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A step up in vendor support

More stories, easier purchases: Megaphone launches a new website and seamless digital payment system

August 14, 2024

Thank you for purchasing this issue of Megaphone magazine. Profits from Megaphone product sales go directly into the pockets of our vendors. If you’re reading this, chances are you’re already familiar with Megaphone as a social enterprise and our vendors as independent contractors who purchase publications at wholesale costs to sell on the street to earn much-needed extra income.

However, if you’re a new reader, hello and welcome!

This month marks a significant milestone for us. As of April 5, 2024, we’ve launched a new website with a seamless digital payment system for vendors and a digital news platform. Cashless payments are crucial today, and interestingly enough, Megaphone has been a pioneer in this area.

In 2013, Todd Seiling and Tylor Sherman of Denim & Steel partnered with us to develop the Megaphone Vendor Finder app, revolutionizing how customers find vendors and make digital payments. Denim & Steel took care to understand the unique needs of our vendors, including digital literacy and access to technology. It was a game change for Megaphone and the first of its kind in the international street paper community.
As part of this community, we are a member of the International Network of Street Papers — 92 street papers in 35 countries published in 25 languages, with a combined 3.2 million readers worldwide.

Visit the website [insp.ngo] to see street papers all over the globe, each with their own take on the vendor model.

While our groundbreaking app served us well over the years, it was clear we needed an upgrade to include fewer steps for cashless payment. So Denim & Steel once again joined forces with Megaphone to combine all of our digital offerings into one platform. Over months, the team worked with staff and the Vendor Advisory Board to listen to aspirations and identify pain points.

You will notice that the website includes a digital news platform, featuring news stories from the magazine. You might be wondering why we are starting to publish magazine content on the website, but in fact, Megaphone has done this for years — it’s just never looked this good.

To support vendor sales, one of our longstanding policies is to keep the last three back issues of the magazine on hand for vendors to sell. These are cheaper for vendors to buy at $0.50 a piece, and customers seek them out if they missed an issue or as a collector item. Don’t forget to ask your vendor if they have back issues. They make more from each sale and the content is still relevant.

All this being said, cash is still king at Megaphone!

Although we want to ensure vendors don’t lose out on sales in the new digital economy, keep in mind that vendors must visit the Vendor Hub — located in the Megaphone office in the Downtown Eastside — to collect digital payments, available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Prompt cash payments on the street really help vendors in the moment.

What’s more, carrying a little cash around might lead to a small act of kindness — and maybe a new friend — in our increasingly digital age.

Keep your eyes peeled for the 14th edition of our Voices of the Street literary anthology — going on sale at the beginning of May. Each year we host a series of creative writing workshops for vendors and other community members. Inspired by a topic, writers craft poetry and prose based on their own lived experiences that are compiled and showcased in this book.

Stay tuned for details about the literary launch event on Friday, May 17 in partnership with the SFU Vancity Office of Community Engagement. We will feature live readings by this year’s writers and a panel with our peer photographers. We hope to see you there.

Image description: From left: Megaphone vendors Stephen Scott, Charles Bailey and Esther Crittenden. Megaphone file photo.