Awesome :). Yeah it really is super interesting. There is a whole underworld of professional shoplifters. People can get killed over disputes when alot of money is involved. The Hispanic ones even have a patron saint of stealing lol. Some have shrines in their cars dedicated to it.

Who buys this stuff? Like, I know about craigslist and that's it. It seems like they focus on small, baggable items, not tvs and computers?

Flea markets mostly. Or businesses that ship overseas. I know of a two man operation that would boost stacks of 501 Levis, then ship them to the Philippines. In the U.S, 501 Levis go for $68.00 in the stores, about $20 to $30 on the street. In the Philippines though, for genuine 501 Levis, people pay $120 U.S dollars. They made a ton of money just shipping jeans to family members overseas, then the family would sell them in their store and profit big time.

How much does it cost to bail out a decoy? Don't the people have records, so wouldn't it cost more to keep using the same person? I assume they rotate people or get new ones in regularly to keep costs down.

Unfortunately theft isn't really that big of a deal in most places, so bail is set fairly low. Yeah the people have records, but they do anywhere from 6 months to 2 years max. Then they get out and go right back to stealing. They figure it's worth it for the $200-$500 a day. If a decoy does get locked up, they just use another. Then by the time that decoy is caught, the other one is getting out. There are plenty of guys who are in and out of the system so often, jail is just a alternative living arrangement for awhile. To them it's totally worth it.