To not buy from Temu

[Mayhemmumma]

Thinking I'm being more ethical not buying from Temu.

But I keep seeing identical items for sale...

But it's not necessarily the production of the items for sale on Temu that's unethical. The products are from third-party sellers, so will be made by millions of different factories. The point is that when you buy anything from Temu, even if that specific item wasn't made by children/slaves/people working horrifically dangerous conditions, you are supporting a company that happily sells plenty of other items that are.

Of course, there are also more expensive retailers that this might apply to - Nike and Adidas are being investigated for this too at the moment, I think. But Nike and Adidas will, at least, have policies in place to check up on their overseas factories relatively often, and will stop using them if it's brought to their attention that something's amiss. Temu, like Shein, simply won't care.

Also, there are other ways in which Temu and Shein are unethical, not just how their products might be made. They also regularly steal and copy the designs of small-scale designers and artists, sell counterfeit goods and sell goods that are unsafe.

He problem with Temu and Sheit Shein is not just the salve labour, appalling work conditions and dodgy data stealing app thing. Because of course a lot of (HUGE DISCLAIMER HERE that I recognise there are many people who can only afford cheap and I get that) of their customer base will use this as a comparison to high street stores to justify their totally unethical shopping habits ...

Do some digging and you'll find they have incredibly complex algorithms which constantly throw offers, discounts etc at you so suddenly when you only wanted a bikini, you now have three bikinis, a veg mandolin and that lovely rattan tray. For like a tenner delivered. They encourage HUGE over consumption.

Compared to all some of the high street fashion retailers they churn out three or four times more "new lines " every month. Again encouraging people to shop hauls and Shit We Don't Need

Also because their stuff was d so cheap, when shoppers have worn an item maybe twice and think "I'll charity this and save it from landfill " the charity then can't sell it as it's cheaper for the next customer to buy it cheaper. So it ends up in landfill anyway.

Then there is the issue of very dodgy product photography and items made so shoddily they release all sort of crap into out water every time you wash them.

Again - to emphasise, the high street isn't perfect but these places are definitely much worse

This is an excellent video made by a lady called Justine Leconte who has Yeats's experience in the fashion industry, it's really worth a watch -

Meant to say it's cheaper for next customer to buy new from Temu/Shein than from charity shop

I'd rather support the retailers in the UK

I like to be able to browse and have a drink there.

I try to avoid buying stuff now unless I need it

This, I purchased something of Temu and a friend purchased off Amazon. Exact same thing, exact! Only thing is I paid 15pounds less!

It's not identical - the M&S one looks higher and more tightly woven

Bloody autocorrect - looks bigger not higher

I buy from temu not had any problems with it.
It's down to personal choice.

Don't buy from Temu and Shein if you don't want (I don't) but don't kid yourself that they are the worst and other clothing brands are fine. A friend worked in the industry and used to find it very interesting how people would confidently state that they wouldn't shop at primark for ethical reasons (this was pre Shein/Temu etc) but would shop at M&S when the only difference between the two was the amount of effort M&S put into convincing consumers they were an ethical brand. Amazon, Zara, Temu, Shein, Primark, new look, M&S and 100s of other brands are all identical maggots crawling all over the same big pile of shit.

They harvest your data, utilise slave / bonded Labour, and are an ecological disaster

Can’t imagine my need for anything they advertise, will allow me to do business with them

Has anyone, anywhere, actually ever “needed” a rattan serving tray ?

I agree

So who do you think is the worst then? I dislike all of the companies mentioned (expect M&S for food) but at least they provide jobs and contribute something.

It's like saying £2 frozen chicken nuggets are the same quality as organic chicken breast because it's all chicken at the end of the day. Clearly, one is worse.

No, never. Trays always get food or drink on them here, rattan would be a pain.

Thanks for this thread. Have never bought from Temu but definitely won’t do that in the future because of the forced / slave labour issue.

I’ve never bought from temu and would be wary.

but it is almost impossible to completely avoid buying things not linked to China in some way - 95% of Apple products for example are still manufactured there.

Agree with PPs that there is just too much tat in the world - instagrammers doing up their house for Christmas, Easter, Halloween and all the crap that goes with that.

Maybe read some of the posts on here before you decide?

This is a completely random question and yes I know I'm in the wrong group but I just have an opinion question and all comments are greatly appreciated so here it goes... I asked someone once if we had met before? There reply was several times actually. Does anyone have an opinion on what this answer means or could it be possibly saying something with out saying it ?

They don't look that alike. 🙄

Temp is a massive cheat . Why would anyone buy anything from them?!

It's not just that Temu or Shein use slave labour.

They encourage horrendous levels of consumption of crap that most of us don't need.

@ExtraOnions

That wasn't the point of the post but well done you for never purchasing a decorative item.

If all the comments to respond to, you choose the most benign comment from someone who just doesn't get rattan trays. It's like a personal affront or something, what

Is there a Temu fan club I can join?

Hmm- sort of!

I won't buy from Temu and Shein either. Never have done and never will.

I've also voted with my debit card to not buy poor quality from the high street retailers either. We've allowed them to sell us rubbish at inflated prices for too long now. If the quality isn't there, then I'm not buying at any price and I'm not shy in telling them why too.

I'm happy to pay more for good quality but that quality isn't to be found even at the expensive end of the high street.

With a few honourable exceptions, vintage or do without is my current mantra.

Uk retailers charge too much though! That's the problem.