4 ms·

yes, i'm very in favor of the shift towards direct-to-consumer among chinese retailers, but that might be because i'm not actually all that sympathetic to small

yes, i'm very in favor of the shift towards direct-to-consumer among chinese retailers, but that might be because i'm not actually all that sympathetic to small business

ryandrake 5mo ago
I recently bought some custom-built pool lighting directly from the manufacturer in Ningbo, and I have to say, the sales, delivery, and customer support I received was top notch. Their representatives were fluent in English and competent, the product quality was excellent (yes, I carefully inspected it upon receipt because it's going into water), and the entire process from measurement to delivery was fast and smooth. And, of course, the price was right.
- BrtByte 5mo ago
  In a way it makes the Temu problem more frustrating
  - DANmode 5mo ago
    Because it’s not a Temu problem, it’s a problem of allowing the collapse of your own civilization?
- markdown 5mo ago
  Isn't pool lighting low voltage (12v?) so not much of a risk even if faulty?
  - ryandrake 5mo ago
    That's right, so I wasn't that worried about physical safety. Mostly worried about damage to the product that water ingress could cause.
londons_explore 5mo ago
There is totally a market for a global website which instead of shipping goods direct from China by plane instead has local warehouses 1 per city and can deliver to your house within a few hours by motorbike. Aka like Amazon but with much smaller margins. The savings would come from the fact sea freight is so much cheaper than air freight.
- Someone 5mo ago
  And the losses from having warehouses storing zillions of products that do not get sold for a long time. There’s a reason the likes of Aldi and Lidl have limited product choice.
  - 10000truths 5mo ago
    Aldi and Lidl deal with perishable goods. Temu (by and large) doesn't.
    - avereveard 5mo ago
      But they are, especially those with batteries
    - kergonath 5mo ago
      Fine, Action then.
    - dgellow 5mo ago
      Aldi and Lidl sell way more than just perishable goods. You can buy electronics from there
- trollbridge 5mo ago
  That’s called “Walmart”
  - throw-the-towel 5mo ago
    Not in Europe.
simplyluke 5mo ago
I'm not all that sympathetic to small businesses that exist functionally as drop shippers for the same products with the same absence of support. Much in the same way I roll my eyes and go to 7/11 over the cute "local" markets that are supplied by the same suppliers nationwide, and you end up in a shiplap-walled coffee shop with $8 bags of chips that could exist anywhere. Small businesses that do the work of curating a niche item, doing QA work that's absent on the shipments from china, and then offering much stronger aftermarket support/replacement/repair? That is often worth a (substantial) premium over wondering if the item showing up in a month is going to work as intended.

yes, i'm very in favor of the shift towards direct-to-consumer among chinese retailers, but that might be because i'm not actually all that sympathetic to small business

ryandrake 5mo ago

I recently bought some custom-built pool lighting directly from the manufacturer in Ningbo, and I have to say, the sales, delivery, and customer support I received was top notch. Their representatives were fluent in English and competent, the product quality was excellent (yes, I carefully inspected it upon receipt because it's going into water), and the entire process from measurement to delivery was fast and smooth. And, of course, the price was right.

BrtByte 5mo ago
In a way it makes the Temu problem more frustrating
- DANmode 5mo ago
  Because it’s not a Temu problem, it’s a problem of allowing the collapse of your own civilization?
markdown 5mo ago
Isn't pool lighting low voltage (12v?) so not much of a risk even if faulty?
- ryandrake 5mo ago
  That's right, so I wasn't that worried about physical safety. Mostly worried about damage to the product that water ingress could cause.

londons_explore 5mo ago

There is totally a market for a global website which instead of shipping goods direct from China by plane instead has local warehouses 1 per city and can deliver to your house within a few hours by motorbike. Aka like Amazon but with much smaller margins. The savings would come from the fact sea freight is so much cheaper than air freight.

Someone 5mo ago
And the losses from having warehouses storing zillions of products that do not get sold for a long time. There’s a reason the likes of Aldi and Lidl have limited product choice.
- 10000truths 5mo ago
  Aldi and Lidl deal with perishable goods. Temu (by and large) doesn't.
  - avereveard 5mo ago
    But they are, especially those with batteries
  - kergonath 5mo ago
    Fine, Action then.
  - dgellow 5mo ago
    Aldi and Lidl sell way more than just perishable goods. You can buy electronics from there
trollbridge 5mo ago
That’s called “Walmart”
- throw-the-towel 5mo ago
  Not in Europe.

simplyluke 5mo ago

I'm not all that sympathetic to small businesses that exist functionally as drop shippers for the same products with the same absence of support. Much in the same way I roll my eyes and go to 7/11 over the cute "local" markets that are supplied by the same suppliers nationwide, and you end up in a shiplap-walled coffee shop with $8 bags of chips that could exist anywhere. Small businesses that do the work of curating a niche item, doing QA work that's absent on the shipments from china, and then offering much stronger aftermarket support/replacement/repair? That is often worth a (substantial) premium over wondering if the item showing up in a month is going to work as intended.