Big Issue Sellers

[DBD1975]

Brought a Big Issue today from a nice lady who was so grateful. Went past her again a few hours later and she asked how my day was going. I said good and asked her the same and she said not good as she hadn't sold any more and I had been the only person to buy from her today.
I feel so sorry for her and it is playing on my mind. I know Big Issue Sellers are homeless but I assume she would have somewhere to stay?
Just wondering what other people might think but am I being unreasonable to think it doesn't hurt to lend others less fortunate a hand?
This was in a very affluent market town and I observed people just walking past and ignoring her so I do believe what she said.

One of the local BI sellers used the line, “two free staples with every magazine” - always cracked me up

Hello

My local seller has been outside our market hall for the past seven years, at times selling his wares opposite a couple of shops advertising for staff. He’s clearly not from the uk as he has a very noticeable accent. Total scam.

Our local big issue seller parks up in a brand spanking new Mercedes, haha. You’ve probably been conned, I’ll never buy one!

And the further truth is that if everybody stopped giving these "sellers" any money the current racket would cease and possibly, just possibly, real, legitimate sellers would eventually return. That ship may have sailed completely though.

Im not sure that's true. It can't be worth doing just for the profit from selling va few magazines. The real money will come from the benefit/visa/whatever scam resulting from it. They dont care about the actual magazine sales. The fewer the better.

Ah damn, I live in a town I always hope is a long way from organised crime but I bought a BI today from a young woman with a foreign accent who claimed to have been disowned by her Brazilian family because she was an unmarried mother. When I mentioned that I knew a Brazilian woman who might want to meet a compatriot she said she didn't speak 'Brazilian' because she was a born and bred British citizen. And it was very hard to afford 'diapers' for her baby. Things that make you go hmm.

Our local big issue seller isn’t homeless.
Shes been standing in her chosen spot on a regular basis for ten plus years.
“ello darlin big issue purlease” over and over.
people quite often give her £10 or £20. I suspect that some days she makes more per hour than I do.

all The big issue sellers in my town are Roma. The one who stands outside my local shops harasses passers by and has been banned from the town centre numerous times.

I will not give these people my money.

Interesting… I didn’t know this but it is totally true about the big issue sellers in our town. The “ello darling” woman I’ve already mentioned, a young girl, another woman who was demanding money on a regular basis from a man with learning difficulties (she’s moved on to another town now I think). And two women (one is barely over 16) who sit and beg with a piece of cardboard.

I’m interested to know what The Big Issue hqs stance is on this?

Thank you for this. I didn’t know you could check and now see that the woman selling locally is not an official seller.

Our Big Issue seller has turned up for her annual stint. She only ever comes at this time of year and she's been coming for about 5 years as I remember her before lockdown.

I bought an issue years age and she asked me for money as well (I have no money for my children spiel) which they are not supposed to do. I gave her some but I avoid her now.

I wanted to add to my post but left it too long. Having said the above, my view is that if someone is in such a situation that they are willing to stand or sit outside a supermarket all day to make money, then they are clearly in dire straits. It’s not a pleasant way of earning money.

Yes, I noticed this. It’s getting close to Christmas and suddenly there is a BI seller outside our local shops, the same things been happening for years and then they will disappear in January.

The racism on this thread is horrendous. You should be ashamed of yourselves. I can’t believe that it has come to this. Have a read through of all the xenophobic, hateful comments.

It's really not. It's a fact that the Roma population cause a problem, not just in the UK, but across Europe (《not Romanians).

They're scams here are the Big Issue and begging. In London they pickpocket and the men play the cup & ball scams in London.

They are aggressive if filmed.

The Roma in Paris are the ones with clipboards, who pretend to deaf and ask yout sign a petition then Tey scamming your for money. They often have another who pickpockets while you're distracted signing the petition. Again the cup and ball scams by the men are done near the Eiffel Tower.

They are renowned for pickpocketing on the metro in Paris and in Italy.

They are aggressive.

In Paris I warned my daughter when I saw them loitering in the Metro. I was not being racist or xenophobic, Iwas aware they could be a problem and was being practical.

I've no doubt the women are controlled by a man/men, but that doesn't make what they do OK.

The Big Issue sellers in a couple of towns around here have always been Roma women - I'm talking decades. They don't cause any problems, just stand in one spot calling out 'Big Issue please'. I've never seen them come or go, so don't know if they are dropped off and collected.

Good idea. The BI seller I used to buy from regularly has gone. Haven’t seen many around here at all for a while thinking about it. I will donate to our local housing and homelessness charity instead. They saved a friend when he was on the streets.

You can set it to show all vendors. I was confused at first as well. It’s not clear. The person I used to buy from was listed, but I haven’t seen her for ages.

We were followed by people with clipboards at Montmartre years ago. It was actually quite scary because we practically had tourist stamped on our head and we found ourselves quite isolated. Had to leg it uphill as fast as possible. Wondered what that was all about - you have answered a 15 year old puzzle.

We could live in the same area , sounds very familiar . The,woman in question stands outside my local Sainsbury's and has done for about 10+ years . Her now adult daughter does the same .
At the and of the day they are picked up in a 4x4 , and I've heard they live in the city that is 25 - 30 miles away .

There used to be a man near the Marble Arch tube station/Pret A Manger that DD saw regulary on her way to physio. She always bought him something from Pret and when I went to meet him I took him something - not a BI seller.

DD's appointments stopped, then covid happened and we' don't go into London very often. I do wonder about him and hope he's finally got a permanent place

If anyone goes that way I'd love to hear if he is okay

edited for typo

We have a Roma BI seller in my family's small Sussex town when I visit. She directly approaches people going into the supermarket and has a face like thunder when I say 'no thank you'. I made the mistake of buying a copy from her once. She immediately started telling me how she'd just had a baby and was struggling for money...A month later, I bumped into her again, she clearly didn't remember me as this time she was pregnant and struggling for money...

On the other hand, my local BI seller in London is lovely. He sticks to his pitch, doesn't walk up to people, isn't rude, doesn't give sob stories, and sometimes gives me free unsold issues. It's always pleasure to buy from him and have a chat.

Our local BI seller has been sitting outside Waitrose for at least 10 years now. He's got a lovely spot which is under cover, and he has a chair to sit on and a table on which to rest the endless cups of coffee and various food items bought by local virtue signallers. Spends most of his time shouting into his phone in Romani. He’s sometimes drunk. I have seen him with his wife pushing a trolley around Waitrose loaded with stuff.

This makes me so sad because I supported genuine homeless BI sellers for years and I often wonder what happened to them after they suddenly vanished from their pitches.

Exactly the same here. Small but naice town in the north, not big enough for more than one BI seller. Ours gets dropped off by a minibus at 8am and takes her pitch outside M&S food. The bus full of other Roma women drives off, presumably to other pitches.

I mean it must be shit for her, standing in the cold all day, but it’s also some kind of racket in plain sight. 🤷‍♀️