So I’ve been lurking in this community (hence, the name) since June-ish of 2014. I figured I’d share my experiences with you, because I think you guys could benefit. I’ve stolen some really, really cool things. My biggest “accomplishment” is probably my bike which was over a grand, from REI. I detagged on the floor, hid the tag in a helmet box, had my boyfriend carry my purse and walked out as the happiest girl who just bought a new bike. My boyfriend also got a super expensive bike a month later, but he acted like the bike was already his and he was picking it up from them after being fixed. I’ve also gotten ~$300 jackets from there but that’s the same as stealing any clothes when the store is not a boutique.
I have a few things from Ralph Lauren Polo, but I have one crazy nice blazer that was $1,100 from a normal Ralph Lauren, the stores with the dull lighting and super attentive associates. There was a lady who claimed me as hers and followed me around taking everything I showed interest in and put it in a fitting room. At the time I didn’t know what I was going to do, but just went with it. After I had about 6-7 things in the dressing room I said I was ready to try those items on. I tried on everything as normal, and really wanted two of the items but knew I should only get one if I was to get anything at all. So I put the blazer in a shopping bag along with the hanger. I left about 3 items in there and took the rest out of the dressing room folded over my arm and told the lady I was still thinking about them. I moseyed around the store for a bit and when I lost her I hung the clothes in my arm back up and left. I use this method a lot.
My boyfriend stole the display Nespresso from Sur la table, and we use that thing everyday, I highly suggest getting one. We stock up on the coffee from William Sonoma because that stores easy as pie, and we haven’t found the right pods for the machine at Sur la table. I’ve stolen a bunch from both those stores and I love everything I have, but I live in an apartment and need things like a potato masher, where you guys mostly live with parents (?) so you don’t really need those things. But I know there are people out there who do, so don’t waste your time at target or anything. I also stole an ice cream machine from William Sonoma, I walked in and it was right there, so I took it and walked right back out before anyone knew I was there. I also stole an ottoman from Michaels that way, when we walked in I said, “hey look, we could steal that” and my boyfriend just picks it up and walks out to our car with it.
We also stole a nice sheep skin fur throw pillow from Z Gallery that way, it was right there on display it was so dead in there that no one even knew we were in there yet. So we seized the opportunity.
I can’t remember if you guys talk about, or like express, but that store’s really easy and some of their stuff is really chic. It’s the easiest place to get shoes because they have no cameras so you hid it under clothes and no one ever monitors the fitting rooms. Brooks brothers is easy if you look like you belong, that’s really important. J-Crew’s the same way, those are probably the easiest preppy stores if you play the part.
I went to Macy’s and saw a super cute Michael Kors backpack on display. It had a wire running through the strap that was connected with a tag that need a hook and then it was connected to the table. I think that Macy’s profiled people a lot, Im white, so I feel like they were preoccupied. I acted like I was checking out the bag while I was de-tagging it, then took it to the dressing room and removed the stuffing, but it in my bag and left.
I’ve gotten 2 fans, 2 sleeping bags, a cooler, and a tent from target just by walking out. If they not watching you on camera, which they probably aren’t because I think they expect people to conceal, then walking out is as close to fool proof as you’re gonna get, because I don’t think they can stop you just because they didn’t witness you personally pay for it, but who knows, maybe I got lucky, but I was super confident. Those things weren’t all at once, I also had my boyfriend there.
I walked out of the Pink store with a roller luggage bag worth $200, it would’ve been even cooler if I had filled it with stuff, lol.
I’ve gotten a digital camera from best buy, it was an old best buy, so they didn’t have as many security cameras as some of the other ones I’ve been in, like the guy in the front was just standing there, he didn’t even have a screen to look at, but whos to say there wasn’t someone in the back monitoring, because there were some cameras, just not a lot. I had my boyfriend be a look out while I knelt down and used my magnet on one of those grey alpha boxes. Concealed and was on my merry way. That one got my heart going like crazzzy.
We tag teamed two desks and a couch from Ikea, but not at the same time. The couch, and then the 2 desks a separate trip. The couch we didn’t really have a plan so we just walked through the registers like we already bought it, but couldn’t get it in one trip. Like, we already bought stuff and it was in the car, and we were coming back for it. The desks we actually had the money for, and decided to steal them last minute. The way we did that one was we acted like my boyfriend paid for them and then got me and had me wheel them out, if that makes sense. With Ikea and big items you really have to have a lot of confidence like you already bought the item.
I want to tell you guys that you can most definitely steal from Nordstrom, I’ve gotten a Burberry shirt and Burberry pants, at the same time. With both I wasn’t even planning on stealing, I just wanted to wear some Burberry for a sec. But when I tried on the shirt it had one of those weird tags that are like the pulse checker at the hospital that they just slip on your finger. It just slipped on the shirt so it wouldn’t ruin the fabric. But when I pulled the shirt over my head like any person would, the sensor flew off and started beeping. An associate came by and I was like, “sorry, I was just trying it on.” And she acted like it happens a million times and took it and the shirt, stopped the beeping, and came back with it back on the shirt. I go to put the shirt on again and it flies off again, but doesn’t beep. Im a frozen statue at this point, thinking, I should do this. So I sling the pants and shirt over my arm because neither of them are tagged now but I think that lady is still out there. When I walk out shes not there and im like fuck I could have just concealed there because I was planning on taking them to a different department, hiding them under some clothes and concealing then, which is what I did anyways. So yeah.
Two Marc Jacob cross bodies, one was super small and I don’t know how I did it. The second one was on a whim and it’s a bigger bag that I now use for college. But I didn’t have my magnet, so I just slung it over my shoulder acting like it was mine, and walked out. I didn’t walk out the entrance to the mall, I walked out a door that led to a street mall kind of, so since there was no parking out there, there were no towers, so I didn’t beep.
I also got some make up, an awesome Sam Edelman leather jacket that I wear all the time. With that one I found it, put it on, it looked great with the outfit I was already wearing, so I kept it on an acted like it was already mine. Shortly after I put it on and was continuing shopping in there, a sales associates says, “oh my god, I love that jacket it, whered you get it? It looks so good on you, fits perfectly. Did you just get it?” and my boyfriend goes, “yep, she just got it.” It was hilarious because I could tell that she wasn’t servicing me to death like some stores do if they suspect you’re shoplifting, so funny.
If they suspect you they will make it very obvious by following you, they’re very obvious about it. It’s how I “got caught” and I put it in quotes because I feel like I was in some fugue state because I knew they were onto me be I didn’t drop my stuff, ugh, I’ve come to terms with it, but still I was like drunk with power or something, don’t let it go to your head. Anyways, I got a Burberry coat from the section and there was a lady talking to me about it trying to make a sale, I was already wearing my Burberry shirt so I figured I didn’t have to worry about being profiled. She said that she “would love to help me out” or something like that trying to get me to buy it right then and there, but I had other shopping to do, so I told her that. I later was able to read the report that LP made when I was sitting in the DA’s office. Apparently that lady called LP saying she had a customer “refusing help and leaving the section with product” or something, so from then on they followed me on foot. I got some stuff from top shop and then my boyfriend wanted to look at the dudes stuff so we went downstairs to look and I decided to use that dressing room. After they let me in a stall they let another girl into the stall next to me. There was a little bench in the stall and I was able to look under and see that she was just sitting there. I should have just ditched everything and left then, hind sights 20/20. I de-tagged the coat and attached the sensor to the stuff I didn’t want. When I left I was suspicious of that girl so I left and started looking at the men’s stuff but watched her. She met up with another girl outside the fitting room and they whispered to each other. They were in normal clothes with purses and such, and they both had one earbud in. Seriously, it was so fucking obvious, I can’t even believe I went through with it. I honestly thought I was fine because I wasn’t concealing, it was just drapped over my arm like it was already mine.
I left and they stopped me, brought me back to a room in the entry way leading outside, it wasn’t upstairs or anything, while I was walking back they kept telling me I couldn’t put my hands in my bag and this girl was pretty big and im only 110 so I complied. When we got to the room they went through my stuff and I was in the middle of a haul so I had a lot of stuff, not as much as usual, thank god, because they did end up “having” to call the police even though I turned on the water works and said it was my first time, the cops added everything up and I was like $300 dollars away from a felony, which I think is like 2 grand where I am, but you guys know $300 is only like a couple items, the Burberry coat alone was $900. But it was still like the most serious misdemeanor you could get, plus the magnet.
I was arrested and brought to the police department within the mall, that’s actually where they added everything up. I was really conversational with them and asked them if I hadn’t cooperated would they have put me in jail, and he said yes. Which is nice, because obviously Im stealing I definitely don’t have money for bail or fines or anything. My court date was set for like 4 months after the incident and they gave me an option of a year of supervised probation with a class, community service, and all the jazz. Or 30 days in home detention (house arrest), but still able to go to school and have 4 hours a week to run errands. So I chose the 30 days because supervised probation means UA’s which pretty much means no partying and having to meet with an officer like every other week, and the mall I was arrested at was like 20 minutes from where I live so they sent me to the closes courthouse to the mall, so it was like 40 minutes away from my house, not even including that they wanted to charge me $800 for probation and only $250 for in home detention. Plus I didn’t want to suffer for a whole year instead of a month, so im glad I picked that one.
I also haven’t started paying for stuff. I definitely slowed way down, mostly because having multiple offenses, is wwway worse than having one. But I still go hard when I feel the timing is right. Today my boyfriend and I went to an outlet mall and got a kitchen aid stand mixer which i’ve wanted for like a decade! I still need a better bed frame, but after that my list of stuff I need is pretty small, which is nice.
But yeah, thanks for reading and feel free to ask any questions, I’ll make it all public because I don’t give a fuck, freedom of press covers blogs.
