U.S. Porch Piracy
Report 2025:

Package theft is now a mainstream cost of online shopping in the USA. In 2025, Americans lost an estimated $12.8 billion across roughly 228 million stolen packages, with nearly 1 in 3 households (29.7%) affected in the last 12 months. Building on Omnisend’s previous package theft research, this report combines FBI crime data with nationally representative consumer survey data to show where theft is concentrated, how often it strikes, what it costs, and how it changes shopper and retailer behavior.

• Nearly 1 in 3 USA households (29.7%) experienced package theft in 2025.
• Retailers absorbed an estimated $7.9 billion through refunds and free replacements.
• Maryland and Colorado had the highest household exposure, with theft affecting roughly 50% and 41% of households, respectively.
• California, New York, and Texas together accounted for about 28% of all dollar losses nationwide.
• The average USA household experienced about 1.8 thefts and lost roughly $101 to porch pirates in 2025.
• December was the peak month for package theft, and Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry was the most stolen category.

Those losses are also shaped by how exposed delivered packages are in the first place. According to a Pinkerton analysis of package-theft research, 98% of stolen packages were visible from the street, 61% were located within 25 feet of the street, and 46% featured clear branding. In other words, porch piracy is not just about what people buy, but also about how visible and accessible those packages are left at the door.

When packages disappear, consumers are not always the only ones absorbing the loss. Roughly 62% of victims said they received a refund or a free replacement, and those resolutions are estimated to have cost retailers about $7.9 billion in 2025. Another 16% were offered a discount or store credit. At the same time, nearly a quarter of retailers (23.5%) refused responsibility entirely, leaving those customers to absorb the loss themselves.

The experience also changes how people shop. After theft, 22.6% of victims said they order online less often, 18.0% said they now buy only from retailers with easy refund policies, and 11.8% said they shifted some purchases to lockers or in-store pickup. Still, 47.7% reported no change to their shopping behavior, suggesting that for many consumers, package theft is becoming an accepted part of ecommerce. On the carrier side, stolen packages were most commonly tied to Amazon at 61.3%, followed by USPS at 30.0%, then UPS at 26.0%, and FedEx at 25.1%.

Expert insight

When you have 228 million stolen packages and retailers quietly absorbing $7.9 billion of that loss, it stops being a consumer inconvenience and starts being an industry-wide cost of doing business. The retailers who will win in the long term aren’t just reacting to theft claims — they’re building delivery and returns infrastructure around the reality that roughly 1 in 3 of their customers will face this at some point.

Marty Bauer

Omnisend’s Senior Ecommerce Expert

The data suggests that porch pirates are not mainly targeting rare or obviously high-value deliveries. Instead, they are taking everyday ecommerce purchases left within easy reach. Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry was the most stolen category in 2025 at 37.2% — more than double the next category. Electronics followed at 18.3%, with Home & Kitchen at 17.3% and Toys & Games at 17.0%. Pet Supplies and Beauty & Personal Care both reached 16.1%, reinforcing the idea that theft often involves ordinary household buying patterns rather than selective targeting of luxury goods.

That category mix helps explain why package theft feels so widespread. These are not edge-case purchases. They are the kinds of items people order all the time, especially during busy shopping periods. The pattern points less to thieves hunting for premium goods and more to opportunistic theft of whatever happens to be sitting on the doorstep.

Expert insight

The data makes it clear that thieves aren’t waiting for a high-value shipment — they’re taking the next thing that arrives. A jacket, a toy, a kitchen gadget. That’s what makes the holiday season so dangerous: more packages, more doors, more opportunity.

Marty Bauer

Omnisend’s Senior Ecommerce Expert