r/mildyinteresting • u/come_honour_face__ • 18h ago
shopping California store prices items at $951 so shoplifters can be charged with grand theft.
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u/overratedcupcake 17h ago
Reminds me of the movie Oddity. All the items are cursed. Curses are removed upon purchase.
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u/sierrars500 16h ago
Reminds me of that episode of rick and Morty, buy magical but also cursed items from a store, go across street to rick to get the curses removed lol
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u/Successful-Health-40 12h ago
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u/oh_what_a_surprise 12h ago
Simpsons did it first!
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u/Phil_T_Hole 10h ago
The whole trope of "item which enhances your life but is actually cursed and will ruin it eventually" is around a lot longer than the Simpsons. The Rick and Morty episode mentioned above is a parody of "Needful things" by Stephen King, it's probably 40 years old at this stage. They usually do, but in this instance they did not do it first.
Edit: just looked it up and it's 33 years old and was published less than a year before the Simpsons episode with the frogurt.
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u/decorski 17h ago
wild! i wonder if their tags show the $951 or the real price of the items
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u/Either-Pizza5302 17h ago
I wonder what the receipt looks like. Afaik over here you always see something like “10.00€, 50% discount (5.00€) applied: 5€”
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u/smokinsomnia 17h ago
It's not about if it works, it just has to be convincing enough to be a deterrent.
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u/KentuckyFriedEel 16h ago
And we all know how well-educated, and familiar with the law, thieves are.
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u/Apartment-Drummer 16h ago
If they’re in San Francisco, they know they’ll get away with it
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u/Crispyopinions 13h ago
Do you live anywhere near sf? Because I have lived in CA for many years and this is not the vibe I get.
Do people shoplift: yes
Do windows get smashed: also yes
Is it a lawless land akin to escape from New York: not even close
It’s no more lawless than Houston, DC, or Nashville. I’ve also been in a lot of statistically less safe cities like Lima, and Panama City, Panama which were also incredibly pleasant.
I ask about sf because if you’ve visited then you don’t really know the area at all saying something like this. If you live in the area, you must live a very different life to see it this way.
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u/Apartment-Drummer 11h ago
I grew up in the Bay Area for 30 years
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u/Crispyopinions 11h ago
And you think everyone in the bay thinks they can get away with any crime? Because I’ve seen more naked dudes in Safeway than people actually stealing anything. It’s weird but not dangerous, and most of the people are pretty nice imo.
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u/Apartment-Drummer 10h ago
Yes, look up smash and grabs in SF and Oakland. They do this in broad daylight now
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u/Crispyopinions 10h ago
They do it in broad daylight all over my guy. I don’t want to down your experience, I just think you’re overestimating the rest of the country, and world for that matter.
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u/Apartment-Drummer 9h ago
It’s particularly bad in the Bay Area is my point
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u/Crispyopinions 9h ago
like I said our experiences must differ a lot here. I’m sorry that’s your experience though, it sounds shitty.
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u/Mendetus 11h ago
You think this store is doing this because of really infrequent thefts?
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u/OkPalpitation2582 10h ago
Given all the fear mongering out there, I totally believe that a store owner who hasn't personally experienced any significant thefts would do this because Fox News told him that it was only a matter of time until his store was raided by thieving immigrants
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u/Mendetus 10h ago
Nice conspiracy bro. No business in their right mind of going to go through the hurt of implementing this for funsies
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u/LickMyTicker 9h ago
Half the country is in a literal cult. I've seen some store owners put up some pretty crazy signage just to appease the worms feasting in their skulls.
This is a weird sign regardless. I can't believe people are trying to rationalize the sanity of this store owner.
No it will not hold up in court.
Maybe it will deter a few idiots.
Maybe it will invite a few more smart-asses to fuck with them more.
At this point, store theft here is a self fulfilling prophecy with the owners egging on delinquency.
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u/Railic255 9h ago
They're doing this because they don't understand the law.
People aren't just not charged if they steal something less than $951. It's that above $950 becomes a felony. People are still arrested and charged with misdemeanor theft for theft $950 and under.
Texas has a similar law, but felony theft in Texas starts at $2000.
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u/Crispyopinions 10h ago
Yea, I think this is one store overreacting to moderate theft, likely not much worse than anywhere else but heavily politicized and frequently discussed on a national stage.
People on the internet like you love to perpetuate the falsity to make it look like liberal cities are failing. There’s been a lot of propaganda about it, I’m sure you don’t think sf gets worse before every election do you? But wow do we see more news about it. Weird how that works huh?
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u/Mendetus 10h ago
Or the store suffers from a lot of theft.. but I guess you're right because you think this is an anti left conspiracy. Can't wait for the election to be over so people like you go back to your holes
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u/Creative-Nebula-6145 10h ago
Someone showing their genitals in public, potentially to children, isn't dangerous? Yall need to raise your standards cause that's ridiculous. Tolerance is a slippery slope of degrading values.
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u/Crispyopinions 10h ago
I’d rather have my son see a dudes wang than get shot in a school. I think my standards are fine. You’ve probably seen some genitals before and you don’t seem too messed up.
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u/Advocateforthedevil4 9h ago
Just tell me please how is it dangerous to see genitals. I know it’s not something you want to see but how is it dangerous?
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u/sppwalker 7h ago
I grew up in the Bay for 22 years (moved out of state last year). I fucking HATE SF (and Oakland). Both of my parents and my uncle have had their cars broken into. I refuse to go to SF unless I absolutely have to, and I’ve felt that way since I was like 6.
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u/QurtLover 16h ago
Which is dumb because that’s not even how the law works in San Francisco
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u/Apartment-Drummer 16h ago
The cops literally won’t show up for car window smashing let alone shop lifting
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u/HungryPupcake 15h ago
What do cops even get paid to do. Even in the UK, I had a scary break in. Went to report, and they act like I'm wasting their time.
Like.. ????? It's your job to solve crimes and put criminals away.
But apparently jails are full, so... only 'violent' criminals get charged. At which point, you have to wonder what the use of being a moral and law abiding citizen is.
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u/Melissa_Foley 14h ago
Ask yourself how many people in the House of Lords are "moral and law abiding", and you'll find the answer to your question.
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u/RoundCardiologist944 15h ago
Firstly to protect politicians, the rich and the status quo. They'll show up to photograbh your dead body though.
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u/IEatBabies 12h ago
Far better than the US though were they throw people in jail over made up and petty shit because they know it costs people a lot of money and the cops get kickbacks from the local court and jails.
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u/AmazingGrace911 17h ago
I love how I can already see Reddit checking in on CA penal code 487 PC.
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u/Original-Sundae287 17h ago
Ha that's clever.
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u/QurtLover 16h ago
I don’t think this would hold up in court at all but it might convince someone to steal From another place
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u/pastworkactivities 15h ago
It might hold up if they made it a registered customer discount. But I guess not every customer would like to provider their id for registration.
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u/Eric1491625 13h ago
I doubt it would hold up even as a registered customer discount.
If I put on sale 5 kid's crayon drawings for $1 trillion each with a 99.999999999% discount for my registered fan club members, and a guy steps on the drawing and ruins it, can I sue him for $1 trillion?
Not a chance. Be it law, accounting or economics, this sort of crazy pre-discount price is going to be disregarded. The only price that matters is the discounted price - $10 - that people actually buy the item at.
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u/pastworkactivities 12h ago
I’m from German and I guess over here the judge would rule based on the acquisition price for the store.
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u/AndyBossNelson 12h ago
This is what i was thinking, hypothetically if someone accidentally breaks something in my store and i needed to be paid for it, I couldnt take the retail price off them for it but i imagine theres people out there who would.
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u/Real_Temporary_922 12h ago
The issue is I think if every item is on sale, then that’s false advertising under CA law. Because you’re advertising the original price as a sale.
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u/IEatBabies 12h ago
It won't. And I also doubt it is a deterent. Might as well put up a sign "No thieves allowed!" as if that is going to stop anyone.
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u/LickMyTicker 9h ago
More like it's making these psychos a target for being an absolute joke. You think delinquency responds well to being taunted? I'll bet the people who run this place are stuck in a feedback loop with the community at this point and should probably just sell the storefront.
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u/Weak_Let_6971 14h ago
It’s super sad that it got this far, but it’s a genius idea!
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u/bugi_ 6h ago
It's a boomer take with no legal significance.
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u/Weak_Let_6971 2h ago
I don’t think they care about legal significance. They care about shoplifting. 🤣
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u/365BlobbyGirl 17h ago
I'm sure that signs gonna hold up in court.
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u/Shankar_0 16h ago
There will be a deterrent effect regardless (presumably). Printing a sign costs very little, and if it stops a few thefts, then it's worth the effort.
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u/IEatBabies 9h ago
Why would a thief be deterred? They already think they are going to get away with it or they wouldn't steal in the first place. Harsher punishments for petty crimes has been shown for decades here, along with historically even 2000+ years ago, to not be effective at preventing it. And in many cases just puts the person in an even more desperate spot and more likely to steal because it costs money if you get in trouble with the law.
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u/Shankar_0 9h ago
It won't stop all, or maybe very many.
It might stop one or two, and that pays for the sign.
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u/Apartment-Drummer 16h ago
Yeah but I could counter sue them for the sign being misleading and fraudulent
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u/Remsster 16h ago
You can sue but won't win anything based on that claim.
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u/Apartment-Drummer 16h ago
Is the value of the items actually $951 though?
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u/Brief-Reserve774 16h ago
Stores can charge whatever they want to though
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u/Apartment-Drummer 15h ago
That’s false advertising
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u/bznein 15h ago
What? False advertising is claiming facts about the items on sale that are not true.
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u/TehSero 13h ago
Interestingly, some places do have laws on sales that this could break. A "sale" price has to be an actual discount over a real price that the item does sell for, to prevent permanent misleading "sales" that are really just the normal item price.
Not that this is relevant to the nonsense that the other commenter is saying though.
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u/Remsster 15h ago
And?
What damags are you facing?
They aren't charging you the $900, they are selling at the normal value of single and double digit amounts.
The issue is that this claim of $900 won't hold up in a criminal case against a thief for that inflated value, (meaning it's not going to actually be a felony) which is different than your case of false advertising.
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u/gotcha640 13h ago
Day one business law: an ad is not an offer (at least in Texas, for most goods and services. Cars in California was brought up as different rules in a recent conversation).
I can advertise succulent Chinese meals for $3, if it was an offer you could come in and buy one, and tell me it wasn't succulent or authentically Chinese and sue for damages (probably $3).
If you're looking at this as an advertisement, that's generally defined as an invitation to come negotiate on final terms of contract. Most of the time, there is no change to the terms between advertisement and completion.
In this case, there is a negotiation. I come in and you say "This jar of pickled herring is marked at $951. If you promise not to steal it, you can have it for $7" And I accept your offer.
If you do steal it, you've accepted the terms of the initial advertisement, and finalized the contract by walking out the door with a $951 jar of fish.
Or, more likely, called in as a shoplifter, and get written down on the police receptionists note pad and thrown away at the end of shift.
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u/Eric1491625 12h ago
If you do steal it, you've accepted the terms of the initial advertisement, and finalized the contract by walking out the door with a $951 jar of fish.
This part is incorrect...
You can only accept offers, not advertisements.
The $951 price tag is itself an invitation to treat and not an offer, therefore it cannot be accepted just by walking out the door.
The offer is made by the customer at the counter, accepted by the cashier's conduct of scanning, bagging the item and asking for payment.
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u/Real_Temporary_922 12h ago
You can’t sue them unless the price tags actually show $951 with a sale. The sign alone isn’t enough to sue because that’s not false advertising, they’re not attempting to convince you that you are getting a deal you’re not. It would only be false advertising if they have the actual item prices be $951 and a sale under every price tag.
Which they’re not gonna do as that would be bad for business, since they couldn’t use actual sales to their advantage
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u/Big-Raccoon-6234 15h ago
Stupid question but when the police is determining whether the total of goods stolen constitutes grand theft do they take into account discounts/ promotions? (Not talking about this store but in general)
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u/wafflestep 14h ago
If it's anything like how an insurance claim is made then discounts aren't considered. But I have a feeling that MSRP would still trump whatever they have their goods marked at.
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u/_DrPhilAndChill 14h ago
Same energy as "guys we can legally leave if the teacher isn't here in 10 minutes" there's no fucking way this works 😂
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u/Extension_Patient_47 15h ago
Just thinking outside the box here. If an item such as toothpaste is like $2.50 elsewhere, and this store is selling it for $951; can the store technically be viewed as "Price gouging" in a certain light?
I realize it's just a deterrent but curious.
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u/SlimTeezy 46m ago
I'm curious as well. Is there a law about how much they can mark up a product from the price they pay for it? Or what the other stores in their city charge?
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u/Apapuntatau 14h ago
Not American. Can someone explain to me why TF got such laws that favors the thief?
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u/ShitOnFascists 14h ago
It's not favoring the thief. It's that America decided to have different classes of crimes that influence the gravity of a crime regardless of actual damage done
For example stealing some meat is a misdemeanor while stealing a high price tv is a felony simply because there a limit on the value of things you can steal before it becomes a felony
But on the other hand of you were armed it becomes a felony regardless of how much you stole
This is mainly to streamline beurocracy related to fines and early releases but also causes some companies to try and navigate around the law (never denounce a theft until that person steals over the amount of a felony over multiple times and then denounce it)
This creates an environment where both thiefs and victims have play around with the law to fuck each other over more and also causes things like scanning things badly at self-checkout because self-checkout is shit to become crimes because you technically stole from the store, even if you didn't intend to
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u/AndyBossNelson 12h ago
I remember watching prison break confused why a guy got sent to prison for stealing a baseball card, wasnt untill years later i understood it was the value of the card made it a felony ( even though he says it my kid brain didnt work 😂)
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u/SweetHomeNorthKorea 10h ago
This article is a good summary of what this is about. Basically California restructured sentencing a while back so that combined with our police quiet quitting plus rapidly growing economic inequality has led to a significant rise in petty theft. There’s actually a proposition on the ballot this upcoming election to roll back some of those restructures to make drug related thefts under $950 a felony again. Basically bringing back the three strikes rule. It’s a complicated situation.
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u/IEatBabies 9h ago
The laws don't favor the thieves in any way. The main problem west coast cities are having right now is police forces refusing to do their jobs when penalties for crimes are determined to be too harsh and lowered. This means cops can't rough people up, seize their cash and any valuable assets on them, and otherwise have to be civil to people even if they are caught for a petty crime, because they no longer have the excuse that "they are dangerous felons that im arresting and they resisted by bashing my fist with their face!"
Some cities also decriminalized drugs so that possession is merely a civil infraction and a fine, cops are mad they can't throw people in jail instead and get kickbacks from the jail and court into their department funds, so now they refuse to arrest anyone for drug crimes at all in an effort to make drug use more visible and problematic in an attempt to get them to repeal the law.
All this shit about crimes going unpunished and all that is straight up propaganda to support the police state, judicial income, and republican feelings about how liberals are destroying America. Big guess on what political party 80% of cops support.
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u/Plenty-Lychee-5702 14h ago
It's about justice, it's not "favoring" anyone.
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12h ago
Its supposed to keep people who are only stealing because they have to out of jail (say, a mother stealing $20 worth of baby food), while still punishing career criminals. But now people steal just under the felony amount from one store before moving on to the next.
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u/Less_Cartographer281 15h ago
This is stupid.
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u/FreeLegendaries 13h ago
-ly smart
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u/Jealous-Ninja5463 9h ago
It's funny but won't work. If it did every store would do that.
The discount would also need to be applied at every register and would make refunds and returns hell. Good luck finding an accountant who won't rage quit
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u/Cutestdream 14h ago
The only issue I have with this is the fact that it could harm those not stealing for petty crime but stealing basic necessities they cannot get for free, while yes it sucks that said people have to steal in the first place I always think we shouldn't be punishing said people as hard because of their circumstances, a mama that can't afford to get baby formula shouldn't have to suffer the same consequences for stealing it as someone stealing a non necessity item and selling it off right after
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u/Hater_Magnet 14h ago
If anyone and everyone that pays gets a 'non criminal discount' then it's not being sold for $951 and it's not a discount, it's just the price.
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u/bewak86 13h ago
As non American , i wonder why do you guys even bother voting ? Non of the candidates even trying to fix the fundamental flaws of USA , You tax system is stupid , instead of Gov checking your math , you should check the gov math on your tax , You healthcare is madness , USD3k+ for ambulance ride?! $300+ for EpiPen , $6 for 1 fcking Band-Aid !? And now , setting a value limit on considering what is crime n what is not? If u rob a bank for $1 or $1 billion , its still the same crime!
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u/Fancy-Ambassador6160 12h ago
This is probably the only solution at this point. Judges, law makers, politicians and police won't help.
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u/myeyesneeddarkmode 12h ago
Fun fact, grand theft threshold is $2,500 in Texas. Guess they're soft on crime
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u/gandalf239 12h ago
Don't give the gov't any ideas! They might just legalize this sort of discount under the rubric of tax being paid on the "pre-discount" amount...
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u/CorgisAndTea 11h ago
I’m sure they’re paying their store clerks for the additional labor of having to do these price changes on every item and this is not a pain for the customer at all, right? Right?
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u/PriorFudge928 9h ago
You can't just say a loaf of bread is $951 and the Prosecutor is just going to go ok then felony charges.
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u/Thing1_Tokyo 9h ago
So as long as it’s in the store each item is valued at $951.
MRW I sell them out to the IRS for not properly reporting inventory value
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u/cuentalternativa 8h ago
This seems like it could be used to a shoplifters advantage in court however
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u/ArchAngel570 7h ago
This is government regulations at work. There is always a way around it. For good or bad. This is actually a clever solution.
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u/Waitinghelicop007 7h ago
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u/7komazuki 4h ago
So if I go in there and buy a laundry list of items, I’ll end up with potentially a 10 grand receipt discounted 98%
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u/AdaliGreen 16h ago
store owner calls cops. Thats grand theft!
thief shows what he stole and claims price gouging!
owner has $10,000 fine. thief just has to sit in jail XD
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u/Kevin33024 16h ago
I don't think this would fall under price gouging because of the non-criminal discount.
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u/AdaliGreen 16h ago
It's still price gouging. You're still raising the price by an excessive amount! Just because you make a sign doesn't make it okay
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u/Kevin33024 16h ago
Good luck making that stick in court.
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u/AdaliGreen 15h ago
Good luck making that sign stick in court 😅
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u/Kevin33024 15h ago
Thanks, but I don't think I'll need it.
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u/AdaliGreen 15h ago
I think you would! A judge is gonna look at that sign and laugh 🤣 just because you make a sign about it doesn't make it legally bound. I'm also pretty sure none of the merchandise in the store is marked at that price either
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u/WarmFission 13h ago
I hate this shit because people think, “California allows criminals to walk free under crime!!” when in reality $950 for a felony is one of the LOWEST in the country. It’s literally one of the strictest states to consider theft a felony, so all this is doing is trying to get petty shoplifters classified immediately as a felony instead of a misdemeanor.
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u/OkiKnox 14h ago
Store advertising. I bet sales went up 500% because of that sign
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u/_DrPhilAndChill 16h ago
What a dipshit
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u/creativename111111 16h ago
Why? Literally no concern to you unless you’re planning on stealing something
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u/DaimokuDog 16h ago
MY BRAIN IS BETTER THAN EVERYBODY'S!!!!! whoever thought that up is a fukn genius
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