AITA for demanding that my niece, or her parents, pay me back for the hundreds of dollars of perfume she stole from me?

A Reddit user shares her frustration over her 17-year-old niece sneaking into her home, decanting her perfumes, and selling them to friends for profit. After discovering this via social media, she handed her niece’s parents a bill for the stolen goods, expecting full repayment.

While her sister argues it’s just a teenage mistake, the Redditor stands firm, even though it may cost her niece the car she’s been saving for. Read the full story below.

‘ AITA for demanding that my niece, or her parents, pay me back for the hundreds of dollars of perfume she stole from me?’

I have a perfume collection that I started when I was a teenager slinging burritos as my first job. I have over 400 bottles at this point, I take great pride in my collection, and I use it. I’m also happy to give people decants (samples) of most of my bottles, let them sample a spray or two, give some bottles as gifts, etc.

What I have a HUGE f**king issue with is my 17 year old niece coming into my home under the guise of walking my dog, decanting bottles on her own and SELLING THE SAMPLES to her little friends. She thinks that because I have so many bottles, I wouldn’t notice some missing or getting massive dents in them.

Well little miss entrepreneur failed to realize that her “private” Instagram wasn’t “friends only” or whatever and I saw each and every f**king story with each price and sample she had. I tallied that s**t up and got a pretty good estimate based on cost per ounce.

Thankfully she mostly picked the “Tiktok famous” perfumes like Bianco Latte and Escapade Gourmand and didn’t go for the most rare, niche perfumes. She did snatch an entire 2.5 oz bottle of Baccarat Rouge, though, which runs $300+ at most retailers, as well as full bottles of perfumes you can get at Sephora.

Like Marc Jacobs Daisy, Burberry Her Elixir, Flowerbomb, etc. Petty or not, I printed out the entire list of what she’d taken, price estimate, and handed it off to my sister (her mom). I said that I expect to be paid back, in full. And of course her f**king sneaky little ass is never allowed in my home again.

My sister got super pissy with me going on about how my niece is just a kid, kids make mistakes, etc. I said yes, kids make mistakes, and this is a GREAT way for my niece to learn from hers.

Their argument is that now the money she was going to use for a car has to go towards paying me back. I don’t care. She is lucky that I have no interest in involving the police, small claims, or any of that. But AITA, because she IS a teenager?

Here’s what the community had to contribute:

Poutiest_Penguin −  She’s “just a kid” who created a successful business enterprise selling stolen property. NTA

TemptingPenguin369 −  NTA. I can see from the fact that her mom considers a 17-year-old “just a kid,” as if she were a 5-year-old who stole a cookie before dinner, has caused her to act very entitled. She made a series of decisions to steal from you and profit from it.

And she’s either “just a kid” when she’s stealing pricey scents, or she’s an almost adult saving up for a car; can’t have it both ways on your dime. You’ll be teaching her a better lesson than her mom bothered to.

naraic- −  NTA. Note: I’m not involving the police, suing anyone, etc. Please don’t try to argue with me about this or “convince” me why I should. Understood but your niece is very lucky you are taking this approach.

Their argument is that now the money she was going to use for a car has to go towards paying me back. I don’t care. Of course it has to go to paying you back. Why would you buy your niece a car. If she didn’t have to pay you back that is what would be happening with extra steps.

briomio −  Decants from rare vintage perfumes can go for substantial amounts – People make a living off of this. Your niece decided to defraud you hoping she would never get caught. I think her parent needs to take a hard look at the morals of her child.

sour_lemons −  NTA. I don’t see how her not having a car is your problem. The money she has for the car is made from selling perfume she stole from you. She’s lucky the consequences are not more serious. I guess she won’t have a car until she figures out legitimate ways to earn money that doesn’t involve stealing.

RyanStoppable −  NTA. Not even sure why you’re asking this, to be honest. She is lucky that I have no interest in involving the police, small claims, or any of that.

You are aware that if your sister is fine with also torpedoing her relationship with you (since your niece already did), you *aren’t* getting restitution without getting the law involved?

Natto_Assano −  A mistake would be accidentally knocking over and breaking a bottle.. She had to:. – make a plan. – find a way into your house. – Choose a perfume. – put it into a sample bottle. – look up prices. – set up her Instagram. – collect the money. – deliver the perfume. – repeat

At any one of these points she could and should have realized that what she was doing was wrong and could get her in trouble. The only reason she thought she could do this is because she thought she wouldn’t face any consequences because you are family.

Imagine if she went into a Sephora and stole perfume to sell it. Would her mom still say “oh she’s just a kid”?!

Someone who is old enough to think about getting a car and with that level of criminal energy is definitely old and mature enough to fave the consequences of their own actions. She will only escalate from this point on if she gets away with this

ReviewOk929 −  I said yes, kids make mistakes, and this is a GREAT way for my niece to learn from hers. NTA – She stole plain and simple, the age shouldn’t be a consideration here. She needs to pay you back.

Kmia55 −  The age of 17 is past the point that you can use the excuse, “She’s just a kid.” Way past the point. Even though you aren’t pressing charges, your sister needs to realize that someone else would and the police would take it seriously as a case of theft.

She probably made the money she was going to use for a car stealing from you, so that excuse doesn’t hold up. She didn’t earn that money; she stole it. Two different things.

blueswan6 −  NTA But it might not be a terrible idea to post on her account how she got the samples so that her friends also know what she did and they have to protect their own collections. Tell other family members also. It’s possible you’re not the only victim.

Was it fair for the Redditor to demand full repayment, or should she have shown more leniency given her niece’s age? How would you handle a situation like this with a family member? Share your thoughts below!