If you lift meat, be sure and check for tags, they've been doing this lately. This is from a Kroger-affiliate store. Due to health code, the security tags cannot be inside the packaging with the food, so be vigilant about RFID stickers or these soft tags - this one was taped down with the lock sticker, and could easily be sliced open and the soft tag removed. RFIDs on meat packages are trickier; if you slice through them then you'll totally open the package, and nobody wants contaminated meat 😑
Hey guys! I don't know who's still active on here and who isn't. I just followed a shitload of recently-posting blogs. It's been two years since my last post; I had quit lifting big hauls due to my full-time job and stores being shut down after Covid (I lost my closest VS, Bed Bath and Beyond, American Eagle and a few more).
Anyway! I still most definitely lift almost every time I shop, but they're mostly just grocery store items. I'm very happy and proud to see all of yall liftblogs still going. Take a look through my archives for tons of tips and haul pics for inspiration. Happy lifting!
DISCLAIMER: This is a post I created for my own personal use that I'm now sharing to help others. This means that you may recognize some of this information from other posts (or your own!), because I like to compile and rephrase any information I find helpful. I don't list sources for everyone's safety, but that is in no way because I want to pass off some of this information as my own. Feel free to comment or message me if you think someone should be credited and I will gladly do so <3 Any additional info is always appreciated!
General Tips & Tricks:
Remember, no ID, no case. Avoid using your credit/debit card whenever possible, as they can ID you this way and case build. You can either pay with cash, load up a V1sa credit card, or don’t pay at all ;)
Park away from camera view in the parking lot.
Act like a normal shopper. Browse, look at prices, and don’t look around at other people.
Avoid looking at the doors if there is beeping, most normal people wouldn’t notice or pay attention.
Always do your research before hitting a store. Scope out the location ahead of time, check out the cameras in the parking lot and in the store, get an idea of how vigilant they are about checking receipts, find out when they’re the busiest, check for LP and security.
On weekdays when it’s slower some stores won’t have security, but will bring them in on the weekends. This is true for stores like Tom Finger and Kroh-ger.
Self Checkout:
Use reusable bags. Place the less expensive items/the ones you plan on actually paying for at the top of the bags. Scan those and “forget” the items at the bottom.
Bring a new looking receipt, or create a fake receipt of the items you’re taking (buy a receipt printer and print your shopping list using the store's template/format for receipts)
Create fake label stickers at home. Take a picture on your phone for barcodes and get a label sticker. Make your code for whatever dollar amount you want (like $1 each).
Scan things quickly and cover the barcode with your hand on “accident” when scanning. This is riskier because sometimes the camera or machine will catch this and stop your checkout process to replay video of you skipping an item (which is so embarrassing lmao).
Get a packet of dressing or gravy (which runs .30 to .50 cents) and hold it under the item you're scanning. This is also a little more on the riskier side just because an employee or cameras can physically see the price of the item scanned versus the item you’re holding.
If you’re satisfied with a nice self-given discount, it’s lower risk to tear the tag off a cheaper item similar to the one you’re getting. For example you can hold the barcode for a cheaper pillow against the actual tag for a more expensive pillow.
A good rule of thumb for self checkout is to act as quickly as possible. Your actions will be much harder to catch if you’re hard to keep up with. Don’t come off as frantic or worried though, just look like you’re busy and have someplace to be.
Place smaller items underneath cheaper bigger items or underneath the cart and “forget” to scan them at self checkout. This creates very realistic plausible deniability. One good example is placing a pack of toilet paper on top of a dozen sheets of pimple patches or face masks. It’s not going to occur to anyone to look underneath such a big item.
Likewise, you can place smaller items into bigger items and buy that one bigger item. For example, buying a large plastic bin or laundry hamper and placing items inside. This is higher risk though, because you will have to conceal the smaller items on the floor. Finding blindspots can be difficult, and hidden cameras are a thing. If you are seen doing this, it will be obvious what you are attempting to do so be sure you are being tactful. This may also draw attention because this is a common and well known thing that people do, even if they are not experienced lifters.
To create more plausible deniability, wear earbuds/headphones and play music. If you're caught you can pretend you didn't hear that the scanner didn't beep on the item.
Pretend you’re shopping for 2 people and need to do 2 different orders. If you're caught trying to leave without paying for something, just say the rest of the items are for someone else. Scan them, take the L, and move on.
Buy bulk. If you have multiples of items, it's easier to make it less obvious you stole something. So if you have 5 bottles of the same soda and only scanned 3, it looks less suspicious than if you only had 1 and it never left your cart.
Body Concealing:
Go to the freezer section, as you are “looking for ice cream” have your bag of choice situated on the side of your body where the door is blocking you; the condensation should block your actions. The items you want to conceal should be in your hand, so then just drop it in. Make sure no one’s on your other side.
Get two meat packs and have them facing each other for easy concealment.
The makeup aisle is highly monitored, for the love of god don’t try to conceal until you’re in another section. Don’t get too much makeup at one time either, try to grab moderate amounts like someone spending their own money would.
Carside Pickup:
Tell them that you have store credit, most will never check and as long as it’s less than like $50 they’ll probably give it to you. It might be more believable if you say “last time I picked up you guys forgot to give me my “xyz”, and I didn’t want to come back to pick it up so you said you’d take the $10.99 (or whatever amount) off this order”.
You most likely will not get ID'd at carside.
Walkouts:
Find a store with a Stardollars inside. Have a drink and have your bag already filled and leave after you’re finished. This works for smaller hauls, don’t attempt with a whole cart, it will be more obvious. To my knowledge, this is a well known method by employees so in some situations this might be higher risk.
Don’t stop if they ask you to. Wave them off (as if you couldn’t be bothered and you find them an inconvenience), pretend not to hear, quickly flash a receipt, etc.
Be patient and fight your window of opportunity. Don’t rush out, wait and see when no one is paying attention to the doors.
You can have someone watch your back as you leave. Meaning, they can stay back to see if anyone notices and follow you out after or if it’s a high risk situation, they can block the exit with a shopping cart and tell you to run.
The best approach is to do walkouts when no one will notice. This means going when it’s busiest (the weekends, specifically Sunday afternoon) and at higher income areas where they will not be on high alert.
Do not double dip too often at the same stores, rotate the stores you hit unless you are going in disguise. The same logic applies with lifting anywhere, dress nice and blend in. Face masks are preferable.
Some stores have shopping carts with wheels that will lock up for one of these two reasons:
1. You attempt to leave without paying (meaning the wheels will lock at the store doors). This is meant to prevent theft known as “pushout” or “walkout” theft.
You can get around this by either walking out with a basket or reusable bags instead, or by going through the point of sale areas to deactivate the locking mechanism. Either walk through an empty cashier aisle so it appears you paid, or through self checkout.
2. You attempt to leave the premises. This is meant to prevent shopping carts from being taken off the lot, so unless you’re trying to steal the cart too or you parked far from the store it shouldn’t be an issue.
Usually there will be signs throughout the store notifying shoppers of this, or you can tell by looking at the carts’ wheels. There will be two out of the four wheels either on the front or the back that look different from the others, like there is some sort of clunky shield on them.
You can learn more about how this works at:
How Do Anti-Theft Wheel Locks on Shopping Carts Know to Trip at the Edge of the Parking Lot?
Local Fred Meyer stores are rolling out a new device to hopefully keep shoplifters from leaving with merchandise.
RETAILERS like Walmart and Target have used anti-theft shopping carts with rollercoaster-style wheels that are small but stay strong for 35,
***This is a new idea I have not tested yet, but I will edit this portion of the post when I do. Wear a F@/vor or insta-nt-cart shirt/cap and bring the company bags to fill up (you can probably find these items online on eB@/y, etc). Routinely check your phone as you shop like you are collecting an order for a customer that already paid online. Walking out will raise less questions when you seem like a mere worker carrying out someone else’s order. That way you can also claim the items have already been paid for online if you are stopped. You could go as far as to have a fake item pulled up on the app or create a fake picture/screenshot.
Best places to go grocery shopping:
Trade Joey's (best for body concealing as there are few, if any, cameras)
Sproots
Worst places to go grocery shopping:
Fuckin’ T@/rget. I’d only attempt low risk methods if there’s something you REALLY want.
W@/m@/rt, unless you’re only occasionally skipping items at self checkout.
Kroh-ger. They’re known to case build.
Stores that have locking carts (this will not apply to every location):
Some unorganized thoughts on clothing and what you should and shouldn’t wear lifting.
1.) Are you Unique? Better cut that shit right out.
Seriously, though, when you go lifting you want to disappear into the crowd and be totally unmemorable. Dark, neutral colors in simple, well fitting styles with maybe a statement piece. It doesn’t have to be fancy to make you look rich. Leave your crop tops and shorts at home, avoid clothes with prominent brand names, bright colors or anything you’d see on TikTok. While the majority of staff might be Gen Z and young Millennials, most LP is going to be older and instantly suspicious of style they don’t understand or deem “too loud”. Classy, modest, and timeless is your goal.
2.) In the same vein of thought, if you have things in your closet that you wear daily, do NOT wear them to lift. The one and only time I got caught as a teen was because I used a very unique, memorable bag. Leave your vintage backpack at home, don’t wear your daily driver Doc Marten’s, and forget about taking that sweater you wear to work. Anything that is memorable and/or unique needs to stay out of a store you plan to steal from.
3.) You have great hair, you should chop it off.
Okay, not really. You don’t need to shave your head or anything, but if your hair is anything other than standard issue you should definitely hide it. Hoodies will make you suspicious, but a fashionable hat, scarf, hijab, or wig are all great options. If your hair is simply out of the ordinary because it’s very long/short/curly, you’re probably fine to simply style it differently each time, but if you have colored hair you MUST cover it. Not only is it VERY identifiable, but I’ve read multiple sources where LP intentionally target, track and profile young people with pink/blue/unnatural hair colors.
4.) It’s always good to dress in the style of the store you plan to lift from, but dressing rich is best. Seriously. A rich person can go almost anywhere, shop almost anywhere, and never look out of place. Well fitted clothes in neutral colors, resisting the urge to give into micro trends in clothes, hair and makeup, and an attitude of utter, nearly unethical confidence goes a long, long way.
“But Mama!” I hear you cry; “That’s not my style! I like my dyed hair and orange pants and I have the confidence of a sea slug!”
And to that I say GOOD.
The less you look like yourself when you lift the better. Play the part of a 30 something soccer mom that drives a BMW. March into that Aeropostale like you’re shopping for an obnoxious teenaged daughter, pursue Whole Food’s butcher like you have $300 to spend on lobster and filet, because if the cops are looking for Karen they’re not going to find you.
5.) On the subject of makeup, here’s another great chance to become someone else. Do you have acne? Big, bushy brows? A scar on your chin? All of that needs to disappear. You know those “clean girl makeup routines,” that are going around right now? That is what you want. Simple, clean, completely forgettable yet still put together.
Remember, our goal is classy, timeless and bland. We want to look wealthy and presentable, but also like a background character.
6.) If you’re not wearing a mask you’re dead to me. Not only are we still in the midst of a poorly handled pandemic that threatens the lives of disabled, immunocompromized, and chronicly ill people across the world, but masks are the PERFECT excuse to hide 3/4 of your face. Lift a few in plain neutrals, but also a few in bold colors for a pop in otherwise plain outfits.
7.) confidence is everything. It’s probably the number one tip on liftblr, but for real, that whole pretending you’re a 30-something soccer mom with an Amex in her purse is precious advice. Be warm to all staff but also act like you own the place. Back straight, chest out and eyes steady, even if you’re losing your shit inside.
TL;DR: Cover and remove any identifiable clothing items, facial features, hair colors. Wear plain, well-fitted clothes in neutral colors and pretend you’re a rich white woman.
Obviously, most importantly, dump and run if it feels sketch. This is illegal. This is a crime. You can and will go to jail. They will not let you go because you’re cute or you donate to homeless shelters. Be smart. Don’t get caught. If at all possible, don’t lift at all.
Hi everyone! I'm no longer active on tumblr regularly because Covid killed the lifting game for me. Shopping and lifting just aren't what they used to be, so I don't really go anywhere besides work anymore. If you're anything like me, you still like to look at what people have swiped just for the hell of it, so here are a few pics of little things over the last several months. Nothing worth posting about, but I just wanted yall to know that I didn't die or anything!
Is the lifting community even still active? I literally forgot I had this blog until I saw people joking about the community on Reddit lmfao. I thought about deleting since I don't lift anymore (2 times getting caught plus I'm not in much of a position anymore where I need to steal) but it's got a lot of info still.
This is my first time logging in for months. Covid killed the shopping game in my area, and lifting is pretty much impossible. Even regular shopping isn't fun at all anymore. I said fuck it and just quit shopping for anything besides groceries altogether. I will still grab things from big box stores here and there, but the stores are so dead and boring anymore that there's no point for me personally to lift.
Wannabe liftr in late 20s.. I wanted to know a good technique to lift groceries.. I’ve read a lot of techniques but I’m worried about cameras, if I can’t see them. Only have liftd a few things that go unnoticed while also paying for other things. I don’t have them balls to do major hauls yet but would love to. Any advice? I love your blog btw! :)
>>Hey! Thanks for the love. When lifting groceries, it's important to understand what type of store you're dealing with. Is it a big box supermarket, or a small one? A dollar store might seem easy to lift from, but many are notoriously hard on lifters. In my area, I only have big box grocery stores. I am not in a position of financial worry, so I am able to half-buy, half-lift my groceries.
If you're able to do this, make sure you look the part. Put your purse in the basket of the cart, and put your notebook with grocery list in the child seat. As you fill your cart, plan on buying the cheap stuff and lifting the expensive stuff. Beware that meat packages may have RFID tags (Kroger does this). As you browse the aisles, scan the ceiling for cameras. Never conceal in high-risk areas, like health and beauty, near the pharmacy, or in the alcohol section. Good aisles for me personally to conceal in are in the pet aisle, bulk paper goods, and frozen.
When you've got your purse or bag in the basket, you surreptitiously slip the items you want to lift into your bag, when you place an item into your cart. Every so often, pretend you're rearranging your cart. You can make it easily look like you're fussy about how your cart is arranged.
I've never been caught lifting this way. I do not have any advice on how to lift groceries without buying anything, unless the store is going out of business. I do full-cart walkouts on those by bagging my groceries in reusable bags as I shop, then wandering out the door if I'm able to easily.
Hey! I was wondering how i would shoplift in an ulta for larger things, with my mom? Also the ulta isn't in a mall... i know it's really sketchy to use a backpack and again my mom is nosy and would think it weird, so what am i supposed to do?
I would advise not lifting when your mom is present. As tempting as it is, it's not a smart idea. I personally always lift alone. If you got caught, imagine the embarrassment that your mom would go through, and the potential liability and repercussions for her. It's just not worth it! I was caught tag-switching as a child and it caused a lot of trouble for my mom. Seeing her cry was definitely not worth what I was trying to steal.
Hey! So when I have gone to the mall sometimes I notice that some stores don’t appear to have and security towers but some of the items are still tagged. Is it possible for the towers to be inside the walls or floor or do you think the tags are just decoys?
It's possible that the towers are hidden! I'm not sure exactly which stores use hidden towers, but technology is changing and the possibility for this has heightened. If the store isn't high-end, then it's possible that the hard tags are just a deterrent. Never chance it, always assume that the tags will set off a tower. Use caution when detagging and never leave packaging or tags behind.
It's been a couple of months since my last real haul of any type, due to starting a new job and then needing surgery shortly after. I don't know how many still follow me, but I appreciate every one of you. While Covid has reduced my ability to lift easily, I was still able to get a few goodies! $153
It's been a couple of months since my last real haul of any type, due to starting a new job and then needing surgery shortly after. I don't know how many still follow me, but I appreciate every one of you. While Covid has reduced my ability to lift easily, I was still able to get a few goodies! $153
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