France announce a levy on SHEIN, TEMU and similar imports. AIBU to want the UK to do the same?

That eould be a fantastic idea because it will reduce the amount of trash going into landfill.

Too damn right I am. The lower classes have gotten far too uppity, having access to nice things that should really be the preserve of those who have actually achieved something.

Cracking down on cheap imports and making them realise their place seems an excellent idea. And we know from the US doing it that it is wildly popular with those who know their place.

I'm hoping that the UK not only follows France here, but takes it much further.

I agree and some high streets have actually understood this. My local town centre is how a hub of pubs and restaurants and it is busier on a weekend evening that it ever was before.

To survive, things have to adapt.

I think we all know by now that UK is outside the EU!

Anyway that IS a bonus but I’m sure Burnham will do his best to eradicate that as he also seems to think he can magically revive the high street.

I love Shein, I love being able to buy everything I need from one shop rather than trawling round town for hours. Clothes, beauty products, bedding, cats toys, kitchen towels, they’ve got it all in one easy place. I’d happily pay more for the convenience of it, no issue with the introduction of a levy. The convenience is the important factor for me, I don’t care whether it’s a bargain or not. Shopping on the high-street is old fashioned. Shops should be replaced by places where you need to physically go and can’t do online such as hairdressers, gyms, restaurants…

This type of levy doesn't only apply to France, as there is now a new customs charge within the EU for online purchases of goods from outside the EU (which includes UK BTW). At the moment it is €3 PER ITEM, and will be increased gradually. The online retailers have set up EU warehouses now to circumvent this, but the prices apparently have increased nonetheless.

So there is a Brexit Bonus after all, the non EU customs charges don't apply if you purchase from a UK address.

Probably. But any change has to be on a massive scale. People who boycott Amazon aren’t going to shut it down because there aren’t enough of them. Same with the cheap online stuff. So long as people buy it, they will sell it.

It isn’t that the people who buy it aren’t aware of what goes on. It’s that people don’t feel strongly enough about it to pay more (particularly when it’s the same stuff)

Using Temu etc isn’t a sign of a low IQ - people are perfectly aware of their business model though.

You can’t stop using something like the high street and whine when it disappears. People will take the cheapest alternative.

Levy exists for all EU, I am in Ireland and my daughters are beginning to see the light and realise shein is not the bargain it once was

they just provided an alternative more suitable for today’s consumer needs.

Not needs. Wants. Nobody needs "a lot" of stuff from anywhere, never mind Shein and Temu. Showing on my Temu homepage - pack of 50 microfibre cloths, multipack of cardboard nail files, multipacks of socks designed as an Adidas rip off, 1000 air fryer liners, various electric chargers, 1050 tooth picks...

These sites are not about selling you one or two things cheaply. They are about shifting huge quantities of stuff and have promotions and offers to encourage you to add more and more to your basket.

I buy a lot on Shein and Temu, a levy wouldn’t stop me.

Businesses like the above are not responsible for the death of high street stores, which were already closing and struggled way before companies like Shein or Amazon came along, they just provided an alternative more suitable for today’s consumer needs.

For a second I thought you were serious 🤣🤣

I think we can all agree that prices need to be much higher.

Poor people have had it too good for too long.

We need to tariff the hell out of them !

You didn’t care enough about the high street to keep it alive - it can’t be revived so accept it and understand that forcing people to change their habits without a decent alternative tends not to go down too well

Loving all the people who claim to be able to spot Temu clothes a mile off by the way - course you can 🤣🤣

I have a top that I wear quite often and plenty of people (including those who claim they can tell cheap clothes from quality ones) have commented on it and asked where I bought it. Temu - £5.

Quite possibly but neither eBay nor Vinted helps the high street anyway. So why would you buy second hand clothes online when you can buy new for cheaper including on eBay?

Just because I’m not prepared to spend lots of money on clothes does not mean I should be forced to buy other people’s skanky cast offs.

100% support this. It worries me what kind of abuses in the supply chain might be going on. I realise high street brands aren’t immune but surely cheaper means more likely?

In Ireland - and rest of the EU - a levy of €3 per distinct item imported from outside the EU came in, in June.

It has in my anecdotal experience vastly reduced temu/ shein 'hauls' . It was handy for a few single use items DH uses for work e.g. paint filters. But in a way I think some people were almost addicted to the thrill of it

Annoyingly in Ireland our Amazon is useless and even on the ie website a lot of stuff comes from the UK warehouse so we've to pay the €3 per item regardless. (Postage from FR/DE/ES tends to erase any saving)

Are you kidding? Vinted and eBay have massively increased the availability and quality of second hand clothes.

Town 1
Free parking - great local high street. Thriving community

Town 2
Mainly out of town shopping plus charges for parking in the town centre.

Town 3
Parking charged for but great public transport options

Guess which town centre out of the three is bloody awful.

The problem here is the model for income that each of the councils favours. They seem to think that there is a captive audience and that people don't have options for where they choose to shop still.

It's crazy.

Indeed - but at least the irregular buses take you somewhere with more shops - that or Leeds in my area. I have a free bus pass but trains cost a fortune even with a railcard. I just can’t see the high street revival

And those sources are equally shit 😬

Our out of town shopping place has free parking but because it’s out of town, shops are closing down because many people don’t drive or can’t drive and the buses are shit.

So that is not so far away from going the same way as the high street.

My local high street has charity shops. I don't use them because it's full of shite that people have got rid of because it makes them look old and frumpy and no one else wants them.

Other sources of second hand clothes are available.

This is about controlling the choices that you don’t approve of.

You all had your chance to keep the status quo but there weren’t enough of you prepared to it. Then you all wonder how it got to this.

Forcing people to have to buy from the high street is ridiculous. You won’t magically bring back the shops and even if you did, they wouldn’t be able to provide the same range or service that online places can. You just force those people who want or need the items they don’t stock to have less choice while you continue to happily buy what you want.

Plus I don’t miss being served by some grumpy teen on their Saturday job! (Also why self service checkouts are a brilliant invention).