I made over $4,000 from 2017 to 2021 shoplifting MTG packs from various department stores like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble etc. I would also buy premade decks, take the high value cards, reseal them and get a refund, but they caught onto this relatively quickly.
The majority of that was from 2019 to 2021 when you could easily steal high dollar packs like collector packs, double masters, etc. They were seen as low-dollar items not worth stealing, but the amount and variety of stores I would hit made it nigh-unpunishable, especially when I then traded big modern chase cards in for store credit at a variety of local game stores in my city, essentially flipping them for cards that hold long-term value on the reserved list (I even got 3 revised dual lands from this strategy.) At my worst I would even pay kids to shoplift for me, letting them keep the chaff in exchange for the good hits.
I felt like a member of the thieves guild selling stolen goods to a fence, completely untraceable. I'll never be found out.
