Has anyone actually bought anything from Temu?

[Hungrycaterpillarsmummy]

Keep seeing adverts for temu popping up on my FB and on MN so had a quick look

Has anyone bought anything from them and is it just cheap tat?
I checked out shein too after it being spoken about so much. I was expecting super cheap stuff but £15.99 for a toddler hoody....seemed steep to me?!
Is it a case of some stuff being super cheap and some stuff being over priced to make up the difference in cost on the cheap sales?

All of the above awful reasons for steering clear apply, but also the demise of our own high street.
Online, Chinese tat, rather than shopping on the high street. Empty UK high streets, loss of UK jobs…but hey, buy cheap! ☹️

You have nothing relevant to comment so you want to point out grammar/spelling mistake, typing/texting can cause errors. It's not that deep you were wrong end of. Should have known not respond with a username that ends with wee 🤣😭

Shein is just as bad

It’s awful and exploitative. Having said that I ordered a quirky ceramic vase for peanuts before I realised and everyone who sees it thinks it cost ££££ from an out there gallery.

I get a lot of ads on fb for Temu. As far as I can tell it's all the same Chinese crap that has been flooding eBay for years now. I recognise a lot of it from there actually. I always recognise it on eBay too and scroll past it in searches. The stock hasn't changed in years 🤣

(See also Ali Baba and Wish)

Shein stuff is different
Maybe ethically they are no better? But the stock is.

I actually saw a cheaper copy of a blouse I had seen advertised on Shein. It looked basically the same but even on the photo you could see clearly that the fabric on the Temu one was nasty and definitely not the same item. And the sizes available a lot more limited. They also state these are "Asian sizes"
in other words, tiny.

Shein is definitely not the same company. Their ethics may be as questionable, but the quality is no worse overall than New Look or Primark as an example. Variable like any retailer, but generally ok.

Shein is absolutely just as bad as temu, same practices, same exploitation, same shitty materials. Shein is worth $100billion dollars but they’ll pay a worker 50c to make a dress they then flog to people like you. “Ooh what a bargain” you’ll say, and never wonder who suffered to make it and who wasn’t paid for their time.

I don’t care if the crap they’re churning out is marginally less crap than the next awful Chinese exploitation company. You should object to the way they produce their tut - the data mining they do when you download their apps - the way they steal designs from real designers and put them out of business - the way their returns go straight to landfill because it’s cheaper to dump it than to repackage it and resell it. The way they don’t have to adhere to any safety standard when you buy directly from them as opposed to buying from a UK store like Primark who have to make sure their goods are safe to be able to sell them. Fast fashion is killing the planet and its companies like this speeding it on its way.

2 tops and a hose.

1 top fab, one not so fab, and the hose which was £1.50 and an addition for free postage, was exactly as expected for a £1.5o hose and is now a dog tug.

They are a front for data mining, making no money or even losses on products because the data they can take when you agree to their terms and conditions is worth so much.

"I am a believer that criticising anyone who isn't perfect in their consumer habits is pointless because within the system that we live it's practically impossible to send our money only to places that are 100% ethical - we should all aim to do a bit rather than a couple of people bask in the glory of being perfect."

True, that.
It's pretty hard to find companies which are (truly) ethically sound and within my current very tight budget.

Charity, vintage, second-hand, Vinted shopping is great, and I mostly rely on that, but sometimes I need items that aren't available via those means.

Or at least not without a hell of a lot of unavailable time spent searching in RL shops. (Or you don't live anywhere near that type of shop). Or want straightforward and quick online ordering. Or, hell, want a fun novelty gift.

I'm guilty of being a total hypocrite, really, and I don't know what the answer is.

Sorry for my de-rail, OP!

I'd not even considered that before. Thank you for the info.

I've just had an order delivered, very hit and miss.
Some bedroom bits for DC and clothing was ok.

Bought some microfibre cloths which are more like my grandma's doilies and some trainer liners which will probably only fit a hobbit 😂

Got a lighting strip for under the kitchen cupboards and DH said he felt a weird electrical buzzing sensation from it! So overall won't order again.
I used PayPal as well, so they didn't have my details.

Forced labour, data theft, climate damage... What more do you need!?

And I would expect that like Shein they use toxic dyes in the clothes they sell (source a Greenpeace report) because they don’t have to comply with any UK or EU safety laws because they are selling directly to you. Ditto any electrical goods.

Worrying that people buy things for their kids from these places

I tried to buy one thing from there when it was very new. Put my card details in then changed my mind... I did NOT press pay now and left the site... it felt very off somehow and I contacted the bank fraud line.. who immediately cancelled my card. It had been done in the 1 hour between me NOT placing an order and calling the bank.... I would not touch it with a barge pole.

I really hate this attitude that unless you can be 100% perfect, that there’s no point trying. Maybe “every company is the same, there’s no such thing as ethical” makes people less uneasy about buying things made by slaves

I've had some things from there, a few clothing pieces where the sizing is hit and miss. The quality of the other things I've bought from them is decent enough for the price. I'd love to be more ethical in my clothing choices, but given that all the charity shops near me are not wheelchair accessible (either to get into or navigate around), my choices for buying clothing in my budget is limited in my area to Primark for the physical shops.
I generally dislike shopping for clothes online as I'd prefer to be able to see the item I'm buying and try it on, but realistically, that's not always possible and, with the budget I have, places like Temu and Shein are usually the only viable options. I get they aren't ethical, but people don't always have the luxury of being able to make the ethical choice.

If you are happy to look in charity shops but it’s just that access is a problem, have you tried Vinted? I’ve yet to buy anything myself but there is so much choice on there.

I've bought some clothes for my four yr old on there. All very cheap and great Condition.

Ive sold some stuff on there too and it's been good but make sure to offer only the despatch services near you as the first thing I sold the buyer selected something that wasn't in my town and I had to drive to the next town to post it! Lesson learned!

@Jasmin82 deffo try vinted. When I had a quick browse on shein I was expecting things to be cheaper. I saw a kids hoody for £15!
Vinted it's deffo great for good quality at low prices.

@AquamarineNoseStud they request access to Bluetooth and wifi network information for example which provides your fingering and facial recognition details.

This information is sold to cyber criminals who can now access every computer and mobile connected to your wifi.

Pretty scary, and all anyone seems worried about is the quality of their dodgy products.

@BobShark, bloody hell, glad I avoided them, then.

Makes you wonder how many other companies, at whatever price point, do similar.

Well it just goes to show you can come at it from every conceivable angle and people still buy from them. Not a full understanding of what data mining means and the consequences for it

Unfortunately size isn't true for curvy women, I brought cycling shorts and t shirt set, item arrived and was far too small for me, of course wasn't expecting quality to be the best and was right very thin based 😔