Top 10 most shoplifted items below. Credit: kate*/Flickr
This list of the Top 10 most shoplifted items of the season was compiled by Yahoo! and based on info from AdWeek. Yahoo says that “one in every 11 people walks out the door with at least one item they didn’t pay for.” That is truly shocking. More stats:
- Shoplifting is up 6% this year
- Retailers will lose about $119 billion of merchandise to shoplifters in 2011
- 75% of shoplifters are adults, most of whom have jobs
The top 10 items most stolen items are not what you would think! My guesses included iPods, kids toys, and clothes. Yahoo says (my comments in italics):
T Hoffarth / Flickr
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
Have you ever caved into buying an item at a higher price because you didn’t want to be perceived as cheap? Last weekend, I did just that at the Santa Monica Pier, a major tourist attraction in California.
My family and I headed to Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to grab drinks. At the front of the line I was faced with a major decision.
A fancy Vegas hotel room. (Not where our reader stayed). Credit: prayitno/Flickr
The Unethical Man wrote in with another money morality dilemma (he seems to run into them often):
Sorry, I got one more question for you. As you may already know, I go to Vegas quite a bit. I try to take advantage of as many free room night offers as I can. Why? Because when traveling out of town, one of the incidental expenses is the room. My question is whether you think it is unethical to accept an offer of free rooms from a property but not gamble there or eat there? You hardly spend any time at the property except for showering and sleeping. At checkout time, the bill reads $0.00 on the TV screen.
Ethical or unethical?
I think you are in the clear as long as part of the agreement for the free hotel room does not include a promise to spend time at the hotel eating or gambling. I’m sure that’s what the hotel wants, but it can’t force you to gamble any more than it can force you to starve.
More money morality posts:
Freebie tacos a deal or a steal?
Is BB a good Samaritan or greedy stranger?
Dilemma: Neighbors gave us cash we don’t want
How many coupons can you use before being unethical? Credit: Xurble/Flickr
The Unethical Man, a reader who shared controversial tips to save money in Vegas (like taking hotel toilet paper), has a financial dilemma to share. Your thoughts?
I have one for you, and I would really like your honest opinion. I signed up for Del Taco’s Raving e-club a long time ago. From time-to-time, they send out emails containing a link to print out coupons to try something new. The coupon typically gives the bearer the new item for free with any purchase. I can and do print multiple coupons. The coupon does specify that only one coupon may be redeemed per customer per visit.
I’m sure that most people would place their typical order and throw in the free coupon as an added bonus. I’m sure that’s what the company is hoping for too. But when I go to redeem my free item,
I updated the Money Morality post from Friday about asking a long ago roommate to cover shipping, packing, and time costs. Responded to all your wonderful comments and told you what I ended up doing. Check it out!
Trash or treasure? Items left behind by an old roommate.
SEE UPDATE BELOW.
If someone moves out but leaves stuff behind, do you have any obligation to return their possessions – at a cost of your own time and money – to them?
This is my dilemma. The easy answer is no. But when the possessions are sentimental (a yearbook, bible, picture album, and flask, pictured) and when the someone offers to pay postage, the answer is not black and white.
I’d still have to cover shipping materials and spend about an hour packaging and mailing the stuff. Not a ridiculous burden. But if these items were so important to this someone, who happens to be my husband’s former roommate, why didn’t he take them with him or arrange to procure them already? I’ve never met him and he hasn’t lived in this house for four years, so my sympathy for said roommate is
The unwanted bills our neighbors gave us.
Our neighbors gave us $40 after we powered their refrigerator with our generator during Hurricane Irene. No matter what we did, they would not take it back, saying replacing all their groceries would have cost a lot more.
The $40 they gave us is not a lot of money (in the grand scheme of things) but I feel a little…dirty about the whole thing.
Our neighborhood was without power for 27 hours From Sunday to Monday and we ran our generator for about five of those hours, powering both our fridge and our neighbor’s. Not even that long! We offered them a power chord because our generator is powerful enough to handle a second fridge, and because our generator is so fricking loud we thought sharing the electricity would soften the din.
We never expected to be paid and don’t want their money. The satisfaction of being a good neighbor and helping them out was payment
jmhita / Flickr
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
A friend of mine told me to scratch up my iPhone to make it less appealing to thieves. (It was almost stolen once). Apparently, people are craven enough to steal, but not unless an item is shiny and new.
My friend, who rides an expensive bicycle everywhere, said people tend to overlook it because he has “roughened it up.” I suggested this tactic to my dad, who owns an electrical bicycle to save money on gas. He said he wouldn’t damage his bicycle because of the money he spent.
I agree with my dad. I wouldn’t go as far as defacement to keep something from being stolen. Would you?
This guy is in costume, but the call I received was from a real scammer. Credit: CarbonNYC/Flickr
I received a suspicious email from my credit card company yesterday almost immediately followed by a call from a person who, in the first breath, asked me for my social security number!!! Make sure you don’t fall for this!
First I got an email from my credit card company (or so it appeared) saying there were suspicious charges on my account, with a phone number to call to confirm. I was skeptical of the email right off the bat because when I opened the card I set up email alerts for purchases over a certain amount. (Basically, when a big purchase is made they email me.) I had not received that “big purchase” email alert.
So I
Hotel freebies for me!
My first thought yesterday when I saw the huge spread of toiletries on my Radisson hotel room vanity was, “I’m totally going to take this stuff!” Somehow, the spectacular display of toiletries made me feel as if the hotel wanted me to take it all. A hotel that parts with an essential bar of soap, shampoo and conditioner has a stingy glow, while a hotel that displays no fewer than 23 items clearly has riches to share.
Which of course reminded me of a guest post from a reader who takes toilet paper from hotels to save money. I draw the line at tp and tissues, but confess my plans to stash away these goodies, which I estimate are worth about $25. It’s the biggest assortment of hotel goodies I’ve ever seen:
- toothbrush and toothpaste
- small comb
- mouthwash
- body wash
- razor and shave cream
- shower cap
- two bars of soap
- shampoo, conditioner, and lotion
- sewing kit
- cotton balls and cotton swabs
- shoe mitt
- shoe polishing kit including black polish, a buffing pad, a small brush, and a shoe horn, all in a cute carrying case!
- finally, a loofah clinched the deal. Who has ever seen a loofah in a hotel?
Do you take hotel swag home?
Some people believe everything they read. Credit: AMRosario/Flickr
I recently learned about two common scams at a savvy-shopping summit hosted by ShopSmart magazine, a publication by Consumer Reports. Way beyond Nigerian princes begging for money, this stuff could really trick you.
1. Fake endorsement. This one looks like a web ad from a TV station claiming a product, like diet pills, really works, says Federal Trade Commission lawyer Tracey Thomas. What might trick is you the comments from “real” consumers. But the news sites and comments are fake, and Tracy has yet to see any testing to back up the miracle claims.
2. Almost free trial. The second scam Tracey talked about was
ecastro//Flickr
By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of Bobbisbargains.
If you are reading this post, you probably a frugal person or a frugal-person-in-training. Perhaps your frugal ways have been called “cheap” or caused embarrassment. This article clears up any confusion between the two terms.
Per Webster’s dictionary:
frugal: characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources
cheap: stingy (not generous or liberal: sparing or scant in using, giving, or spending)
These two definitions do not mean the same thing. Here are five examples that make the difference very clear. (Bargain Babe provided her own definition of being frugal versus being cheap more than a year ago). (more…)
An example of a Groupon voucher.
A recent post on WalletPop, a site I blog for, triggered this money morality question. Are people giving Groupons and daily deal vouchers from sites like Tippr and SocialBuy as gifts this year? Daily deal sites sell vouchers at steep discounts – sometimes as much as 90% off. Is it tacky to give someone a $25 gift voucher to, say a nearby restaurant or yoga studio, if you only paid $5 for it?
If you give a Groupon or daily deal voucher, watch out for expiration dates. These vouchers are not gift cards, so they are not protected by a federal law that requires them to be good for a minimum of five years. The vouchers are usually good for about (more…)
Target gift card: to use or not to use?
I received a coupon for a $20 Target gift card yesterday with one big hitch. It is only valid if I create a Target wedding registry with at least 10 items on it. I’m not entirely sure how I got on a list of future brides (I’m not engaged) but I do sign up for a lot of stuff to test out deals for work.
Now that I have the coupon for a $20 Target gift card, I’m tempted to use it. The offer expires Oct. 24, 2010 so I don’t have long to decide. I’m leaning towards doing the right thing – recycling it or sending it to a friend who got engaged three weeks ago.
On the other hand, no where on the coupon does it say I have to be engaged. And there are plenty of registry-esque items I’d like to buy, including storage shelves for the attic and basement, sheets, and an electric griddle for pancakes. (I can never get them right in a regular frying pan.)
Is the fact that Target sent me the coupon enough to justify my use of it? Target could have vetted me (and other recipients) more carefully to weed out folks who are not actually betrothed.
How would you interpret the rules on the back of the coupon, which read:
Limit one coupon or offer per transaction. Void if copied, scanned, transferred, purchased, sold or prohibited by law. GiftCards and tax will not be included in determining purchase total. Free GiftCard not valid as payment on this purchase. Terms and conditions apply to GiftCards. Maximum retail value $20 for free GiftCard. No cash value. To redeem: take this coupon and a printout of your registry to Guest Service and any Target store. (emphasis theirs)
Lab2112/flickr
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
While researching a post on saving money at the movies, I asked Bargain Babe’s Facebook friends for tips and some suggested sneaking in! The idea bothered me for days and got me thinking about five scenarios where I have to chose between taking the ethical high road and saving money.
Is it ethical to sneak into movies? What about buying counterfeit DVDs?
I’ve never snuck into a movie and what bothers me about this is the same thing as buying a counterfeit DVD, made when someone records the movie with a hand-held video camera from inside the movie theater. The person burns the recording onto DVDs, slaps on a cover sheet, and sells it on the street for a big profit. The problem is that the little guy gets cheated. Sure, the movie executives and stars make the big bucks, but the no-names are more likely to lose their jobs when movie studios don’t make the expected money. By doing both these things, theaters have to raise their cost and the buyer goes from being frugal to being cheap.
You’re walking down Canal Street in New York City or the Fashion District in downtown Los Angeles and you spot counterfeit brand name items at bargain prices. Ethical to buy?
No. The fake bags, shoes, and shades emblazoned with a designer’s initials or logo may be far less expensive, but you are still paying for the brand name not the item. I have no problem with a bag that looks similar to a brand name bag as long as you don’t try to pass it off as the name brand with fake logos and tags. My reason for not buying knock offs is that I’d be mortified if I got called out by the designer while walking down the street – although not very likely, it could happen. Also, why would I waste money on fake items? I rather work hard and get the real thing.
You’re heading to the movies and sneak in snacks to avoid paying for the expensive theater popcorn and soda. Ethical?
I’ve sneaked in snacks and the only reason I don’t think it’s unethical is because I am not stealing from the theater. If I didn’t bring in snacks, I still wouldn’t buy the expensive popcorn and soda. By snacks, I mean almonds or a protein bar and not a full meal.
You’re in an all-you-can-eat buffet and you wrap a leftover muffin in a napkin and stick it in your purse. Ethical?
I figure the food is headed for the trash so why not pack it up to enjoy later. Technically, I paid for it, but I draw the line at packing an entire meal for later.
You ask for a cup for water at a restaurant with a self-serve drink station and you fill it up with soda. Ethical?
This is one of my pet peeves. I can’t stand it when people do this, especially if they’re eating with me. I feel like any minute we are going to get called out. This is stealing and will force the restaurant to raise their prices so everyone loses.
