Shoplifting seems like a victimless crime, but the damages caused are far from minor. I myself was recently caught shoplifting, and now I need to pay for the consequences of my crime. There are many reasons why people shoplift, it can be a obsessive compulsion disorder (OCD) all the way to a dare from a friend, either way Shoplifting does not only affect the individual, but it also affects the community, the retailer, and the consumer.

Shoplifting affects not only me but my family as well. I feel embarrassed and worthless yet if I felt like that. “Why did I do it in the first place?” Because shoplifting is tempting, the shoplifter thinks they’re getting the product for free. But the truth is that someone has to pay for our mistake, thus price rises and the community has to pay. And some stores could even go bankrupt because of shoplifting. It is unfair to people who do not shoplift to pay for the mistakes that shoplifters make. People in the community who are not as wealthy as others have a harder time paying for their food and needs, and when they feel they can’t afford spending too much money at a certain retail store they will have to go to another destination to shop, causing a great inconvience to them and also the retail store will be losing money and might even close down in the future. We also suffer on a personal level, when an employee who realizes an item has been stolen from their store. They often feel violated, and when they feel violated it causes them to