Poundland

absolutebounder

If they didnt turn a blind eye it would no longer be poundland. more like 10quidland for the same crap made in china.

meritaten

thank you paulwf - I sit corrected, and quite rightly too! lol.
glad you agree with me though that there is no use having laws which are intended to protect people from exploitation and not enforcing them! tbh, I wouldnt mind earning a slightly lower than the NMW for homeworking as it would actually be more cost effective as I wouldnt have to pay transport costs etc. but slightly lower does NOT mean 60pence an hour!!!

paulwf

absolutebounder wrote: »

If they didnt turn a blind eye it would no longer be poundland. more like 10quidland for the same crap made in china.

Let's not be too unfair on Poundland. Quite a bit of what they do is clearance lines which they have the capacity to buy in bulk...some of this stuff would probably go into landfill otherwise. I've also seen them sell some items that go for £5-10 elsewhere so you can't always rely on paying more to get a better product.

They are by no means perfect and if you buy the stuff that is genuinely worth £1 it probably won't last and it won't be made ethically, I think you have to pick and choose in their stores.

charlies-aunt

paulwf wrote: »

Let's not be too unfair on Poundland. Quite a bit of what they do is clearance lines which they have the capacity to buy in bulk...some of this stuff would probably go into landfill otherwise. I've also seen them sell some items that go for £5-10 elsewhere so you can't always rely on paying more to get a better product.

They are by no means perfect and if you buy the stuff that is genuinely worth £1 it probably won't last and it won't be made ethically, I think you have to pick and choose in their stores.

I agree - last Christmas, many of the high street shops were selling packs of 'handmade' pretty embellished Christmas Cards - pack of 10 for £1... common sense tells you that these are either not made by hand - or if they have, they have been produced by slave labour.

I do shop in Poundland for food and branded goods - there are some good bargains to be had but there is an awful lot of plastic rubbish.

I suppose the best way is to make stuff at home or buy british

Janiceatkins

Many thanks for all your views. I find myself agreeing with many of them. I feel a bit ashamed now, buying fairtrade fruit, tea, coffee etc and then buying something obviously too cheap to be true.
I think in future I will still use PL for their discontinued ranges etc and food but be aware that if it is 'too good to be true' then it is, and act according to my beliefs.
I suppose that is all an individual can do.
Thanks again. Jan.

paulwf

In a spooky coincidence I mentioned £5 jeans yesterday then this appeared:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1295737/The-real-price-5-jeans-LIZ-JONES-meets-children-making-clothes-Primark.html

This article highlights part of the problem - there isn't automatically a link between the price of the goods and the amount the workers are paid, the same factory was making Calvin Klein and H&M. Big retailers are making millions in profits and are trying to cover up how much they are paying their contractors, they could easily afford to be ethical but then they might only make a few million in profit not tens of millions.

The_Thrilla

paulwf wrote: »

In a spooky coincidence I mentioned £5 jeans yesterday then this appeared:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1295737/The-real-price-5-jeans-LIZ-JONES-meets-children-making-clothes-Primark.html

This article highlights part of the problem - there isn't automatically a link between the price of the goods and the amount the workers are paid, the same factory was making Calvin Klein and H&M. Big retailers are making millions in profits and are trying to cover up how much they are paying their contractors, they could easily afford to be ethical but then they might only make a few million in profit not tens of millions.

Thanks for the article. The situation in Bangladesh really is a disgrace, and the European companies who do business with these sweat shops really are irresponsible. Even if these workers get their minimum wage, there is no reliable means by which the Bangladeshi government can enforce it.

Pink.

As this thread isn't directly related to Old Style, I've moved it over to the Green & Ethical MoneySaving board to see if you can get some more input.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].