Did not know about this. How are you doing this? Is it pickpocketing the merchants? How often do you succeed on that? What happens if you get caught?
I haven't been caught yet. Don't know if that's just random luck or the method I'm using.
I move the party near the merchant, then separate my MC from the group. I go into hide mode, pickpocket just the money which always succeeds the dice roll, then sneak as far away as I can before the merchant goes into his "I've been robbed" routine. That triggers a dialog with the party members, not the MC. A persuasion response always satisfies the merchant. Maybe because the MC who did the deed isn't in the area? It worked exactly the same way in DOS 2.
Trying to steal an object often fails the dice roll, so I just steal the gold and buy what I want. It's too easy. What they may need to do is put a limit on how many times you can pickpocket the same merchant, before they catch on and you always fail.