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Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

economist.com

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Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#371

Post by prvit »

peyton wrote: post #359
prvit wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without mens rea this is not a crime in (almost?) any jurisdiction, doesn’t matter if you’re Amazon. No matter what kind of weird games you choose to play, there’s no way amazon has a guilty mind here.

You’re claiming Amazon has zero liability? Then why does Amazon employ people to deal with this problem?

>You’re claiming Amazon has zero liability?

Yes, indeed. Would you like to present a theory as to why they would?

>Then why does Amazon employ people to deal with this problem?

These people are called “lawyers”, they deal with many other problems too.

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#372

Post by mlyle »

prvit wrote: post #331
mlyle wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is about organized retail bulk theft. Punishing the individual shoplifters is useful. But it's also useful to crack down on secondary markets through which (mostly) stolen goods are shifted.

How? Should we ban Amazon and Ebay?

Ban Amazon and eBay? No.

We haven't banned pawn shops, either. But we do understand that they are a conduit for theft and can induce other crime, and so we tend to impose a certain amount of regulation upon them to reduce the scope of the harm.

What exact form that would take is up for discussion.

And, of course, there's other secondary markets-- sketchy people with tables illegally selling gray market consumer goods.

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#373

Post by balls187 »

c_hackett wrote: post #133

As someone not from the US can anyone shed some light why deodorant and other personal care goods are so expensive in the US? The prices are so ludicrous compared to the UK that on my trip I had to take a photo as friends would have thought I was exaggerating when telling them! Take for example Dove Men+Care antiperspirant. In the US what is a rather compact can 3.8oz/107g was on the shelf at $9.55 (plus sales tax).…

Prices are based on what the market will bare.

In 2004 I spent part of my honeymoon in London. At a pub, I paid £10.95 for a burger. At the time it was ~$2 to £1, so it was effectively a $20 burger. My friends thought I was full of it when I said I paid $20 for a burger.

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#374

Post by prvit »

mlyle wrote: post #372
prvit wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How? Should we ban Amazon and Ebay?

Ban Amazon and eBay? No. We haven't banned pawn shops, either. But we do understand that they are a conduit for theft and can induce other crime, and so we tend to impose a certain amount of regulation upon them to reduce the scope of the harm. What exact form that would take is up for discussion. And, of course, there's other secondary markets-- sketchy people with tables illegally selling gray market consumer goods…

No post body was provided.

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#375

Post by balderdash »

yalogin wrote: post #118

Piggybacking on this thread, is stealing a common thing across the whole of the US or is it restricted to some areas? I keep getting asked how people in n San Francisco are living with crime so rampant and they send a video of gangs stealing from a store/mall.

its incredibly localized, the us is so large and heterogeneous in many respects

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#376

Post by hellfish »

There's a simple solution to this: just leave, and take your taxable income with you. If a jurisdiction can't do a basic function of government, why the fuck would you want to perpetuate the administrative disease any further? Paying taxes to these jurisdictions is like enabling an abusive relationship

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#377

Post by z9znz »

xwdv wrote: post #330
z9znz wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously? Perhaps I really am missing something obvious. What kind of doctor will she be?

Do we really have to explain? She is patient because she is willing to unlock multiple deodorants for a customer until they find one they are satisfied with, she’s a hard worker who puts others needs above her own. Her family relies on the store for income and she is working there even when she should just be focusing on school. Because of rampant theft, the family cannot afford to lose inventory the way other stores…

> she knows her place in the world. She is here to serve,

I know it's sort of an unspoken NoNo on HN, but given your bold comment I had to look (I thought maybe you were using confrontational comedy). But your bio: "Ethically challenged software engineer working for a major tech company you know. Used to have close to 1000 karma, got destroyed over time by hackernews cancel culture and a change in downvote algorithms. But now that the algorithm has been changed back to classic style, I'm rising up again."

There's no point arguing with you. I want so much to tear apart your lunacy, but it would do nothing here (and worse, it wouldn't change what you apparently have going on in your mind).

I will admit though, I never realized that a woman without a hijab would "chase her own self interests and hedonism".

But out of curiosity, assuming women with hijabs don't have self interests or hedonistic tendencies, what sort of clothing would a man wear if he wanted to demonstrate that he also was not self focused or hedonistic? (I ask because I want to be sure I'm never caught wearing such garb.)

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#378

Post by z9znz »

schrectacular wrote: post #346
xwdv wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do we really have to explain? She is patient because she is willing to unlock multiple deodorants for a customer until they find one they are satisfied with, she’s a hard worker who puts others needs above her own. Her family relies on the store for income and she is working there even when she should just be focusing on school. Because of rampant theft, the family cannot afford to lose inventory the way other stores…

I think GP was looking for "pediatrician" or "oncologist".

You either have phenomenal comedic deadpan skill, or you didn't notice the most interesting parts of the parent's comment.

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#379

Post by RussianCow »

prepend wrote: post #361
adrr wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I challenge you to find deodorant for under $10 on Amazon.

The first result on Amazon searching “men’s deodorant” is 4 for $15.66 [0] so less than $4 per stick. These are about $10 in a bodega or cvs in Manhattan. [0] Dove Men+Care Antiperspirant Deodorant With 72-hour sweat and odor protection Extra Fresh Antiperspirant for men formulated with vitamin E and Triple Action Moisturizer | 2.7 Ounce (Pack of 4) https://a.co/d/dR2J1B0

But then you have to buy 4... So not exactly an apples to apples comparison if you only want one.

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#380

Post by balderdash »

standardUser wrote: post #152
robertoandred wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not? They’re a danger to society otherwise.

If a person steals some makeup from a drug store, what danger do you face? What exactly is the danger you feel you are in?

tell that to the people that work in theses stores and are being threatened and menaced
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