Before: A Shoplifter's Guide to Tags (TODO)
[Info might be outdated, its atleast 2 years old]
What's up fellow lifters?
I've been using magnets and experimenting with them for awhile now. They have a lot to do with shoplifting so I'd love to share that with you. At request of Pesky-Wabbit.
In my opinion there's three types of magnets you need to shoplift, each one I will cover in depth. Those being:
- An S3 key
- A golf magnet or detacher
- Regular neodymium magnets
1. S3 Key
l'll go over the uses the S3 key first. An S3 key has a series of two separate magnets inside. One where each notch is on the S3 key.
The most useful and pretty much the only use for an S3 key is to open SpiderWrap. (The black circle with the wires surrounding the box, usually on electronics)
I've heard people say you can use them to open other things, however in my experience they really only unlock SpiderWire.
Where you can purchase an S3 key?
Amazon, eBay, and AliExpress are a select few! They can be had for as cheap as 8 bucks.
[If someone wants to share a link in the comments, that would be great!]
You can also lift one, if you don't want to wait the 30 days it takes to get here from China. I personally went with this method, although I wouldn't do it again.
The easiest place to lift an S3 key is probably Walmart. To be successful this is going to take some effort on your part. To find my S3 I ended up going to 4-5 different Walmarts in my area.
First you're going to be looking for a Walmart with a garden section and an S3 attached to that register. You need to case each of your Walmarts until you find exactly what you're looking for. Go into the Walmarts garden section and casually look for an S3 attached to the register. Most Walmarts have S3s on every register, MOST. This is where you might need to shop around!!
Once you find a register in the garden section look at what's keeping it tied to the register. Most the time it will be a metal wire attached to the register looped to the key.
Have a game plan when you come back. You're going to return at night, because there is absolutely no one in the garden section at midnight. I had wire cutters in my jacket and proceeded to cut the wire and slip it into my jacket. That's the easiest way, If it's connected that way.
IMPORTANT!!
Each legit Alpha systems S3 key has a RFID chip inside. This will activate the EAS towers when you leave the store. You'll need to wrap it in tinfoil before you leave. Honestly it's not that hard to make a tinfoil pouch to throw the key into. Once you get home open up the key and take out the RFID chip. [In the original there was an image here, if you know a guide please add in in the comments :)]
I highly recommend you buy it instead. If you buy a third party S3 key they won't have an RFID inside.
**
Crafting your own S3**
I've made a couple S3 keys and they've left me with a certain longing. They just don't do anywhere near as good a job as my factory alpha key. Sometimes they would work sometimes they wouldn't. Again I highly recommend you buy it, but I will link how to make an S3 below. It can get very frustrating because you're working with two magnets very close to each other trying to keep them separate. I pinched my finger on multiple occasions.
[Link to YT vid I found, never tried tho]
2. A golf magnet or detacher
These are going to be an investment, they're not cheap and they take time to get. It's about half the size of a base ball maybe 3/4 the size. It's heavy and bulky but DAMN it works.
These range anywhere from 25-200 bucks. I paid 36 for mine with a hook detacher as seen in the picture. Unfortunately the shop I bought from closed or else I would link it. I did buy from AliExpress, and surprisingly it shipped to me in around 5 days. (US)
The important thing you need to realize when buying a detacher is the magnets pull strength. It's measured in gauss. The increments usually go 12,000 to 15,000 and then to 25,000 gauss. I would recommend the 15,000 gauss detacher.
Obviously the stronger the gauss the stronger the magnet, it's going to work better. If you're lifting clothes this is a must. My 15,000 detacher pops off any ink tag without effort. No more pulling or twisting it just pops right off.
I would buy my detacher again in a heart beat. I highly highly recommend them, and I'll go into more depth in the next section as to why it's so much better than a regular stack of neodymium magnets.
3. Regular neodymium magnets
These are just your regular N52 grade magnets. Neodymium is the strongest magnet there is, and that's why we use it.
The more gauss you can get the better. Most likely these aren't going to be very strong. (In comparison to the detachers) In this formation with quarter size magnets, (around 12) I have found they only open one or two tags.
These pencil tags were the most reliable at opening. This still took effort twisting and a little pulling until it would pop open. They also opened the Alpha screamers(image of a similar tag) very reliably.
These are nice because they can fit in your pocket and you can lift them from Home Depot really easily. Hands down though the golf detachers win by a land slide. These are also what you'll be using to make an S3 key if you decide to go that route.
In regards to where you put the magnet on the tag is going to depend. Usually there will be a little nub and that's where you'll put it. Weaker magnets you might need to move it around and wiggle the tag a little.
Summary and TLDR
Basically I just listed all the info required to use magnets when lifting. There was shit info about magnets on this sub and so hopefully this helps you noobs. Remember using tools can result in a worse charge if you're caught. Let me know if I should add anything down below!
Be careful and hopefully you liked this, it took some time.
Next: How to Find and Use Blind Spots
This is basically just a cleaned up version of the Raddle Shoplifting Guide
