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Shein/Temu tat-tax

113 replies

SheinIsShite · 27/11/2025 13:06

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c078j4kylz3o

Missed this in the budget yesterday with all the coverage of the changes to child caps and electric cars. But AIBU to think this is about time too? In fact, I'd argue it doesn't go far enough.

France is imposing a levy of 10 euros (capped at 50% of retail value) on these "fast fashion" items along with incentives to encourage buying second hand and repairing clothing. They are also banning advertising of these companies, and banning influencers from promoting their "Shein hauls" and similar.

https://esgnews.com/france-targets-ultra-fast-fashion-with-eco-tax-ad-ban-and-transparency-rules/

So it's a start.

A woman receiving parcels at her front door

Tax-free parcels rule used by Shein and Temu under review

Retailers argue that cheap foreign rivals are undercutting business using a tax-free status on small parcels.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c078j4kylz3o

OP posts:
SheinIsShite · 27/11/2025 14:55

It's not the job of the UK taxpayer to solve the world's social problems. It is the responsibility of the Chinese government to support or take care of its citizens, all the UK can do is raise concerns about condemn them for poor practice.

These tat-merchants are not about supplying you with one item, cheaply. They are about encouraging you to buy plastic tat in volume, to hit a minimum basket spend, get a discount, get a freebie. Buy, buy buy. A lot of what is sold is not life's essentials. Just opened up the Temu home page and they are offering me a pack of 10 huge plastic christmas gift bags, a plaque saying "i fix stuff", various different kinds of drones, a christmas themed door mat, a ripped off Wicked hoodie, a "beware of the Cockappoo" sign (no extra charge for the spelling error) and a selection of cheap shitty clothes with cheap shitty AI "artwork". All of life's essentials right there.

It's less about that Shein/Temu are selling things cheaply to people who have no budget to buy elsewhere. It's that they are selling utter rubbish which nobody needs in the first place.

OP posts:
eurochick · 27/11/2025 14:41

Good. They are terrible for human rights and terrible for the environment.

BettysRoasties · 27/11/2025 14:38

Hmmm I duno. The things I buy on Temu I wouldn’t buy in the local shop because they are stupidly priced for the same thing so paying more just means I won’t buy it or if I actually need it I’ll buy it on Amazon where it’s still cheaper then Maybe b&q or the garden centre or wherever.

I don’t buy clothes on temu though so maybe that’s the difference. I do sometimes use vinted

Notmycircusnotmyotter · 27/11/2025 14:33

I would really support this. Anything that stops people buying masses of unethical shit. Fast fashion is such a hideous industry and it says a lot about people who engage with SHEIN / Temu if they don't care.

MrsTerryPratchett · 27/11/2025 14:22

Orangepate · 27/11/2025 13:17

None of this stuff is simple though, the people making stuff use their wages to feed their families.. what happens to them if we stop buying tat?

Maybe they’d go to school, being as some of them are children.

smallglassbottle · 27/11/2025 14:17

Agix · 27/11/2025 13:24

Shein is cheaper than charity shops. It's also cheaper in both time and money than repairing your own clothes.

People are going to continue choosing Shein for as long as the cost of living remains high, and we're kept too busy just to afford the basics, without adding darning on top.

To be able to disregard shein and temu clothing as landfill tat is quite the privilege.

"The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness."

You can often buy perfectly reasonable good quality clothing and footwear on ebay. This is what I do if I want a better quality thing. As long as it's not worn to death or dirty. I often do this and have found some nice things. Vinted is also an option. I've never bought from the cheap tatty Chinese sites or Primark etc.

ShesTheAlbatross · 27/11/2025 13:25

Orangepate · 27/11/2025 13:17

None of this stuff is simple though, the people making stuff use their wages to feed their families.. what happens to them if we stop buying tat?

If people want to buy cheap tat and not give a shit about the various issues with it then fine. But don’t pretend to do it for the benefit of the forced labour and people in sweatshops. “I have to buy cheap shit, or the forced labourer in a sweatshop who made it won’t get their scrap of a salary”.

Agix · 27/11/2025 13:24

Shein is cheaper than charity shops. It's also cheaper in both time and money than repairing your own clothes.

People are going to continue choosing Shein for as long as the cost of living remains high, and we're kept too busy just to afford the basics, without adding darning on top.

To be able to disregard shein and temu clothing as landfill tat is quite the privilege.

"The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness."

smallglassbottle · 27/11/2025 13:21

Orangepate · 27/11/2025 13:17

None of this stuff is simple though, the people making stuff use their wages to feed their families.. what happens to them if we stop buying tat?

Their governments are responsible for employment and economic opportunities in those countries, not us. It's high time the landfill tat stopped, including throwaway clothing.

HermioneWeasley · 27/11/2025 13:18

UK retailers create jobs and pay tax (including rates on shops) and these places do not. Anything which levels the playing field is a good thing. Also discouraging purchases which shortly end up in landfill

Orangepate · 27/11/2025 13:17

None of this stuff is simple though, the people making stuff use their wages to feed their families.. what happens to them if we stop buying tat?

Purplecatshopaholic · 27/11/2025 13:15

I think this is generally a good idea. Anything that encourages second hand buying/repairing clothing, and disincentivises fast fashion is ok with me. However I don’t shop at Shein or Temu, those that do will no doubt have a view too..