He returns and hands that $100 bill back to the store.

The store now has its $100 again.

So at this point, the original $100 loss has effectively been recovered.

Part 2 of 2

STEP 3 — THE STORE GIVES HIM HIS PURCHASE

The man receives:

🛍️ $70 worth of goods

💵 $30 in change

Together, those are worth:

$70 + $30 = $100

And that’s the amount the store ultimately loses.

### 🎯 THE ANSWER: $100

The easiest way to see it is to ignore the movement of the stolen $100 bill and ask one simple question:

What did the man walk away with that belonged to the store?

He left with $70 worth of merchandise and $30 in cash.

That’s a total loss of:

## $100

The confusing part is that the $100 bill appears in the story twice.

First, it is stolen from the store.

Then, it comes back to the store as payment.

But the store doesn’t get to keep that $100 and keep the merchandise and change.

The stolen bill simply makes its way back to the cash register before the store gives away $100 worth of value.

A MAN STEALS $100… THEN SPENDS IT IN THE SAME STORE.