Primark

How does Primark sell clothes so cheap? 

Ever since the opening of Primark, people have been asking how they manage to sell their clothes so cheap and still make a profit. Whilst rumours circulated that it in fact due to the fact that they employed child labour to produce the clothes, it wasn't until 2008 in a BBC Panorama report when the rumours were confirmed. The report revealed that children as young as 11 were being made to work in sweatshops, getting paid on 60p for a full days work in places such as India.
However, like Nike, Primark is only subcontracting these factories and probably didn't even realise the horrible conditions in which these children had to work in. With all due respect to Primark, as soon as they found out about the 3 factories that were found to be using child labour, they dropped the contracts immediately in order to up-hold their values of being an ethical organisation.
For news reports about Primark's involvement with child labour follow the links:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/primark-child-labour-is-ethical-shopping-314574
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1028449/Exposed-Primarks-sweatshops-pay-children-just-60p-day.html



(Activists supporting War on Want outside Primark on Oxford Street, 23rd June 2008)

However, despite Primark's efforts to cut out all child labour, a year later the BBC investigated the sweatshops they were using in the UK. Although these factories are not using children, they are still breaking the law and treating employees unethically, paying them only £3.50 an hour which is much lower than minimum wage.
For more information on sweatshops in the UK follow this link:
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7824291.stm

It is these types of secretive, unlawful practises that mean Primark is able to sell its products so cheaply, however it has a high price for the people on the other end of the line.