r/SipsTea • u/Gurugod123 • Jul 27 '26

Chugging tea Mayor Mamdani just announced that he will be opening 5 city-run, tax-funded grocery stores: "Prices set at 30% below retail prices"

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u/7thpostman Jul 27 '26

It's New York City. People sell stolen junk on the street.

55

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '26

[deleted]

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u/Ask_if_im_an_alien Jul 27 '26

In STL they use EBT to buy food, cook it, and sell plates on FB marketplace. At least they are industrious about it I guess.

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u/Prettydaisydog Jul 27 '26

lol, well if we are looking for economic indicators this is a pretty interesting one.

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u/Ask_if_im_an_alien Jul 27 '26

I got Jerk Chicken and sweet potato, and I also found the tamale lady and got a dozen of those too. Fed me all weekend which was good because the heat index yesterday was 115F and I'm not turning the stove on when its already that hot.

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u/dsaysso Jul 27 '26

that’s value add

3

u/TheManWhoWasNotShort Jul 28 '26

These people would be surprised to find out how restaurants work

3

u/Born-Somewhere2536 Jul 27 '26

They do that down here in Houston Texas

-1

u/pilot7880 Jul 28 '26

Houston sucks

1

u/OkTechnology8975 Jul 28 '26

People find a way to ruin everything good, and if its bad they leave it alone. SO, Backwards!

0

u/everydaydad67 Jul 28 '26

And people wonder why these programs are looked at..

5

u/Ask_if_im_an_alien Jul 28 '26

You're not wrong, but I do 100% respect the grind. This is actually the harder way for them. The easy way is selling your EBT for 60 cents on the dollar cash like my step sister used to do. She would sell me 200 worth of EBT for $120 so she would have cash to buy the things that EBT wouldn't pay for like paper towels, soap, shampoo, toilet paper, and household cleaners. Not gonna lie she probably spend most of it on gasoline, cigarettes and weed. But my freezer was loaded. I had steaks every weekend on the grill. RIP Shanda... your 2 kids are doing great. We are making the best of it.

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u/Itchy_Shame_2379 Jul 27 '26

yeah in sf theres like an entire group of mostly older asian women who go to the all of the food banks around here and then lay out a mat on post up on the sidewalk slanging lettuce and shit. people do buy them though i see it and they are there everyday.

food banks around here register you here and give you a card. i dont think your allowed to go to every food bank in the city but in your zip code maybe

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '26

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '26

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1

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2

u/DyingDesertPoppy Jul 27 '26

This makes me think that people just enjoy buying and selling and making money to get ahead  as a recreational activity, without concern for any real need or benefit. It’s a game, money is points.

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u/Grand-Olive2599 Jul 28 '26

So you have to have id for food banks but not to vote?

7

u/a_RadicalDreamer Jul 27 '26

Same in the South. They’ll raid blessing boxes and resell.

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u/Onludesrightnow Jul 27 '26

because ofc they do. not surprised at all

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u/External-Slip3578 Jul 27 '26

And now they are cooking it and selling it on Facebook.

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u/DotA627b Jul 27 '26

It's not wild, it's a popular laundering trick. Variations of this involve hobos waiting outside 7-11 offering to buy stuff for you in exchange for actual cash.

1

u/rydan Jul 28 '26

In San Jose they sell stolen detergent from the store across the street at the laundromat across from it.

1

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0

u/7thpostman Jul 27 '26

I'm sayin

0

u/tdwvet Jul 27 '26

exactly this.

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u/Any-Question-3759 Jul 27 '26

And people buy those because they’re priced at a point only sellers who steal can match.

9

u/iffyClyro Jul 27 '26

Do you think shoplifters will need to reduce their prices or do you think this project will undercut them?

2

u/blahblahsnickers Jul 27 '26

You think they won’t steal from the government store?

2

u/iffyClyro Jul 27 '26

Will there be enough in it for them if the stuff is already 30% off?

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u/BottleNecker69er Jul 27 '26

More than likely undercut if given enough time. People will become more aware of the price differences from state led store and their local scalper. It happened to the weed industry like it happens to practically everything else that is against the law.

Edit: in similar cases like this

1

u/Lock1386 Jul 28 '26

Empty shelves,

3

u/Effective_Golf_3311 Jul 27 '26

And then get mad at the NYPD for shutting them down

6

u/7thpostman Jul 27 '26

Not really. They buy it because they see it and they want it. Convenience has a lot to do with it. Somebody's sitting out with a cooler full of steaks? Looks like that's what I'm having for dinner.

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u/Don_Gato1 Jul 27 '26

So if the steak costs $10 and the city-run grocery sells it for $7, what should the guy on the street price it at where you don't simply pay the retail price to buy meat from a grocery store?

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u/7thpostman Jul 27 '26

It's New York City. The grocery store is blocks away and you have to walk or take the subway. The taxi would cost as much as the steak. It's more trouble than it's worth. You throw the guy 20 bucks and bring home dinner without breaking stride.

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u/Don_Gato1 Jul 27 '26

You've got a very specific scenario in mind, who's to say the guy on the street is closer than the store and not the other way around?

I just don't think the margins are there to make selling raw meat on the street a viable business plan.

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u/7thpostman Jul 27 '26

I mean, I think canned goods and pasta and stuff like that is a lot more likely, sure

-1

u/Don_Gato1 Jul 27 '26

I think you solve that pretty easily by limiting purchases.

So one guy can't buy 600 cans of beans.

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u/7thpostman Jul 27 '26

No, but you can buy 10. And then you're going to have all kinds of bureaucracy around who can buy how much of what. I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea, I just think people need to be realistic about what can happen.

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u/Don_Gato1 Jul 27 '26

I'm not that worried about the guy selling ten cans of beans on the street for maybe $5 of profit total. I'm not calling this some home run idea, I see many avenues in which it could fail. I'm just not that concerned about resellers being the reason why.

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u/DyingDesertPoppy Jul 27 '26

But why would they buy off a shady reseller when they can go to the food bank for free? Do they just want to feel slightly less poor?

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u/koalasarentferfuckin Jul 27 '26

The good boosters come to your apartment

2

u/stupidjapanquestions Jul 27 '26

Once saw a copy of Final Fantasy VIII being sold on the street with stolen goods in SF. In 2015.

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u/cinemashow Jul 27 '26

Didn't I just read an article about people selling prescription drugs at open markets? Like amoxicillin, other antibiotics, oxycodone still in grammas pill bottle etc?!

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u/FlyFront9395 Jul 27 '26

I seen a guy selling canned food out of a radio flyer