Yes.
Temu
- Thread starter RetiredGreyFox
- Start date
No I love paying double or triple the price because someone else imports it into the country.
The exact same items I can buy on Amazon.se are as above on the Chinese slave markets.
Temu/Aliexpress etc is the same items, so same "safety" & "quality" as buying it for twice the price drop shipped from the usual places. Now whether you want that crappy item is a different story, some stuff is fine, other stuff I'd go with branded/local etc as you mentioned.
Caporegime
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It's more complicated than that. Some things, a LOT of things actually, are not made in the UK, simply because we never invested in tooling or lost it or just don't have the skills or infrastructure either.
In China, lets say you start a company to make an alarm clock. You will need the clock mechanical parts inside? There is already someone who makes that, and you will need a shell, and you will also need packaging. The infrastructure is all there. All you do really as a new CEO of this clock company is actually just ask each of them to make the part you want and then put it together. There are even people who will arrange all this for you. The entire network is in China, and this applies for pretty much everything you can think of.
The other issue is, I could get it from a Asda, branded by Asda, or some UK brand...but look at the label, it's Made in China anyway. Except now you are paying 3x the price.
I would pay more for a "quality" product but 99% of the stuff I have bought, are actually GREAT quality, you just have to have a good eye for it. Sometimes you can't blame "its chinese tat" when you are the one who chose to buy that tat.
The other week I bought a Nuphy keyboard, direct from them. Pretty much every single high end keyboard makers are based in China anyway! It's not the cheap stuff, it's also the expensive stuff. They know how to make good stuff....and this is where i sneak in the word Apple after 5 paragraphs.
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My ex used to buy stuff on Temu - it was all absolute rubbish tbh. She also bought a few things which looked identical to the ones you can buy over here, but a lot cheaper direct. Generally, when it arrived it was a lower quality clone with no CE mark. Rubbish materials and cheaper electronics inside. I banned her from using anything mains powered from Temu, just wasn’t worth the risk.
A pal just got caught out with some under-counter lighting power supplies. One of them kept burning out the switch contacts, as in the light switch. He popped the box open only to find the surge arrestor was replaced with a wire link and a blob of silicone, plus snipped wires just floating freely where this board is probably used in another device. Literally a fire waiting to happen. The CE mark was not the European one, it was the China Export lookalike. Take that as a warning.
A pal just got caught out with some under-counter lighting power supplies. One of them kept burning out the switch contacts, as in the light switch. He popped the box open only to find the surge arrestor was replaced with a wire link and a blob of silicone, plus snipped wires just floating freely where this board is probably used in another device. Literally a fire waiting to happen. The CE mark was not the European one, it was the China Export lookalike. Take that as a warning.
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Soldato
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When I was looking for a tent we looked at bell tents and many of the sellers in the UK are reselling what is on temu for twice the price. So yeah I'm quite happy with not paying them for adding no value.
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My bass player has just bought some lights for stage, I'll let you know if they blow up.
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Are you seriously going to be using lights you bought on Temu at a public venue? You have no idea if they’ve used substandard wire size, whether they’re insulated or earthed properly, if they’re even wired properly or if the plastics have the right temperature or fire rating for stuff like that. You must be out of your mind pal!
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Whatever Pal, I even have a Chinese phone, what do you say about that
In fact we have a lot of stuff in our house with Made In China on it.
Not dead yet Pal.
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Temu is the popular front for Aliexpress basically.
I use Aliexpress because there's slightly less gamification (offer spam)
I use it a lot. Probably 1/4 things I buy in total off there.
Smart lights, cables, camping gear.
Only things that haven't been great are a couple of power banks. Right mah (just avoid the ridiculous 10 million mah garbage. But they sometimes die early.
But anything like cables, lighting, non battery based? Totally fine. It's insane. Those slaves make it cheap. And if I'm going to fund slavery? I'd rather go direct than pay bezos to be my middle man.
Its the postage that blows me away. On Aliexpress you only have to pay 8 quid to get free post! Posting a parcel by royal mail costs over 3 pounds.. In the UK!
And it's all under a week. Used to take a couple of weeks.
I almost never buy off amazon now.
I use Aliexpress because there's slightly less gamification (offer spam)
I use it a lot. Probably 1/4 things I buy in total off there.
Smart lights, cables, camping gear.
Only things that haven't been great are a couple of power banks. Right mah (just avoid the ridiculous 10 million mah garbage. But they sometimes die early.
But anything like cables, lighting, non battery based? Totally fine. It's insane. Those slaves make it cheap. And if I'm going to fund slavery? I'd rather go direct than pay bezos to be my middle man.
Its the postage that blows me away. On Aliexpress you only have to pay 8 quid to get free post! Posting a parcel by royal mail costs over 3 pounds.. In the UK!
And it's all under a week. Used to take a couple of weeks.
I almost never buy off amazon now.
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They are nothing to do with each other, they are competitors.
Caporegime
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I just bought a coffee scale from AE, the scale is so good it's my 2nd one, and I bought another for my brother in law as a present.
I don't buy powerbanks from there though but have bought plenty of electronics, even my portable OLED monitor is from there.
One other thing, I always choose "Pay after delivery". So if there is any problem, raise an issue before the money even comes out of your account.
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Its the same stuff I mean.
Its just battery based stuff I've had issues with. Anything mains has been fine too. Probably cheap dodgy batteries all over the place.
So long as it conforms with CE/UKCA regulations, right?... Right?
Temu likely doesn't take any steps to audit the sellers for labors laws in any way, forced or otherwise. In the UK (and wider EU) sellers have to conform to strict labor laws regarding their supply chains (large companies must provide their steps and evidence it).
What are the returns rules like with a lot of stuff? Given the distance, is it a case of getting a refund and chuck it in the bin? Sorry, recycle responsibly of course as everyone definitely does that.
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Soldato
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The way I understand it is that they list items from factories that have over production, or quiet periods and sell at cost, or close to, as it's better than shutting down for a while.