortar) shop. Here's what I did.
  • welcomed everyone to the shop, let them know we were paying attention
  • give extra special attention to anyone who's acting suspicious. Thieves hate attention and will generally leave, while real customers welcome it.
  • don't let anyone try on anything without us taking the hangers and putting them in there, so we know what they have
  • lock up personal things out back (I found a lot of thieves don't want stock, they want your wallet)
  • put a bowl of shiny trinkets in the centre of the shop, this attracts thieves and hopefully, they'll be happy with something relatively cheap and leave your irreplaceable stock behind
  • security camera
  • on my street, the traders looked out for each other: thieves would often work the whole street so we'd call each other with descriptions so others could be ready.
Mostly, it's a matter of good customer service: keeping an eye on what's happening, and risk assessments. I also had a list of tactics for getting problem people out of the shop as soon as possible. You get to know your area and the particular risks. Ultimately, it's impossible, all you can do is try to minimise: there are lots of different kinds of thieves, and if you come up against an organised gang it might be best to just let them take what they want and keep your staff safe.

I worried more about the risks to staff (eg violence) more than stock loss, especially after a thief bashed a customer and I, when we tried to stop him. We both went to hospital and he got caught but it's really not a risk worth taking.

Nicole
 
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@The Vintage Vendeuse - I am terrified that 347 states allow this in changing rooms, including my state! No, we would never put cameras in the dressing room. Our shop is actually an old house so there are two floors and 7 total rooms so that's what I meant by that.

@Circa Vintage Clothing - I echo all your points. We also greet every person who walks through the door, and extra attention to those who are suspicious.

Thankfully, we've never really had any threatening people in the shop. Honestly, I'm probably the most threatening person in the shop. lol But seriously, we have had other local spots get held up at gunpoint! They're in a bit more of shadier neighborhoods than ours, but crime has been rising as a whole in our area and it is scary.
 
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