Hiding Lego - What is your opinion?

[sadowsk1]

This has been nagging at me for a while and as Huskers mentioned in a post it should be started in it's own thread if the topic is going to be drawn out.

 

If I owned a store and a customer was taking an item off the shelf and hiding it in the store so I wouldn't charge as much for it later I would consider that customer to intentionally trying to devalue a product I am trying to maximize profit on and essentially stealing from me.

 

Would you find that customers behavior acceptable if it was your store?

 

There are some people that would justify their actions and say that large retailers can afford to take the loss and it's a game to them.  I don't see it that way. 

 

If I was stopped and asked by store security what I was doing if I was hiding packages around the building what could my reason be?  If I said anything other than what I am attempting to do I would be a liar also and if I lied about it I must be ashamed of what I am doing.

[meowingthings]

Theft by decepetion.

 

A person is guilty of theft by deception when the person obtains property or services

of another by deception with intent to deprive the person thereof. A person deceives

when the person intentionally:

 

(1) Creates or reinforces a false impression, including false impressions as to law,

value, intention, or other state of mind;

 

(2) Prevents another from acquiring information which would affect judgment of

a transaction;

 

From Attorney Genral document

[Huskers1236]

Ok, now that we have a separate topic for this, and thanks for doing that, I will talk about it.  If I owned the store, I would, for obvious reasons, find it wrong and troubling, as I would be losing money on an item that I could/should have sold at retail.  Myself, or my employees, though, should be doing their due diligence when they "face"(this was what we called moving product to the front of the rack when I worked in a grocery store in high school so that it looks good) the store and move out of place items back where they should be.  People get away with hiding things if the store isn't keeping their products tidy. 

 

On the shopper end of it, I can see why people do it, especially kids.  Maybe the kid doesn't get his allowance for another week and wants an item, so he hides it until he can get it next week.  No real harm done there.  The store gets its sale, the kid gets his toy.  Did he keep another kid from getting it?  Yeah, but there is no real crime committed, so I don't get too worked up about it.  As for adults, it's going to be done in the name of money, and this is where the lines blur.  I doubt Joe investor is hiding a set so that he can buy it next week for his son/daughter.  He is hiding it so that he can come back at sale time and get the item for less than he would have normally paid for it, and this becomes a moral issue.  It's not outright stealing, you're still paying for it, but if it was an item worth hiding, the store was going to be able to sell it for a higher price. 

 

In the end, it's not like I'm going to call the cops about product hiding, it's just not that big of a deal, and can be prevented if the store in keeping the store tidy and organized.  Anybody that has been to Walmart knows that this is generally not the case, however. 

 

I will say this.  I would NEVER do this.  Not because of it being criminal, but because I have too much pride, and my name is worth too much to be embarrassed over hiding Lego, and being questioned over it.  Anyone with a professional career that actually has something on the line to lose, I guess is it worth the risk?  I say no.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

 

Theft by decepetion.

 

A person is guilty of theft by deception when the person obtains property or services

of another by deception with intent to deprive the person thereof. A person deceives

when the person intentionally:

 

(1) Creates or reinforces a false impression, including false impressions as to law,

value, intention, or other state of mind;

 

(2) Prevents another from acquiring information which would affect judgment of

a transaction;

 

From Attorney Genral document

 

 

I didn't know Jack McCoy was a Lego fan. You literally just ended the thread. lol.

[hepcatpunk]

+1 to everything you said Huskers.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

This has been nagging at me for a while and as Huskers mentioned in a post it should be started in it's own thread if the topic is going to be drawn out.

 

If I owned a store and a customer was taking an item off the shelf and hiding it in the store so I wouldn't charge as much for it later I would consider that customer to intentionally trying to devalue a product I am trying to maximize profit on and essentially stealing from me.

 

Would you find that customers behavior acceptable if it was your store?

 

There are some people that would justify their actions and say that large retailers can afford to take the loss and it's a game to them.  I don't see it that way. 

 

If I was stopped and asked by store security what I was doing if I was hiding packages around the building what could my reason be?  If I said anything other than what I am attempting to do I would be a liar also and if I lied about it I must be ashamed of what I am doing.

 

I did it when I was little - but not trying to get a lower price, just because I wanted to come back and get it when I was able to.

 

Now though, I think its arguably wrong either way, but definitely wrong if you are doing it to get a discount. Doing it to hope that someone else doesn't buy it is wrong too to me.

[comicblast]

Ok, now that we have a separate topic for this, and thanks for doing that, I will talk about it.  If I owned the store, I would, for obvious reasons, find it wrong and troubling, as I would be losing money on an item that I could/should have sold at retail.  Myself, or my employees, though, should be doing their due diligence when they "face"(this was what we called moving product to the front of the rack when I worked in a grocery store in high school so that it looks good) the store and move out of place items back where they should be.  People get away with hiding things if the store isn't keeping their products tidy. 

 

On the shopper end of it, I can see why people do it, especially kids.  Maybe the kid doesn't get his allowance for another week and wants an item, so he hides it until he can get it next week.  No real harm done there.  The store gets its sale, the kid gets his toy.  Did he keep another kid from getting it?  Yeah, but there is no real crime committed, so I don't get too worked up about it.  As for adults, it's going to be done in the name of money, and this is where the lines blur.  I doubt Joe investor is hiding a set so that he can buy it next week for his son/daughter.  He is hiding it so that he can come back at sale time and get the item for less than he would have normally paid for it, and this becomes a moral issue.  It's not outright stealing, you're still paying for it, but if it was an item worth hiding, the store was going to be able to sell it for a higher price. 

 

In the end, it's not like I'm going to call the cops about product hiding, it's just not that big of a deal, and can be prevented if the store in keeping the store tidy and organized.  Anybody that has been to Walmart knows that this is generally not the case, however.

 

I will say this.  I would NEVER do this.  Not because of it being criminal, but because I have too much pride, and my name is worth too much to be embarrassed over hiding Lego, and being questioned over it.  Anyone with a professional career that actually has something on the line to lose, I guess is it worth the risk?  I say no.

Well said. Really, it is both the store's fault as well as the customer's fault. The store can stop things like this by easily organizing at the end/beginning or even in the middle of each day. I do think that doing something like this is dishonest, and my personal morals do not take stealing/deceit lightly. Partially because of personal pride, and partially because of reputation, as Huskers said.

 

For smaller Mom and Pop stores, maybe the customer can ask for the item to be held until a later date. If not, then I say it is the customer's problem.

[spener90]

I have never considered doing this.

 

Act like a child, get treated like a child.

[Guest eightbrick]

I am guilty of doing this once. Really, I don't think it is stealing, and I could justify myself with a hundred lame reasons like "the whole prospect of business is wrong" but bottom line, it is borderline unethical.

 

If I was a store owner, I would just put it back, no need for confrontation (if you confronted them, they might just ask for a discount right then and there or bring up some irrelevant legal rights). If they did it multiple times and I was in a bad mood, I might consider hiding it from them. Or putting it up so high that they couldn't be able to get it without a ladder or suffering a significant spinal cord injury. Real customers would ask for assistance, but no one would take a set from an employee and hide it right in front of them.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

I am guilty of doing this once. Really, I don't think it is stealing, and I could justify myself with a hundred lame reasons like "the whole prospect of business is wrong" but bottom line, it is borderline unethical.

 

If I was a store owner, I would just put it back, no need for confrontation (if you confronted them, they might just ask for a discount right then and there or bring up some irrelevant legal rights). If they did it multiple times and I was in a bad mood, I might consider hiding it from them. Or putting it up so high that they couldn't be able to get it without a ladder or suffering a significant spinal cord injury. Real customers would ask for assistance, but no one would take a set from an employee and hide it right in front of them.

 

I can definitely see this and I think as an owner I would do the same.

 

My philosophy with things like this is if you have any qualms about it, its probably wrong.

[scottjs]

Here I thought this was another thread about hiding Lego from your spouse lol. I agree with general attitude that it's morally wrong at best and I would never do it. If I noticed someone doing I might go so far as to move the item back and possibly leave a taunting note, hehe.

I doubt Walmart even notices this kind of thing though so these people will continue to get away with it.

[Huskers1236]

Here I thought this was another thread about hiding Lego from your spouse lol. I agree with general attitude that it's morally wrong at best and I would never do it. If I noticed someone doing I might go so far as to move the item back and possibly leave a taunting note, hehe.

I doubt Walmart even notices this kind of thing though so these people will continue to get away with it.

Hiding Lego from you spouse is not only ethical, it is encouraged.

[TheDarkness]

I think it would be pretty difficult these days to tell the truth. I've placed sets on a higher part of the shelf before as I gather information about how a set compares to with international prices, but not hidden one trying to get it cheaper later. As an owner/manager I'd just put it back.

[scuttfarkas]

Meh.....just keeping the aisle workers on their toes!.......

[Gondorian]

I put stuff back in the wrong place in shops all the time.  Some people would lose their jobs if there were no things to put back in the right place.  I support my local police force in the same way, by committing random murders, so they have something to work on.

[Sauromosis]

I like when others do it.  Found two Goblin Kings on a totally random shelf and scooped em up.

[Anakinisvader]

K-Mart is the best place to hide things.  You can come back months later and it will still be hidden in the same place. 

[Diabolos80]

I hid toys when I was a kid so I could buy them once I saved the money. Usually it didn't work, I'd come back and the toys were gone, baby, gone.

[Mindblow21]

I think that if you are doing this as an adult you need to take a step back and refocus. Lego investing should be fun as well as profitable and if you are hiding product you may be taking things a bit to far. That being said, I don't think the police need to be involved. If I got in to trouble for something like this I think the wife would put an end to my Lego investing!

[Huskers1236]

I think that if you are doing this as an adult you need to take a step back and refocus. Lego investing should be fun as well as profitable and if you are hiding product you may be taking things a bit to far. That being said, I don't think the police need to be involved. If I got in to trouble for something like this I think the wife would put an end to my Lego investing!

Yes, if I ended up on the news for something Lego related, and not in a good way, she would either leave me or make me go to a psych.  And rest assured, she would nix the Lego investing right away.

[Alcarin]

I agree with Huskers about this...

 

hiding products inside store to come later for them is allright as long as you pay the same price as the day you hid them...

 

but hiding in the name of paying less and make profits higher is immoral for me...

[boomzoom]

Actually I don't see what is wrong with hiding an item. If a customer can successfully hide an item, it is because the staff did not organize the shelf diligently. The item never leaves the store, no way it can be called stealing. If a customer really wants an item, and believes the store has it in stock, he/she can look around and do the find the treasure game. I love finding things that people hid ;-)

 

I have more problems hiding Lego from spouse though. I told my husband to maintain our marriage, do not go to the guest bedroom! (where I store all the legos). It also makes me feel guilty buying more lego every time. I wish he was into the investing game. He has no problem buying and building though.

[JoshTX]

I mentioned the "child's allowance" factor in the other thread, and in this case I see it as innocent considering the child is simply trying to ensure the product is there later for them as opposed to hiding it waiting for a price markdown. I frequently hid toys at KB back in the late 80's, hoping it would be there when I could come back, but usually I had little success. As an adult, if I saw someone hiding things I'd probably just laugh and assume they are in serious need of an evaluation.