( I didn't ĆtÄĂĄĆ plushie, @shppingnlifting gave to me and I thought it was cute đ„ș )
Ok, I got a STORY to tell. This time I had my dads girlfriend come with me because she wanted to buy clothes. So while we were in ulta I was walking around and finally found the perfect place to ĆĄtÄÄl lipglosses and all of the sudden BEEP BEEP BEEP. girl I jumped once I heard it. Apparently she had moved one of the perfumes too much so the sensor started to beep. ( Also the employee said that with sensors on things like perfumes and stuff, it'll beep if moved too much or moved into a dark area. )
anywho long story short, didn't get the lipglosses.
Okay, I havenât been doing this for long, but Iâve been doing reasonably well, especially since the pre/during Christmas period is when Iâve done the bulk of my magic. Iâve fucked up a few times. Iâve beeped. Iâve hit locations more frequently than I should have, and when I havenât known what Iâm walking into. But I still havenât been suspected, or caught.Â
And Iâm gonna say this because I know there are a few new lifters around:
Hereâs what Iâm offering:
Know yourself
Know your limits. Donât get cocky. Donât get over-ambitious. When I first got to the online lifting community, I saw epic hauls, and yeah, I was like, âThis is awesome. I want to do this.â But I also know my own limitations. Obviously Iâm not going to walk out with a designer handbag the first time I lift: you need to ease yourself into it.Â
Educate yourself
Especially for the US lifters, there is a wealth of information out there on tag types used in stores, company policy, etc. Read it. Be a little sponge for information in your early days, and remember things.Â
Adapt to new environments
You may not know how everything works, but look and learn. One of the best tactics is to scope out things in a non-sus way. Keep an eye on where cameras are, and assume that all of them are monitored. Remember that while your eyes can move, your body doesnât have to. This also goes for blindspots: temporary displays, or cages being unpacked, can create perfect blindspots for you. Distracted staff who are presumably not going to be shoplifted in front of might have their back turned, creating perfect opportunities for you. Remember, a lot of security is based around how they think lifters work and this doesnât account for people doing things like concealing when someone had their back turned or utilising a cage in front of a camera. Physical blindspots are one thing, but *human* blindspots are something else entirely.
Be aware of your body language
Donât rush and fidget after lifting. Donât give any indication that youâre nervous. Gear yourself into autodrive; convince yourself that youâre just browsing, and continue that mindset immediately before and after concealing. âForgetâ that youâve concealed once you have. Learn how to do things with your hands without actually looking at your hands: this is super important for peeling off RFIDs on the floor, as well as concealing.Â
Be Quick
Donât fuck around with packaging (donât be scared to leave something on the shelf if you donât think you can untag it) in a way thatâs noisy or complicated or is going to require lots of messing around. Donât lift in ways that mean unnaturally adjusting your bag or clothing. If you put your hand into a pocket, pulling out a phone rather than nothing is a better idea. The aim is to be fluid and natural.
Get out if you feel sussed
I donât give a shit if youâre missing out on something you really want, the moment you make a certain eye contact with the certain wrong somebodyâ and trust me, you will know that lookâ ditch what they have seen and get the fuck out. You can get that something elsewhere. Itâs not worth ruining your future for a bottle of foundation.
Pay attention to staff
Watch out for whoâs working when you lift or suss out a shop. Donât rely on them forgetting you. And the moment you feel recognised? Get out. And aim not to return for a long time. There are a few places I wonât be going back to for awhile, but I was smart enough to make sure they werenât places I frequent anyway. Donât count on your âwell, I got away that timeâ meaning that youâre going to be safe the next time you go in.Â
Bullshit
Learn to conceal well and bullshit. Learn how to move the contents of your bag aside, concealing what youâve jacked. Learn how to breezily roll your eyes about something you bought elsewhere that sets off alarms. Learn how to act like normal people would in any ordinary situation. Fluster, be embarassed, you have no idea whatâs going on. Humans are social creatures who empathise and generally will interact well with people who are ânice.â Be nice. Be everything they want you to be, and they wonât want you to be one of the âbad guysâ.Â
Make use of diversion
If you offer up your handbag for inspection and are carrying bags of groceries, odds are likely that youâre not going to be asked to reveal the contents of the grocery bags. Look at where people are directing their line of sight, and work out how to do things out of that line of sight. Learn how to âlookâ at one product while youâre concealing another one.Â
Learn where the weak points are
Nine times out of ten, humans are the weakest link in every security system. Know when staff are going to be distracted because theyâre exhausted/bored/busy. Know where to hit human empathy. Know where to hit blindspots. Find that untagged item or changeroom consultant who doesnât count, while you have an extra item concealed under a mountain of clothing. Most SAs are not naturally suspicious unless something tweaks their alarm bells. Donât tweak their alarm bells.
Start Small
Seriously, donât aim for high-end makeup palettes just yet. Maybe a lipstick is a good starter. Wear long sleeves, get a sense of sleight of hand and acting normal first. Get comfortable with what youâre doing.Â
Aim for improvement
No matter how good you are, you can always do better. Not in terms of stuff acquired, in terms of subtlety and timing and technique. Every time you lift, once youâre out of the danger zone, reflect on what youâve done. Look at it as though youâre watching a video of how you did it, and work out where you fucked up. Make sure you never make the same mistake again. Making mistakes is fine, and part of the learning process, as long as you actually learn from them and donât get your arse busted while doing so.
Take breaks
Donât lift daily. Donât lift when youâre in the middle of anxiety or something awful has happened. Even if you get away clean, youâre going to feel it for awhile afterwards. I get that lifting CAN ease negative feelings, but when youâre emotional and out of control, thatâs when youâre liable to fuck up. Use the prospect of getting out to lift again as a motivation to get your headshit together by all means, but make sure youâre operating at full capacity when you hit. The best situation, otherwise, is getting out with stuff, but wondering how you did it, and being haunted. The typical situation is leaving empty handed. The worst? Getting caught. All three of these are not ideal situations.Â
Donât do what theyâre expecting you to do
This is basically the crux of it: donât act like what people think a âtypical lifterâ is. Dressing well is part of it. But another part of it is knowing what items are likely to get lifted, and not pointedly going for them. Another part is controlling your body languageâ your thoughts, evenâ and being normal. Another part is not returning to the scene of a huge haul because you know itâs âeasy.â Being polite and friendly rather than evasive and suss, when talked to, will make you look far less suspicious than if theyâre already onto you and you are annoyed or aggressive. Hell, you might get people THINKING you look suss, but convincing themselves that youâre not because theyâve watched you and youâre just a bit OCD or awkward rather than lifting. They know you. Youâre fiiine.
Look at how you leave stock
If youâre going to leave packaging anywhere, return it to in the middle of the items on display, packaged up fine, like you opened it to look at the item and then returned it. Donât leave it somewhere random, and donât leave it at the front or the back: thatâs obvious. Leave it where itâs not going to draw attention for some time. If youâre going to leave rubbish, make sure it looks like rubbish (rather than a destroyed tag) or is well hidden. If you have to double-tag, double-tag in inconspicuous spots, like inside a pocket of an item that you never even took into a dressing room. If that changeroom you walked into had no hangers in it, donât leave any. Grab stock from the back of a section rather than the front, or if you do that, face it forward: remember, a lot of LP will look at stock rather than customers, and if something it missing in an otherwise tidy area that you were in, it can look suss. Â
Work out how you work best
I prefer working alone. I probably have trust issues to the point where I donât want to rely on anyone. Sleight of hand and bullshit are probably my best skills. I would prefer to take a little longer in a shop and be recognised, but also to be thought of as a bit of a weirdo rather than a suss lifter. And I treat every other person, camera, point of observation, etc, as a potential risk.
And thatâs not necessarily going to be everyoneâs best technique. A huge part of this is knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and basically maximising and minimising accordingly. Since weâre all different, weâre all going to have different ways of doing things that feel comfortable for us: the thing is that youâve got to feel comfortable. If, say, youâre more of an in-out ninja type, youâre not going to feel as comfy talking to people. You need to work out what actually works for you, and resembles something close to normal.
Practise
I literally donât have time for anyone who jumps RIGHT INTO LIFTBLR without apparently reading anythingâŠuses tags, does stupid shit like brag about their haul that they unboxed and left evidence everywhereâŠlike seriously thereâs SO much resource on tumblrâŠwhy are you on here at all trying to show out without studying up first?!?!
Yes this is a really bitchy post but seriously. Goddamn!
iâm not trying to say that newbies here are really fucking stupid but, some of these people are really fucking stupid. you joined on a whim and started shoplifting without ANY prior knowledge.
i KNOW there are a shit-ton of posts out here that tell you not to tag posts, not to leave evidence/packaging, to remove exit data and HOW TO DO SO
and if they havenât SEEN the posts and decide that they just want to be a part of the community and get their hands on all this new shit before even being well informed about tips/techniques/safety of the community.. i do not get it.
But fr though, when I first joined the lifting community, I stayed up all night looking at tips and hauls, and most importantly CAUGHT STORIES. These will keep you humble. No one should ever jump into this without spending HOURS not only researching in the community, but researching on Reddit as well, even joining âLoss preventionâ Facebook groups. Get a view on the inside. And after I did all this, I still practiced sleight of hand, blindspots, and concealment in my room everyday for at least 30 minutes. This isnât just something you can jump into recklessly, and expect everything to go your way. People are trained to look for us, hunt us down, and catch us. Please do your research angels !!!đđ
How does someone decide to start lifting after seeing it on tumblr? I canât imagine anyone doing that. Like I was lifting long before I started interacting with people on tumblr about it
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