Is Temu a bad company to buy from?

[2025willbemytime]

I want something and the price point there is good but a friend says it's not a good company.

Loads of good local label companies, try the label lady.
Temu sells tat for pence, they can’t be paying workers properly, can’t be good quality and it’s flown round the world

yes, that is unforgiveable! so many artists and small businesses ripped off.

A quick google came up with several options. I suppose it depends whether they’re the size you want.

I know that Temu isn't that. I am asking who is..

Wow. On that basis no one needs anything really. You've stopped shopping for anything but food then?

I read somewhere it’s so cheap as it’s basically spyware information gathering from people who get the app. The products are badly made and often don’t conform to safety standards. Temu and shien are the reason why small businesses can’t sell to EU any more unless they pay £2k to prove their products are safe.

No they aren't the most ethical company but who is?

Oh well that's alright then.

As a PP said, just don't buy the crappy tat anywhere.

There's quite a chasm between food and unnecessary tat.

Yes I am mindful of the things that I buy and if I don't need it and can't buy it ethically, I don't. Is that such a wild concept? It's literally what everyone did until a few decades ago.

Anyone with a cricut machine should be able to cut some adhesive letters for you, ask on a local Facebook group / craft group

It’s it ethical, and it’s not environmentally friendly.

That's my main worry. SIL buys us stuff from there. Jewellery. Watches. That cost £2.07. That can't be right. It's well-meaning but wish she wouldn't. Difficult relationship so can't even be honest with her and ask her not to. But that's another story!

I hate waste and sending stuff to landfill but I've read they don't adhere to our safety standards and jewellery can contain higher levels of toxic metals e.g. cadmium so I don't even feel happy passing this stuff on to charity.

OP avoid Temu and you can try Etsy but refine your search to UK only and read reviews and try to use your judgement on whether seller is small UK based.

But it's hard. The drop shippers often can get round the UK seller search thing and often do have 5 reviews. I inadvertently bought from one and was hounded daily because I wouldn't leave a 5 review. Pain in the arse they are.

I think Temu steals ideas from small business artists

I'm being absolutely harassed by Temu adverts on Twitter. Cannot get rid of them. I've no intention of ever buying anything from them.

Temu sell cards which look suspiciously like cards designed by a friend of mine. She or the card company don’t get any money from the sale of these cards.

Apparently this is rife with these sites. Another of their unethical practices.

It's shit. How do you think it manages to sell goods so cheaply???

Look on Not on the High Street or Etsy, or post in your local FB group to see if anyone locally makes what you're looking for. Or go to craft fairs.

Would Hobbeycraft sell what you are looking for?

I tried but they were too small.

I bought a wall adhesive from Etsy that was bespoke so she's definitely making them herself. It was fantastic and top quality. I'll see if I can find her.

www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Pencilmatic

TEMU is popular because it is extremely cheap. They have shady employer practices, use unsafe materials and screw over any business that uses their platform.

They make their profits not from sales but data mining and as an extra income, employ a clever trick to steal from customers and keep high customer ratings. The idea is to sell cheap shit at a tiny loss/breaking even to thousands and keep them happy but hack a bank account or two of just a small handful of customers so your customer ratings stay high and the public shrug off the stories or people losing thousands of pounds because they know loads of people who use the site and don't get ripped off.

Nasty cheap rubbish, terrible for the environment and probably produced using child/slave labour.

How else do you imagine they produce things that cheaply?

I’ve not bought from Temu and avoid places like Primark but always wonder on these posts - isn’t Primark just as bad? Aren’t their products produced in similar conditions to warrant such low prices?

Nothing different than amazon