I’ve always managed with pliers and a flathead screwdriver.
I have to take at least one of them off every couple of months because my wife shops at big box stores a lot and most of the employees around here don’t really give a shit.
They’re meant to be hard to remove in a store. If you find them on your merchandise while at your own home, it’s not exactly hard to get them off.
Yes, but they need to be quits strong. I managed to get a forgotten tag off of stuff I bought with magnets I had from old hard drives, but it wasn't as easy as in the store. I think they're using electromagnets.