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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

TEMU Bargains

133 replies

MileyWiley · 13/08/2023 13:55

Any chance we can have a thread on TEMU items? I keep seeing items I know my (by Xmas) 8 year old girl would adore. So far bits and bobs we have had from there have been good - more luggage and summer based items so far. Have been looking at all the jewellery and bedroom organisers, night lights, etc. Would love to see anyone else’s finds! Also thinking that the whilst deliver is about a week at the moment, this is likely to increase my Xmas.

please no comments about human rights/ slave labour etc. the likes of other Chinese based bargain website, Shein, Amazon, Primark will be no better 🙂

OP posts:
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TastesLikeStrawberriesOnASummerEvening · 13/08/2023 22:41

I got some beads from there, exact same as Amazon and half the price.
I buy v little but wanted to make bracelets for v sweet teenagers who will love them.
I then bought a bloody better be highly ethical £25 lip balm to cancel my wrong doing.

mummybear247 · 13/08/2023 22:42

@smilesup it's no different to what u can buy anywhere else is all made in china

JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots · 13/08/2023 22:59

I'm trying to get my teen not to buy tat she doesn't need from temu. Or anywhere for that matter. Unfortunately most things seem to be made in China these days so I'm not sure how to completely avoid it.
Every Christmas I vow to buy less tat and so far I'm succeeding.

Nagado · 13/08/2023 23:31

I’m not going to echo what everyone else has said about slave labour and nasty chemicals, but did you see that article about just how much of your info you’re giving access to by downloading the Temu app? I don’t do apps at all, but even the person writing the article said it was excessive. That alone put me off.

Theunamedcat · 13/08/2023 23:35

The pin badges are great the clothing hit and miss definitely cheap but very soft dresses are awful I got a refund

NeverTrustAPoliceman · 13/08/2023 23:39

It does make me wonder about what sort of Christmas the child labourers will have. Do they ever wonder about all the plastic tat they are forced to make which is then shipped to the other side of the world to make another child happy for 2 minutes?

TastesLikeStrawberriesOnASummerEvening · 13/08/2023 23:42

Between this and the chicken nonsense I'm about to buy all the tat and eat a big of of crap nuggets.
Take your morality policing elsewhere.

SootspriteSearcher · 13/08/2023 23:49

smilesup · 13/08/2023 22:36

Do you ever think of the environment at all? Not you alone but imagine 8 billion people all buying this shite and then wonder why or planet is fucked.

I've bought things we are going to use, i do not have the budget to buy everything from local businesses, if i did i would. I see buying from temu as not too different than buying from amazon, ebay or high street shops. None of them are that ethical either. Also many items i bought are not available elsewhere unless I buy from temu or other places like them.

I do care about the environment. I don't run a car, i walk or bus everywhere. I recycle, reuse and buy as much second hand as I can. I havent been on an aeroplane in over 15 years. I eat a mostly vegan diet (except the odd free-range egg or chicken meal). I don't use disposable wipes, sandwich bags, tin foil, gloves, bags, sanitary products. I buy plastic free products where possible, using bar soap and powdered washing powder, make my own cleaning bottles up. I take a drinks bottle/coffee cup to refill wherever i go. So from an environmental point of view I do more for the planet than most in our everyday life.

I know this doesn't cancel out the environmental impact of my temu purchases, but every item I have bought will be used and appreciated. And when it's no longer needed will be passed on to someone else to use. I dont believe in throwing items away when they are still usable.

I think when shopping people should consider what they will use rather than get carried away with the cheap prices and buy extras for the sake of it. Same can be said for all shopping, think of the food waste some people have each week, or clothes that never get worn then binned.

caringcarer · 14/08/2023 00:04

I've bought this long thin thing that goes on your head and you curl your hair around it to go in her Xmas sticking. I know my son's girlfriend will love it because she's always doing new hair styles. I got myself one so she can practice it on me.

I got my DS some white sealant strip to go along his bath. I got myself a roll of this too. Comes in packs of 2.

I got some clips to seal cereal bags once opened.

I got some toe nail clippers to pop in DS stocking.

I got some key fobs.

I got paper liners for air fryer.

I'm afraid to look too much because I keep seeing things that would be useful at such a cheap price I order.

MileyWiley · 14/08/2023 00:19

SootspriteSearcher · 13/08/2023 23:49

I've bought things we are going to use, i do not have the budget to buy everything from local businesses, if i did i would. I see buying from temu as not too different than buying from amazon, ebay or high street shops. None of them are that ethical either. Also many items i bought are not available elsewhere unless I buy from temu or other places like them.

I do care about the environment. I don't run a car, i walk or bus everywhere. I recycle, reuse and buy as much second hand as I can. I havent been on an aeroplane in over 15 years. I eat a mostly vegan diet (except the odd free-range egg or chicken meal). I don't use disposable wipes, sandwich bags, tin foil, gloves, bags, sanitary products. I buy plastic free products where possible, using bar soap and powdered washing powder, make my own cleaning bottles up. I take a drinks bottle/coffee cup to refill wherever i go. So from an environmental point of view I do more for the planet than most in our everyday life.

I know this doesn't cancel out the environmental impact of my temu purchases, but every item I have bought will be used and appreciated. And when it's no longer needed will be passed on to someone else to use. I dont believe in throwing items away when they are still usable.

I think when shopping people should consider what they will use rather than get carried away with the cheap prices and buy extras for the sake of it. Same can be said for all shopping, think of the food waste some people have each week, or clothes that never get worn then binned.

@SootspriteSearcher absolutely all of this. The judgement of posters on this thread is sickening. I absolutely do not search websites looking for shite to buy, I make considered choices about items I purchase. The environment is very important to me - one second hand car, clothes purchased largely off Vinted, reusing and recycling where possible, yet I’m being shamed about asking about budget friendly items for my child.

Thank you for your response, and the other helpful posters on this thread

OP posts:
MileyWiley · 14/08/2023 00:22

NeverTrustAPoliceman · 13/08/2023 23:39

It does make me wonder about what sort of Christmas the child labourers will have. Do they ever wonder about all the plastic tat they are forced to make which is then shipped to the other side of the world to make another child happy for 2 minutes?

Any where exactly will you being doing your Christmas shopping this year. How exactly certain can you be that your purchases haven’t come from similar environments?

OP posts:
KMA2023 · 14/08/2023 00:38

How many people actually know the provenance of every item they buy???

A very rich woman made a statement that "I don't buy clothes for my children that are made by other people's children"

She can bloody afford not to unlike a lot of families.

PostOpOp · 14/08/2023 04:42

I think some people here must either be particularly wealthy or they make their own clothes. And they weave their own fabric. Which they dye themselves using traditional plant dyes. And they have cotton fields that they personally plant, tend and pick.

They wear jumpers from the wool of their sheep that they've sheared. They've then cleaned, carded and hand spun that wool, before using wooden knitting needles they shaped from a felled tree on their property to knit it. The sheep, of course, are never dipped. No need for those harsh chemicals produced in goodness knows where, by goodness knows who.

The never wear trainers or any shoes with rubber/plastic uppers or soles. Like the Dutch, they prefer clogs.

When out and about, they never take advantage of child or slave labour by sitting on any chair they don't know the provenance of all the components of.

They grow all their own foods, organic obviously (not so much for the environment, but because pesticides etc aren't always ethically made), do all the labour involved in tending crops themselves, no agricultural machinery involved in picking/harvesting as they know that no component of anything they use is unethically produced.

They also farm all their own meat. They slaughter it themselves too because everybody knows how unethical the treatment of the animals in the slaughterhouse is.

They walk everywhere too. In their handmade clogs. Too many bike components are made in China and clearly they're too ethical to sit in a car, or even bus/tram/train or plane, components of which also come from China.

They own that phone you can build yourself, that doesn't always work, but it's the ethical one, because, well, obviously.

They're not on Mumsnet either. I mean really, to be taking advantage of something that uses servers, components of which come from factories in China? No, they just don't do that.

Personally, I feel thankful though that they are here to remind us how inferior we are for buying from a website that sells the same as you can find on the High Street (or worse, a retail park - shudder), in DIY stores across the country. or on the most popular websites.

I'm just surprised they have the time to spare, given all the things they have to get done to be so certain their lives are ethical.

aramox1 · 14/08/2023 06:10

mummybear247 · 13/08/2023 22:42

@smilesup it's no different to what u can buy anywhere else is all made in china

So don't buy any of it! Put food in stockings and give up on random crap!

christmaspudding43 · 14/08/2023 06:20

MileyWiley · 14/08/2023 00:22

Any where exactly will you being doing your Christmas shopping this year. How exactly certain can you be that your purchases haven’t come from similar environments?

You can't be sure beyond doing some research and even then there is a limit, of course. But by going to Temu you know for sure you are buying slave made stuff.

Hmmthatsgoodchicken · 14/08/2023 06:30

I bought the viral tiktok lunch box off temu. It broke the second time I used it 🙄
I wouldn't buy electricals, but DD got some pens and they look great.

SquashPenguin · 14/08/2023 06:36

Who in the right mind would buy something you plug into the electric sockets of your house from there?! Enjoy your house fire.

Trixiefirecracker · 14/08/2023 06:47

MileyWiley · 13/08/2023 14:18

This is my thoughts. Yes TEMU is likely to be unethical and not officially meet British standards, but it’s unlikely to be better than any other bargains from purely online retailers.

You don’t have to buy from any of them, you know! Just because there are other unethical crappy businesses doesn’t make it okay. 😩

YouCantBeSadHoldingACupcake · 14/08/2023 08:01

My best buys from there have been
Horror character socks (pennywise, Chucky etc)
Hair claw clips- very sturdy
Stickers
Felt pens- go through the paper but lovely selection of colours and very vibrant
Bluetooth headphones- feel cheap but connect easily and decent sound quality.
Disney costumes

Only things that haven't been that great are the tops I bought with built in bras, offer no support at all and are small fitting.

ThirdAidKit · 14/08/2023 08:08

No one said that they know the provenance of every item they buy.

No one said they have all the money in the world.

But it is clear that this is cheap unethically produced stuff that you will throw away in the next few years at the very most. You don’t have to buy it.

You can try. And by buying this you’re not.

Nothingbuttheglory · 14/08/2023 12:40

I just don't think child labour is very Christmassy.

7eleven · 14/08/2023 13:12

I understand the attraction of Temu. I used it myself once and what I bought was good.

I then really thought about how things sooo cheap simply can’t be ethical and deleted my account. The online security questions worried me as well. I don’t buy from Ali express or shein etc either.

stayingaliveisawayoflife · 14/08/2023 13:32

I have bought things for my new classroom that were twice or three times the price on Amazon for identical products. My school cannot afford to buy them and I want my classroom to be a happy inviting place for the children I teach. All that I have bought has been good quality and will last.

Can I just ask if we all stopped buying from these places what would happen to the workers then? I am not excusing the conditions and terrible pay they get but what would they have if there were no jobs? What would be their alternative, would their lives improve?

Sundaefraise · 14/08/2023 13:58

KMA2023 · 14/08/2023 00:38

How many people actually know the provenance of every item they buy???

A very rich woman made a statement that "I don't buy clothes for my children that are made by other people's children"

She can bloody afford not to unlike a lot of families.

I know what you mean, I've had a good income and a very low income (unfortunately low at the moment) and I can tell you it is a hell of a lot easier to be ethical and take the moral high ground when you've got money.

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