Shein/Temu tat-tax

[SheinIsShite]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c078j4kylz3o

Missed this in the budget yesterday with all the coverage of the changes to child caps and electric cars. But AIBU to think this is about time too? In fact, I'd argue it doesn't go far enough.

France is imposing a levy of 10 euros (capped at 50% of retail value) on these "fast fashion" items along with incentives to encourage buying second hand and repairing clothing. They are also banning advertising of these companies, and banning influencers from promoting their "Shein hauls" and similar.

https://esgnews.com/france-targets-ultra-fast-fashion-with-eco-tax-ad-ban-and-transparency-rules/

So it's a start.

We got cheap stuff down the market

SMH at all the people who think that buying Shein and Temu tat is a human right. Pathetic.

Oh well that’s sure changed my mind. Thank you for enlightening me.

The people making this stuff are slaves.

When I was a nipper in a skint family it was home made, hand me downs and church jumble sales all the way.

Most places including high st stores are fast fashion.

I've wandered round places like B&M on occasion. The tat in there is endless. Middle of Lidl. I've come to the conclusion that tat is in most shops, just different price points.

If you've never bought from them, what qualifies you to decide their goods are 'tat'?
Ive bought quite a lot if non-clothing items for my business and they are exactly the same as from other sellers

I don't shop at Shein. My parents had aspirations and moved away from there before they had children.

I think Provident are gone? But yes, that was another example of easy credit and often spent on things other people would seem unnecessary.

Doesn't sound like that was in an ultra-deprived area like the west end of Newcastle though?

New things are a conspicuous symbols of status, of self-esteem, of validity, etc. There is a lot of scholarship on the issue and there's a link between high levels of economic disparity and consumer spending on new items rather than second-hand.

No one said it's a human right. People have said that a lot of their customers shop there for more complex reasons than capitalist consumerism and it's not particularly fair to price them out without first addressing those complex reasons.

We mustn’t do anything about companies which bring problems including,
‘the sale of unsafe and illegal products, potential use of forced labor, exploitation of tax loopholes that allow them to ship in lots of stuff without paying import duties, deceptive commercial practices and bad environmental practices’
until we have solved poverty?
Even though only a minority of its business is people who can’t afford alternatives, and those people have other options.
Not sensible.

Are we all boycotting these brands aswell as shien and temu?

I was annoyed that it wasn't until 2029, why the delay.

This is the other tired argument - they're all as bad as each other so crack on and buy from who you like.

https://directory.goodonyou.eco/

It's SO easy to look at how independent experts have graded businesses. `1-5 scale from 1star - we void, 2 stars - not good enough, 3 stars - it's a start, 4 stars - good, 5 stars - great. Shein classed as "we avoid". Several paragraphs about why that grading was given with factors such as "There’s no evidence it’s taking meaningful action to reduce or eliminate hazardous chemicals in manufacturing."

Marks and Spencer is 3 stars or "it's a start". Zara and Next are 2 stars. Joanie - 4 stars. So obviously it is better buying from Zara or Next than from Shein or Temu.

I wonder if TP is turning in his grave at Vimes' boot theory being used to justify buying "bits" on Shein and Temu.

Nobody needs to buy from them. I've been on the bones of my arse. We had a baby and were surviving on 11k. DH had value Weetabix with water for lunch and cycled 20 miles to work. My needs and values were the same then as they are now. I needed food, water and housing. Any clothes were easily sourced from FB, charity shops and eBay. I resent the implication that socioeconomically disadvantaged people don't have morals or can't make good choices. It has never been easier to be aware or to choose the better option. All the people I know who use these abhorrent sites are very well off and simply want lots of stuff.

IDGAF that these people want to impress their equally destitute neighbours. Why should the planet suffer for their delusions? Do they really think that buying cheap tat new is going to make them not poor?

Unfortunately some people do judge others on the amount of stuff they have, how often they change their living room decor, the different outfits for each night out.

My inlaws are like this, they are not in desperate straits but live in fear of being judged as poor. So they won't even donate to charity shops in case someone sees them going in. Niece has been known to take an item back to the shops for a refund if it has gone in the sale as god forbid someone should think she can't afford it full price. It is so absolutely alien to me.

Rich people do not behave like that. Ever. I'm not talking about the inaccurate stereotype of the Earl with his battered Volkswagen and holes in his tweed suit. That is the false visual representation of the truth that wealthy people do not live in constant fear of what the neighbours think.

Importing tat for people who cannot afford much is doing precisely nothing to tackle the root causes of inequality!

We are not landed gentry levels of affluence, far from it. My parents were not from prosperous backgrounds at all, both grew up in rural areas where people had very little. Both grannies knitted and made/altered/mended clothes. Ate simply, didn't have much "stuff" and what they did have was treasured and looked after and handed down the generations.

DH's family are from similar backgrounds but from a city environment in a different part of the UK. Mountains of presents at Christmas, they were horrified at us asking for things like tickets to the zoo or tickets to a theatre show for the kids because that was not "stuff". Their mindset around lots of cheap tat showing you are not poor is just so different from my own parents. They thought that getting educated and getting a decent job was the best way of showing you are not poor.

Tax isn't enough, imports from shein and suchlike shouldn't be allowed past customs on health and safety grounds considering all the chemicals that have been found in the clothing and safety issues with toys and other products. No one should be wearing clothes that can cause cancer, infertility, or mess with the growth of children, no matter how poor they are.

The design of the websites/buying process is a great example of 'enshittification' and gamification too. I put something in my basket on either temu or shein once that I was struggling to find elsewhere. Ten minutes later in the seventh circle of hell of 'free gifts' trying to get me to spend more and more I abandoned the purchase! And felt pretty depressed about the insight that most of this tat isnt things people need or even want- theyre almost tricked into adding more and more. They must be taking tips from online gambling- this element needs investigation and possible regulation too.

I really applaud this.

Shein, Temu and the likes are terrible for the planet and also encourage consumerism.