I Hate Thieves

[cmzaha]

Watch your booths closely. For the first time in my 7+ years of selling at Farmer Markets and Art Walks I got ripped off last Friday night for 7 of my foot scrubbie bars. These bars are a bit unique and I have been amazed that no one has tried to copy them. I know there was another, so called, Soapmaker that had some young girls in her booth, just wondering if they snagged them. This soapmaker sells "Recycled" soaps according to her labels. They are really ends and pieces rebatched. Who would buy "Recycled" soap. I know a group of girls spread out my wax tarts, which were behind the foot scrubbies and now I think back there were not foot scrubbies when I put the tarts back in their container. So I am quite sure they snagged them, but do not really know if it was the girls in her booth. I sell them for $7 each so it was a bit of a loss.

Never have I had this happen, but I was pretty overheated, it was over 100º F when we set up and I was not quite up to par. My fault for not watching closer. Now I will really have to pay attention. If they got away with it once what will they take next time

 

[amd]

Wow! 7 bars? that's ballsy. And um... recycled soaps? Like they've been used and rebatched?

 

[cmzaha]

Wow! 7 bars? that's ballsy. And um... recycled soaps? Like they've been used and rebatched?

That what recycled would indicate to me and soap sellers wonder why they sell no soap...

Fortunately my foot scrubbies are not full sized bars and the scrubbie I use is very hard to find. These are not luffa. Hopefully it was not her because I will be keeping an eye out. These are something very easy to prove they are mine

 

[I_like_melts]

I'm sorry that happened to you. I used to do flea markets with various collectibles - it happens a lot when you work alone I'm afraid. One thing that I did back in the day is kept the least expensive items closest to the area where people walked up. Not sure how well that works with soaps. I haven't done the craft fair / farmers market market yet.

Also, recycled soap sounds disgusting. I hear recycled and think "used" when it comes to soap?

 

[cmzaha]

I have always been fortunate that nothing has ever been snagged. These are something unusual and no one needs 7 of them, since they will last 6-12 months, of course, depending on usage. I do not do my markets alone, at close to 70 it is just not something I want to do alone. Hubby helps me, but apparently he was busy with a customer. Did sell a lot of soap Friday by this markets standards, so there was a plus side.

Plus my vendor friend that makes some lovely jewelry can be a pretty real rough tumbled turquoise strung necklace with a dream catcher which I know she sells for approx $50. I do not usually wear chunky necklaces but it was so pretty I was going to buy it, and it matched the pants I was wearing.

 

[shunt2011]

Sorry that happened to you. I had someone steal two of my roll on perfume testers at my last show. Really dumb, especially since they had been used. I had a lot of people at my tables and got distracted.

 

[Alfa_Lazcares]

I am lucky to have never had someone steal my soaps, but I have had my dad try to give away my soap.

My mother did just that a few months ago. I mean, i dont sell and she gave it ti family... but it was my soap! And some i hadnt event tried myself.

 

[Dean]

Watch your booths closely. For the first time in my 7+ years of selling at Farmer Markets and Art Walks I got ripped off last Friday night for 7 of my foot scrubbie bars. These bars are a bit unique and I have been amazed that no one has tried to copy them. I know there was another, so called, Soapmaker that had some young girls in her booth, just wondering if they snagged them. This soapmaker sells "Recycled" soaps according to her labels. They are really ends and pieces rebatched. Who would buy "Recycled" soap. I know a group of girls spread out my wax tarts, which were behind the foot scrubbies and now I think back there were not foot scrubbies when I put the tarts back in their container. So I am quite sure they snagged them, but do not really know if it was the girls in her booth. I sell them for $7 each so it was a bit of a loss.

Never have I had this happen, but I was pretty overheated, it was over 100º F when we set up and I was not quite up to par. My fault for not watching closer. Now I will really have to pay attention. If they got away with it once what will they take next time

I'm sure there is a special place in h3ll for soap thieves!

 

[Lin19687]

I just did inventory of what I had left and only a 2 or 3 bars seem to be missing which may or may not be my miscalculations from the beginning.

Sorry that happened. I do look for that but for me it is hard as I am alone

 

[zanzalawi]

7 bars!! dirty
so glad friday was awesome but yeah, that really stings

 

[Dennis]

I wonder if the recycled soap was made using old vegetable oil, filtered and then reused. You used to be able to snag it free at some fast food joints but not sure that is still happening.

I understand your feelings at being ripped off. It happened to me at a stained glass shop that sold some of my glass boxes on consignment. There was a piece of unique glass that really appealed to me that had been saved for a long time. Once settling on a design I used it to make the box and it was a favorite. Probably my best ever. I decided to pick it up keep it for my daughter. It meant a lot to me. Went to pick it up and found out it had been shoplifted the evening before. Petty thieves are the lowest of the low. They would steal the pennies off their dead mother's eyes.

 

[Lin19687]

@Dennis well that just shows how cheap they are,,,,, pennies and not silver dollars ??

the shame of it all
lol

 

[cmzaha]

I wonder if the recycled soap was made using old vegetable oil, filtered and then reused. You used to be able to snag it free at some fast food joints but not sure that is still happening.

I understand your feelings at being ripped off. It happened to me at a stained glass shop that sold some of my glass boxes on consignment. There was a piece of unique glass that really appealed to me that had been saved for a long time. Once settling on a design I used it to make the box and it was a favorite. Probably my best ever. I decided to pick it up keep it for my daughter. It meant a lot to me. Went to pick it up and found out it had been shoplifted the evening before. Petty thieves are the lowest of the low. They would steal the pennies off their dead mother's eyes.

It was re-batch soap, her label mentioned it was made from ends and pieces of leftover soap, but in my mind was that used soap I am sure it was not, but a customer might feel that way. Such a stupid sales tactic.

As for the theft, what really upset me is if someone is going to try to copy, but then they would only need one. You are very correct Petty thieves are the lowest of the lot

 

[cerelife]

So sorry this happened to you!
I'm a vendor at a yearly 3-day festival in Louisiana for a non-profit organization and I always donate something for their silent auction to raise money for the cause. A couple of years ago my contribution was an antique Tiffany silver basket filled with my products and lined with a handmade antique Irish lace handkerchief. I estimated the price of the donation at $250 since the basket was fairly small and I could only get about $30 of my stuff in it. The silent auction items are displayed throughout the weekend so that people can check them out and place their bids. So the highest bidders are announced the last evening of the festival; and when the winner of my donation goes to collect her basket (for which she paid $375)...the products are gone! Just the basket and the handkerchief are left!! Seriously?? What kind of idiot steals $30 worth of product and leaves behind a basket worth over $200?? The winner was almost in tears that someone stole her 'Minou Bleu' stuff, so I let her pick out double the amount of product that was originally in the basket and gained a loyal customer. AND I heard later from the festival organizers that she donated an additional $30 to the cause
That same year my husband and I saw a very well-dressed woman slip some of my soy tarts into her pockets while she thought we weren't paying attention. I mean REALLY? I charge $1 each for them (they cost me 18 cents to make), and I would have happily given them to her as lagniappe since she made a substantial purchase at my booth. My husband asked me if I was going to confront her about her petty theft and I was like "Nope, she's welcome to them and Karma will take care of her." Sure enough - we saw her later that evening with hideous red stains on her expensive white linen slacks.
Soy tarts have the unfortunate tendency to melt with the combination of body heat and 90 degrees temperatures and those cinnamon tarts you stole from me have branded you like Hester Prynne from the "Scarlet Letter', LOL! Now ALL of the vendors know that you're a petty thief

 

[earlene]

Soap made from recycled oil, I have seen. But to call it 'recycled soap' is IMO a bad choice for branding.

I am so sorry you have been robbed by these shoplifters. I have to admit, I was one of those kids that shoplifted. Not soap, but a banana once in the local market on my way to school one day. I felt so guilty about it that I went back later and gave them the 5 cents that I had stolen by stealing that banana. Eventually, though, I got over that guilt and would snag any 'lost' bills that fell out of drunk guys pockets in a bar. I stopped considering that stealing, but essentially it was if I knew which guy dropped the money on the floor.

Anyway, it's a real shame that there are so many folks out there who feel compelled to shop lift from anyone, let alone from someone working so obviously hard to maintain a decent income. Hopefully they will pay for it one day if not so quickly as the gal in cerelife's example with her red-dye stains in her white linen slacks.