He's brazen and may even take an item directly to the refund desk. With the pro, high-dollar items are key and, if they are caught, they are extremely slippery in convincing the loss prevention detective that a mistake was made. Some are drug dealers and addicts, burglars, check fraud artists and armed robbers. Many more are male and female prostitutes. Sometimes part of an organized gang, the master will systematically go from one end of a mall to the other and, at will, steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise.
Most masters have criminal records and a propensity for violence.
In all types of professional shoplifting, expect organization and a strong thread of intelligence gathering. He may have been ill-treated by a floor representative and steals to get back at them, is tired of waiting in a long line and pockets the merchandise and leaves the store, or just simply steals for no reason. Impulse th ives can nickel and dime you to death. The individual theft may only be a few dollars, but the total can be jolting when the fiscal year closes. I guess that's called ghosting, but the check clears the bank just the same.