Stealing music - from stores

Anyway, the cassette kept making a loud (or at least I imagined it to be loud) rattling from my crotch area, sort of like the telltale heart. Anyway....I went to the bathroom before lunch (which was in the basement - this was a pretty old building) and hid the cassette in a hole in the wall, thinking I was going to get it later, but I never did.

They later tore the building down and I wondered if some lucky demolition guy got a little free Priest.

Thank you, my head just moved in squelchy directions.

or we can just share stealing tips...

Inventory = what's on hand; sales = sales.

Easy.

so does stealing CDs hurt the artist involved?

*halos*

Good concealment = tin-foil lined bag or pocket, it foils security scanners. A ring of thieves here was just caught doing this (they got too confident after getting $1000's worth.)

Good way to steal = hiding in plain sight- not concealing, just walking- slowly, casually- with items in your hand- like you already bought them. Buzzer goes off- keep walking and you get away with it.

A fun move: walk around "browsing" with a stack of CD in your hand. Turn into an empty store aisle. Do the "i'm hot, just removing my coat" move where you turn the coat inside out over the hand holding the CD's, in one swift move, so they end up inside your wrapped up coat which you tuck under your arm. Take into bathroom, remove security devices, pants them.

An even more fun move involves actually tricking the store into giving you items/cash free by a method which I cannot divulge.

http://www.totse.com/en/bad_ideas/scams_and_rip_offs/stealfrommusicstoreseasily168589.html

Thieves! Hypocrites and blasphemers!

Gear, I know I'm going to get flamed for that, and obv. I know it's not as bad as murdering tranny hookers...haha funny.

You can steal acorns (or nuts, or anything else a squirrel would find valuable). And there is a largely unrecognized trade in rodent prostitution that is sweeping the parks and forests of America. A decent squirrel rim-job will cost you about 20 acorns.

In HS days my friend used to do this all the time to me and anyone else he was shopping with. Peel off the sticky white tab alarm thingees and put it on your back. Coincidentally he was the biggest thief I've ever known. Used to run hella scams back in the day, mainly price tag switches at sporting good stores. Put the tag of the cheap model on the expensive model of the same brand. Buy it. Return it. Recoup. Since then stores have gotten smarter and you can't do this now.

I used to take from Best Buy pretty regularly. Always same MO. Pick up 2 copies of the same cd. Peel off the security tag. Walk around a corner of an aisle where the shelves blocked the view of the cameras and stuff it down my pants. Haven't done that for about 6 or 7 years. Just not worth the risk.

Never done it myself, of course.

OK I'll divulge- I do that but use receipts I get from dumpster diving, and they give back cash. As detailed in that certain Crimethinc book.

after all the elaborate, intellectual rationales for file-sharing, it really comes down to this....

Buying used CDs at Amoeba, where you can return used CDs within 7 days if they don't play properly! And then getting another CD of equal value straight up in exchange. The trick would be to return a CD you already own and do not want instead. Hmm....

when swapping stickers (at chains) make sure the discount sticker on the front isn't related to the barcode on the back...normally they don't bother printing new barcodes.

if you live at a chainstore where you can listen with the CD player in fron of you, take a busted/blank CD, and give it back to em in the paper sleeve.

thing about all this is that in any situation you can claim you made a mistake/someone else swicthed it. but if it's in your pocket, then that's stealing...

the used buyers will catch on (well, at least the ones in SF/Berkeley would)... i've seen them in action!

BUT.......I know one rationale is that when you steal, you're not really hurting anyone. You're taking one hundreth of a cent out of some big CEO's pocket, and that's it--right? Well, I have had the joy of working in retail for almost 10 years now--and I've learned that this is totally not the case.

When you work in a record (or clothing, or whatever) store, sometimes you'll end up spending half your day trying to prevent people from ripping you off or doing bogus returns. You don't have a choice about it--your managers expect you to deal with these situations. You can't just sit back and let people walk off with all your stuff if you want to keep your job. It can be frustrating and sometimes even a little scary to try and get through your day when ten feet away from you someone's stuffing half your store into their coat or whatever.

All's I'm sayin' is that when you steal, you ARE affecting someone--it's the 18 year-old cashier from Brooklyn who has to argue with you about your refund or the Assistant Manager who can't get his raise if his shortage numbers suck. You're making THEIR lives miserable--not some CEO.

My favourite story is of the dumbass who dropped off a resume and then decided to steal a dvd. He got caught (the dvd he tried to take was softcore porn, which made it even funnier). I decided it would be fun to visit the store he worked at (it was in the same mall & on his resume) to have a chat with his manager. I wasn't surprised to hear that he got fired the next day. The real kicker is that one of his references was his church minister. I wasn't sadistic enough to give him a call, but it did cross my mind.

Not to get into it too deep, but saying, "who give's a rat's ass about a security guard's job" rather seems to contradict your concern about CEOs exploiting the Common Man. As far as I know, security guards qualify as the Common Man, too.

I respect your opinion nonetheless.

What, like swing them right over your head??

Anyway, it all seems like a lot of effort for very little reward to me. Wouldn't smuggling cigarettes or liquor, or peddling dope have a better payoff?

Wot? I still do this pretty often. Works like a charm.

Totally. Except one time I stole "There Is No One What Will Take Care of You" and Will Oldham went crazy with the Cheez Whiz re: pseudonyms immediately afterward. So I guess I brought that confusion on myself, karmically speaking.

You're a regular Robin Hood, boyo!

My favourite record store used to catch people stealing and make them sit with a dunce/thief cap on a stool while 'Shoplifters of the World Unite' played and the apprehending member of staff waited for the cops to show.

Better to become a good customer and get a markdown (which happens in all good local/focalpoint record shops).

I caught someone while this very song was playing. He didn't get the connection until it was pointed out to him and didn't find it nearly as funny as I did.

My formative shoplifting memory is a kid in high school proudly complaining about how much work it had been to suavely fit a Slayer double cassette into his pocket.