Reported by Michael Kaplan

A shoplifting epidemic costing retailers in New York state $4.4 billion a year is creating a shadow re-sale economy that ranges from eBay to bodegas, The Post has learned.

Shoplifting in New York City alone rose 64% from June 2019 to June 2023, according to the Council on Criminal Justice. 

In 2022, the total estimated loss to shops in the state was $4.4 billion, Governor Kathy Hochul said in February.

And retailers and law enforcement told The Post that the need to sell the stolen goods has created a sprawling underground economy.

Thieves and middlemen are selling shoplifted goods on resale sites such as eBay and Facebook Marketplace and filling warehouse spaces at illegal pawn shops. A raid in Queens found a space stuffed with apparently stolen goods — and a garbage bag full of removed security tags.

They are even “boosting” perishable items such as Häagen-Dazs ice cream directly to bodegas.

In one scam, they shoplift high-value items from national chains, have them returned at another branch out-of-state for credit and then sell the credit note for cash outside the branch.

Read full report: https://nypost.com/2024/03/21/us-news/ebay-and-facebook-marketplace-fuel-nycs-shoplifting-economy/