What are your tried & tested Temu purchases?

[JMSA]

I downloaded the app tonight. I'm not sure what to make of it. It's very 'busy' with loads of choice. The reviews seem great for absolutely everything, which is at odds with the price Considering a pair of yoga pants for my daughter, but not sure what the quality will be like.
Has anyone bought anything off Temu and what do you make of it?

I judge anyone who buys from Temu for a myriad reasons. Not least because of all the absolute tat destroying the planet and slave labour of thousands of Chinese people (including. Children) but they're scammers! Many, many people have had their bank accounts accessed unlawfully and had it tracked back to Temu by their bank.

Also the items don't ever match up with the pictures. It's always a cheaper, more poorly made version of the item listed

Yes, it does seem rather dodgy.

But how would you know this if you never shop there?

Following with interest.
I shop on Temu quite a bit, it's a bit hit and miss.

Also following with interest.

Is it similar to Shein?

Consider shopping somewhere that doesn't contribute to child exploitation. Unless you'd be happy for your daughter to work in the factory where those leggings would be produced, for pennies, don't buy them.

@JMSA I know enough people who have...before they realised how they operate.

@MaryHoldTheCandleSteadyWhileIShaveTheChickensLeg Yep exactly like SHEIN

i craft and like the stampin up card making products.
temu have the exact same (stamp and die cuts) at a fraction of the price, now i would be buying this exact item most likely from the exact factory made by the same person at 400x the price as they sell through a distributorship (multi level marketing).
they don't sell the paper/ink or embellishments so in order to complete a product suite i still end up buy some products via my local sales rep.
but i absolutely can't see how SU can justify the insane mark up of their offshore factory made tiny bits of rubber and aluminum.

Ahh thank you.

Shein has always been a bit hit and miss for me but I have to say, more hit than miss.

Perhaps I'll start with a few small items, like Xmas stuff and see how it goes.

Do you shop at Primark? Or, honestly, literally any other high street fast fashion shop?

I’ve purchased from Temu a couple of times, mostly kids stationary. Quality is great for the price tag.

It’s literally the same stuff sold on Amazon. It’s made in China and either imported to be sold on Amazon for ££££ or it’s sold on Temu for pennies.

now the accusations about stealing data and bank details I can’t refute.

There was a thing on Radio 4 You and Yours and also several news articles saying basically their business model is that they cannot make a profit from the insanely cheap items sold the profits are made by harvesting customers data to use for all kinds of extremely dodgy means in China.

So you might pay the price for your bargains further down the line.

Also as well as the dubious production ethics it's worth considering how you might feel when all the companies that invest in designing and developing the products that temu copy go out of business because they can't survive against competing and paying for vital things like uk quality control that ensure the products are safe and not made from toxic plastic etc that doesn't comply with uk regulations.

Thanks for the thred. I’ve just now unsubscribed from receiving temu emails after reading this thred. I literally only gave them my email yesterday as they wouldn’t let me browse properly until I did. Didn’t buy anything yet. But on reading this thred it’s obvious that I finger want to buy anything. Hopefully my unsubscribe works!

Agreed. Awful premise for a business, and just like Shein. Preying on people.
I also can't help but judge Amazon slaves. We all moan about the death of the high street but don't seem to click that our oh so convenient Amazon Prime subscription has anything to do with it.
So blind- but I can't believe everyone's innocently ignorant- surely people are wilfully turning a blind eye to the megatropolis Amazon warehouses as big as hospitals springing up everywhere.

You’d be mad to shop with them. You might think you’re getting a bargain with some cheap stocking fillers but it’s not such a bargain when they mine your phone or decide to dip into your bank account six months later.

I just googled. It's just people claiming on TikTok and Reddit that this has happened. No actual evidence connecting the two. Given that people shop online in dozens of places a week the Temu connection could be coincidence. In any case you can choose PayPal or Apple Pay rather than paying by card which means Temu never see your bank details.

I have bought a few things OP and I was pleased with them all. I returned a pair of shoes that came up small and got the refund very easily.

I have bought maybe half a dozen small things from Temu. They were the same things I'd buy from Ebay or Amazon - or Etsy, only they're always more expensive there!

I choose by image searching. When the identical item is listed everywhere, it was made by exploited children/slaves in China, however much I'll pay for it and whether it's being sold by a respected UK retailer. So I buy it from Temu.

Maybe others simply wouldn't buy plastic spray bottles or cheap hair wraps, but I live in the poor zone and can no longer afford to get everything from high quality, short run European manufacturers. And I don't see why I should pay three or four times as much for the same thing, just to keep a British retailer in profit!

Incidentally, COS, Monki, ARKET, &Other Stories and Weekday also use those unpleasant Chinese factories along with most of the highly-regarded sports brands.

This is the issue people don't think about. Everything people buy on eBay and Amazon and as you say Etsy is all the same products. Some are bought in bulk and distributed from the uk and more often now others are drop shipped so the seller literally just orders it from the supplier on your behalf and charges you for the privilege.

i got married this year and spent hours scouring Etsy for dresses until someone told me so many are drop shipped. I did an image search and found the dress I wanted on Ali express for £65 🤷🏼‍♀️

Ha! Good find, @Bobtheamazinggingerdog 👰🏻

It was! Mostly because the embellishments on the dress were so bad I got a 50% refund on the dress, picked it all off and added all my own 😁 the actual dress was perfect underneath the terrible decorations.

I bought some Lenovo wireless headphones on their sign up deal for 1.23 they're actually really good 😅

Apart from that, mainly toys/craft bits for the little one