To ask you to swerve Shein & Temu

[DoNoTakeNo]

This Christmas?
I know it’s mainly a cost thing but if it’s achievable, can people possibly manage with less stuff?

On what grounds?

There are so many issues with the products too.

There is a strong chance what you buy will not be compliant with UK or EU chemical safety standards and may present other dangers like choking hazards.

Cheap toys aren't worth the risk.

You can ask,but I'll shop where I like.

why?

YABU, we're getting this thread on a fortnightly basis now.

I don't imagine anyone will change their shopping habits because an anonymous Mumsnetter started yet another thread.

Seriously, please don't expose your children to this.

https://www.ecommercebridge.com/chinese-e-commerce-giants-flunk-eu-safety-tests-95-fail-rate/

https://www.toyindustries.eu/80-of-toys-bought-from-third-party-traders-on-online-marketplaces-fail-eu-safety-standards-and-could-be-a-danger-to-children/

Is it because they are from china?

@DoNoTakeNo youll have to take no from me

Temu order delivered yesterday and ordered Shein last night. The UK is ridiculously expensive and I need to live

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4glzzdd88lo.ampDon't buy your kids stuff made by other people's kids

Will you be asking people not to buy on Amazon given many of the items are from the same factories?

Children’s toys aren’t the only thing sold on those websites, and many of the things are sold by other retailers (and shitty Christmas market stalls) in the UK anyway.

Well if that's the case surely Trading Standards should ban such imports. What's the point of having safety standards if they are not adhered to?

Banning their products is the only way now. But I am also sceptical of the source of many so called "ethical" outlets. Most of the stuff on Amazon is secondary selling from China, I don't see much griping about that.

It's all very well appealing to people's better nature but the range of goods on Shein, Temu, and Amazon and the price points appeal to a hell of a lot of people, especially these days. There really doesn't seem to be much difference between a Shein breakfast bowl (e.g.) and one bought in John Lewis, if all that goes into it is weetabix.

Can you find me a brand that sells similar clothes whose morals are squeaky clean? Preferably who i dont have to travel to the other end of the country to visit?

Depressing. People think they have the right to endless piles of shit for their children, made by enslaved people or children. I hate what Christmas has been turned into with the hauls and piles of tat and “cute bits”. Fuck the planet, fuck sustainability, I want I want I want.

Really? In 2025?

The difference is that Shein breakfast bowl has a significantly higher chance of having e.g. lead leaking into your cereal... Personally I'm not willing to take that chance when you can buy as many old ceramic bowls at the charity shop as you like, probably for the same price as Shein.

And yes, the Amazon stuff is bad as well.

Indeed. I don't believe any of them have clean hands, since the primary focus is profit. And, as you say going into a so called "normal and ethical" shop often ends in total frustration since stocks are abysmal. So back online, and guess what comes up as a suggestion when you search for your item?

Why?
Dangerous toys.
Crap synthetic clothes that end up in landfill mountains in third world countries.
Plastic crap that also ends up in landfill.
Shipping containers full of the above on mega ships burning millions of gallons of diesel as they circle the globe from China.
Slave labour used by China to create the crap you buy.

I presume only the desperate still
buy there. I wouldn’t dream of telling people in that situation what to do.

No thanks. I’m very happy with Shein. Love the clothes I get from there, and have branched out into kitchen gadgets that are unbelievably useful.

Found the same product on both Shein and Amazon. Shein was £30 cheaper.

Plus they often rip-off independent designers and small businesses.

Yes, we can. It's also that it's cheap Chinese-made tat anyway, and do we want to keep propping up the Chinese economy at the expense of our own? Given that the same stuff could be made here, and once was before everyone decided to outsource.

What about you writing to Trading Standards (or whoever oversees imports) to ask if they guarantee that imports from such companies meet safety standards and requirements.