You know what they say about family… “you can choose your friends, but…”
If a store buys an item wholesale, their buyer has to arrange the purchase, the shipping has to be handled, the item has to be put out on the shelf and kept tidy, etc.etc. These are all things the store does, overhehad that are paid for by profit. (Not to mention that item’s share of heating, lighting, paying the water bill for the public restrooms they provide, yada yada). Saying the only thing they lose is the wholesale price is a bit disingenuous. The markup contributes to all the other expenses, so retail price makes sense as the value of the loss.
(Sales tax, as I understand, is collected on sales. Since the item was stolen, no sale. OTOH, maybe there’s a sharp lawyer in the tax department who will say that X% of any restitution award should be sent to the state as sales tax…)
I own an optical Business.
6 years ago I came in and all of my inventory was gone:… the display cases empty with broken doors and locks.
After weeks of wrangling with “snake farm” I went to man who used to work for them. He asked me to bring him my policy and bottle of bourbon.
10 minutes after he began reading, he said:…“here it is on page 18:… Your policy does not cover what goods were stolen It covers the goods you purchase to REPLACE the goods stolen” . I had sent an inventory of lost items of 140 pieces and so i called my distributor and ordered 140 new pieces. I faxed copies to the Ins. Co rep. He called me immediately:…“What are all these items you faxed to me?”
I answered him:…“I understand that my policy with your company covers the items i buy to replace etc etc”
I had a check in 4 days.