October 4, 2026 at 10:48 am

He Re-Tagged a $45 Ribeye for $4.50 After Closing—Then Got Hit with a Corporate Embezzlement Audit and Criminal Theft Charge

by Chris Allen

worker holding tray of raw steak in a grocery store

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Desperate times can make expensive groceries look like an invitation to get creative.

At eighteen, one grocery worker was coming home to a drunk stepfather and no dinner.

Instead of accepting another night without a proper meal, they discovered the meat department offered a remarkably convenient loophole.

Someone was about to put steakhouse dining on a fast-food budget.

I used to reprice steaks at my work when I was younger

When I was 18 I worked at a piggly wiggly grocery store.

After the meat department guys went home at like 3pm it was part of my job to restock meat on the sales floor throughout the night.

He looked out for his brother.

At the time my mom worked nights and my step dad would always be passed out drunk when I got home so there would never be dinner for my brother and me.

I’d always bring him home whatever he wanted (usually junk food like hot pockets, chips, etc) and I went through a huge steak phase, my family was kind of poor so we almost never got steak, it felt fancy to me.

He knew how to make the steak affordable.

So I would go find the thickest steak we had in the cooler and change the sticker price so instead of being like $11.99lb it was $1.99lb making it exponentially cheaper.

I did this probably twice a week for over a year and was never caught.

That wasn’t exactly the honest thing to do, but it was really nice that he made sure he and his brother ate well.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This person used reduced stickers to save money.

Screenshot 2025 08 22 at 12.05.25 PM He Re Tagged a $45 Ribeye for $4.50 After Closing—Then Got Hit with a Corporate Embezzlement Audit and Criminal Theft Charge

Another person made some extra money at Lowe’s.

Screenshot 2025 08 22 at 12.12.26 PM He Re Tagged a $45 Ribeye for $4.50 After Closing—Then Got Hit with a Corporate Embezzlement Audit and Criminal Theft Charge

Here’s a person who did the exact same thing.

Screenshot 2025 08 22 at 12.06.28 PM He Re Tagged a $45 Ribeye for $4.50 After Closing—Then Got Hit with a Corporate Embezzlement Audit and Criminal Theft Charge

This person’s friend gave them a big discount.

Screenshot 2025 08 22 at 12.06.58 PM He Re Tagged a $45 Ribeye for $4.50 After Closing—Then Got Hit with a Corporate Embezzlement Audit and Criminal Theft Charge

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a fast food employee who shuts down a customer angry about her change with a single word.

Another person also bought steak at a discount, but in a less shady way.

Screenshot 2025 08 22 at 12.08.03 PM He Re Tagged a $45 Ribeye for $4.50 After Closing—Then Got Hit with a Corporate Embezzlement Audit and Criminal Theft Charge

OP spent over a year relabeling premium steaks from $11.99 to $1.99 per pound without getting caught.

Commenters responded with their own discount schemes, turning the confession into a retail survival reunion.

Nothing says fine dining like a felony-adjacent coupon.

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