Has anyone ordered anything from Wish? Is it legit?

[Peterbishopssarcasticsmile]

I keep seeing it pop up with bargains that look too good to be true furniture and homeware wise - is it legit? Or one of those crappy, nothing like the picture, never get your money back places?

I ordered from them once and it never arrived. They wouldn't refund me either. Won't be trying again.

Clothing is shit from there, but my DD loves jewels and gems, so any fake jewels/gems we’ve ordered from there have been good. Also aqua beads and orbies have been good.
But you do have to wait for on average a month for your order to arrive, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. But in my experience, they are very good at refunding you if something doesn’t arrive, or if something is wrong or of poor quality.

What I don't understand is why people don't just buy items from High St shops

You must have some interesting shops on your high st. I like Japanese/Korean style stationery, we have little choice, bog standard and very boring shops on our high st.
I'm not sure about the problems with China, where do you think most of the things you buy come from on the high st. or on Amazon etc?

This thread is so depressing. People not giving a shit about the environment, the plastic shit destined for landfill and the ocean, the air miles to send this trash, the unethical worker abuses that go on in these factories to produce this shit, the run down of the british high street where people are losing their jobs and britain is losing trade, no one caring about the animals being killed and all for what? "im fucking bored so buy this tat and dont give a shit". I'm bored is a good enough reason to do all this bad shit but because they dont get to see it first hand out of sight out of mind.

Callar of course I know most products are made in China and clothing from Bangladesh etc. I just prefer to buy from companies who use decent run factories and follow decent safety rules and investigate if there are problems reported.
I am sure there are LEGAL AND SAFE retailers that sell Japanese stationary online that you could order from.

Callar thejapaneseshop.co.uk - UK based website selling Japanese style products.
Try them maybe.

@RyanBergarasTeeth

This thread is so depressing. People not giving a shit about the environment, the plastic shit destined for landfill and the ocean, the air miles to send this trash, the unethical worker abuses that go on in these factories to produce this shit, the run down of the british high street where people are losing their jobs and britain is losing trade, no one caring about the animals being killed and all for what? "im fucking bored so buy this tat and dont give a shit". I'm bored is a good enough reason to do all this bad shit but because they dont get to see it first hand out of sight out of mind.

if you wanna live over thinking every single life purchase, knock yourself out but surely you cant be shocked others choose not too. People like stuff People like to shop online more and more, its easy, cheaper and better variety of products People like good prices You will be hard pressed to change peoples feelings.

@squeekums so you're putting your desire for stuff above all those things? And poor quality stuff that won't last at that? You sound like a real peach.

bookmum08
Thanks for the link, but not really the sort of thing I'm looking for. I've no idea why you think the Chinese products sold in UK stores are made in a different way to those sold direct from China. If it's clothes and the UK company has a policy regarding sweatshops etc, then fair enough. But that set of pens or packet of stickers, you are just paying more for them. I tend to buy from eBay, more than Wish, but it's the same Chinese sellers.

Oh and there's nothing illegal about the stationery I buy 🤷

@Stuckforthefourthtime not just me, many many people world wide do
If they didn't there wouldnt be so many users of these sites, it's that simple.
I literally don't know a single person who won't check online before in store and unless it's something needed then and there, most will pick the cheapest option online.

Callar the difference in the products I am talking about is that sites like Wish and AliExpress sells ones that are made to look exactly like proper branded ones but they aren't. It's like buying a Smiggle stationary set via the internet. Either through their own website, eBay, Amazon etc. The products themselves are likely to be have made in China. The difference can be buying them from somewhere like Wish is that it is likely they won't be actual Smiggle products. They will be copies. Maybe even called something like 'Smuggle' but the logo will look identical except for the U instead of an I. The designs created and produced by Smiggle will have been copied without permission with no acknowledgment or payment to the designers. This is theft. This is illegal. This is very very wrong.
You can buy stationary that is very much in the 'style' of smiggle products from many retailers. WHSmith sell them. But they are not direct copies of the designs. They have paid designers to come up with their own ranges. It's like branded cereal vs supermarket own brand - there have been times that supermarkets have had to change the style or name of an own brand because it has been too similar to the branded one. There are strict copyright rules.
If you are buying a legitimate brand over the internet then that's fine. My point wasn't particularly internet vs high st, it is brands vs fake knockoffs. The issue with Wish and AliExpress is your don't really know what 'real' or not.
(I am curious to what stationary you are into. I love stationary !)

I know I keep going on about stolen designs on this thread. I know someone who used to work for a major UK clothing company as a designer. This particular company is known for people being able to buy fake versions. It is a luxury brand so obviously buying the actual product is expensive. This company is currently getting rid of 100s if jobs. Covid hasn't helped but places like Wish (or markets and car boot sales) selling copies really doesn't help.
100s of jobs going. Think about that before you buy a 'bargain'.

@bookmum08 people really dont care. I agree a lot of people buy, some because its all they can afford, some because they are in total ignorance of all the bad stuff and then there are the people who know all about the bad side and continue because they are bored or because they can. Very sad state of affairs. People complain that buying british is too expensive but if everyone turned to it then more british factories would pop up bringing more regulated jobs and trade as well as the products becoming cheaper as a result. Look at Maajid Nawaz' tweet about him buying the more expensive doc martens because they are still made in the uk rather than the chinese made ones especially now he is on hunger strike against china's treatment of ughur muslims he wont buy from there. People should deliberately be boycotting sites like wish, not only for stealing designs but the animal cruelty, human violations amd other serious matters. But fuck you can get cheap plastic tatt so none of it matters.

It's very sad isn't it Ryan.

It is indeed. Especially when its not about online shopping as such but about finding more ethical shops to buy from.

When people say that the items take "forever" to arrive, what do you mean? A couple of weeks or a couple of months?

I'm organizing a charity event that takes place in 5 weeks. I need a lot of disposable gloves and masks in order for the event to go ahead. Wish is the only place within our budget. If I order the items, will they arrive in time?

@GlitterToast

When people say that the items take "forever" to arrive, what do you mean? A couple of weeks or a couple of months?

I'm organizing a charity event that takes place in 5 weeks. I need a lot of disposable gloves and masks in order for the event to go ahead. Wish is the only place within our budget. If I order the items, will they arrive in time?

They usually take over a month, so you might be pushing it.

But I wouldn’t trust the masks and gloves you get from Wish; the quality will be cheap and poor and you don’t know what they’re made from. I wouldn’t want to be breathing through a mask from there.

How many gloves/masks do you need? Poundland sell them and if you tell them you want loads they might be able to order some extra boxes for you (direct from their UK distribution centre so will be quicker).

@EatsShootsAndRuns

I've got a fair bit of craft items but the prices are sometimes better on Ali express (more of an eBay format) basically do your research, read the reviews, don't buy anything which looks too good to be true.

I'd be a bit wary of Ali Express. If you look at Trading Standards there's an awful lot of recalls due to unsafe products.

Wish has the same problem. Which? research says 66% failed safety tests www.which.co.uk/news/2020/02/66-of-products-tested-from-online-marketplaces-amazon-marketplace-aliexpress-ebay-and-wish-failed-safety-tests/

Especially when its not about online shopping as such but about finding more ethical shops to buy from.

so lets be real, if i can buy a 5 pack of socks for $8au why would i pay 17.50au for 1 pair?
Why would i pay $40 for a plain singlet when i can pay $6
Like it or not, to shop with ethics and morals, you need to be well off.

When people say that the items take "forever" to arrive, what do you mean? A couple of weeks or a couple of months?
Ive had 2 weeks to 2 months before corona.
Id say your pushing it, all shipping from other countries is taking longer, less flights on cos of corona so postage taking longer than usual is the excuse i keep reading

squeekums you are quoting $ prices so I don't know how to compare but with socks I tend to buy something like a pack of 5 from somewhere like B + M for about £3.50. Somewhere like Debenhams or M+S would be twice the price or more. All retail staff in the UK have employment rights and must be paid at least national minimum wage. The shops/distribution centres in which they work in have to follow health and safety rules and the goods they sell have to be up to trading standards rules. The factories that supply their goods have to be regularly checked to make sure they are safe and the workers treated well. Buying from who knows where via the internet - can you have any guarantee that the people supply these goods and the quality of goods have any of that.
You don't have to be well off to shop ethical. You are obviously are just going to the wrong retailers.

Yes I bought a macrame rainbow in March and it arrived within four weeks. Good quality too.