Big Issue seller asked for more

Fleurpepper that wasn’t Rosie !

Rosie 'Selling the Big Issue is a job now and there's no requirement to be homeless, as was its original intention to help. '

is there any obligation to be 'English' (whatever THAT means!!!) ?

petra

Fleurpepper. Someone mentioned you live in Switzerland. Is the Big Issue sold all over Europe ?

I buy my Big Issue in the UK, thank you.

*Millie’, why would not being English stop you from buying the BI? I don’t think a specified nationality is a prerequisite for buying it. My seller stands outside Sainsbury in all weathers. It’s not a job I envy. I’m happy to give him a fiver for his effort, as he’s mostly ignored by people. As an English person I find your attitude difficult to fathom.

I too give the price, but don’t take the copy.

We had a problem with some Big Issue sellers in my local city a few years back - they weren't all genuine if you see what I mean, and had got hold of the magazine by nefarious means. They were the ones most likely to ask if you could spare a bit of loose change in addition to the cover price. We were overrun with BI sellers and walking from one side of town to the other felt like running the gauntlet.

They gave the genuine sellers and a very worthy organisation a bad name.

MawtheMerrier

Millie22

I used to give to the Big Issue but not now as the seller is not English not homeless and goes back to his car at the end of the day.

One doesn’t give to Big Issue sellers - the clue is in the name.
They sell this thereby earning money. For many this may be the first step back to full employment and a proper home.
Nationality is irrelevant .

A hand up, not a handout. The Big Issue mantra. It was never intended to be a vehicle for begging.

It’s meant to be a business that enables self respect and a way forward to a better life.

I believe the profit margins are fairly set and so only pay the standard amount.

Though I have been known to buy more than one a week, from different sellers🙂

petra

Fleurpepper. Someone mentioned you live in Switzerland. Is the Big Issue sold all over Europe ?

I believe so, it certainly is sold here in Denmark and I have seen sellers in Germany too.

It has different names - frankly the Big Issue isn't exactly descriptive, is it. Here it is called Hus forbi which I believe is a poker term, but can literally mean, "No house". I've never noticed the German name.

Selling the Big Issue is a job now and there's no requirement to be homeless, as was its original intention to help.
There were several sellers at a shopping area I used to frequent and I 'knew' a couple to chat to regularly. It was so good when one young man told me he was getting accommodation through a job he'd been offered and was starting in a few days time, so I'd not see him any more. I hoped when others stopped being there that they'd also had similar outcomes.

I would have asked for my exact change then handed him the copy of the Big Issue back so he could sell it to someone else, thus being paid twice for the same copy.

Fleurpepper. Someone mentioned you live in Switzerland. Is the Big Issue sold all over Europe ?

Millie22

I used to give to the Big Issue but not now as the seller is not English not homeless and goes back to his car at the end of the day.

One doesn’t give to Big Issue sellers - the clue is in the name.
They sell this thereby earning money. For many this may be the first step back to full employment and a proper home.
Nationality is irrelevant .

As Millie* says ‘Is not English’ or as Oreo said they are all Eastern European sounds horrible do you both only feel charitable towards English people ….oh wow… what an attitude!
Ukraine is Eastern Europe remember the place we are all breaking our necks to help
I can’t believe some people only help English people

I read my Big Issue, but I didn't always used to. It was all I had to read on the bus one day and it had some interesting things in so I've read it ever since.

We have a lovely local BI seller. She and her children live in the next village. She stands outside the local Co-op almost every day. In the morning the local cafe supplies her with a hot sandwich and coffee. At lunchtime someone usually buys her some hot soup in a mug from the cafe and I've seen people coming out of the Co-op and handing her sandwiches. I suspect she takes those home for her family.

Our local BI seller is so lovely and I always buy from her and have a chat.

What do you mean by 'is not English'??? How do you know?

The lovely lady above is from Iran- why would it make any difference?

I used to give to the Big Issue but not now as the seller is not English not homeless and goes back to his car at the end of the day.

The sellers have to pay £1.50 for each copy so they are not making very much, I give the amount asked but do not take the magazine.

He also said he was advising people to boycott that particular issue

I buy a BI weekly from a lovely guy who is out in all weathers. A few weeks ago he prewarned me that the issue before Christmas would be £5 and I have no problem with that. He has never asked for more than the face value

maw that’s what I did. I was so surprised to be asked it discombobulated me.
I just started thinking about charity giving. It has to be a two way transaction. The receiver benefits from the gift - the giver benefits from the feel good factor.
If one is missing it doesn’t work as well.
If the seller had been a beggar and I gave £5 for nothing in return it would have been an honest exchange.

Our local big issue seller is a lovely woman and out in all weathers. Last week I had bought a couple of wrapped chocolate biscuits to eat in the car home. On an impulse I gave her one and she said she would save it "for her boy" and I felt really ashamed about the difference in our situations.
To go back to OP its easy for me to be wise after the event but maybe saying "Give me change for £5" might have got you out of an embarrassing encounter.

To be Frank I-would have taken the £10 back.
I have twice been guilt tricked by Bid Issue sellers.
Once into buying the last two because he had to sell them all and he had been out all day, to walk round round a corner later to see him gaily selling more.
Secondly by a man who ,as I was walking into a shopping centre, accosted me and said I could obviously give him money if I could afford to shop in there.
To those who say they are not asking for money, how many people take the paper home and read it?
Some do I am sure just as I am sure there are perfectly good and worthy sellers who really need the money.

I used to give Big Issue sellers more at Christmas.
Now I don’t buy one at all, they are all eastern European and seem to have bought it out as a franchise.In several local towns and nearest city they are all the same.

Probably the same as you, PamelaJ1. Partly because I would be shocked at a Big Issue seller asking for more.

Oh dear , I expect it made you feel mean. Try to give a couple of pounds next time with the right change. Difficult to ask for money back. .