The Big Issue

I have bought it and always thought is was £1 to buy, so does it have a price as such? I've always just given a £1 never gave it a thought but I wouldn't feel bad you give what you can.

I'm usually asked for £3.50 so what should be the price?

I used to give the seller £1 and tell them to keep it for themselves - I got the paper once and it wasn't very interesting. But maybe it's better for their pride to take the paper, then they're selling rather than begging.
There's a similar thing here (France) - the sellers look so down and out, I usually give them something.

According to Google the vendors buy the copies for £1.25 each and the cover price is £2.50, so they make £1.25 on every copy they sell.

They're supposed to give change and not charge any more than £2.50.

Yes £2.50 is the cover price.

oops good job I haven't bought one for a while I obviously was living in the past...

When it was sold by the homeless I used always to buy it. Since I've discovered this is not neccessarily the case I've stopped.

Re your OP lucky I think this would stop people buying from her and from other more honest sellers. There is a Big Issue website where you can report poor behaviour by sellers online.

I only know this as my daughter was recently hassled then verbally abused by a seller in Leamington recently. She reported him and he's not been seen since. This is not harsh as people like these two leave a bad feeling about Big Issue sellers.

I gave up on the Big Issue years ago - much of the distribution has been taken over by Romanian gangs.

tanith I am with you- I thought that it cost £1 and even then was overpriced as it was so badly written. I used to give £1 and tell the girl to resell my paper. It shows how long ago since I have bothered.

Riverwalk - I am surprised to hear of pitches being taken over by gangs as I was under the impression that the BI central organisation was very careful about who distributes the mags. Where is this happening?

Luckygirl. Romanian gang bosses took over the Big Issue years ago. They buy up huge amounts of the magazine and then tell the sellers exactly how to sell them.
Hundreds, maybe thousands of homeless people have been denied the chance to sell the magazine because they are all bought up by the Romanian Gand masters.
And don't forget that once you become a Big Issue seller you are given a National Insurance No. as you are considered self employed. They are not self employed, all that money goes to the gang masters and he/she pays them.
This isn't here say, this is straight from the horses mouth.

The married couple who now clean our cars were Big Issue sellers. They told us how it all works.

Petra this fits in with what I see happening around here.There has been a Romanian woman selling the big issue in a local town for at least 15 years.
It's not supposed to be what they do for that length of time. she is always bundled up in gypsy type clothes and is a bit wheedling, I avoid her. I have bought the magazine in the past, from all kinds of people, but now avoid all the Eastern European ones.

I haven't bought one for ages either; can't stand the wheedling.

When it was the nice young man with his dreadlocks, blanket and dog I always bought one from him, but I haven't seen him for ages; it has been taken over by the Romanians.

How can gang leaders buy them all up when the sellers have to be registered with Big Issue and buy the mags themselves from distribution points? I thought that the mags were only sold to registered sellers. I am a bit puzzled here?

Luckygirl. I'm afraid your thinking that it's still the same set up as when John Bird had a damn good idea. The sellers don't shell out any money, they haven't got any. The Gang Masters register the sellers and then distribute the copies. It's not a charity anymore, it's business, and not a very nice one.

Surely this is against the law, though?

"Surely this is against the law, though" yeh, that'll scare them off. Maybe nobody has bothered to tell them this in the past 4 yrs that I know they have been doing it.

Is there no governing body for such things as the Big Issue, though? Sorry if I'm being dense/naive .

Looking at the website, it would seem that registered vendors do buy the mags with their own money at £1.25 each, then sell them on for £2.50. They are given some free to get the off the ground initially. How can these gang leaders become registered vendors? Going into a regional office and buying up huge quantities does not seem possible. The organisation would not give them out in that way.

Are you saying that the gang leaders gather up vendors, get them to register and get the mags; then take the mags back and redistribute them in some way to their advantage?

I cannot see how this works at all. I am sure there are dishonest people out there who would exploit the system to their own ends, but I am puzzled by the process.

I am sure that many vendors out there are E European, far more than to begin with, as many immigrants are strapped for cash. But does this mean that they are part of a gang system?

How does it work?

Body Shop used to have something to do with it

Sounds like a few urban myths flying around.
There is a regular with a big white beard on our high street. He whistles tunefully, greets people cheerily and last time i saw him was decked out in a tie-dye ensemble to brighten up the gloom. I usually give him a fiver.
At times in the past I've given the cost of the mag, and told them to keep the mag, cos I don't really think I'll read it.

I think you are right JessM - the idea that Big Issue would allow this to happen is beyond belief, even if I could understand what the process might be.