11 ms·

It's not like shipping at the mall means that I'm going to get higher quality or a more ethical supply chain. There's plenty of very low quality $200 sweaters/s

It's not like shipping at the mall means that I'm going to get higher quality or a more ethical supply chain. There's plenty of very low quality $200 sweaters/shoes/belts/jeans/etc at established retailers. I'm not whattaboutism'ing -- it's just that people seem to criticize Temu far more than it earns. If you can afford to shop exclusively at Patagonia, that's wonderful! But I often feel like the western brands are mad at Temu primarily for giving consumers back all the middle-man markups, so billionaires like Lawrence Stroll stop getting their cut when people buy from Temu instead of Ralph Lauren (and just keep the extra money that those owners are used to capturing).

woooooo 3y ago
Anything Chinese in the news gets pulled into the current zeitgeist of anti-China fear. If that's also useful for undercutting competition or scoring some other political/economic points, you can pretty much count on it.
- mrguyorama 3y ago
  It is not anti-chinese fear that these companies are using literal slave labor. Visit r/fucknestle to see that same disgust for non-chinese companies. There is actually an amount of this disgust for clothing brands in general, as they often routinely end up employing literal slaves as well, however it is unfocused, as the non-transparency of supply chains purposely makes it hard to know who is or isn't using slave labor, and how much plausible deniability they have implemented.
  - woooooo 3y ago
    Do we get calls to outlaw Nestlé every time it's campaign season? Hershey would love it. Hating Nestlé is niche. Hating the Russians is partisan. Hating the Chinese is mainstream consensus. Consider how confident you are in the slave labor accusation, for example. This was a thread about a non-compete dispute.
  - ilrwbwrkhv 3y ago
    Apple used child slave labour. https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-knowingly-used-child-labor-supplier-3-years-cut-costs-2020-12 https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-knowingly-used-child-l... What's your point? As the great philosophy show house of cards suggested: when the tits that big, everybody gets in line. So all companies will use slave labour if it makes them more money. There is no moral high ground anywhere.
Larrikin 3y ago
If I'm shopping at a retail store, even Walmart, there is a certain floor I expect to the quality of goods. If I move up to Target or a Ralph Lauren store that expectation goes up. Someone somewhere that cares about the brand has made some kind of attempt to vet the product. That's not always a guarantee of the best product but a brand that isn't in a death spiral has some incentive to protect their brand. I've significantly reduced my spending on Amazon, do not plan on renewing Prime this year, and would never use Temu because there is just too high a chance of getting bottom of the barrel crap from a nonsensically named Chinese company that will shut down and restart with a new name after it becomes obvious they sell only garbage. You get some companies like Anker that are rising above the crap but I don't have the time to learn about the few Chinese companies doing good by the consumers and don't want to have to spend hours vetting whether my tooth brush holder has lead or the brushes will tip over because it's not actually tall enough to properly hold a toothbrush. I'll just buy from Target. If I'm going to roll the dice or know of a trustworthy brand from China I'll just use AliExpress.
- gs17 3y ago
  >If I'm shopping at a retail store, even Walmart, there is a certain floor I expect to the quality of goods. You also get to inspect things a bit before you buy them. My girlfriend tried Temu, I explained what she was likely going to get, she insisted that the price was so good "we would be losing money by not buying it", the order arrived (late) and was the quality I expected, she realized it wasn't worth it and deleted the app. If we went to Walmart and saw the same things for the same price, she wouldn't have even wanted to touch them. There's no guarantee a shirt you get from Walmart will last, but you at least know the fabric is thicker than toilet paper before you buy.
  - reaperman 3y ago
    Temu has free returns and pays for return shipping.
    - gs17 3y ago
      They do, but it was clear being in a loop of ordering garbage and sending it back was not a good use of time.
mint2 3y ago
To be clear, I’m not just talking about temu. As you say, it’s a problem with fast fashion and many retailers. It’s a race to the bottom issue. But it’s not a binary choice between “luxury” logos and sketchy random quality junk on temu and Amazon. Simple mindfulness when purchasing things would benefit everyone - including the person doing the buying.
spondylosaurus 3y ago
> giving consumers back all the middle-man markups Temu is often selling stuff to Americans at a loss, to be fair, and even that bleeding is staunched by their access to low-cost shipping agreements. But yeah, even if you did factor in those costs, the final product would still be a fair bit cheaper than the same version sold in US retail stores.

woooooo 3y ago

Anything Chinese in the news gets pulled into the current zeitgeist of anti-China fear. If that's also useful for undercutting competition or scoring some other political/economic points, you can pretty much count on it.

mrguyorama 3y ago
It is not anti-chinese fear that these companies are using literal slave labor. Visit r/fucknestle to see that same disgust for non-chinese companies. There is actually an amount of this disgust for clothing brands in general, as they often routinely end up employing literal slaves as well, however it is unfocused, as the non-transparency of supply chains purposely makes it hard to know who is or isn't using slave labor, and how much plausible deniability they have implemented.
- woooooo 3y ago
  Do we get calls to outlaw Nestlé every time it's campaign season? Hershey would love it. Hating Nestlé is niche. Hating the Russians is partisan. Hating the Chinese is mainstream consensus. Consider how confident you are in the slave labor accusation, for example. This was a thread about a non-compete dispute.
- ilrwbwrkhv 3y ago
  Apple used child slave labour. https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-knowingly-used-child-labor-supplier-3-years-cut-costs-2020-12 https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-knowingly-used-child-l... What's your point? As the great philosophy show house of cards suggested: when the tits that big, everybody gets in line. So all companies will use slave labour if it makes them more money. There is no moral high ground anywhere.

Larrikin 3y ago

If I'm shopping at a retail store, even Walmart, there is a certain floor I expect to the quality of goods. If I move up to Target or a Ralph Lauren store that expectation goes up. Someone somewhere that cares about the brand has made some kind of attempt to vet the product. That's not always a guarantee of the best product but a brand that isn't in a death spiral has some incentive to protect their brand. I've significantly reduced my spending on Amazon, do not plan on renewing Prime this year, and would never use Temu because there is just too high a chance of getting bottom of the barrel crap from a nonsensically named Chinese company that will shut down and restart with a new name after it becomes obvious they sell only garbage. You get some companies like Anker that are rising above the crap but I don't have the time to learn about the few Chinese companies doing good by the consumers and don't want to have to spend hours vetting whether my tooth brush holder has lead or the brushes will tip over because it's not actually tall enough to properly hold a toothbrush. I'll just buy from Target. If I'm going to roll the dice or know of a trustworthy brand from China I'll just use AliExpress.

gs17 3y ago
>If I'm shopping at a retail store, even Walmart, there is a certain floor I expect to the quality of goods. You also get to inspect things a bit before you buy them. My girlfriend tried Temu, I explained what she was likely going to get, she insisted that the price was so good "we would be losing money by not buying it", the order arrived (late) and was the quality I expected, she realized it wasn't worth it and deleted the app. If we went to Walmart and saw the same things for the same price, she wouldn't have even wanted to touch them. There's no guarantee a shirt you get from Walmart will last, but you at least know the fabric is thicker than toilet paper before you buy.
- reaperman 3y ago
  Temu has free returns and pays for return shipping.
  - gs17 3y ago
    They do, but it was clear being in a loop of ordering garbage and sending it back was not a good use of time.

mint2 3y ago

To be clear, I’m not just talking about temu. As you say, it’s a problem with fast fashion and many retailers. It’s a race to the bottom issue. But it’s not a binary choice between “luxury” logos and sketchy random quality junk on temu and Amazon. Simple mindfulness when purchasing things would benefit everyone - including the person doing the buying.

spondylosaurus 3y ago

> giving consumers back all the middle-man markups Temu is often selling stuff to Americans at a loss, to be fair, and even that bleeding is staunched by their access to low-cost shipping agreements. But yeah, even if you did factor in those costs, the final product would still be a fair bit cheaper than the same version sold in US retail stores.