If you think shoplifting has no effect on you, consider the fact that if not for shoplifting, you would spend close to half the price you are spending now.  Don’t believe it?

Many years ago, I sat in a fast food restaurant and staring out the window when I witnessed a boy getting off the city bus. He opened his coat and a huge pile of empty packages fell to the ground. He then walked off as though he hadn’t noticed anything. Evidently, the real product was still inside his coat and he was getting rid of evidence.

Soon after that, I noticed packaging in the stores began to change. There was so much money being spent on deterring thievery, the cost of products went up and up.

If you happen to be 30 or younger, you won’t remember packaging before that heavy, thick plastic that defies even the legitimate buyer, causing you to put knife or scissors to the packaging, to get to the product.

Because of thievery, manufacturers now have to add expensive devices that will set off an alarm and so much has gone into heavy packaging, it almost doubles the price of the product.

That means, you and I pay, every day, for what thieves have caused. Forty years ago, there was no such thing as video cameras all over a store, recording your every move. All those security measures cost money and the store has to pass the cost onto you and me.

Consider also, the more the packaging, the heavier the product and the more it costs to ship. Shoplifters have cost us all, so much, that almost everything we buy, costs almost twice as much as it should. It’s too late to stop what has happened but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be upset over shoplifting that is still happening today.

If I see someone slipping product into a purse or under a coat, I report it. There is plenty of reason to take it personally. Shoplifters are not getting away with anything. They are just causing you and me to pay for what they want. There is no reason to look the other way. The cost of thievery goes farther than just in stores. Due to car theft, your insurance rates have gone up which means we are all paying for the victim’s loss.

Everywhere you turn you are spending more and have lost more privacy due to the thievery and shoplifting that so multiplied just a few years ago. Don’t blame it on the product or the manufacturer. Blame it on thieves.