Stealing Cars vs. Running Runs, The age old 'debate' of profitability Options

[tagz]

What a waste of money.

Take the car apart and sell the parts (rent a workshop if none of your group has one). Unless the heat is on you (then burn it), this disposes of the evidence that is the car effectively, especially if the parts are being sold on the grey market, and it makes you some money on the side.

While technically true that it is money wasted, it doesn't necessitate that they SHOULD do it. They have bigger fish to fry.

Also, they like to play the "Criminal With A Heart of Gold". They dump the car in a manner so that it will be found in a day or two and end up back with it's owner, minus reasonable traces to themselves. I can't recall, but I think they may have even left a credstick in one that got shot up to pay for repairs. Course, that ended up as a LoneStar bonus.

My point being, their goal is obviously different them yours, so your style and methods probably wouldn't work for them.

[hermit]

While technically true that it is money wasted, it doesn't necessitate that they SHOULD do it. They have bigger fish to fry.

Never said they should, although it may have come across like that. It still is a waste of money.

Also, they like to play the "Criminal With A Heart of Gold". They dump the car in a manner so that it will be found in a day or two and end up back with it's owner, minus reasonable traces to themselves.

Ah. Didn't think that'd be their modus operandi from your previous post; I thought they leave it for whoever wants it. Then, of course, chopping it up and selling it is a no-go. Just, if it's effectively gonna be chopped up and sold anyway, and before the police finds it and some somatic adept does his thing there, rather chop it up and see to it's dispersion personally (and make a bit of money off that too).

I can't recall, but I think they may have even left a credstick in one that got shot up to pay for repairs. Course, that ended up as a LoneStar bonus.

That's actually cute. Naive, but cute.

My point being, their goal is obviously different them yours, so your style and methods probably wouldn't work for them.

Didn't know about that modus operandi, so I couldn't take it into account.

[Saint Sithney]

Every criminal in Seattle who wanted a stolen car for cheap has already got one, and its getting harder to get rid of the cars at a proper price, you can try to smuggle the cars (or whatever you are stealing) out of seattle, but that is time consuming, and gives you less time to actually do the stealing.

Well, that's a problem for the fence, not the runners. If your fence can't ship stolen cars out of town, then your team should find a fence who isn't shitty.

The other problems though are probably more pronounced than you're imagining them. The mob might want a cut of your profits, but the real deal is that if they're willing to work with car thieves, then that market is likely to be saturated already. In other words, they're already seeing as much money as they can from organized car theft before the local cops are going to come calling and causing problems. In that case, they'd have to decide whether they'd rather turn in the guys who they already know and who they can control, or whether it's time to point the poh-pohs towards those dangerous pricks who just decided they were going to lift 20 high end cars a month.

[kzt]

On the other hand, the mob/yaks/etc. coming after anyone cutting in their action is part of the game world. So switching from running to stealing (subtle distinction though it may be) invites war with whichever syndicate.

OC has mechanisms in place to handle this, as it happens all the time. It's typically called street tax. Everyone who is in a business that they can't go to the cops gets the option of paying off the low-level OC guys or having something bad happen. Pimps, prostitutes, muggers, hijackers, drug dealers, porn dealers, car thieves, chop shop owners, fences, bookies, everyone has someone who wants a "license fee". You pay the guy the money and they don't bother you, and they typically will deal with other people (other than the cops - and sometimes them too) who bother you.

If you don't pay up and you are making a living as a criminal they will eventually meet up with you and convey to you a message that they are unhappy about your failure to pay up. It might be a verbal reminder or your corpse might just be a lesson to other punks who think they can get away with not paying.

[Banaticus]

OC?

[Drats]

Organized crime.

[Daylen]

so if you are a detective that investigates Organized Crime does that make you OCD?

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

so if you are a detective that investigates Organized Crime does that make you OCD?

Ooooohhh. That was SO BAD...

Keep the Faith

[Daylen]

forgive me, my sins.