to shop at Primark

[Mamumu]

A few years ago I read Naomi Klein's "No Logo" and was shocked to learn where clothes and other stuff came from. Today, I find myself shopping at Primark, main reason being that it's cheap and I find that what you get is similar to what's in H&M and other hight street chains (only that they charge more, but in the end it all comes from the same place).

Anyway, I always feel guilty when I find a bargain, like a jumper for £4 or a tee for £1.50. But I've recently had a look at Primark's website and found that they seem to be working hard to fight slave work - www.primark.co.uk/Ethical.

What do you think? Should we believe them or not? Will this stop my remorses? How do you deal with it? Unfortunately, I can't afford buying ethical traded / cruelty free clothes, if I could my dilemma would be over!

I don't think we can disbelieve them...I mean why would a massive chain lie? So YANBU I do wonder how they recycle their left over stock and fabric though. I heard something on BBC Radio 4 about how some big chains just bury massive amounts of cloth.

Primark is ridiculously cheapand I love their vest tops...having no boobs I like their tops for under things... but some of their T Shirts for little girls have truly awful phrses on them...maybe Mumsnet should hassle them too?

YABU
Primark is like a jumble sale and the stuff is shit quality.

Well ShadesoViolet....the Primark in my town is lovely and clean and tidy and not all of us can afford good quality things....so your comment is just mean and bitchy really.

Finding a decent charity shop was the answer for me - same sort of prices, good quality clothes (I mainly get Next, Gap etc that I couldn't afford normally) and far more ethical, as there may have been ethical issues when making the clothes new but buying them second-hand is having no part in that supply chain (unless people buy new clothes just to donate which I doubt!)

I buy some of our clothes from Primark for the family. I don't think it is ethically worse than any of the other high street chains that sell clothes.

On the whole I find the clothes last well (well before the kids grow out them!) :o

Primark is appalling. Of course they will lie about their ethical policies. It is in their interests to be seen as the good guy. Basic economics should tell you that a £4 jumper can't possibly be made without cost to the environment and the worker. Gap has been caught out several times about lies it has told regarding workers rights in Gap factories.

Next does have decent ethical policies and scores fairly highly on the scale, up the M&S. Next are not expensive. Also, what the hell is wrong with second hand clothes? I've picked up some amazing bargains.

I buy seccond hand too...I never realised a huge company would lie blatantly though Calisto...so do Primark have awful factories then? With little kids?

Next may not have ethical dilemmas but their customer service sucks for what is suppose to be a high street store of quality. Just look at all the problems people have with their website.

I have no problem buying from Primark. No reasonably priced clothing store is ethical. They can't be and make a profit.

And you know what? I'm fine with that.

Feel free to flame me. I also don't recycle and really couldn't care less what we're doing to the friggin' planet. Its a big planet. It will be okay. The human race will die, perhaps, but the planet will still be here.

Boden clothes are manufactured in the same countries

All clothes are manufactured in those countries. That's my point.

If they weren't, that £20 Next top would be £200.

I would say that Primark are undoubtedly using small children in Chinese/Indian sweatshops Anemone. Cheap clothes generally mean misery for someone, somewhere down the line.

Tee - you really have no problem with 8 year old children being forced to work 12 hour days in appalling conditions for around 2p an hour? I guess you couldn't give a shit that there are less than 50 snow leopards left in the wild and that tigers are critically endangered? That soon there will be no fish in the shops because we have over-fished them to extinction? I could go on but there is no point wasting any time on someone like you.

Callisto - You're right. I have no problem with it. I am on the other side of the world, my not buying the products simple means those children get no money instead of even a little.

And I certainly couldn't give a flying fuck about the tiger or the fish. What's it got to do with me?

I live in Belfast. I find no tigers in Belfast a good thing.

I would miss eating the fish, true, but I hardly think its the end of the world.

Feel free to not waste any more time on me. I don't really care about you either.

Have a lovely Sunday up in your high tower. Some of us live in the real world.

Oh, I am also for animal testing for medical reasons.

Recent story in the Observer about production in India highlighted difficulties of this subject. One of companies was M and S, can't remember the other. An apparently pitiful hourly rate was mentioned. It was about four times the going rate or minimum wage. Likewise there was talk of local oversight problems. There is often an issue with local oversight.

Clothes made in India for local Indians by local Indians independently setting their own rates are incredibly cheap. A pair of market jeans for an expat can cost under two quid, so for locals definitely less.

Having said that -- Primark I don't know for sure, but with clothes that cheap, it's got to be worse than the others. I don't know how it's possible when you consider shipping costs, UK overheads and staff. Somebody somewhere is definitely getting the shitty end of a very shitty stick.

Well if you're so worried about the poor children and their nimble little fingers then you should put away your laptop (made under somewhat less-than-favourable conditions) and stop buying imported food at your supermarket.

Are you going to do that? Of course you're not - enjoy your wardrobe! :)

I can appreciate your dilemma. It is very tempting to go into a store like Primark, wander round and get everything your kids need for the winter and come out with change from £30! It doesn't sit well with me though.

I too can't afford to shop in expensive shops at full price but I'm an avid sales shopper. I always shop ahead so, for example, the DCs winter coats were all bought in February at the very end of the winter sales and put away ready for cold weather. I've just got loads of summer stuff in the end of the summer sales ready for next summer.
I sign up for voucher codes (and find them on Mn too) which always helps cut costs
I also get loads of hand-me-downs from friends who can afford to shop in the more expensive shops.
Can't say I've had much luck with charity shops though - around here they are full of rubbish (am always v. envious of people who come on here saying they got Boden from the charity shop!)

So, if you have any doubts about shops like Primark, there are ways of buying good quality, reasonably priced children's clothes without compromising your principles :)

Callisto, 2p an hour? That would be just over one rupee, maybe 1.3 rupee an hour.
Say ten rupees a day. Is that an exaggeration for effect or a real figure? Genuinely interested.

PS Does anyone know where I can get a snow-leopard coat? Sounds gorgeous!

Still, I wouldn't shop at Primark.

"I am on the other side of the world, my not buying the products simple means those children get no money instead of even a little."

Exactly!

I shop in Primark...I love Primark!

All those concerned about child workers making stuff for Primark pls tell me what you think they would be doing if they werent working for Primark????

OK, a wee comparison. I go fishing regularly (although haven't been for a couple of weeks as I'm decorating/Xmas shopping). Now, a few years ago I bought a pair of tailor-made Levi's at £50+ (I'm a 26" leg) and was shinnying around sharp, barnacle-ridden rocks. The Levi's didn't last 3 months.

A few weeks later I bought a pair of cheap (£4) jeans from Primark and, in the same fishing conditions, lasted over a year.

After that one episode, I vowed NEVER to spend copious amounts of money for high street clothes, besides, you can look decent on a budget.

Like Anenome says, not everyone can afford good quality things.

amber Oh they'd play cricket after school, gambol along the river bank with their friends before scampering home to mama & papa for a 3 course meal before being bath & bed.

DD shops in Primark with her allowance, but I don't. Ours is huge, always a rugby scrum, clothes on the floor, horrendous queues.
I just can't shop in that sort of atmosphere.....but I have to say every top dd has bought has washed well.

Unless the clothes are explicitly marked as fair trade, then the conditions for the producers are pretty much the same no matter which brand you buy. Check out Confessions of an Eco Sinner for an introductory overview of the cotton production and clothing manufacture industries.

However, by paying a bit more (and it only has to be a few $ per item more) you create less demand for the bottom price stuff. This is good, because it reduces the pressure to keep prices super low. Also, there's more scope (price flexibility and bigger margins) for the producers to end up earning more from the better quality and not so cheap end products.

So ethically, paying a bit more is the best thing to do, assuming you can't afford or find anything you like that is actively Fair Trade.

SkiHorseWonAWean