The standard price for The Big Issue is £4 per copy. Vendors buy the magazine for £2 and sell it for £4, keeping the £2 profit. During the Christmas period, the price sometimes increases to £5 or £6 per edition. Many vendors also accept digital payments or tips, and you can buy subscriptions online.
The average The Big Issue salary ranges from approximately £18,600 per year for Engagement Manager to £100,000 per year for Chief Executive Officer. Salary estimated from 183 past and present job postings on Indeed.
The Big Issue sells more than 70,000 copies every week and has a readership of almost 350,000. So The Big Issue costs £4 but collective sales gives a great boost to those often marginalised by society. Our vendors come from a variety of backgrounds and face the myriad of problems associated with poverty and inequality.
Since then over 200 million copies magazine have been sold by over 100,000 people. Vendors buy the magazine upfront for £2 and sell it on to the public for £4.00, and in doing so each runs their own micro-enterprise.
It gives the vendors stability and a way to make money and for many it is the stepping stone they need to bring themselves out of poverty. When you buy a Big Issue, you aren't donating to a charity. You are supporting an individual, the very one you are buying the issue from, to build themselves a better life.
The fumopay pilot forms part of Big Issue's wider strategy to ensure vendors are not left behind in an increasingly cashless society. The social enterprise's award-winning partnership with giffgaff has seen vendors able to take cashless payments via devices and refurbished phones for several years now.
Vendors must not beg for money using the magazine (asking for spare change or other items is considered to be begging). Vendors can only charge the cover price (£4) for each magazine and must always give the customer the magazine once paid for.
Sellers still get 50% of the net proceeds from subscriptions, just like buying it in person, and readers can find their local vendor and subscribe directly on the Big Issue vendor map.
While a third of our vendors are homeless, the majority are not – people sell The Big Issue for a wide variety of reasons, and if you want to work with us, we want to work with you!
Average The Big Issue Vendor yearly pay in the United Kingdom is approximately £33,117, which is 14% above the national average. Salary estimated from 5 past and present job postings on Indeed. Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to Indeed.
Big Issue North vendors are self-employed. Under the regular weekly model, vendors buy copies from one of our regional offices for £2 each and sell them on established pitches across towns and cities in the North for a RRP of £4, keeping the profit from every sale.
The Big Issue is a street newspaper that support the homeless, the vulnerably housed and the poor. Big Issue sellers are registered, complete a training course and sign a code of conduct before they are allowed to sell the magazine.
Big Issue vendors are either homeless or at risk of losing their home. The money that vendors earn through selling the magazine helps vendors to cover rent and bills.
It was further revealed in reporting that one of the motivations for them to be selling the Big Issue at the time was that it allowed the vendors to register as self-employed, claim certain benefits, and enable their family members to work in Britain.
Convenience fees can be up to 3% of the transaction amount, which may seem small but can significantly impact profitability over time. For example, a company processing $1 million annually could face $30,000 in additional fees. Understanding these fees and their impact is crucial for maintaining profitability.
This pilot became the Big Issue's first every phone partnership with a mobile network. The phones are equipped with near field communication technology, which allows vendors to take cashless payments directly via a smartphone from customers' phones or bank cards, without the need for an additional card reader.
The UK is rapidly moving towards being a low-cash, but not fully cashless, society, with digital payments dominating, yet cash remains crucial for millions, especially vulnerable groups, leading to government efforts to protect access via legislation, banking hubs, and ATMs, even as some businesses go card-only and digital ID plans emerge. While cash use has plummeted (less than 10% of payments in 2024/25), the Bank of England and officials stress that a completely cashless system isn't feasible or desirable yet, focusing on maintaining choice and access for everyone, including the elderly and low-income individuals.
