Who is buying that shit? I’ve never once heard someone say “look at this great thing I got on temu!”. I’ve literally only seen wish-fail stuff. It seems like a company that extracts pennies from putting shit directly into the landfill.
I got some really nice plexiglass display stands from there for my display case for really cheap. But other than that, I won’t buy anything that’s obviously crap. Oh yeah I got some string lights too, like 50 for 2 bucks and they work really well.
I haven’t bought from temu, but I’ve bought loads of stuff for various things on similar sites like aliexpress. If I have the time to wait for the shipping, it’s the exact same components as I buy in electronics supply stores here, but at a fraction of the price. I prefer to not pay a 300-400% markup for no real reason.
AliExpress (if you are not the person thiking you can get a 4TB SSD for 20€) is great.
It started off as a “for people” Alibaba.com and I have bought lots of quality stuff there including a phone, circuits, tools (not the best but they will probably outlive me), 3D printer stuff etc etc.
I would say you should be free to make the decision to forego the advantages working though a middle man affords you, if you would prefer the savings. That said, there’s consumer protection, quality certification (important for insurance purposes), returns, after sales care and I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff. Nothing to do with differences in the product itself, more so the guarantee of a product that does what it says on the tin.
I use AliExpress for all the little items in my life that can fail without any real problem.
I need a comb and get 2/$1 to my door. $3/4/5 each in a physical store for the same.
I don’t think you’re appreciating how often these are literally the same products.
The retail sector has long ago entered enshittification. I’m not blind to the real people working in the field, but paying more for a product does not increase the chance of any positive environmental or social outcome. Feeding the beast, feeds their investors.
Tons of people. My wife bought a $7 digital camera off of there for one of our kids and 2 years later, both of our kids still love playing with it and it works perfectly fine. We’ve bought a couple of other toys off of there without issue. But yeah, the majority of the products on there are typically garbage.
True enough, but toxic toys aren’t super common in the US. It certainly happens, but they eventually get detected and recalled. That being said, with Trump’s plans for gutting regulatory bodies even further, I’ll be much less inclined to order cheap toys from online.
As a counterpoint, I’ve bought loads of really good cycling accessories from AliExpress. It’s not impossible to buy high-quality things from China - this is after all where a large part of everything is manufactured these days - you just have to be careful not to fall for the offers that are just obviously too good to be true.
AliExpress is great if you’re running like a small Etsy shop or something with stuff you make and you need like 250 metal clasps for $20. Or 3000 electromechanical relays to build a relay CPU. They have some of the most random shit in bulk.
Who is buying that shit? I’ve never once heard someone say “look at this great thing I got on temu!”. I’ve literally only seen wish-fail stuff. It seems like a company that extracts pennies from putting shit directly into the landfill.
My coworker is obsessed with Temu. He buys like 10 things, typically 8 of them are garbage and he returns them and 2 are fine which he keeps.
I’ve neber heard him talk about great things he gets, but he’s constantly talking to me about “Look how little ai paid for this thing!”
It’s like the hot pocket of stores- take from package, place directly in toilet.
I got some really nice plexiglass display stands from there for my display case for really cheap. But other than that, I won’t buy anything that’s obviously crap. Oh yeah I got some string lights too, like 50 for 2 bucks and they work really well.
I haven’t bought from temu, but I’ve bought loads of stuff for various things on similar sites like aliexpress. If I have the time to wait for the shipping, it’s the exact same components as I buy in electronics supply stores here, but at a fraction of the price. I prefer to not pay a 300-400% markup for no real reason.
It’s the exact same components I would have bought at a local store if there were any.
The last one closed almost 20 years ago. (Long before Temu, aliexpress and banggood)
Temu is more on par with wish. It’s really scanmy and disingenuous. Descriptions will claim one thing but send you some junk product instead.
AliExpress is a lot more legit. They’re still cheap products, but at least you know what you’re getting.
AliExpress (if you are not the person thiking you can get a 4TB SSD for 20€) is great.
It started off as a “for people” Alibaba.com and I have bought lots of quality stuff there including a phone, circuits, tools (not the best but they will probably outlive me), 3D printer stuff etc etc.
Temu is like wish, just crap.
I would say you should be free to make the decision to forego the advantages working though a middle man affords you, if you would prefer the savings. That said, there’s consumer protection, quality certification (important for insurance purposes), returns, after sales care and I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff. Nothing to do with differences in the product itself, more so the guarantee of a product that does what it says on the tin.
I use AliExpress for all the little items in my life that can fail without any real problem.
I need a comb and get 2/$1 to my door. $3/4/5 each in a physical store for the same. I don’t think you’re appreciating how often these are literally the same products.
The retail sector has long ago entered enshittification. I’m not blind to the real people working in the field, but paying more for a product does not increase the chance of any positive environmental or social outcome. Feeding the beast, feeds their investors.
There is no ethical consumption.
“What, me worry?”
Tons of people. My wife bought a $7 digital camera off of there for one of our kids and 2 years later, both of our kids still love playing with it and it works perfectly fine. We’ve bought a couple of other toys off of there without issue. But yeah, the majority of the products on there are typically garbage.
Only thing I worry about with toys is if the plastic they use is non-toxic. Most cheap toys sold online aren’t tested for plastic toxicity.
True enough, but toxic toys aren’t super common in the US. It certainly happens, but they eventually get detected and recalled. That being said, with Trump’s plans for gutting regulatory bodies even further, I’ll be much less inclined to order cheap toys from online.
If your kid tries to eat their camera you have bigger issues to worry about.
Heavy metals and volatile chemicals can leech through skin. Some have cumulative effects.
If you think toxic means harmful only if you eat it, I’ve got a glow in the dark watch to sell you.
Not the best example, the health risks from radium dials were mostly to the people that painted them, because they licked their brushes to point them.
That will match my authentic late 1800s green wallpaper perfectly.
As a counterpoint, I’ve bought loads of really good cycling accessories from AliExpress. It’s not impossible to buy high-quality things from China - this is after all where a large part of everything is manufactured these days - you just have to be careful not to fall for the offers that are just obviously too good to be true.
AliExpress is great if you’re running like a small Etsy shop or something with stuff you make and you need like 250 metal clasps for $20. Or 3000 electromechanical relays to build a relay CPU. They have some of the most random shit in bulk.
Same people who would buy the same dropshipped product at Amazon but at 1/3 of the price.
Not temu, but I buy loads of stuff from aliexpress, from dice to entire 3d printers.