Primark

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Yellow Fang

Legendary Member
Location
Reading
Stepped into Primark today, looking for a cheap stripey blazer for a stag do. I couldn't believe the prices: £6 for a pair of jeans, £10 for a collared shirt. The stuff they were discounting was going for £3. How do they do it? Is the quality that bad? Do they slave-drive those poor Bangladeshi children that badly? I'm especially tempted by the jeans. Last time I spent £40 on a pair of jeans from Debehams only to somehow get a speck of white paint on them, which I couldn't resist rubbing.
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
I've got a few Primark things, I don't suppose they'll last for ever, but they do fine. I do have the odd moral qualm, but I'm like Maggot...

Also, I wonder how much mark up there is on the more expensive clothes. When you factor in the economy of scale when buying the cloth, £40 for enough denim for a pair of jeans is a lot. Ok, add in wages, transport etc, even so...
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Try going to Primark on Thursday evening. Everything is discounted! They call it "African night" because it's when all the Africans come to shop for their friends' shops back home.
 

upsidedown

Waiting for the great leap forward
Location
The middle bit
The one by us is like a jumble sale, clothes all over the floor and just piled up on tables.
The kid's jeans are fine for the money to play in. As for the working conditions, the £50 Quiksilver jeans on the chair next to me were made in Mauritius, bet it's not as nice as it sounds working there.
 

snakehips

Well-Known Member
Globalti said:
Try going to Primark on Thursday evening. Everything is discounted! They call it "African night" because it's when all the Africans come to shop for their friends' shops back home.

So you can buy stuff on the high street in the UK , ship it to Africa , and sell it for a profit !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Speechless !

Snake

My Library
 

lukesdad

Guest
snakehips said:
So you can buy stuff on the high street in the UK , ship it to Africa , and sell it for a profit !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Speechless !

Snake

My Library
My mother in law does the same in Malta. Wife buys it in primark then ships it to her!
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Have you ever seen the check in area for a flight to any African city like Lagos? Africans travel with masses of huge cases full of stuff for their relatives, there's always some wahalla going on over excess baggage charges. Some of my Nigerian customers come empty-handed and go to the Antler suitcase factory shop here in Bury, buy two or three reject or damaged cases then fill them at Primark. They can give some to their families and then sell the rest and the cases to finance the trip.

I've flown to Lagos around 80 times and I'd say that 50% of the flights with BA, KLM or AF have been delayed because people buy a cheap ticket, come and check in a couple of cases then somehow miss the flight. The idea is that they have someone looking out for the cases at Lagos. Unfortunately they still don't understand that airlines will not fly a suitcase if the passenger doesn't report for the flight so it's very common to be ready to push back then get an announcement from the flight deck in exasperated tones saying that "once again" a passenger hasn't boarded the flight and their bags need to be found and removed from the hold.
 

thomas

the tank engine
Location
Woking/Norwich
I think it's cheap because they can buy in bulk and sell in mass. There shops aren't really of the same standard as more expensive places but the main difference is they have a lower profit margin per item.
 

Mark_Robson

Senior Member
Primark Prada is excellent value for money. I cringe when I think about how much money I used to waste on clothes before I had kids and discovered through other parents that you can get decent clothes at a bargain price.
 
thomas said:
I think it's cheap because they can buy in bulk and sell in mass. There shops aren't really of the same standard as more expensive places but the main difference is they have a lower profit margin per item.

It's cheap because they have squeezed every penny out of the supply chain, forcing suppliers to operate to lower standards and use every means possible to save money. You can delude yourself that it's all about turnover if you like, but the clothes are cheap only because of the huge social and environmental price tag that isn't reflected at the till. A few minutes with google will give you plenty to reflect on.
 
I'd love to indulge in the occasional Primark feeding frenzy but I really don't have the patience to stand in line for what seems like hours at a time waiting to pay. I'm not casting nasturtiums on the clientèle of Primak but they don't always seem to have the best behaved children or the most refined social skills, so perhaps it just seems like I'm waiting longer to be served than I actually am.
 

cookiemonster

Legendary Member
Location
Hong Kong
I avoid Primark like the plague.

Their labels usually say made in Bangladesh and there is no way they are producing and are able to sell clothes that cheaply, and make a profit, without corners being cut somewhere. That usually mean child labour, when they should be at school being educated, instead of being used to keep us westerners in cheap clothes.:rolleyes:

Sorry, this is an issue I feel quite strongly about.
 

snorri

Legendary Member
I wondered what was going on at the first Primark shop I saw. There were security people at the front door restricting entry, the place was full! It was a case of six people out before another six got in.:rolleyes:
 
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