Temu is insanely popular. Don’t underestimate this. Yes, it’s pure crap, but people buy it. They earn bucks.
Meaning, it’s not a valid argument to say it’s crap, and then it’s not a problem. Temu is a problem.
But then we have to start another discussion about the free market, because then Temu is valid.
Then what? Legit question, I don’t have the answer to.
Where there was once Tupperware, and makeup, there is now temu
It should be added this was discovered to the surprise of absolutely no one.
Who is buying that shit? I’ve never once heard someone say “look at this great thing I got on temu!”. I’ve literally only seen wish-fail stuff. It seems like a company that extracts pennies from putting shit directly into the landfill.
I got some really nice plexiglass display stands from there for my display case for really cheap. But other than that, I won’t buy anything that’s obviously crap. Oh yeah I got some string lights too, like 50 for 2 bucks and they work really well.
I haven’t bought from temu, but I’ve bought loads of stuff for various things on similar sites like aliexpress. If I have the time to wait for the shipping, it’s the exact same components as I buy in electronics supply stores here, but at a fraction of the price. I prefer to not pay a 300-400% markup for no real reason.
Temu is more on par with wish. It’s really scanmy and disingenuous. Descriptions will claim one thing but send you some junk product instead.
AliExpress is a lot more legit. They’re still cheap products, but at least you know what you’re getting.
AliExpress (if you are not the person thiking you can get a 4TB SSD for 20€) is great.
It started off as a “for people” Alibaba.com and I have bought lots of quality stuff there including a phone, circuits, tools (not the best but they will probably outlive me), 3D printer stuff etc etc.
Temu is like wish, just crap.
I would say you should be free to make the decision to forego the advantages working though a middle man affords you, if you would prefer the savings. That said, there’s consumer protection, quality certification (important for insurance purposes), returns, after sales care and I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff. Nothing to do with differences in the product itself, more so the guarantee of a product that does what it says on the tin.
I use AliExpress for all the little items in my life that can fail without any real problem.
I need a comb and get 2/$1 to my door. $3/4/5 each in a physical store for the same. I don’t think you’re appreciating how often these are literally the same products.
The retail sector has long ago entered enshittification. I’m not blind to the real people working in the field, but paying more for a product does not increase the chance of any positive environmental or social outcome. Feeding the beast, feeds their investors.
There is no ethical consumption.
Same people who would buy the same dropshipped product at Amazon but at 1/3 of the price.
Tons of people. My wife bought a $7 digital camera off of there for one of our kids and 2 years later, both of our kids still love playing with it and it works perfectly fine. We’ve bought a couple of other toys off of there without issue. But yeah, the majority of the products on there are typically garbage.
Only thing I worry about with toys is if the plastic they use is non-toxic. Most cheap toys sold online aren’t tested for plastic toxicity.
True enough, but toxic toys aren’t super common in the US. It certainly happens, but they eventually get detected and recalled. That being said, with Trump’s plans for gutting regulatory bodies even further, I’ll be much less inclined to order cheap toys from online.
If your kid tries to eat their camera you have bigger issues to worry about.
Heavy metals and volatile chemicals can leech through skin. Some have cumulative effects.
If you think toxic means harmful only if you eat it, I’ve got a glow in the dark watch to sell you.
That will match my authentic late 1800s green wallpaper perfectly.
As a counterpoint, I’ve bought loads of really good cycling accessories from AliExpress. It’s not impossible to buy high-quality things from China - this is after all where a large part of everything is manufactured these days - you just have to be careful not to fall for the offers that are just obviously too good to be true.
Not temu, but I buy loads of stuff from aliexpress, from dice to entire 3d printers.
