tips i saw on reddit 4/1/2024!
the OP on the original post got banned for that so i’m just copying the contents verbatim ⬇️
Sephora & Ulta tips (I guess they were too accurate/good so I’ll just take the report and ban as a compliment)
(taken from my experiences in high traffic/heavy security locations such as Brookfield Place and Soho, Grand Central and 34th Street are super easy. Union Square is a fave because it’s so favored by tourists. Spring break is essentially Get Away With It Bonanza. Tips work with Ulta as well, however Ulta’s near me have a lot of blind spots toward the salon area. The fragrance aisle is their centerpiece, so due diligence and scoping out beforehand will go a long way)
Cameras are crisp but you know this, if you do it well that shouldn’t be an issue. Wouldn’t recommend this for newbies unforch just because I prefer to Get Good cause confidence is key.
My jacket sleeve has thumb holes in it. And all my long sleeve sweaters I’ve also outfitted with thumb holes. This is my biggest asset because it’s a thousand times easier to slide something in when leaning down to look at something mid-shelf (at waist level) when half of your hand is already in the sleeve.
Starbucks Cup method is a fave for smaller things. It can be noisy but if you have extra time on your hands, run some lip balm or vaseline on the X in the cup so the sound of cardboard/paper being slid against makes NO noise.
Scope your store, scope what you want online, then browse. Browsing beforehand gives you the ability to see what is tagged with stickers, size, etc so you’re not blindsided. It also gives you the ability to bring the right bag. You should know yourself well enough to know how fast you can peel off these stickers and stick them on a duplicate item.
I dress well on purpose, slicked back bun, little gold hoops from Target, the typical “I have one of those jobs where you make 100k to do nothing and I wear summer fridays” look. It works well. I look like a certain clientele that knows what they want, so CS tends to leave me alone when I say “just browsing”.
During peak times I head to busier locations where you have a hard time getting through the aisles cause there’s so many people because holding my purse on my elbow/forearm just a littttle bit open allows me to drop things in cause it’s like i’m “getting pushed around/trying to squeeze past” and my other arm created a blind spot because i’m condensing myself to get past.
The one in KohI’s is a little nicer to lift from just because they’re pretty dead and a lot of KohI’s are understaffed these days. Same with waist level leaning down to conceal in sleeve, if you take it from the top of the shelf lean into the middle of the shelf as if you were comparing the product with another. Slide in sleeve.
If it’s small enough to hide under my phone I do this, pretend to dial a call with my tote bag/purse on my forearm then hide it under my phone and discreetly drop it in by “kicking it” with my pinky or middle finger as I dial. Most of the time it’s a 1-800 number that spam called me and I pretend to yap like “I’m in sephora but they don’t have xyz, should I just get it online?”
Do not wander around with one thing in your hands for too long. It makes it worse if you had it allll this time and then it disappears out of nowhere. Sephora and UIta are fast places. You should be in and out in no less than maybe 10-15 minutes.
They’ve beefed up their security, so for bigger items I prefer you take the PEB or DNA route. Not the place to get greedy.
