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 my! Were you trying to be so patronising?

when you buy shite from Temu you KNOW it’s unethical. Guaranteed. When you buy from uk or Europe it might be, but they try to avoid skavery. Obvs.

They're not "just as bad" though. This is a myth.

Nowt to do with you what others buy.

A family member lets her daughter (12) take Temu eyelashes and glue into school to put on other pupils’ lashes in break or lunch time. I have been so worried about these chemicals so near to young (or any) eyes, but even the girl’s grandmother thinks it’s funny.

Interestingly I’ve just looked at some of the items I bought on Temu. The EXACT SAME items are on Amazon but more expensive. So I would still be buying unethically.

Don't buy it from amazon either then. Amazon is just a marketplace. Don't buy the unregulated shit from anywhere.

Do you cross check every item you buy?

If you think you can avoid Chinese imports you're sadly mistaken.
If it says "manufactured in the uk" on it, it means the item was built here, not where the components came from.
I work in import, there's items that are no longer made anywhere else in the world.

Cheap clothes are produced in Pakistan etc. for high street shops. We have an agreement with developing countries regarding customs duties. They are often no better. You just pay for the label and maybe a slightly higher quality control.

Tariffs don't make much difference either.
I noticed that Rachel Reeves is hoping to close the small imports waiver. That will only hurt the indivdal people purchasing from Shein etc. It will not touch the manufacturers who have things in place already.

It's too late. Local is unaffordable and rapidly becoming a thing of the past.
We are global now. This is what global is.

That's an amazon reseller. It's EXACTLY the same stuff as temu. Avoid it for sure as anyone can easily start a business on amazon buying tat for £3 and selling it for £30.

The only difference with amazon is that there are also some regulated brands on there. But personally, I'd minimise how much money I gave to Bezos regardless.

Depends what you mean by cross check every item I buy. I do only buy from reputable UK/EU regulated retailers or brands though. Or second hand. If i shop small, I do check provenance. It's not exactly difficult.

Happy to swerve and don’t need to make xenophobic comments about the Chinese only making shit to do it (not you op but others here, China exports a lot of very high quality and essential stuff we all take for granted)

I don’t know what the answer is. I used to shop purely second hand at charity shops and boot sales but EBay and then Vinted took that away and they are shells of what they used to be. Now investors profit from what used to be a lifeline.

But it is! As mentioned upthread, many components come from China for uk goods.
The stuff I buy is not plastic tat. I’m not interested in that. More things like socks, tools, manicure kits, crafting bits.

I mean I do - I assumed everyone does? It's not that big of a process, and I only buy few items a month, so it's not a huge hassle. I want to know where the item is made, what it's made of etc

Goodness. For example our food shop is about £85 a week. To check every item has been ethically produced would take a long time.

I do buy from shein because it's the only place I can find plus size clothes that are affordable and attractive (size 22). Can anyone suggest any alternatives.

It isn't being made in China that is the problem. It is perfectly possible to buy safe, regulated products that were made in China. You're taking a gamble on safety and ethics if you buy from Temu.l etc.

And that is tat though. Why on earth can't you buy socks from a regular regulated retailer? And you certainly shouldn't be buying any of that so regularly that you can't possibly check if it is from a reputable source. If you really do find it too time consuming, you are buying far too much.

Because all of those items are much cheaper. I do buy items in the uk if I see them cheaply enough.

Fair enough, I thought you meant non-fod items- you can't get those from Shein and food is heavily (rightly so) regulated in the UK. I DO source chocolate, cocoa and coffee as ethically as possible as they are big on the slave trade (so Nestle is a no-no, for example). We do buy local where possible and we have very little food waste (as it's more expensive). I tend to also buy the same stuff weekly so I kind of know most of my food origins by now too.

Non-food stuffs I always do research into, but also because I want stuff to last. I'm definitely in the "less but better" -camp.

Yes, I only buy things we need, we are not a cluttered household. When we were financially better off, we could afford to be more discerning.
Like you, no food waste. We don’t have masses of clothes. We only run one car now.
It’s hard. Not how you imagine life to turn out.

I think one of the biggest problems is, most people are so far removed from what it actually takes to produce anything.
no one works in manufacturing anything and no one makes anything.
i knit and sew etc. people often tell me to sell what I make, but no one would pay even 1/2 minimum wage for what I make.
at the same time everyone wants a pay raise and thinks there time is worth so much.

Exactly.
People have no idea how much real good quality actually costs. (Handmade items are only for people I truly love!)

If people think mid price is going to be better, they are often mistaken

Personally I'm a massive fan of vinted, but if I see something on shein I like, I check the reviews, if they are good, I'll buy it. I'm not a lover of hauls, I think it's a bit crass, but I think it goes with a particular lifestyle.

Horrible cheap rubbish.

Yikes. Child slavery “makes you uncomfortable”, but you’re willing to overlook it to ensure that people have gifts at Christmas.

Way to harness the spirit of Christmas. Jesus would be proud.

You need crafting bits and you can't get socks from anywhere else?