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?

Oh and to add, personally I buy hand made off etsy from local makers but most won't as they're a lot more money.

Amazon don't pay for them at all. They are a marketplace like Temu.

Sorry no. I needed a new mucking out wheelbarrow , tack shop charging £90. Temu same one for £47, it arrived yesterday.
same with shavings forks, UK now only sell whole fork for £14 whereas Temu is 3 replacement heads for £11………so I’m going with Temu

It's likely that they moved from unemployment or from one shite job to another.

You have Internet and a search engine.
Knock yourself out

You don’t need to ask. I wouldn’t dream of buying cheap tat that has probably been produced in a sweatshop and then shipped half way around the world and will no doubt end up in landfill. You can get reasonably priced ethically sourced gifts from places like Oxfam, or buy vintage stuff in charity shops or car boot sales. Quality doesn’t have to be expensive unless you have no imagination.

I am interested at how many people call it “tat”. We don’t buy regularly but use it when we need things or for stocking fillers.
But we have had tools, clothes, wellington boots, period pants, an umbrella, a torch, gardening gloves to name a few. They’ve not been “tat”.

Totally agree, though I do rather like the concept of “saving the world one slinky at a time” 😁

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-the-developing-countries-trading-scheme-to-import-goods

Here's a lovely linky to one of the government endorsed schemes to get cheap tat in without paying duty.
UK companies are required to do due diligence on the standards in these places. The evidence? Normally send a pdf certificate with a "trust me bro" style email.

Again, you have no idea where your stuff comes from unless it's handmade.

I have a Shein cardi that has outlasted all of my M&S ones that were thrown together in Bangladesh. It was about a fiver and is much better quality than M&S.
it's not as simple as boycotting 2 sites because it makes you feel morally superior

No the OP obviously doesn’t think that - but clearly the less that’s bought from a supplier that has less than fair / ethical / safe (etc) production & employment standards, then the better. I’ve a good enough knowledge of global supply chains to have made a living in it for 30 years so please don’t lecture me.
I’m fully aware that I can’t make much of an impact on reducing global warming by recycling domestic waste, but I still do it.
Ditto making much of an impact on toxic agribusiness run-off into rivers and lakes by growing my own veg, but I still do it.
Likewise I can’t reduce the oil that’s pumped out of the ground to make single use plastic Halloween costumes or save a modern slave if I go the farm shop for a burger - but ffs I have to at least make a bloody effort!!
Please feel free to not give a sh*te about anyone or anything else, it’s entirely up to you & your conscience.

But surely we all do what we can within our means? I also recycle. We keep heating costs to a minimum. We grow food. No money for holiday so we don’t fly (haven’t had a holiday for 8 years). One car only, small as cannot afford a bigger one. No food waste.
I needed new period pants. They were 3 pairs for £20 on m and s. 4 pairs for a fiver on Temu. Saves me so much money on sanitary towels that are plastic based.
Financially it made sense. After bills etc each month we have £60 “play money”. That has to cover clothes, health and beauty ( so no haircuts), dentist ( not got an nhs one so only go if desperate and put rest on credit card), eye tests, any household stuff needed eg a tin opener last month…
I put away £50 a month for Xmas and birthdays (4 kids, 2 stepkids - all adults - 6 step grandchildren).

Do something more practical than repetitive mumsnets threads then. I wouldn't be surprised if more people shopped at Temu than were planning to now, it will be on their minds and no one really enjoys patronising, sanctimonious posts.

Ok, read the full thread.
Now, can anyone tell me where IS ok to buy, say, clothes? All fully made in the UK? Because, to my mind, M&S started all this when they stopped producing the 100% British St Michael clothes.
Don't give me that crap about shopping in charity shops, that's just dodging the question.

Next, why are posters convinced that some of us buy 'plastic tat' from Temu & Shein? Why on earth would anyone want 'plastic tat'? What IS 'plastic tat'? I've not shopped on Temu for long, & usually buy clothes, t shirts, nighties, knickers & the like. Never looked on Shein's website, so can't speak for them or Ali Express. Never bought 'plastic tat' from John Lewis, come to that.

I'm doing Christmas shopping, as I expect most of us are. Thing is - there aren't any shops left. Have you been to your city centre lately? I don't think we can blame Temu etc for that, either, probably a mix of reasons, shopping online, useless councils, high rents..the shops that used to be there are gone, like Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, etc etc - & before you buy from the shops still using those names, check the reviews - they are truly shocking. Wonder where they're based? ;-)
So.. we're a bit stuck. So don't blame the ladies here who are intelligent enough to check prices on, say, amazon, & realise they can buy the same item more cheaply from Temu. Low incomes doesn't equal thick shoppers. I'm guessing the majority of things in shops or online come from China etc!

Well, that's just off the top of my head. Will welcome replies that don't just parrot others opinions or ask 'what about the slaves'..

This is your reminder, to anybody who can't be arsed wading through pages and pages of middle class aspirational terribly 'noice" wannabe activism posts, that nothing you do matters. At all.

That there is no difference - none - between Temu, Shein, Amazon or any other company. You can tell Jasper and Penelope all about those damned uppity proles who simply will not listen at your next pottery and sip class, and you can pat yourself on the back for not being oiks like the rest of the UK.

And it won't make a blind bit of difference.

Not even the utterly obsessed virtue signaller who started this thread 😅(who apparently thinks easily comprehended short paragraph replies are a wall of text, and doesn't understand definitions ) has made even the smallest difference.

You have not helped a single seabird, child, slave pile of landfill or ocean creature by avoiing Temu. Not one.

You are being kept in a state of confused guilt by your overlords who are spending whatever they want on anything they want, eating what they want, doing what they want, wearing what they want and laughing at everyone else. You have no control over the scary things your social media feed is jamming down your throat and are trying to convince yourself you matter. But you don't.

Give a beggar you go past a quid and be nice to your mum. The only lives you can improve, even a bit, are your own and sometimes people in your immediate vicinity.

Be happy, live your life, enjoy your Temu tat. I sure am 😊

(No matter how much screaming any virtual signalling pearl clutcher does about it 😇)

These threads really are adverts for Temu. I keep being reminded I have a cart waiting to check out. I know that drive the OP into a state of frothing hysteria, and she's convinced I am the devil, but it's honestly the truth 😂

Right. The stuff is the SAME as anywhere else online though you have to be a bit careful with the sizes of things, double check the size before purchasing as sometimes the pics are disingenuous. I bought some sheer curtains for the spare room and they are beautiful, shimmery and translucent material with a fine gold brocade. About a third of the price of anywhere else.

Temu tat is a thing, but no more than any other online shop.

Perhaps the "tat" notion comes about because they have a minimum purchase before they will post the cart, so perhaps people fill it with cheap tat if they don't really need anything.

It’s interesting. Because I feel really uncomfortable by your posts and I do shop at both sites. But I do so out of necessity. I don’t feel comfortable with exploitation but also need to keep costs to a minimum. I try to make a difference where I can. I wouldn’t buy a giant SUV for example. I recycle as much as I can. I hate to throw away food. I avoid plastic. I don’t buy takeaway coffees. I welcome paper straws.
But you seem, proud? And gloaty. And goady.

Whilst I completely agree, it would have been better to give people some reasons why. Many are oblivious to the unethical practices, dangerous chemicals, horrific environmental impact etc etc.

This is coming from the same site that routinely has posters complaining about £100k salaries ,£50k in savings and relatively massive pension pots , whilst they're people using food banks 🤭.

I can't take anything on here seriously.

Instead , I will use my own judgement and take advice from people I actually know, who understand my circumstances in life.

The most depressing, awful attitude. I’d be ashamed to have written something like this. But hopefully you feel like a total girl boss, and that you’ve really stuck one to the man!!! People like you are equally as awful as the virtue signallers.

I imagine the people who call it "tat" have no experience of it whatsoever. I know of men who have bought tools and suchlike and say the quality is just as good as what they could buy in a local store, but for a cheaper price.

I would love to buy everything local, but if I can get the same thing cheaper elsewhere then that's what I will do. We can't all afford principles.

No-one here has really delved that deep into it other than watching a documentary on Netflix.

We are in bed with China whether you like it or not.

It runs much much deeper than the easy to blame shein and temu (which is seller to consumer setup, a bit like ebay anyway as is aliexpress)

I you think the clothes you bought from seasalt or zara are any better, you're deluded.

A lovely little boujee shop near me seems to source at least 90% of its kids toys and clothing from Temu/Aliexpress/Amazon marketplace. I’m yet to find one thing from there that hasn’t been. It’s a lovely little independent shop on a naice little high st with an m&s food. They’ve chosen items carefully, the stock is beautiful but they seem to have no shame in buying teethers for 83p and selling them for £12.