Mandarins? Toothpaste? Sushi? These are only some of the things students have been “forgetting” to scan at self-checkouts, thanks to some tricks up their sleeves.
Gone are the days of students occasionally slipping an unpaid banana into their supermarket bags. Nowadays, they have full-fledged strategies to help them get past check-out without spending a fortune on fresh sushi. 🍣
VICE Netherlands asked students in the Netherlands who steal more than €200 worth of products via self-checkouts per month about their motives and how they feel about it.
Higher prices, higher chances to steal
Let’s face it, money is hard to get by when you’re in university, so it wasn’t surprising that these students began stealing for financial reasons. 💰
Tammie* (23), who steals about €400 per month, tells VICE Netherlands she didn’t know how to get by anymore. “High rent, school fees, insurance and inflation. I didn’t dare ask my mother for money, she also has to make ends meet.”
READ MORE | Your Dutch grocery haul is now over 11% more expensive than last year
Luuk* (20) steals about €300 per month and launched his self-scan stealing habits on a whim when faced with overpriced sushi.
“When the sushi turned out to be €17, I decided to steal it. It was so easy that I started doing it more and more.”
However, he kept doing it because he isn’t necessarily stealing from anyone: “But honestly, at such a large chain, I don’t care much about stealing expensive products. […] I am quite an anti-capitalist. Those big companies are already making tons of money.”
Um, what about random checks?
The students have different strategies when it comes to those random checks you get when paying via self-scan.
Sacha* (23), who steals around €220 monthly, tells VICE Netherlands about a little trick up her sleeve. First, scan only half of your groceries. “When you are checked, show two debit cards and say that you pay for the groceries separately.”
For Luuk (20), stealing is accompanied by many exciting moments: “My bike key is already in my back pocket and I have my bank card so I can leave as quickly as possible. If I do get a check, I walk back into the store as if I forgot a product. Then I try again.”
Now, we don’t want to give you any ideas, especially since supermarket staff may not always believe these strategies. 🤫
The snowball effect
The students all described that it gives them a little kick, or a sort of adrenaline boost, which makes it quite addicting to continue stealing via self-scan.
While Sacha (23) is the only diagnosed kleptomaniac out of the three, the other two also enjoy doing it for the kicks.
READ MORE | This new Aldi in Utrecht has no cash registers… or self-scanners
Luuk (20) says: “It’s quite addictive. To me, stealing feels like a combination of fear and love. I feel better than the rest when I walk out of the store with a bag full of groceries without a problem.”
*Tammie, Luuk and Sacha are fictitious names. The real names of the interviewees are known to the VICE Netherlands editors.
Have you ever stolen anything via self-scan? How do you feel about what these students are doing? Tell us in the comments below!
Lol, can you imagine the nasty things Dutch people would say if immigrants or asylum seekers were doing it? These people should be ashamed of themselves🤡👎👎
What the hell are they eating, €400 stolen groceries per month for one person (that’s not even including the amount that they do scan)? I expect huge amount of food waste. All of these excuses are so pathetic…
Mostly parmesan and price inflated items like shampoi. All property is theft anyway
I also wonder how is ..that one student with €400 – e.g. this is in addition to what she had _already_ in the cart. Let’s assume that’s half. E.g. her groceries budget is €800???? … for clarity – our whole family uses around 900 per month. And , there are 4 us + close friend refugee, leaving together -e.f. 5 person. Does it mean we should be spending 4000 euros according to that article??? What’cha eating ??? Lobsters? Tuna? With champaign every week?
Niet doen, jij mag gaan naar jail, niet goed voor je toekomst.
Lol, €400 stolen goods without a problem… meanwhile my card just had a delay of 5 seconds to work for a €2.49 smoothie, my Asian ass walked away, then it got rejected, the “kassa medewerkster” already ran out after me screaming “mevrouw!! Mevrouw!!”
It’s because of these people that prices are so high to begin with.
Struggling to get by is understandable, but if your habits include eating sushi, you might want to look at your spending pattern.
Also, the big companies won’t be picking up the bill for the stealing; it’ll be distributed through the whole system of consumers, meaning honest people, the ones who are struggling but refuse to steal, will see their prices rise a bit as well. These students are stealing from the poor.
Seriously, if you struggle so much financially that you need to steal between 200-400€ a month maybe consider not going to Albert Heijn that much. There’s markets all over the country that are way cheaper than Albert Heijn. Still a hungry student? Go work for a restaurant and get money and left overs that would literally be thrown away if you don’t take them. The housing prices here are insane, but the food is super cheap, even in Albert Heijn if you compare it to other Western European countries. I heard it’s even cheaper than in some places in Spain.
The vast majority of food is cheaper here than even in eastern Europe. I thought that it might make sense for raw food, but even restaurant prices are comparable, with the exception of the very high end ones. It’s kinda crazy just how much more affordable life is here.
As a student that pays for all their expenses through jobs (TA positions, delivery, etc.), what these people are doing is disgusting. I spend around 150 euros a month on food, and that’s without putting much thought about spending. Could probably halve it and still eat healthy with some proper planning. I have absolutely no clue why they’d steal 400 euros worth of it. I’d think they’re probably exaggerating for the article.
Interesting article, but I don’t think stealing is a solution. And for the adrenaline rush, there are other things one can do….
I also afraid of one unwanted outcome from this article, although the writer says “don’t want to give ideas” but people will get ideas and more people may start doing it for fun or whatever…. The mere point of knowing that “other people are doing it” may make them comfortable in taking the step… 😔
‘forget’ to scan as much as you can!
If the supermarket makes you self-scan, then forgetting to scan stuff on a regular basis is nothing more than compensation yourself for the labour they tried to cut off and instead make YOU do it yourself…
If they are so “anti-capitalist” maybe they should stop eating sushi. Typical wannabe “socialists” that don’t see they are not stealing from the “big chain” but from everyone.
Anti capitalism my ass..theives
The penalty for such theft is basically nothing. Those caught and convicted should be placed in stocks and pillories (preferably outside the shop they stole from) where the public can throw rotten produce at them.
Hahahaha imagine being a thief and blaming it on capitalism. Get the fuck outta here you knob.
Does anyone think about production costs..the price we pay should be the cost to produce and distroy..this reminds me of a deodorant that got overproduced that got distroyed all at once..if marketing held up there would be a dispersion of the aluminum but now great ecological damage all in one place
I wanted to work for this huge ) Texas ( super market store, it scared Me the ppl the hire back stage,15 security guys,12 supervisors & 30 cashiers & bag boys, I kept thinking how much stuff they must sale to paid this lol
You aren’t just stealing from corporations – but from the working class who are already struggling. The corporations pass their kids down to us! Grow up. Get a job. Change your eating habits and stop stealing!
Edit: their losses
In the US, grocery stores operate on a 1% – 3% profit margin, so they don’t make much money after expenses. The money lost because of theft has to be made up somewhere, so the companies have to raise prices. These students may think they’re very clever, but their stealing costs everyone money.
Lmmfao, you didn’t gain much intelligence post-birth eh? Or maybe you’re just one of those people who don’t understand math very well and think that 3 is a small number, so as a percentage it must mean small profits.
But grab a calculator and please tell us what 3% of 760 billion u.s. dollars annually is, so that we have a much clearer picture of how little money these grocery stores are making, I’m sure they’re just barely holding on, right?
Numbers are only large or small in perspective. 6 of something might not sound like a lot, but if you are 5′ tall in 6′ of water and can’t swim 6 is a huge number. You want to look at total profits to make it look like big had companies make too much money. But in this case that seemingly big profit is nothing in comparison to sales, that’s why lusa rightfully put the number in perspective by looking at profit margin. Case in point, if the big bad grocery store went not for profit over night would you think your former $100/week grocery bill was meaningfully less if it was $98.5 instead? Of course not.
You dont understand math as much as you think. Or if you do, you rather just lie about it.
OP was providing perspective on how large or small the numbers you used are, and here you are trying to minimize the significance of a 1-3% profit margin on $760bil in sales. OP wasn’t stating that ‘big bag companies make too much money’ but that they are not riding such a thin edge that shoplifting sushi is going to put them out of business. In fact, I cannot think of a business that has gone under because of shoplifting (although certainly internal theft has cost many a small business owner their livelihood).
FYI: a 1% profit margin of $760bil in sales is $7.6bil. A 3% margin is $22.8bil. That grocery stores have proved unprofitable is more a function of much larger chains being able to thrive on slimmer margins owing to the number of stores they own, while small, local, and/or regional groceries don’t have the luxury of economies of scale.
The reality is, groceries are immensely profitable, and the switch from staffed checkout to self-checkout has only added to the bottom line, even with the increase in theft/mistakes at self-checkout. Stores have factored in their savings in labor against the cost of theft and found that it makes more sense for theft to increase than it does to appropriately staff their stores. And here you are acting as an unpaid apologist for their strategic decision to enrich their bottom line at the cost of some stolen sushi.
So rather than accuse others of not understanding math or calling them liars, take a step back and consider whether Safeway is more important to you than the ability for those who may really need to, to be able to steal from Safeway.
I hope they all get caught. It’s people like this that cause people like me to have to pay more for everything
Get caught? It’s strange to tell a story like this and not suffer any consequences. Should all criminals get a pass if they share their story, and share ‘how to’s” on social media? As a minority and immigrant, if I had done this I’d probably be thrown be in jail.
It’s stupid. All transactions are videotaped. Eventually you’ll get caught. As stealing increases stores will spend more time reviewing video footage to identify thieves. You can be arrested days or weeks later. Good luck getting a good decent job with an arrest on your record. And where are you going to shop after getting trespassed and banned from the store?
Then it’s a good thing that most of us believe in second and third and fourth chances. Whether all transactions are videotaped or not, someone has to review all of those hours of tape to then identify a potential thief, and determine whether the evidence is sufficient to prove a person was actually stealing. Then a police report gets filed. The evidence is turned over to the DA’s office. Now the DA must invest more resources in investigating the suspected theft. If the suspect does not have a criminal history, and would have to admit to the the crime in order to successfully prosecute, they likely will not pursue it.
So no, there is no eventually. There’s a chance. A good chance even. But even then, it’s still unlikely you’ll be linked to each and every instance you took something you didn’t pay for. No one has the time or the money for this.
Once a thief always a thief leopards don’t change spots
They do change their spots Susan. All the time. If people were incapable of change, you would be the same person you were at 13.
Also take in the fact that supermarkets, didn’t decrease prices, when they decided to use robots (self checkout) instead of people having a job. Plus they made tons of money during covid. And forced us to wear not working masks.
I won’t do outrageous skips, but no skipping is not going to happen. Only at locals I go full price.
We need a max price for items. Otherwise expect theft like its an apocalypse.
I did once at my pharmacy..but once I got back to the car and looked over the receipt, I went back in; apologized profusely and paid for the item.
Maybe bring back the checkout chick and this will all go away.. supermarket gets us to do all their work for them and prices never came down.
As a Muslim, I’d never ever do something like this. This is haram and a big sin. Stealing is stealing, no matter whom you are stealing from.
They all produced their reasons for stealing. Whatever their reasons are, stealing is stealing and it will ruin their future even if they are ignorant of this. Well trained children will never steal whatever the reason. The supermarkets should device means of monitoring this trend to bring these set of people to justice. What a pathetic story!
“Well-trained children” steal all the time. And worse. How many campus rape cases have you seen where everyone describes the accused rapist as just the nicest, most respectful, kind-hearted young man? And yet, he raped his childhood friend at a campus frat party.
The C-Suite at any large supermarket chain, being “well-trained children”, have devised ways to depress wages and benefits for their employees, oftentimes illegally. Shoplifting pales in comparison to wage theft. And yet folks here want to defend supermarkets as if they’re the golden child being feasted on by horned beasts.
Supermarkets knew they were making it easier to steal when they moved to self-checkout, but it was cheaper to hire less staff and allow for more theft than it was to fully staff their stores.
To me, the issue is: WHAT course or Degree are they “studying” at Uni, and how will their thieving behaviour transfer over to their paid work when they finally get a job. I could suggest some “interesting” careers where their thieving skills would be useful. Useful productive citizens of the future I don’t think!!
Interesting, claiming to be “anticapitalist” to mean that he wants stuff for free? What is this kind of self-entitlement? Just because you are a student you do not need to work or cut costs?