[lotsofpulp]

Restaurants and bars are not comparable, as they are customarily paid after the meal. Also, there is one to one customer service there so someone is keeping an eye on you, as opposed to a large retail establishment.

And the idea of tabs doesn't apply to my comment since I excluded out situations where the customer's credibility is known by the store employees. I live in America, and while I haven't paid attention, I don't notice people using what they're buying before they have bought it.

The common sense is that what if someone comes into your store who can't afford to pay for what they have consumed? Do you think Walmart and Target and grocery stores can afford to make it official policy to let people consume before they buy and not suffer losses from people who toss the wrapper or empty bottle in an aisle somewhere? Or can't afford to pay?

It works if it's a small place and you trust everyone, but once you scale up, I don't see how it works.

[mruts]

Because of social norms? I don't need to pay for a candy bar if I eat it, but I do, because that's just what I do. There's so much trust in almost every society that what you're talking about just doesn't happen very often.

Every person has many opportunities to steal pretty much all the time without consequence, and yet, they don't.