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Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

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Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#81

Post by dfxm12 »

hrimfaxi wrote: post #69
dfxm12 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think about blaming the grocery store replacing workers with no one in particular before you blame some college pranksters. Grocery stores in general consolidating, laying off workers, leaving them without pay/benefits, taking advantage of greedflation, etc., is a bigger drain on society.

Ah yes, let's blame some shadowy "big grocery" rather than point our fingers at individual bad actors.

Shadowy? Kroger's and Albertsons weren't allowed to merge due to anticompetitive practices, price hikes, etc. This was only a couple years ago & is out in the open. You can point all your fingers and toes at the boards of these companies if you need to.

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#82

Post by hrimfaxi »

cwmoore wrote: post #77
hrimfaxi wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah yes, let's blame some shadowy "big grocery" rather than point our fingers at individual bad actors.

Why deal with problem systems when we can punish someone we caught? That is your thought process?

Is it possible that grocery stores are reducing positions to save money? Is it not possible that it is a feedback loop? Why are we blaming the grocery store for replacing labor with machines? Why don't we decry the grocery that hires only 2 people instead of 3?

And since when is stealing a prank?

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#83

Post by bombcar »

manarth wrote: post #39
stavros wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couldn't you also not just check stuff in? These are all obvious drawbacks, it's not really a high-scrutiny environment.

Most self-checkouts I've come across have weight validation – "Unexpected item in the bagging area". Categorising things as "bananas" tricks the checkout into accepting the weight of an item, and you pay the appropriate price per bananagram.

You can build a socioeconomic graph of the country by how anal the unexpected item in the bagging area sensors are.

Some places will detect a fly farting on the damn scale, others can take three or four kids climbing on it before it complains.

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#84

Post by bombcar »

xingped wrote: post #37
dewey wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably mostly dangerous for the user, or are people routinely writing their own price signs in the store and then "buying" it for less? Walking up to the lot at the car store and crossing out some zeros? Don't see how this would be any different.

Back in the day people used to swap/edit price tags a lot. Also making fake coupons with the same knowledge. It was a pretty common and easy form of shoplifting since all barcodes used to do was just encode the pricing/discount information.

This is why the stickers have cuts in them, and why the barcodes cross-reference other things.

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#85

Post by ac29 »

DoctorOW wrote: post #45
comrade1234 wrote: post #35

[flagged]

I wonder if since IR is invisible you could theoretically, in an intellectual exercise, blast IR light in a room and mass change them surreptitiously if that was your goal.

From the upstream project:

> Can I change the display of all ESLs in a store at once ?

No. For two reasons:

Unlike radio waves, optical communication must be line-of-sight. Even from wall and ceiling reflections, an unique transmitter has no chance of reaching all of the hundreds or thousands of ESLs in a store.

Each ESL has an unique address which must be specified in update commands. There's no known way to broadcast display updates.

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#86

Post by bombcar »

dewey wrote: post #24
ModernMech wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What they do is swap bar codes, or they code organic fruit as regular, or they "forget" to scan in the self checkout, but yes.

So it's just stealing with extra steps.

Amusingly enough the extra steps likely make it worse once caught as it shows intent to defraud and planning.

In some places walking out with a MacBook Neo is a misdemeanor-but putting a barcode for bananas on it and checking out would be one or two felonies.

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#87

Post by bombcar »

voidUpdate wrote: post #2

I still don't think I've seen an actually useful application for a Flipper Zero. It's all just "use this to change store price tags" or "here's how to disconnect all bluetooth devices", but also "don't actually use this, because it would be illegal, this is just for educational purposes"

This right here would be useful once these price tag things start being thrown away. Times change and systems get updated and if you keep your eye out you’ll likely be able to get a handful cheap.

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#88

Post by prettyblocks »

Aboutplants wrote: post #29

I was in college when self checkout became a thing and it took us all of about 45 seconds to realize that you could just check everything out as bananas. Steak was weighed and priced at 4011 (banana code) as the stoned teenager cashier paid no attention. Everything on the receipt was literally Bananas

Back in the day when I was in HS, kids would go to Borders and swap the stickers from cheap books onto expensive computer books.

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#89

Post by FatherOfCurses »

DangerousPie wrote: post #33
Aboutplants wrote: post #29

I was in college when self checkout became a thing and it took us all of about 45 seconds to realize that you could just check everything out as bananas. Steak was weighed and priced at 4011 (banana code) as the stoned teenager cashier paid no attention. Everything on the receipt was literally Bananas

Congratulations, you have discovered the concept of shoplifting!

Too bad the store owners introduced a way to give customers more control over how merchandise exits their store.

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#90

Post by FatherOfCurses »

hrimfaxi wrote: post #69
dfxm12 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think about blaming the grocery store replacing workers with no one in particular before you blame some college pranksters. Grocery stores in general consolidating, laying off workers, leaving them without pay/benefits, taking advantage of greedflation, etc., is a bigger drain on society.

Ah yes, let's blame some shadowy "big grocery" rather than point our fingers at individual bad actors.

All grocery stores are introducing self-checkout as a way to reduce staffing. It's not a shadowy conspiracy, it's a legitimate fact. Many customers would much rather check out with a person.
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