I'm just going to join the master race and stop worry about carts. It's the better way to go. In any case stealing requires investment and you have no way of know how much it will cost long term and how much you will have to invest to stay on top of it.
People who are REALLY REALLY short on cash should probably avoid this stuff. The ROI (return on investment) is simply unpredictable. A cart could be good for 5 yrs or 3mo, no way to tell.
Certainly the cart makers aren't the moral sort so don't expect them to have sympathy or to take care of customer beyond what they must to get sales.