2025-01-07
9 分钟Here's your money briefing for Tuesday, January 7th.
I'm JR Whalen for the Wall Street Journal.
As porch pirates continue to steal deliveries from people's properties,
some retailers are making package protection fees mandatory, spreading the burden of package theft among all customers.
So if a package gets damaged in transit or stolen after it gets delivered,
customers usually turn to retailers to make it right, which is a cost for them.
And as porch piracy becomes a larger problem,
retailers are really struggling to keep up with those rising costs on top of things like potential tariffs or inflation and other things that are putting pressure on their bottom line.
We'll talk to Wall Street Journal personal finance reporter Amani Mawiz, after the break.
Some retailers are spreading the financial burden of package theft among all of their customers.
Wall Street Journal personal finance reporter Amani Mawiz joins me.
Amani, what is the value of merchandise that is stolen from outside of people's houses each year?
It's been a growing number, so it's a bit of a moving target,
but in 2023, Americans reported that $13.4 billion worth of packages were stolen by porch pirates.
Why are retailers charging fees to customers even if their packages haven't been stolen?
Because when something goes wrong, so if a package gets damaged in transit or stolen after it gets delivered,
customers usually turn to retailers to make it right, which is a cost for them.
And as porch piracy becomes a larger problem,
retailers are really struggling to keep up with those rising costs on top of things like potential tariffs or inflation and other things that are putting pressure on their bottom line.
How much are these extra fees?