This is the 4th part of our Flea Market series. Today we are going to be discussing the worst part of selling at Flea Markets; theft. The good new is theft IS preventable! Let’s get started!

I have spoke to may new flea market sellers and retail store owners who genuinely believe two things that are myths:

1. Nobody would steal this stuff. It’s not worth stealing.
2. It’s located in a nice area. Theft isn’t a problem here.

Both of those things couldn’t be further from the truth! We have had people steal 50-cent clearance earrings and tester-size, ¾ USED body mists. Heck, thrift stores and yard sales have theft all the time. Can you imagine how bad your karma would be if you stole from Purple Heart? Good grief!

Additionally, nice neighborhoods have just as much theft, often even more, than bad neighborhoods. If you want to steal good stuff, you go to good neighborhood. And Flea Markets are a thief's fav spot because it’s usually only 1 person working and their merchandise usually isn’t secure. If your merchandise is secure a theif will avoid your space because it’s a waste of their time.

Let’s discuss easy ways to secure stuff.

First, make sure you design your store according to our last part of this series. Any merchandise that is easily accessible to the public should be in plain view of you, no matter where you are standing within your space. You need to have a clear view of your customers at all times when merchandise is being handled by them.

BUT keep in mind, you will have to use the restroom throughout the day. You may need to leave your store to go pay rent, buy lunch, run to your vehicle or whatever. This means your store WILL be left unattended for short periods of time. Even if you have a partner who assures you that they will always be present, the time will come that they get sick, their vehicle breaks down or they have a family emergency and they cannot be present. Plan ahead for the times your store will be unattended.

Most of the time, thieves come in teams / groups. They have two different tactics they employ.

TACTIC 1: Distract & Grab. The first person will distract you with questions or even a bogus complaint. While you are trying to assist this person the other team members loot your inventory.

TACTIC 2: Storm the Store. They will show up, from different directions and bombard you with questions during peak hours. As you turn your head to help each person, the other team member tries to grab ANYTHING they can.

With this in mind, you have to have your inventory secured in the manner we discussed in the previous part of this series, but if you absolutely must have merchandise available to the public, here’s how to do it:

1. Never, EVER have any inventory that allows a customer to have their back to you while they shop. Customers will wear clothing and bring accessories that allow them to stick items up their sleeve, stick inventory in their pocket or drop items in their purse or baby stroller in a split second. When their back is to you they can steal with ease, and they know this. Hell, there are customers who bring strollers with no baby just to steal. Crazy, eh? Sad, but true.
2. Customers should NOT be able to reach around and into showcases or fixtures. Test it out. Go on the outside of your store and see if you can lean over, or reach around, and grab inventory.
3. If you want to have expensive clothing accessible to the public, you will likely have to use zip ties to attach the item through the manufacturers tag to a hanger. People will still steal them but it’s way more work for them so it greatly reduces the odds of it being stolen. Padded hangers also help prevent theft because they’re hard to conceal when something is zip tied to it.
4. Mirrors are a great way to view blind spots or see around corners. When using mirrors, keep in mind that mirrors also help criminals watch you, Make sure your mirrors are positioned to help YOU watch the customer, not help the thief watch YOU.
5. Everything you have needs to be in straight, organized rows. Thieves hate organization. A criminals dream-come-true is stuff scattered on a table, bins full of product or inventory piled high. The less organization, the more theft.
6. All body care should have only 1 small tester out. These will still get stolen. We had to create a custom, clear plexiglas lock box that left only the body mist pumps sticking out. The customer was able to depress the top of the pump to smell the mist without picking it up. This ended our tester theft. Alternatively, you could not put the testers out and when a customer wants to smell something, spray it on a paper for them and hand them the paper.
7. Set up a fake real-looking camera system.
8. Give ACTUAL RECEIPTS. Shoplifters love to return stuff they stole. Without a real receipt you have no way of knowing what was purchased and what was stolen. 
9. Lastly, this may sound stupid but it's actually very valuable: Get to know your neighbors.  My neighbors and I came up with a code word, "Montana".  If any of us thought a customer was stealing, or had a problem in general, we would say to each other "When do you leave for MONTANA?" or "Does your mom still live in MONTANA?" or anything with the code word in it.  This was a super discreet way to notify each other that something suspicious is going on so all of the neighbors could focus on the suspect in question.  We had a second phrase for complete emergencies, for example, if you are 100% sure someone just stuck something in their pocket OR a person is paying with fake money or a stolen credit card.  This was a code phrase, "All 50 States". If anyone said "All 50 States" it meant to call security immediately.  The last thing you want to hear on a Saturday afternoon is "Have you been to ALL 50 STATES?", but I am so glad we had these codes!  Surprisingly, we had to use "All 50 States" only a couple times over several years, but we would "Montana" all the time!