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Why buy from any of these sketchy Chinese platforms? I wouldn't feel safe giving them any of my credit/debit card information, let alone being installed on one
by _chu1 3y ago
Why buy from any of these sketchy Chinese platforms? I wouldn't feel safe giving them any of my credit/debit card information, let alone being installed on one of my devices.
- tejohnso 3y agoWhy would your bank information be involved?
- RankingMember 3y agoTheir relationship is with your credit card provider- no one's giving AliExpress or Temu their bank info.
- _chu1 3y agoForgot that when I typed that, updated
- rcpt 3y agoLots of the same stuff as Amazon but way cheaper.
- ilrwbwrkhv 3y agoAmazon is also a sketchy Chinese platform now. There is no alternative. We killed local manufacturing and sustainability a long time ago.
- jprete 3y agoI think the big problem with Amazon is that they stopped caring about the quality and provenance of the products on their platform. Other retailers do exist who have more of a stake in the quality of the goods they sell.
- 2muchcoffeeman 3y agoAliexpress seems fairly safe. And you can get some niche things. Eg, I managed to get replacement headphone ear pads for a good price. Took forever to arrive, but they were cheap enough to risk it. If I ever need a replacement part, I check Aliexpress.
- freeopinion 3y agoI'm hearing more talk about legislatively banning TikTok again, just because it is Chinese. Your first question is a legitimate question except that it contains the word "Chinese". Why buy from any sketchy British platform? Or sketchy Brazilian platform? Or sketchy Texan platform? I'm not so much trying to defend Chinese companies. It just really irritates me that American companies get a pass. When I think about all the ways the Chinese government could weaponize TikTok against me or my children, it doesn't bother me as much as all the ways Facebook/Instagram/etc can and ALREADY DO weaponize my data against me. I'm probably just extreme in this way though. When somebody asks me for a phone number of a common acquaintance, I decline. I will always get permission before I hand over that info. Any of these services could require a very short, clearly worded agreement that says they are allowed to sell any information they can guess about you; most of the masses will quickly agree to that and be annoyed that their screen time was interrupted.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago> just because it is Chinese. That's not why.
- freeopinion 3y agoOK. Maybe the real reason is because other social media giants secretly mount a campaign to eliminate competitors. Or maybe there is some other real reason. But the stated reason is, "They are Chinese and controlled by the Chinese government." Maybe I am naive to swallow this public reason, but I also think there are millions of other naive people and a good deal of them get trained by such campaigns to be xenophobes. So even if this is a fake excuse, it does real damage with the culture it builds.
- ipaddr 3y agoChinese products have a reputation for cheaping mass producing goods of lower quality. American companies have a different reputation. Tiktok is directly used by Chinese military. Facebook/Google are indirectly pressured.
- 3y ago
- Ekaros 3y agoSo what are alternatives, Amazon or Ebay? Dunno etsy? Do they use trustworthy payment platforms? At least Paypal has long history of being untrustworthy...
- dawnerd 3y agoThey take Apple pay and you can just use the website. For certain things I'm fine buying since the alternative is paying Amazon a hefty markup for the exact same thing. You just need to be smart about it.