Inflation of Costs

Sometimes companies come up with interesting ways to combat people stealing merchandise.  A favorite of mine is when they raise prices.  "Hey there uh guy.  I see we've been losing a lot of our 'uselesslittlethings' and they cost $20 a pop!"  A manager may say.

"Yes sir, they do seem to be stolen a lot."

"Well, to fix this we're going to raise prices.  Because if we can't sell our smallest merchandise we're really screwed as a company.  Like, we don't have a profit margin.  If we don't make money on the 'uselesslittlethings' you can kiss your job goodbye.  Moral of the story, they're $25 now."

An employee may be confused at this point and say, "But sir, that will only punish the people who don't steal things and make the thieves more likely to steal, because the item is more expensive."  That employee may then be fired.  Unless their boss had a speech impediment that made their "f's" sound like "h's."

Here is an insight into the mind of one dasterdly thief after finding out about the price hike.  "Well, I was going to steal it.  But since it costs more to other people, who I don't care about, I'm going to go ahead and steal it."  It's a grave lesson they learned, but at least they were taught!

Hopefully big corporations will see the error of their ways and look into other ways to solve the problem.  Like breaking the knees of everyone who doesn't steal something.  Maybe insulting their clothes or children.  There's so much room for improvement.  Inconveniencing other people unrelated to the thief will teach them an important lesson!  The other people that is.  The lesson being, steal more because the people you shop from don't care about you!