“Consumers are finding that retailers either ask them to pay for package protection or draw a harder line when it comes to replacing a missing item. Some retailers are making the fees mandatory, spreading the burden of package theft among all customers.”
Socializing the cost but not profit per usual
Right??? The package was delivered as per the consumers agreement. On your porch. You know how you don’t get packages stolen? Buy locally at a brick and mortar.
“Retailers conspired against you, the consumer, through illegal anti trust horizontal collusion, then paid off the WSJ to have them publish an article to convince you there’s a reason why you should pay more for same”
Porch pirates suck rocks but, this is such a blatant attempt at misdirection, if I didn't actually live in the 21st century, I wouldn't believe anyone would fall for it.
A few years ago there was footage from L.A. showing a rail yard with boxes everywhere. It seems that when a train would come in, thugs swarm all over it and loot the things.
They’re raising the prices because they know we don’t grow our own.
This crossed my feed & bothered me enough I thought I'd respectfully point out, as someone who has worked in retail, that the "supposed shoplifting epidemic" is absolutely not made up. I promise you it is as real as it is degrading.
I agree about the general depravity of executives otherwise.
They will do anything and everything they can to increase their profits. Products are getting worse and worse, services too, more toxic crap in everything, all to feed their addiction. That is what it is. An addiction to making money.
The sun is at maximum sunspots in its cycle so corporations have to charge consumers more. I’m waiting to hear that excuse because corporations are greedy jackals ripping money out of people’s hands will never be given as a reason for charging us more.
Democratic leaders must stop bringing pillows to a knife fight. Use the tools available to protect the American people from the Trump-Musk MAGA fascists. Voting, donating, volunteering, peacefully protesting has not worked. Sign the petition.
Full statement here: https://www.change.org/WeThePeople-DemandActionNow
Porch pirates are mostly an issue because of the Bigfoot Phenomenon: the second that every single person and car had three cameras on them there were zero Sasquatch sightings. Conversely, every single porch pirate is in view of a doorcam somewhere on that block.
I paid somewhat of a premium to buy a nasal spray at the upscale grocery store because, Jah be praised, they don't lock up *anything* (they do put all that stuff pretty close to the registers, but that's fine. That makes sense!).
I mostly refuse to buy things I have to press a button and wait/hope.
we have a real problem with it here, but how are we protected? are there refunds for stolen packages?
and don’t get me started on tossing them in the yard instead of a safer location?
Wage theft dwarfs retail and petty theft in dollar amount by any measure. What do you think is gonna happen when you get small, high value items left on your doorstep for your own convenience regularly? Hire a doorman if you don’t like it asshole.
The truth is, most american industries are too monopolized to believe any claim about why they're raising the price on something that isn't "because they can"
Holidays are over. We will be cutting way back on ordering things in the new year. Not spending money on extras under the Trump administration. Cannot trust them.
I have a porch pirate bat nearby at all times. I use the same specialty bat in my car for similar situations. I have more lethal weapons when needed. I’d rather be an inmate than a victim.
i used to pay ~$300 per academic year to park at UNH; ten years later, it’s up to $550. oh, and the parking lot was ~1/4 mile from my residence hall and we needed to shovel and move our cars from the lot every time it snowed. i don’t miss that one bit
Well, there is insurance and the fact that I have not had any offers to replace stolen stuff. Businesses said “sorry we did our part in delivery.” So what did they lose?
Uhhh the packages stolen from _US_ and have no retail claims in most of the states they're talking about. Yeah.
Of course it's made up. Oh look more fraud, and more violence. This is why I'm upgrading 3D printers and buying tools for the holidays, the less I consume the safer I am.
It's entirely bullshit.
I've been getting pretty much *everything* delivered even before COVID,
and the only times I've had issues were when somebody used a hapless contract-delivery person who couldn't distinguish between street names.
Precisely ZERO thefts of doorfront-delivered packages
Yup. They’re basically self insured when it’s “their” driver.
You can get locking chests for packages. The drivers may not give a fuck, but they’d be able to lock your package up and stop 95% of porch pirates if they did.
Let’s be honest Amazon drivers aren’t paid enough to give a fuck.
Former Amazon driver here. For sure we are told to put the package in a safe place, but that's not always possible. A package safe is ideal. I've told so many people to do this. Amazon will not replace a stolen package, and yep we didn't give one little fuck.
Forcing delivery drivers to unattainable numbers of deliveries each day is leading to way more undelivered packages than “porch pirates” - but boogeymen are easier to blame
I don't see how making it more expensive protects consumers. Higher prices makes stealing more attractive, not less. If CEOs wanted people to stop stealing food, they'd give it away for free
They're offering to charge you a few extra dollars in return for replacing the item if it's taken from your porch. (According to the opening part of the article that I can actually read.) So you're protected by having it replaced, but they're probably making a killing on the programme overall.
As far as I can tell from the opening, it's mostly voluntary, although it does say that some places are making it obligatory. But even when it's voluntary, they probably still make a profit from it.
Why did I imediatly see this turning into another "Deny, Delay, Defend", but now using the excuse that "people could be scamming them by having people steal the packages for them to request the product again"
Mind you, I'm sure some idiots will try that scam, but probably in less than 1% of cases
Yep. I figure they'll put something in the fine print (eventually if not already) that you can only use this once in every 10 orders or something like that. And blame it on cheaters.
Definitely. Less than 0.2% of items are stolen, it’s probably much less than that I no longer know the exact figures. Retailers are *already* factoring in the cost of stolen items. A charge of 1c per $10 item price on top would probably be fair.
What are the chances that several months from now we’ll see a porch pirate get Castle Doctrine’d because when tariffs double consumer prices, Fox News will latch onto this alternative explanation?
I don't doubt that they've fudged the numbers, but as a retail worker, I am seeing more and more shoplifting (both shoppers getting caught in the act, and the torn/empty packaging left behind). Companies will only write so much of that off before raising prices to cover losses.
This timing is interesting. Just as BIPOC folks are beginning to feel targeted in the wake of the election, a corporation leans into frustration around a crime where black and brown folks are disproportionately represented.
My issue is calling them “porch pirates” this isn’t Capt Jack Sparrow taking the Amazon box.Nah,it’s people stealing stuff and we have a word for that, theft and we call them thieves. This is not some Jean Valjean loaf of bread shit this is steal a box and list it on Facebook or craigslist shit.
English is a complicated language.How things are framed by the media matter.I see porch pirate as the same of saying falsehood or fabrication instead of lie.It sanitizes it & makes it sound less serious than it is.I put embezzle in the same category.The person stole things,let’s not equivocate
Well “wage theft” which in dollars exceeds all other property crime combined, is treated as a “civil” offense. I steal 500$ from Amazon I go to jail. But if Amazon steals 500$ from my paycheck I could sue the biggest corp on earth or whatever even if a manager talks about it openly no prosecution
If people are demanding and actually getting free replacements, that could theoretically justify a price increase, but of course they can always make up any reason they like for increasing prices, including “just because”.
Who said it was a “free replacement”? They never got it in the first place. When the post office loses my shit, it’s their fault. And when the pizza delivery guy eats my pizza before he delivers it, it’s his fault. Amazon is no different here.
The shoplifting epidemic is real, at least in LA. The CVS stuff that’s missing shows up on Poshmark and EBay. I don’t want to reward the shoplifters so I get to the store when deliveries are made. I checked the schedule with the manager. It’s legit bad.
Man, I remember when people said similar shit after the first articles about the supposed crime ring hitting Walgreens in San Francisco were coming out
I don’t care where you live, and again plenty of people said the exact same thing as you did about “speaking from their experience” in regards to the San Francisco incident.
Also, the internet free and easily available (especially for you given you’re using it to communicate right
I’m not a part of a conspiracy, just someone who lives in a crime ridden city. I don’t understand your hostility but I’m sorry I upset you on a holiday.
Merry Christmas🎄
I literally never even suggested you (or anyone else) were “part of a conspiracy”
Furthermore, trying to act like being asked for information about an easily searchable topic (as you were literally given the subject of theft, the location of SF, and Walgreens as the major entity
...How does this surcharge protect against porch pirates? Are they sending out guards to look over the deliveries until they're retrieved by the customer?
Comments
Socializing the cost but not profit per usual
*throws dart*
biker gangs."
A friend g0t a DVO Onyx single crown fork (retail ~$1000) pirated. Then saw it for sale on the local FB marketplace page for $20 as a "bike part"
How dumb do you have to be to not Google the MSRP? I mean, 1/2 retail would have been a bargain!
He bought it back for $20...
They’re raising the prices because they know we don’t grow our own.
I agree about the general depravity of executives otherwise.
Example:
"A few" extra dollars to "protect" customers
Full statement here:
https://www.change.org/WeThePeople-DemandActionNow
I mostly refuse to buy things I have to press a button and wait/hope.
and don’t get me started on tossing them in the yard instead of a safer location?
The news doing this doesn't bring us together or build us up
Remember that when you decide who brings you news, without support from you, they can't survive.
Support anyone that builds us up as humans, consider your time investments carefully in 2025
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-12-14/column-retail-lobby-confesses-it-lied-about-organized-shoplifting-rings
Pretty soon you'll have to pay for parking at your suburban grocer with 5 acres of undeveloped land. Gotta pay for parking lot maintenance.
In my country, staff have to pay to compete with everyone else.
Of course it's made up. Oh look more fraud, and more violence. This is why I'm upgrading 3D printers and buying tools for the holidays, the less I consume the safer I am.
I've been getting pretty much *everything* delivered even before COVID,
and the only times I've had issues were when somebody used a hapless contract-delivery person who couldn't distinguish between street names.
Precisely ZERO thefts of doorfront-delivered packages
oh... hrm... valuepenguin 2024 survey has the number at 14% (last 3 months)
So, self-reported package thefts are down from previous years???????????
Has Amazon just been raw dogging third party shipping losses all this time?
You can get locking chests for packages. The drivers may not give a fuck, but they’d be able to lock your package up and stop 95% of porch pirates if they did.
Let’s be honest Amazon drivers aren’t paid enough to give a fuck.
Well, hopefully it helps at least a few people with lost packages.
*Deny Delay Defend.
Mind you, I'm sure some idiots will try that scam, but probably in less than 1% of cases
(Amazon, probbaly)
Maybe they should advocate for Trump-O-Care.
mugger, cutpurse, footpad, pilferer, bandit, burglar, robber, shoplifter, pickpocket, swindler, poacher, larcenist, brigand, freebooter, purloiner, filcher, kleptomaniac, looter, crook, embezzler, rustler, highwayman...
Remind me how that ended again?
Also, the internet free and easily available (especially for you given you’re using it to communicate right
Merry Christmas🎄
Furthermore, trying to act like being asked for information about an easily searchable topic (as you were literally given the subject of theft, the location of SF, and Walgreens as the major entity
They can easily afford this level of loss without passing it on to us.
They'd just rather not.