View Full Version : Tide Clothes detergent being stolen.........
I don't understand this. I've been hearing about how people are stealing large amounts of Tide and selling it. At first I thought it must be something that goes into the making of crack or something. But no.........its just for reselling at a higher price. I don't get it.
Sad Eyed Lady
3-14-12, 12:56pm
If it is stolen the thief has no investment and can sell at a LOWER price on the street, therefore cornering the market of the consumer who doesn't have to go into a store and pay full retail. Or at least that is my understanding.
ApatheticNoMore
3-14-12, 1:33pm
this really is classic doomster material (economy doing just fine folks, we just all steal Tide in order to survive these days ;))
I don't understand this. I've been hearing about how people are stealing large amounts of Tide and selling it. At first I thought it must be something that goes into the making of crack or something. But no.........its just for reselling at a higher price. I don't get it.
I thought that story was really odd too. Why Tide?? Why not toilet paper? Or bath soap? Or food???
I am going out on a limb here but I would bet Tide is a status product in the lower socio-economic strata. Since people in poverty wash their clothes in laundromats rather then privacy of their own home (at least at higher rates than middle class people), using Tide does give one a certain cachet since people can see what you are using.
It's silly, yes. I suppose the wealthier woman's equivalent would be using an upscale lipstick. Lipstick is often applied in the presence of other women and so using a department store or higher quality brand conveys more status than a drugstore brand.
What confused me was that the news said they were selling it at a higher price (I thought).
Oh gosh.......I hope its not just a status thing. What will they think of next!? Seems like a silly notion catches on and the lemmings run for it.
What confused me was that the news said they were selling it at a higher price (I thought).
Oh gosh.......I hope its not just a status thing. What will they think of next!? Seems like a silly notion catches on and the lemmings run for it.
People who are stressed and struggling aren't lemmings, they are doing the best they can under dire circumstances...
goldensmom
3-14-12, 3:58pm
When I first read the headline about Tide being stolen, my first thought was 'what ingredient in Tide can be used in making illegal drugs?'. Around here usually the theft of a large quantity of a product is used somehow for drugs. I still don't really get it but will keep my sales receipt when traveling home from the store with my bottle of Tide.
redfox.......I'm talking about any new "fad". And I think there's alot of people out there who, yes, are in a lower socioeconomic group, but their "work" of choice is stealing.
Lately I've noticed at a couple grocery stores they have signs in the aisle with the baby stuff that say "The baby formula is now behind the service desk." Do people use baby formula to make meth or what? I don't get that one either. And po folks could get baby formula with food stamps so I can't see reselling it.
I find it funny when NAME BRAND items are stolen. Since, in a way, the marketing and "branding" machines/departments, are sorta responsible for making people think/feel/desire the need to have the product. You can use cheaper things with less cost that will work exactly the same.
Clothing is a great example. You can get any normal sweater for very cheap. A name brand sweater, well, the price is so inflated because of the "name."
In short, people think they have to have these things to the point of stealing them or even paying for them off the street (which is still more expensive than a non-brand article).
If they are going to make people think they can't live without these things, well, they will do whatever they need too to get them!
I am going out on a limb here but I would bet Tide is a status product in the lower socio-economic strata. Since people in poverty wash their clothes in laundromats rather then privacy of their own home (at least at higher rates than middle class people), using Tide does give one a certain cachet since people can see what you are using.
It's silly, yes. I suppose the wealthier woman's equivalent would be using an upscale lipstick. Lipstick is often applied in the presence of other women and so using a department store or higher quality brand conveys more status than a drugstore brand.
Tide is one of the strongest-smelling laundry products: anyone within 30 feet can tell you use it. It's extremely popular with Latino populations, for instance. When you use Tide - especially a LOT of Tide - everyone knows how clean you are. And at $15 bottle, there's a lot of room to make money by stealing it and selling at a discount. And yes, other products are also being stolen. The point of the article I read is that there's been a change from what's usually been shoplifted - small, portable items desirable by youth, for instance, like the upscale lipsticks - to more basic household items that can be resold at a profit.
Kathy........in this area, the Po folks break down the doors of the mall when the latest $200 tennis shoes first come out.......and I mean break literally. Children get trampled. So, you can see why they don't have the money to buy baby formula
and detergent. >:(
No wonder Latinos smell so nice. I've actually noticed that.
fidgiegirl
3-14-12, 10:42pm
Lately I've noticed at a couple grocery stores they have signs in the aisle with the baby stuff that say "The baby formula is now behind the service desk." Do people use baby formula to make meth or what? I don't get that one either. And po folks could get baby formula with food stamps so I can't see reselling it.
That's been the deal for a long time around here, or it's under lock and key. I think people were stealing it under the basket, you know, if you've been a cashier they make a big deal of checking the bottom of the cart because people would load stuff there, not unload it, and leave unnoticed because the cashier didn't ring it. Then they could return it for a lot of $$, because it's expensive.
fidgiegirl
3-14-12, 10:44pm
Kathy........in this area, the Po folks break down the doors of the mall when the latest $200 tennis shoes first come out.......and I mean break literally. Children get trampled. So, you can see why they don't have the money to buy baby formula
and detergent. >:(
:( Another case of an entire group of population being lumped together on the boards. :( Makes me sad.
The Storyteller
3-14-12, 10:53pm
You can certainly tell there aren't many people on here who have ever been poor.
But then, I noticed that a long time ago.
I've been poor. But I haven't stolen like "some" of the poor people today do. And...........if I had $200 to spend on the latest Michael Jordan tennies, I wouldn't be stealing. My values as a person without much money were totally different than this. I lived in dumps, ate disgusting cheap food, but I didn't steal.
And I might add that it isn't always a sin to "lump" people together. If you see something over and over and over, its only sensible to make a few deductions.
There are no doubt millions of poor people with great ethics. I'm talking about the people who steal over and over......ignoring some of the other ways of making money ethically.
And it seems to me that you (Storyteller) are making some possibly unfair deductions yourself.
Lots of people on these boards have been poor. There was a thread awhile ago called "Once I was so poor..." or something like that. I agree that we shouldn't lump everybody together, but nobody said "all poor people always steal" or "all Latinos buy stolen Tide".
If you get food stamps (which I have, because I've been poor) you can get plenty of food, but you can't use them for things like detergent, TP, and lots of other things that are actual needs. There are some benefits that you lose completely if you make over a certain amount of money. My dad died when I was 2, and my mom and I got Social Security. My mom worked, but had to be careful not to work too many hours because if she made two cents over the limit, she would lose ALL the Social Security for that month. So some people make extra cash under the table doing conventional things like babysitting or yardwork, while some people get into illegal stuff. I spent money in stupid ways when I was young and poor; I probably could have made a downpayment on a house with all the money I spent on booze in college. People have different values in different circumstances.
I find it funny when NAME BRAND items are stolen. Since, in a way, the marketing and "branding" machines/departments, are sorta responsible for making people think/feel/desire the need to have the product. You can use cheaper things with less cost that will work exactly the same.
Lol, I thought the same thing. Tide is being stolen, but you could probably leave a truck load of Gain on the street unlocked overnight without worrying!
I'm still using the cardboard box of Arm and Hammer, with a coupon! I think I get something like 185 washes for about $11.00
Maybe the scent of Tide makes people high? :~)
goldensmom
3-15-12, 1:16pm
I use Tide because I like how it cleans and the scent (Mountain Spring, green cap). If I were to be concerned about status at the at the laundromat, I would buy one bottle of Tide and when empty, refill it with Xtra over and over and over. Or scavenge residential recycle bins, grab an already empty bottle and fill it with Xtra.
It doesn't cost money to be clean*, take care of your stuff well and have good manners. (That's what I was taught coming up - I don't always practice it as good as I should).
*well, I guess you have to pay for the water, detergent, etc.
Having been raised in an area of country with lots of poverty, cleanliness was a way that people without a lot of resources distinguished themselves.
Re: the stealing part --- how sad, pretty soon what ISN"T going to be locked up at the pharmacy/grocery ????
Pretty soon, everything will be locked up and you just pick up the cards for them and then wait for your stuff to come down on the conveyor belt. Then cards will start to be stolen. :~)
DH always likes to bring up his grandmother who came over from Hungary in the early 1900's. She was VERY poor, but her house was spotless. She had a tiny house and yard, yet she filled the yard with gardens and cooked everything from scratch. But she was immaculate, in spite of her being poor.
Miss Cellane
3-15-12, 7:08pm
This popped up in a news feed today. Apparently, people are stealing Tide and using it to buy drugs. The drug dealers then sell it to small retailers, because, as has been pointed out, Tide is very popular amongst certain populations. It's a bizarre little bit of economics.
I've never used Tide. My mom used All because it was the cheapest. I go for whatever's unscented and on sale.
Having been raised in an area of country with lots of poverty, cleanliness was a way that people without a lot of resources distinguished themselves.
That explains a lot about my neatnik grandmother. She's quite wealthy now, but grew up in very humble circumstances.
Simplemind
3-15-12, 9:05pm
We have had three stores close in an area of our town due to overwhelming thefts. They aren't small stores one was a Safeway, another a Fred Meyer and a third a QFC. It isn't only Tide, it is certain razor blades, Oil of Olay, diapers......... the list goes on. Shops have been set up in apartments and public storage units that turn the stolen goods. We have raided several. It is big business done by several people at once and the stores have not been able to stop it.
That's very disconcerting Simplemind.
I think about the earthquake and Tsunami in Japan and there was NO looting. There were no arguments or fights in the lines to get food and water.
All this stealing is a really sad statement about our country.
Simplemind
3-16-12, 6:03pm
The criminal element doesn't need a Tsunami. This isn't about need, it is about want. Easy money for people that don't want to earn it the slow old fashioned way. Chances of getting caught, slim. Chances of getting prosecuted, even slimmer.
Wow, I guess I'm really low on the totem pole. I mix my own laundry detergent from Ivory Snow and washing soda. (Anything scented makes me sneeze.) I even go so far as to save little slivers of Ivory soap and grate them for the laundry detergent mix.
More seriously, this sort of thing really saddens me. It's just another sign of how far the USA has fallen. Big corporations send factory work overseas (and a lot of other jobs) to shave costs and then desperate, unemployed people steal. It's a downward spiral with no end in sight. Not good.
Theft is just plain wrong! Now, having said that, diapers and baby formula are EXPENSIVE! I have 3 grandbabies in diapers and 2 on formula. I am amazed at the cost of it all. This is really a budget hardship for people that do not qualify for gov't assistance.
Now, having said that, most new mothers don't even consider using cloth diapers and day-care centers won't use them. Some mothers are unable to nurse their babies.
This is just all twisted
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