Via our friends at The Budget Fashionista:
What: Retail crime is up. And Congress is paying attention, with bills that give authorities more freedom to stop it.
What They Say: “ A mass of buyers for hot new products [for instance, the trendiest new handbags] at huge discounts is fueling organized retail crime—giving “hot” a darker meaning on the Internet, swap meets or flea markets.”
What We Say: If you’ve ever been to NYC, it was probably hard to resist the urge to buy that $15 Chanel purse in that shady alley way. But even if you’ve never gone bargain hunting in Chinatown, you’ve been to Craigslist and eBay, which feature ridiculously cheap designer clothes and accessories that, at times, seem all too good to be true/legal. Since shoppers are on an increasingly tight budget and retailers are nixing more and more staff every day, theft is bound to be a big problem. You may be contributing to it unknowingly—find out if you’re sporting a fake Luis Vuitton.
Are you okay with buying “hot” commodities, and if so, will you be disgruntled if law enforcement makes them less accessible, even to the benefit of the retail industry?
