To ask you to swerve Shein & Temu

Proud to say I’ve never bought from either and never will. My wardrobe is mostly second hand and I don’t need or want cheap tat.

Wow.
I think most of us on low incomes are well aware we need more money.
I can just imagine the backlash on mumsnet if people started to push for more benefits!
And some people cannot work. I worked up until 5 years ago when I became unwell.

Don't buy their clothes
but the other stuff they sell, you can buy the exact thing on Amazon so they are getting it from the same factories.

Something tells me you have the budget to shop elsewhere. Not everyone has that choice. Morals are easier when you have money in your bank account. Stop deluding yourself that more ‘acceptable’ places to shop have much better ethics. They are often all too similar. I often find this sort of post rather superior, patronising and slightly racist and completely lacking in understanding of what it is like to have a very limited budget and trying to get by in life.

It doesn’t work like that.
I worked for a supplier for years and basically if there’s no ‘brand’ in the UK/Europe, no one is auditing the factories or products.
So, no one is checking what they’re selling.

It’s remarkable that it is possible for less than £20 to get an item delivered to your door at the press of a few keys.

Someone had to design the item, source the materials (which also had to be manufactured from raw materials that someone mined / grew), make, check, track, ship and deliver to your door.

If some of the items have dangerous chemicals for you in them, the people making the items are being exposed every day. The cancer, lung problems, allergies.

If you really can’t afford to go anywhere else for basic goods than Temu, your income is too low. Fight for better pay if you work, or work more hours, or push for better benefits if you can’t. But don’t punch down on the poor being exploited overseas.

I do anyway on account of them full of absolute shite manufactured using slave labour. I extend that to other websites flogging cheap shite like Boohoo too.

Other people can do as they wish really.

Not things I personally need, no. Presents for my family.,

So not actually things you need then.

With the grandchildren I'll only use British stores like Smyth's for toys. I wouldn't risk kids health.

For adults it's up to them to choose. Never used Shein, it's a weird confusing website I thought.

Temu I found the perfect bamboo three tier trolley for my bits. I'm disabled so can store everything and charge tablet and phone right next to my sofa.

They were the cheapest I found. Crafting bits for my daughter for Christmas.

@ThatsCute i am sorry I don’t have the money to buy higher end products. Life is hard right now.

I did the exercise one night. The same items were on Amazon and temu at almost the same price.

You need crafting bits and you can't get socks from anywhere else?

Yikes. Child slavery “makes you uncomfortable”, but you’re willing to overlook it to ensure that people have gifts at Christmas.

Way to harness the spirit of Christmas. Jesus would be proud.

Horrible cheap rubbish.

Exactly.
People have no idea how much real good quality actually costs. (Handmade items are only for people I truly love!)

If people think mid price is going to be better, they are often mistaken

Personally I'm a massive fan of vinted, but if I see something on shein I like, I check the reviews, if they are good, I'll buy it. I'm not a lover of hauls, I think it's a bit crass, but I think it goes with a particular lifestyle.

I think one of the biggest problems is, most people are so far removed from what it actually takes to produce anything.
no one works in manufacturing anything and no one makes anything.
i knit and sew etc. people often tell me to sell what I make, but no one would pay even 1/2 minimum wage for what I make.
at the same time everyone wants a pay raise and thinks there time is worth so much.

Yes, I only buy things we need, we are not a cluttered household. When we were financially better off, we could afford to be more discerning.
Like you, no food waste. We don’t have masses of clothes. We only run one car now.
It’s hard. Not how you imagine life to turn out.

Fair enough, I thought you meant non-fod items- you can't get those from Shein and food is heavily (rightly so) regulated in the UK. I DO source chocolate, cocoa and coffee as ethically as possible as they are big on the slave trade (so Nestle is a no-no, for example). We do buy local where possible and we have very little food waste (as it's more expensive). I tend to also buy the same stuff weekly so I kind of know most of my food origins by now too.

Non-food stuffs I always do research into, but also because I want stuff to last. I'm definitely in the "less but better" -camp.

Because all of those items are much cheaper. I do buy items in the uk if I see them cheaply enough.

It isn't being made in China that is the problem. It is perfectly possible to buy safe, regulated products that were made in China. You're taking a gamble on safety and ethics if you buy from Temu.l etc.

And that is tat though. Why on earth can't you buy socks from a regular regulated retailer? And you certainly shouldn't be buying any of that so regularly that you can't possibly check if it is from a reputable source. If you really do find it too time consuming, you are buying far too much.

I do buy from shein because it's the only place I can find plus size clothes that are affordable and attractive (size 22). Can anyone suggest any alternatives.

Goodness. For example our food shop is about £85 a week. To check every item has been ethically produced would take a long time.

I mean I do - I assumed everyone does? It's not that big of a process, and I only buy few items a month, so it's not a huge hassle. I want to know where the item is made, what it's made of etc

But it is! As mentioned upthread, many components come from China for uk goods.
The stuff I buy is not plastic tat. I’m not interested in that. More things like socks, tools, manicure kits, crafting bits.