To Buy Shein??

[GarthElgarsGlasses]

Hi, tempted to make some purchases from Shein and wondering whether anyone who’s bought from them would recommend their clothes or not?! Money’s right but really need some new winter clothes, however as Shein is so cheap I’m sceptical! Any experiences of their clothes welcomed! Thanks!

Those who shop with SHEIN, Primark, BooHoo etc on the regular please be aware of how utterly unethical these businesses are from both an environmental aspect and workers rights. Utterly abhorrent business models that should not be excused simply because they are ‘cheap’ or convenient.

A simple Google search brings up a whole multitude of articles and studies to show the catastrophic impacts these organisations have on ecosystems and communities.

Consider this, to make a top that costs £3 remotely profitable you’ve got to have a whole army of underpaid workers sewing and cutting flat out for hours on end often in unsafe conditions with zero regard for health and safety.

It wasn't your label no, that was another poster.
They love Shein, so I buy them what they want from there.
They can make their own minds up about the ethics.

I read it more as “Look, slaves gonna slave – so may as well keep them where they’re making a banging product. Obviously I’d never buy slavery-made swimwear that wasn’t aesthetically pleasing.”

Those who shop with SHEIN, Primark, BooHoo etc on the regular please be aware of how utterly unethical these businesses are from both an environmental aspect and workers rights.

They know, @Luxurysleuth007 . They just don't care.

Children and young people can’t make up their own mind about the future of the planet they’ll inherit, though. It’s on generations who have the power to enact change and change where they spend their money, to ensure the planet is habitable for those who don’t yet have that power.

That is awful behaviour from you.

@GoingThatWay maybe as a role model and a person they would aspire to be like, you should set that bar a bit higher.

Children learn from their elders.

I dislike SHEIN and would never buy anything from there, but all the 14 year old Spanish girls buy their clothes from there. DD sneered slightly when I suggested H&M.

They just want SHEIN and the plastic ziplock bags things come in, that a PP mentioned.

It is always well packaged, arrives on time.
Quality is very hit and miss. But for young teens it will mostly always fit and look ok. Adults I have no idea.

Last week DD ordered a top reduced to 1€.50, in the sale. I said the usual things to her about that likely scenario.

It arrived from Italy, beautiful quality with Italian packaging... what[s that about?

Shein suppliers' workers doing 75-hour week, finds probe

Shein: The secretive Chinese brand dressing Gen Z

Shein offered jobs working in its Guangzhou factories or warehouses earning about 16 yuan (£1.81) per hour, as well as saying workers did not need to get tested for Covid - or pass a medical exam to work on-site - at the height of the pandemic

medium.com/age-of-awareness/heres-why-you-should-never-shop-at-shein-no-matter-what-8140d285cf4b

fashionlawjournal.com/modern-slavery-in-fast-fashion-brands/

www.businessoffashion.com/news/retail/report-shein-violating-labour-laws/

I bought my DD her some winter clothes from Shein.

5 leggings and top sets
3 tshirts
2 dresses
2 coats

£75.

She will out grow them for next year so this seems economical to me.

@DrBlackbird the problem is. Those of us who know all this and are appalled are not buying from Shein.

Those who are buying do not care. Or think their desire for cheap clothes is more important. Or their grandchildren's desire.

Hit the nail on the head 👏👏👏👏👏

this.

it’s ethically and environmentally the absolute bloody pits.

i buy second hand. Pay cheap prices for really great quality.

There is absolutely zero chance that anyone on this thread has never purchased something with an unethical background.

Probably true. But probably unknowingly.

The issue with Shein is that it's clear what you are supporting from an ethical and environmental standpoint. It's not like they are hiding it. There's a difference between buying something in good faith and later discovering what the company was up to, and knowing the company is awful and thinking fuck it, a dress for £3, bargain.

That’s not the point. If you know something is made by slaves/child slaves and you don’t care and buy anyway, that’s what is appalling. It’s perpetuating and benefitting from slavery. Just because we have accidentally bought something that was unethically produced due to ignorance or companies actively white washing and lying to us, that’s excusable & understandable. The standard isn’t perfection, it’s do no harm to the best of your knowledge.

So? Individuals don’t have to be perfect or have perfect pasts. It’s perfectly possible to simultaneously be someone who once bought from Primark or thrown some plastic in the bin or taken a long-haul flight and to be someone concerned about the climate crisis who has, guess what, stopped doing those things. “You purchased something unethical once” really isn’t the gotcha you think it is.

Lots of products are made in China. Shein cut out the middle man and supply direct to the customer instead of selling to UK stores who then hike the prices massively.

Shein clothes are good quality, last well unlike Primark stuff. Take about a week to 10 days to arrive.

Just buy from vinted or eBay. There's loads of BNWT items on there if something that's been worn a couple of times bothers you (it shouldn't).

I used to love Primark especially in my twenties when I didn't have a lot of spare cash so I do get that these companies provide something that is useful when you're having to make ends meet but at the time I hadn't realised how to use eBay etc to get what I was looking for (and vinted didn't exist then).

My tips:
Identify the type of item you are looking for and the style. Also good to have a list of quality brands in your mind that sell the type of thing you are looking for.
You can filter to identify only new with tags items on most platforms if that's preferable.
Vinted allows offers and many sellers will accept them. Many sellers also have bundle discounts set up which can provide further savings. There are a lot of people decluttering on vinted and I would say it is generally easier to get a bargain on there than eBay which has a lot of professional sellers.

That’s not why they’re so cheap. And just like any nation, there are both paid workers working for ethical companies and there are the unpaid slave labourers working for human traffickers. You can’t lump all “made in China” products under one umbrella.

On top of the environmental and human rights issues, they blatantly rip off the designs of smaller companies who are actually making clothes thoughtfully and ethically.

yep. Not only slave labour and bad for the environment, but ripping off small companies. Often set up by women on maternity leave etc

Yes might be true @KassandraOfSparta but possibly they’re buying because they’re unaware about the conditions in which these ultra cheap clothes are being made. How would they know if they’d never read about it? With information, perhaps some posters will rethink their purchasing options.

Thanks to OP for asking the question in the first place.

@Cosycover of course all our purchases has some unethical impact even if it’s ‘just’ environmental. However, it is incorrect to say all firms are equally unethical. That’s just not true. H&M, for example, was one of the first clothing firms to sign the Bangladesh Accord despite not having clothes made in the Rana Plaza, which collapsed in 2013 killing over 2000, mostly young women, working there making inexpensive clothes for the western markets.

You can make a difference, albeit small, by choosing carefully.

There is absolutely zero chance that anyone on this thread has never purchased something with an unethical background.

this is also true. But the majority of people drawing attention to unethical practices do try, where possible, to buy ethically. Most people i know do. And most of the under 30s i know would rather by 2nd hand anyway. etc

It isn't realistic to expect 100% of consumers and their purchases to buy from, say Community Clothing. (look them up) That's never going to happen. But if lots of people pay attention and do what they can, it will make a difference.

And put pressure on governments and companies to up their game in terms of human rights and sustainability. It benefits all of us.

It must be lovely to live in a world where one only purchases locally sourced ethical garments. Or even a delightful smock from vinted which may do for lunch out with the WI or whilst wafting about Waitrose

In the real world there is a cost of living crisis, people need cheap clothes for their families and shein provides a perfectly good service.

It’s economical for you, at the expense of the slaves and the environment. Why does your child need two coats?