Is Primark the best/cheapest shop to ever hit the high street?

Super Vedder
Super Vedder Posts: 1,531
edited May 2008 in All Encompassing Trip
My vote would be a resounding YES! Where else can ya stroll into and almost guarantee being able to pick up a couple of t-shirts, some shorts and some jeans and only spend about £20???? It's the future of shopping for me, disposable "fashion" at a price ya can afford! :D;)

Only bad thing about it is now when i see a nice T in another shop for about £20 i resent it being so dear and think "i could get five in Primark for the same price"!!!!!! haha :)
Black, the greatest without a doubt........
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • Jeremy1012
    Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    It certainly must be the cheapest. Don't know about best though. When you're picking up a pair of jeans for £4 it's hard not to think SWEATSHOP SWEATSHOP SWEATSHOP.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • vedder_soup
    vedder_soup Posts: 5,861
    i don't think i ever bought more than a pair of socks there!

    damn good socks though!
    2003 - Sydney x3,
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  • Super Vedder
    Super Vedder Posts: 1,531
    vedder_soup wrote:
    i don't think i ever bought more than a pair of socks there!

    damn good socks though!

    ya dunno what ya missing out on! £4 T-shirts that are actually good quality!! well good enough for a few months at least!
    Black, the greatest without a doubt........
  • Super Vedder
    Super Vedder Posts: 1,531
    Jeremy1012 wrote:
    It certainly must be the cheapest. Don't know about best though. When you're picking up a pair of jeans for £4 it's hard not to think SWEATSHOP SWEATSHOP SWEATSHOP.

    £4???? i got ripped off, mine were £9!!!!

    the thing is though, sweat shops are never gonna go away, just like poverty and starvation and natural disasters. They will always be knockin about somewhere.
    Black, the greatest without a doubt........
  • Jeremy1012
    Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    Super Vedder wrote:
    £4???? i got ripped off, mine were £9!!!!

    the thing is though, sweat shops are never gonna go away, just like poverty and starvation and natural disasters. They will always be knockin about somewhere.
    Of course but I don't particularly want to be a part of it if I can help it.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • harmless_little_f***
    harmless_little_f*** Posts: 8,005
    Jeremy1012 wrote:
    Of course but I don't particularly want to be a part of it if I can help it.

    I was gonna say exactly that.. Primark, T.K Maxx etc., I avoid like the plague. Even the the January sales (or any other sales) in other shops aren't fair game where fair and ethical trading is concerned.
    'We're learning songs for baby Jesus' birthday. His mum and dad were Merry and Joseph. He had a bed made of clay and the three kings bought him Gold, Frankenstein and Merv as presents.'

    - the great Sir Leo Harrison
  • Super Vedder
    Super Vedder Posts: 1,531
    Jeremy1012 wrote:
    Of course but I don't particularly want to be a part of it if I can help it.

    good on you then, as i have little knowledge of sweatshops i guess my ignorance will let me keep shopping there. (for now)
    Black, the greatest without a doubt........
  • Jeremy1012
    Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    Super Vedder wrote:
    good on you then, as i have little knowledge of sweatshops i guess my ignorance will let me keep shopping there. (for now)
    Yeah, don't get me wrong, I'm not judging you. I'm just personally not comfortable with it.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • Super Vedder
    Super Vedder Posts: 1,531
    Jeremy1012 wrote:
    Yeah, don't get me wrong, I'm not judging you. I'm just personally not comfortable with it.

    i totally understand ;) the beauty of freedom of choice (in our country at least!)
    Black, the greatest without a doubt........
  • Super Vedder
    Super Vedder Posts: 1,531
    harmless_little_f*** wrote:
    I was gonna say exactly that.. Primark, T.K Maxx etc., I avoid like the plague. Even the the January sales (or any other sales) in other shops aren't fair game where fair and ethical trading is concerned.

    Surely TK Maxx aint in the same boat as Primark though? They just sell reduced priced branded goods don't they?

    Im not saying you're wrong but i would like to be enlightened please as to what is wrong with TK Maxx and the shops who have sales on?
    Black, the greatest without a doubt........
  • harmless_little_f***
    harmless_little_f*** Posts: 8,005
    Super Vedder wrote:
    Surely TK Maxx aint in the same boat as Primark though? They just sell reduced priced branded goods don't they?

    Im not saying you're wrong but i would like to be enlightened please as to what is wrong with TK Maxx and the shops who have sales on?

    Someone else will be able to recommend books etc. about it, but the principal is, where sweatshops happen, people are working all hours day and night for less-than-peanuts, to manufacture designer clothes at high-end high street prices. They are getting far below a fair wage, even relative to their own countries, for very skilled and specialised work. Case in point: an Indian woman getting the equivalent of 12 pounds for a months' work. The t shirts she was making were then sold for 12 pounds each. How many T shirts did she make in a month? 20? 50? 100? Anyone's guess.

    Whether or not you choose to buy fair trade, it's taking the piss out of these workers when clothes they worked very hard on are then sold at prices far below the clothes' worth just to feed the West's excessive consumption habits.

    But like Jeremy, I wouldn't for a second judge you either. This is just something I've become passionate about very recently.
    'We're learning songs for baby Jesus' birthday. His mum and dad were Merry and Joseph. He had a bed made of clay and the three kings bought him Gold, Frankenstein and Merv as presents.'

    - the great Sir Leo Harrison
  • reeferchief
    reeferchief Posts: 3,569
    harmless_little_f*** wrote:
    Someone else will be able to recommend books etc. about it, but the principal is, where sweatshops happen, people are working all hours day and night for less-than-peanuts, to manufacture designer clothes at high-end high street prices. They are getting far below a fair wage, even relative to their own countries, for very skilled and specialised work.

    Whether or not you choose to buy fair trade, it's taking the piss out of these workers when clothes they worked very hard on are then sold at prices far below the clothes' worth just to feed the West's excessive consumption habits.

    But like Jeremy, I wouldn't for a second judge you either. This is just something I've become passionate about very recently.

    Whether the shop sells the clothes at full price or reduced, the man/woman/child in the sweatshop sees the same cut.
    Can not be arsed with life no more.
  • Super Vedder
    Super Vedder Posts: 1,531
    reeferchief wrote:
    Whether the shop sells the clothes at full price or reduced, the man/woman/child in the sweatshop sees the same cut.

    That's what i was thinking too, whether its £50 or £20 in the sale the shirt has already been made so the sale is not making things any worse surely?
    Black, the greatest without a doubt........
  • harmless_little_f***
    harmless_little_f*** Posts: 8,005
    Super Vedder wrote:
    That's what i was thinking too, whether its £50 or £20 in the sale the shirt has already been made so the sale is not making things any worse surely?

    Indeed... but the point is, it's the principal of the thing. People deserve to get paid for what they produce.. which they don't, but the sales are just a second blow, a laugh in their faces. In my own personal opinion. It's an issue of principal, and this is only mine.
    'We're learning songs for baby Jesus' birthday. His mum and dad were Merry and Joseph. He had a bed made of clay and the three kings bought him Gold, Frankenstein and Merv as presents.'

    - the great Sir Leo Harrison
  • Super Vedder
    Super Vedder Posts: 1,531
    harmless_little_f*** wrote:
    Indeed... but the point is, it's the principal of the thing. People deserve to get paid for what they produce.. which they don't, but the sales are just a second blow, a laugh in their faces. In my own personal opinion. It's an issue of principal, and this is only mine.

    But surely ALL clothes apart from fair trade ones aren't made in these sweat shops? Or do you only buy fair trade "branded" items in everything you purchase now? Im just curious, and by no means having a go or owt :)
    Black, the greatest without a doubt........
  • Jennytree
    Jennytree Posts: 5,340
    I love it, its great for getting awesome cheap clothes - and even better for accessories.

    Penneys (the irish equivilant of Primark) has made me hate customers (mostly D4 women) forever though. I've never had such hatred as I did when I worked in that place. I've never been treated so badly. People think that because you work in a shop that sells cheap clothing that you have no brain, yer thick, and deserve to be shouted at whenever there was something wrong. I would spend 4 or 5 hours folding tshirts, and some bint would come along at 5mins to closing and wreck the whole thing - take out the tshirt at the bottom of the pile, take a look at it and fuck it back at ye. total cunts. There was the odd really nice lady who would make an effort to talk to ye, would make a nice comment about my pink hair and piercings etc...

    And it was always women. I got moved to the mens department, and it was awesome. The lads made an effort to hang things back on the right hanger, apologise when they couldn't work the clips on the hanger, and even said thank you!

    /rant :D (you should have heard me rant at customers when I worked on the Service Desk doing returns :D)
    This is me:
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  • harmless_little_f***
    harmless_little_f*** Posts: 8,005
    Super Vedder wrote:
    But surely ALL clothes apart from fair trade ones aren't made in these sweat shops? Or do you only buy fair trade "branded" items in everything you purchase now? Im just curious, and by no means having a go or owt :)

    Nope, not all clothes are made in sweatshops.. but you're not informed as to which ones are, that's the problem. I can't buy all fairtrade, not many people can, but in a world where I could afford it I definitely would. Fair trade items are branded so that you can trust that their manufacturers have been paid a justifiable wage for their work. :)
    'We're learning songs for baby Jesus' birthday. His mum and dad were Merry and Joseph. He had a bed made of clay and the three kings bought him Gold, Frankenstein and Merv as presents.'

    - the great Sir Leo Harrison
  • Super Vedder
    Super Vedder Posts: 1,531
    Jennytree wrote:

    (mostly D4 women)

    what's a D4 woman? :confused:
    Black, the greatest without a doubt........
  • reeferchief
    reeferchief Posts: 3,569
    harmless_little_f*** wrote:
    Indeed... but the point is, it's the principal of the thing. People deserve to get paid for what they produce.. which they don't, but the sales are just a second blow, a laugh in their faces. In my own personal opinion. It's an issue of principal, and this is only mine.

    I'd think it was more an insult that they had been payed peanuts and the item sold for larger amounts, to me that means the said peoples lives are even less valued.
    Where as and I'm pretty sure Primark's clothes are not manufactured in sweatshops(I worked for them for 3 years) if the items are being manufactured by people earning peanuts for making them and then sold for peanuts at least that would make their wages more inline.
    And no I am not trying to condone such things happening in the world, I just find your reasoning somewhat strange Mark.
    Can not be arsed with life no more.
  • Super Vedder
    Super Vedder Posts: 1,531
    harmless_little_f*** wrote:
    Nope, not all clothes are made in sweatshops.. but you're not informed as to which ones are, that's the problem. I can't buy all fairtrade, not many people can, but in a world where I could afford it I definitely would. Fair trade items are branded so that you can trust that their manufacturers have been paid a justifiable wage for their work. :)

    i understand your point completely, don't get me wrong i like to buy fair trade food stuffs as it feels good thinking your helping out a bit. BUT they are so much more expensive than unfair trade i can't see it ever taking a great share in the market, sadly.
    Black, the greatest without a doubt........

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