How do Big Issue sellers make money?

Big Issue vendors all over the UK are working hard in all weathers to earn a living. 

The Big Issue group exists to support people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, are long-term unemployed, or are in need of extra cash to avoid falling into debt. In these unpredictable times, we provide an opportunity for people to earn their own income.

In 2024 alone, the Big Issue supported 3,500 people to earn a legitimate income by selling the magazine, earning a collective income of £3.9 million.

Read more:

• How the Big Issue supports vendors through the winter
• Breaking barriers: Why financial and digital inclusion is vital for Big Issue vendors
• Here’s what to do if you see a homeless person

The Big Issue seller on your local high street isn’t earning an hourly wage while they’re standing out there in all weathers. They’re running their own micro-business. They have outgoings and have to turn a profit just like any other enterprise out there.

Vendors buy their magazines from The Big Issue for £2 each and sell them to their customers for £4 a time.

• Find your local Big Issue vendor on our interactive map
• Read more about our vendors
• Want to earn some extra cash on your terms? Find out how to become a Big Issue vendor

This Christmas, the magazine is packed with more pages and the cover price has gone up to £5. Sellers pay £2.50 to buy the magazine, pocketing an extra 50p for each magazine they sell to earn extra money over the festive period.

Change a Big Issue vendor’s life this Christmas by purchasing a Winter Support Kit. You’ll receive four copies of the magazine and create a brighter future for our vendors through Christmas and beyond.

We’re also helping vendors bridge the digital divide.

Many Big Issue vendors now accept contactless payments as well as cash. Last year, our frontline teams helped 206 new vendors to accept cashless payments, with over 1,500 vendors now accepting card payments across the UK.

Readers can also subscribe directly to their local vendor if they are unable to go see them in person. 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.

If you’d like to support your local Big Issue vendor, it’s also important to take and read the magazine rather than just giving money, with Big Issue founder John Bird writing: “The general public are turning our vendors back into beggars. They are giving money out and not taking the paper.

“The model of bringing homeless people to the marketplace to earn their own money, ‘trade not aid’, has been punctured by only about one in 20 people taking the paper when they give money to the vendors.”

Bird underlined that in supporting Big Issue vendors, it’s important to remember that the magazine is a “hand up not a handout”.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

Change a vendor’s life this Christmas.

Buy from your local Big Issue vendor every week – or support online with a vendor support kit or a subscription – and help people work their way out of poverty with dignity.