If the guy returns it and they give him cold hard cash, then they have just purchased that item for $52 when they would have normally purchased it for $25. Inventory cost has increased. Increased inventory cost yields less profit. If dude keeps cash, petsmart loses profit. Dude has stolen from petsmart.
Even if they give him in store credit, petsmart loses less money. They still lose money. Dude has stolen from petsmart. Sure, he's stolen less profit, but he's still stolen.
Again, if dude keeps cash, inventory cost increases. Less profit. Theft.
This only works if dude spends the money at your store.
Again, now an item they "purchased" for $52 takes up shelf space. Shelf space has a cost. When they sell that item that they paid $52 they not only don't make profit, but they actually lose money because they item took up shelf space for 1 minute, 1 day, 1 week, any time, they still lost money to do inventory cost.
As I understand it, the dude is looking for a refund. Now, maybe he will spend the money there, but a refund is differnt than an exchange.
You are making a good point, ,but... If they "refund" the money for you, they are "purchasing" the product. It was not originally in their inventory, therefore it was "purchased" into inventory. And instead of "purchasing" it from a supplier, they are purchasing it from this guy's cousin with a substantially larger markup. So, that piece of inventory has a higher cost associated with it. That exact piece of inventory costs $52, versus the same one next to it that costs $25. When someone purchases the "$52" product, petsmart is now not making the $27 they would have made had that person purchased the $25 product.
So, perhaps they "lose" less profit by the dude stealing fish instead of stealing a filter, but the dude is still stealing and they are still losing money, not just profit. Their operating expense goes up.
