What Is Shopping on Wish Like When It’s NOT an Outright Scam?

I've made several videos about scams on Wish - do I maybe have the impression that everything on that site is a scam? Well, let's take a look at that...
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[@AtomicShrimp]

*Afterthoughts & Addenda* *Temu* - I don't intend to do a video on Temu - seems like everyone else has it pretty well covered. Not sure what I could contribute to the discussion. *'Fluorite'* - I didn't think it was fluorite. It scratches glass, although it is also itself a little bit scratched in the process. A viewer bought a sample and tested it. Apparently it looks like it's poor quality fluorite with large quartz inclusions, so I was wrong. Sort of.

[@Sauce787]

It is likely not glass, low quality fluorite doesn't fluoresce and can be very cheap if it doesn't display much color. Its likely cheaper to just used low quality fluorite instead of making banded colored glass that thick and without an insane amount of bubbles in it.

[@AtomicShrimp]

@@Sauce787 I don't think it would be scratching glass if it was fluorite

[@nigmane]

@@AtomicShrimp is the temu gift stuff real? like the nintendo switch.. or the gaming monitor lol

[@AtomicShrimp]

@@nigmane I've no idea

[@marcusborderlands6177]

​@the world of ruby friend got a switch from it, took 53 invites from New accounts on different ip addresses for an invite people promotion. If you read their terms it says it will take a max of 60.

[@MrForbinator]

Shocked that you awarded the crystal 5 marks for fitness of purpose. Using the wrong crystal for psychic healing can be very dangerous, potentially turning somebody into a werewolf.

[@KHRONOS2232]

lol

[@ShellyS2060]

😂 but yeah, how am I supposed to dance properly under a full moon, hoping to call happiness, when actually holding a chunk of glass?!?

[@Grey_Warden_Invasion]

If you believe in healing crystals you're already dangerously insane. What type of rock you use doesn't really play a role anymore then.

[@snakewithapen5489]

@@Grey_Warden_Invasion dangerously insane? i think that's one of the more benign forms of insanity that you can have lol

[@Dontstopbelievingman]

@@Grey_Warden_Invasion They're not rocks, Marie, they're minerals!

[@pawel8365]

The saddest part is that so many resources go into producing this landfill fodder. I can only imagine how much of this guff is ordered, discarded and then ends up in the bin. What a shame.

[@marieperkins752]

Agreed, and add to that the carbon footprint left by all the worldwide shipping of this "landfill fodder".

[@Donorcyclist]

And the saddest part is that it’s our own damned fault.

[@strayiggytv]

@@Donorcyclist if by our you mean humanity collectively then yeah but the number one consumer of these items are the countries that produce them. people always think this stuff is made just to temp cheap foreigners but if you ever go to Hong Kong or china you'll see his stuff being sold on the streets. Because it's so cheap to produce and cheap to buy locally there they sell a lot of this stuff as "one time use" items.

[@pattheplanter]

Landfillth.

[@jestangames]

same goes for a lot of other industries as well. like the clothing industry, both high- and low-end, clothing is made in mass and a lot will end up in landfills/the ocean. mass production and competition in the market makes stuff cheaper, but it creates a lot more waste.. and the system works because it saves money for everyone

[@strayling1]

I think the Battery Charging: 1 Minute means that it will charge a battery *for* 1 minute (before breaking)

[@ragnkja]

That sounds more plausible.

[@Boogie_the_cat]

Fits perfectly with the poor grasp of English most of these devices exhibit. No, I'm not making fun of people whose first language isn't English, I'm just implying that the sentence might mean any number of things due to the language barrier. For lolz

[@HO-bndk]

or, you wind it for a minute and then it breaks.

[@eternalmonsoon8103]

@@HO-bndk Whoosh!

[@StefaniKaye]

XD

[@fordandk4840]

"This is a pair of shoes, this is just two shoes" made me laugh about as hard as the best moments in your scambaiting videos

[@ForbiddenChocolate]

Me too! Unfortunately I'm watching while in the waiting room in my doctor's office! 😳😂

[@drunkenhobo8020]

@@ForbiddenChocolate They say laughter is the best medicine. I just hope the doctors don't think you're trying to put them out of a job.

[@ForbiddenChocolate]

@@drunkenhobo8020 😅 luckily I've been going there long enough that the staff all know I love a good laugh. The other patients might think I'm a nut, but I'm fine with that! 🤪

[@ipadize]

what about a pair of scissors? whats two of them? a pair of a pair of scissors?

[@loveline119]

​@@ipadizeTwo of them is two pairs of scissors. Just like two pairs of shoes, nobody says "a pair of a pair of shoes" because that's convoluted (and sounds stupid).

[@SomePeopleCallMeWulfman]

Wish somehow managed to turn disappointment into an art form.

[@Wyowanderer]

And Mike simultaneously makes a fun video using their wares - bravo!

[@SenatorAri]

It's a no wonder the Brits love it

[@KamenRiderFeline]

"Wish" because you wish it was better.

[@FaustoTheBoozehound]

Kinda like Tottenham 😭

[@SicketMog]

Ya know I'm constantly surprised by this sentiment. So it's become a joke... But I've been using the site for a couple of years and have actually been pretty pleased with most of the stuff I've bought from there. Granted I do research first and don't go for stuff I realistically KNOW will be shit (1 tb usb memory for $1). If you just use your head then the site actually has some gems. Stuff I've bought that I've been very happy with off the top of my head: Emulation handhelds of different brands (they've been ranging from decent to great) A kalimba (decent quality for the price) Waterproof mp3 players (I swim in the ocean so didn't want to spend too much. Clones of the Sony line but at 1/4 the price I can use them in salt water and not feel TOO bad when they crap out at some point) Elastic bed sheets (difficult to screw up) Summer shorts (difficult to screw up as well; they've been very comfy Screwdriver set (decent) And the list goes on. Yes Wish is full of shit products but you need to be a certain sprinkle of stupid to actually BUY those products as well...

[@gigabytemon]

At this point, I'm absolutely convinced that Wish is actually based on the worst kind of genie, the ones that twist whatever wish you make to technically grant your wish but not in the way you wanted it.

[@trashtrash2169]

The name too, that's funny.

[@yoonseongdo3303]

Monkey's paw

[@gigabytemon]

@@yoonseongdo3303 a fellow phasmo player! Hello! :D

[@erueka6]

​@@gigabytemon the monkey's paw has been around for a couple hundred years as literary tale not invented or popularized by your dumb game

[@tribalismblindsthembutnoty124]

first time i laughed at a comment in months

[@margo98margo]

The crystal nerd in me has to chip in: fluorite comes in many different colours, the fluorite from the listing was a rainbow kind which includes most/all colour banding. However, there are also single colour fluorite types which includes: green, blue, purple, teal, even clear and yellow. Not all fluorite pieces are actually fluorescent. The best way to tell if this is fluorite or amethyst is to check its hardness. Amethyst is number 7 on Mohs hardness scale, and fluorite is around 4, much softer. Amethyst will scratch fluorite, but not the other way around. However, if you don't have a "definitely amethyst" piece, you can try to scratch a piece of glass with your crystal, if I remember correctly glass is around 6 Mohs. Which means if your crystal scratches the glass - it's amethyst, if it doesn't - it's fluorite! 😄

[@megangreasby2444]

mohs hardness if deffo the way to go, by my visual inspection, I would say that is flourite

[@megangreasby2444]

could just be glass tho lol

[@treelineresearch3387]

@@megangreasby2444 Doubt it's cheaper to make that striated pattern in glass than it is to make it from .

[@margo98margo]

@@treelineresearch3387 Yep, fluorite is quite cheap and common as it is.. and now they can even make lab grown crystals, so that's probably even cheaper. Some crystals are much easier to fake than others, especially opaque ones (like malachite). Clear/ transparent ones aren't as simple to imitate.

[@silaskuemmerle2505]

It looked similar to a piece of fluorite I have that was mined in China.

[@MuchWhittering]

"What did you expect for the price?" I expected the product that was advertised.

[@thorin1045]

well, than you will be disappointed in lots of things.

[@MuchWhittering]

@@thorin1045 You sound like you're justifying scamming.

[@ryelor123]

So there's that fool that's born every minute. If you blindly trust everything you see, then you're a weak person. If you think critically and distrust fanciful claims, then you might actually succeed outside of a hugbox of regulations.

[@MechMK1]

My ex used to order from Wish regularly. She was always so excited to see a dress for a couple of bucks, and was always devastated when it was made out of the thinnest imaginable fabric and would rip as soon as she would put it on. What shocked me the most is that she seemingly didn't learn from those experiences and kept ordering more and more stuff, always ending up disappointed that it's not as advertised. I am pretty certain that a substantial amount of their regular customers are people like her.

[@chrisj4288]

Wow, some people really are hopeless, poor things.

[@greggoog7559]

Fortunately she's your ex. Fair play to ya.

[@MDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMD]

Some people are very dumb

[@alebarreraforsyth4648]

my grandmother was like this 😅 she'd try give all the tat to me but every so often there'd be an unexpected (albeit flimsy) gem

[@jwenting]

the idea that not everything on wish is an outright scam IS shocking information!

[@rpc717]

I'm sure the marketer of that flashlight is really pissed to see that they sold something worthwhile on Wish. That one belongs on their Amazon store at a higher price.

[@silaskuemmerle2505]

I’ve bought a few die cast miniatures on wish, and that’s about it. I did also buy a roll up piano (really a crappy MIDI controller) that was useful for me when I was taking music theory in college, but it eventually broke when I spilled coffee on the brain box (not the keyboards fault, just the fault of the idiot who decided it was a good idea to be up all night before finals). If you’re not expecting the world and are careful about what you buy (the same can be said for any other online marketplace by the way) you are unlikely to get burned.

[@ribbonsofnight]

@@rpc717 yeah, a higher price and they would be disappointing their customers and everything would be right with the world.

[@Prengle]

Shrimp out here triggering Commercial Trade Act Reports for our benefit. A true hero.

[@user255]

Exactly! Cheap price does *not* justify lying about the product. Many "cheap" things turn out to be really expensive for what they really are.

[@ryelor123]

The problem is that honest people are competing with liars and thus they either become liars themselves or they go broke. The flashlight maker, for instance, clearly was an honest seller in the past. The quality and utility of the product shows that he/she wanted to make something useful and worth the price. However, even that honest seller had to create a deceptive picture since all their competitors are doing that as well. Its like the HP ratings of shop vacuums. They're all ridiculous exaggerations but even quality companies have to lie about the power of their shopvacs or else the purely dishonest competitors of theirs will get all the business.

[@user255]

@@ryelor123 I understand that lying might help and the laws should be better enforced. But it is still poor excuse. There are still honest people doing fine. Also I always return items which are not as described. Thus in my case lying only creates extra costs for them. Others should do the same.

[@villageidiot9867]

This stuff comes from China. If they decide not to refund you or replace an item you have zero recourse

[@VoxVocisCruora]

I've only ever bought one thing from Wish, and even when I did it, it gave me anxiety through the roof. It was fake hair, for a doll wig I wanted to make. I couldn't get legit doll hair from my usual place because I wanted this doll character to have super looooong hair, and doll hair doesn't come that long (unless you want to pay an arm and a leg for it.) So fake hair intended to be used by real people was my next best shot. It wasn't dirt cheap, but it wasn't overly expensive either, and I bought a bunch of it because it didn't look like a single pack gave as much as I'd need. It was a genuine delight that not only did I get what ordered, but way more than I could've ever needed - a pack contained more 'hair' than the pictures made it look. I sat debating on weather ordering was worth the risk or not, and I'm still happy to this day that I did it; got a couple of different wigs for this doll and a few others out of it, so it was well worth the money spent. But I've decided to take this absolute win as nothing but pure luck and vowed to never touch the site again, least the universe hungers to balance the scale lmao

[@AllOuttaBubblegum123]

An "arm & a leg" for hair lol.

[@asteroidrules]

Wish is so thoroughly inundated in false advertising of both price and capabilities, as well as fake reviews. Depending on how you define "scam" it's debatable if it's truly possible to shop there without being scammed in some capacity. I'd be curious if you sent that crank charger to Big Clive, he loves doing teardowns of dodgy chargers.

[@lukasg4807]

I bought some fountain pens lighters and pen knifes off of there, they worked fine and were a decent price.

[@Amethystar]

I'm always leery of reviews, particularly when all the reviews sound the same. I was looking to buy some commercial kitchen equipment and saw one website that seemed to have good prices. I checked the Google reviews and most were glowing, but I thought it was odd that every one of the good reviews included the name of an employee. It's good to recognize people, but normal reviews don't look like this. Most of the other "normal" sounding reviews called out damaged products, egregious shipping dates, and an almost non-existent refund policy. If it seems too good to be true...

[@accountnamewithheld]

@@lukasg4807 Chinese fountain pens (Jinbao, Hero etc) are actually quite good quality on the whole, though you can get the odd dodgy one.

[@drunkenhobo8020]

@@Amethystar I was going to purchase something for my car from a site I had never used, so I checked the reviews. A lot of good ones. Like a suspiciously high amount (~50,000) for something that was fairly niche. And they were being made at very odd times - 3 or 4 am. Who is staying up all night/waking up early to review their mudflaps or air filter? Needless to say I went somewhere else.

[@Amethystar]

@@drunkenhobo8020 That is super weird! Probably a good thing you caught on. It's also interesting checking between Google reviews and other smaller review sites. The one I mentioned earlier is 4.5/5 on Google, but 1.5/5 on Trust pilot.

[@Leeqzombie]

Not mentioned is that some of those 'natural' crystals are also synthetic or mislabelled. That was not sandstone. The orange coloured one is goldstone, glass with metal particles to make it glitter. The blue one is blue goldstone. Earlier on, blue goldstone started being marketed as 'blue sandstone' - you could often see listings with goldstone and blue sandstone. Then these sellers just started calling goldstone 'sandstone' as well. Neither of them are actual sandstone, obviously, which seems to only really be used in masonry. The orange coloured sandstone is made with copper, while the blue variety uses cobalt, purple uses manganese, green using chromium. A similar one is opalite, which is a treated glass, which is often just listed as 'opal' or 'moonstone'. Howlite being dyed and sold as 'turquoise' is another common crystal fake.

[@villageidiot9867]

No wonder my positive energy is low.

[@PhoebeTheFairy56]

I'd bet wish has a bunch of aura quartz being marketed as completely natural too, since I've seen that even on places that _aren't_ notorious for scams.

[@MysticMorigan1998]

Thank you!!! I sell crystals on the weekends at festivals-- and you nailed it! I don't even keep or buy opalite as I don't want to sell glass, I sell stone, rocks and crystals.

[@maiyannah]

The weird reviews are probably the result of Brushing. This is the end result of it. They dont want it to appear like something the person wouldn't actually say and they want to avoid specific mention of the actual product since they create these on the cheapest possible thing to send, then change the product to something else.

[@raraavis7782]

Even on Amazon, lots of reviews aren't actually for the product advertised. I read reviews *a lot* and if it isn't for a brand name product, I almost always find reviews, that are clearly about a different product altogether.

[@TheLukemcdaniel]

Another target for the crystals would be tabletop gamers for scenery, maybe cosplayers to work into a costume. I'd be shocked if those aren't all just resin, which is fine, that's what I'd expect to pay for resin as long as there's no major voids or something.

[@PhoebeTheFairy56]

They probably wouldn't all be resin, since some minerals are abundant enough that it would be cheaper to just sell the real thing. Like clear quartz, for example. They likely would also have some fakes that _are_ real gemstones, just not the one they're advertising them as. Howlite being dyed blue and marketed as turquoise is a common example of this

[@alegomanYTPs]

or you know, collecting? home decore? everytime when someone mentions crystals they think healing is their only purpose, because it fun to take the piss out of someone who is struggling mentally and will try absolutely anything to get better.

[@havacomment]

I had a dream I was Big Clive once. Except instead of being an electronics wiz I was just telling everyone I met, "One moment, please" and then my job was instantly done. I heard a voice say, "Now watch your eyes, the light is coming back on" and I woke up. 😁

[@IndependentHeathen]

😅

[@FixerUK]

Or was it the three farts from a Soda Stream that woke you?😁

[@brianartillery]

I dreamed that I was Big Clive once, but I kept going into peoples' homes, carbonating all their booze, and blowing up all their electrical gear.

[@jonathanrichards593]

Now I want to see a crossover video. Maybe Mike could come up with something exciting for Clive's Explosion Containment Pie Dish?

[@__Orni__]

On the Ammonite halves that you got, the lower one is not an Ammonite it’s actually a Nautilus. You can identify it by looking at the shape of the chambers and the siphuncle (the black stripe) that goes through the middle of them.

[@gerardmcquade9102]

another thing i wanted to point out about wish is that i bought a clip on cup holder to put onto the arm of my wheelchair and it had a drop down list of colours to pick from so i picked red and they sent me pink so i went back to the page and saw in the description that it said colours are random or something like that so what is the point in giving you a list of colours if it doesn't send the one you picked unless by chance, they also have very expensive shipping costs

[@raraavis7782]

They're probably hoping, that most people will end up liking the one they got. Whereas they might not have gone through with the order, if they had realized, the color is random. Dunno. It's the only explanation, I can think off. Does it work as described, at least?

[@gerardmcquade9102]

@@raraavis7782 yes it is a solid product with a strong spring in it but i don't use it, i was going to repaint it but i don't know where it is now i also ordered a second one and that one is pink too so not so random with the colours if they sent the same one to the same address twice

[@raraavis7782]

@@gerardmcquade9102 Ok no. Now you got two pink ones 🫣 Hope, painting one of them works out for you. I don't think, I've ever painted something made from plastic. But as long as it's not flexible, why not. But hey...at least they work!

[@M50A1]

@@raraavis7782 some primer and a coat or two from a spray can should do it just fine tbh.

[@CainXVII]

Plastic is hard to get stuff to adhere to. Definitely buy a real plastic primer. After that you can paint with anything.

[@DeathMetalDerf]

I actually have a very useful hand crank emergency charger and it really does work well. The seller I bought it from wasn't making wildly inaccurate claims about what it actually can and cannot do. Obviously it's not the ideal way to charge something, but I do a lot of deep woods hiking and camping and such, and it's definitely come in handy a few times. This was very interesting and informative. I would love to see more, but PLEASE don't go flushing too much money down the drain.

[@raraavis7782]

My nephew has a hand cranked flashlight, which works fairly well. It's a kid's toy, but would do well enough in an emergency situation. If I wasn't someone, who actually remembers to check and exchange 'emergency supplies' in the car on a regular basis, I might put one there, rather then a regular flashlight.

[@Schmidtelpunkt]

Yep I have a hand cranked flashlight as well - but the crank is very well balanced and the generator has weight - it feels heavy for its size and rather sturdy. Everything the one in this video isn't. I wonder whether at this point there are people who never once in their life touched something working that well in their life and therefore cannot feel the difference on a haptical level or even know that things *could* work.

[@raraavis7782]

@@Schmidtelpunkt It's like that with many things. I mean, I'm not saying mass produced things are always bad - far from it. But mass produced and very cheap certainly is an unholy combination. Being an avid sewist, I could never understand, why every little repair or diy project involving sewing was such an unloved chore for my sister in law (who enjoys crafting otherwise). I just put it down to personal preference and would happily do it for her. Until one day, I was forced to use her equipment. Oh my. Her scissors are dull and not even meant for fabric. She doesn't have a choice of different needles appropriate for different fabrics. Her yarn is cheap discounter stuff and is prone to breaking. And her sewing machine is just, well, cheap. You can't work properly with shoddy tools and materials. And if you try, of course it's not fun. I'd rather work on a simple machine from a hundred years ago, then this computerized piece of garbage.

[@Yorick257]

I had a hand-cranked flashlight. Tho, I'm not sure if it qualifies as such since there was no crank.. instead it worked by converting presses (it had sort of a lever that you could press by closing your palm, if that makes sense) into rotations, so it was rather sturdy and not that easy to break. And I'm sure it generated more power.

[@bigjoeangel]

Wish is actually a Chinese spelling mistake, lost in translation. It's actually Pish.

[@daniellatheczarina2u915]

😂😂

[@angelicMisha]

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@munchmandrifta]

Don't you mean Tshi? Oh wait that's disappointed in the cooking of the duck meat.

[@sorcererinasweater7670]

Pish? Nah. I think you mean piss.

[@letMeSayThatInIrish]

I think the attraction of this sort of dealers is like a lottery. The ticket doesn't cost too much, and you never know what you get. But you might get lucky, like with that flashlight. So maybe you come back.

[@Bob5mith]

The "treasure or trash" gamble was my main attraction to ordering stuff on Wish. The wide variety of shipping times also made a little surprise of the delivery.

[@ryelor123]

I think its also a chance for good small companies to get into the market. If your company actually makes a good and useful product and you sell it on that site, people will contact you and buy massive quantities to privately label. The benefit for the small and new business is that its a place where they can safely sell stuff to people without getting banned or sued due to miss-translations, exaggerations, or small lies. When you're an inexperienced seller, its often best to get your start selling on sites with lax rules so a small mistake doesn't get you in serious trouble.

[@yak601]

I ordered a cheap wooden watch once, they sent me a complitely different one, I refunded it and after the refund they shipped one more of the wrong one for whatever reason I won't fathom, two watches I didn't want for free was a great deal.

[@W4iteFlame]

Probably buying from the recicling center or thrifting store will be a better choice. And more fun too

[@bobmcguffin5706]

Yeah, thrift/charity shops can be good fun, occasionally get a good bargain on decorative things

[@snakewithapen5489]

thrift shops are great, got 5 pieces of clothing (jeans, shorts, 3 shirts) and a glass flower vase in the shape of a fish from goodwill for 30$

[@raraavis7782]

I would love a thrift store trip with Mike. He's just the kind of person, to appreciate all the weird things, you can find there. I mean, he makes grocery shopping fun, imagine his running commentary on thrift store finds.

[@partfish6290]

Unfortunately, I think the noise for the crank charger is intentional- when I was little, my dad got us rechargeable flashlights that were charged by repeatedly squeezing a grip on the handle to generate power. It made the exact same noise, and you had to put forth a ton of work for a few moments of light. It was a fun novelty for ten year olds though haha

[@raraavis7782]

Yes, my nephew has one of those, too and it makes that very distinct 'motor cranking' noise as well. It has fallen out of favor by now, but he had a phase, where he really enjoyed cranking the heck out of that thing. And the sound was definitely part of the attraction. Or maybe the annoyance it occasionally caused us adults 😉

[@thesehandsart]

It's like paying more and shipping for dollar store items...I keep hearing "🎵 🎶 lowered expectations 🎵🎶" from an old MAD T.V. skit(thanks Chris R!). This is much the reason I've never ordered from wish, and I imagine the same would be true for temu.

[@ChrisRovers0]

Lowered expectations was a Mad TV sketch, but glad to hear someone else remembers that series :)

[@thesehandsart]

@@ChrisRovers0 I'm not surprised that I attributed it incorrectly lol thank you!

[@spring899]

I think it might be a good idea to fit the spindle of that little charging motor to a cordless drill to see what it can really output 😂

[@ChrisWar666]

The problem here (in Brazil) is that it's not only wish selling dodgy stuff, ALL the sites now take third-party sales, that could be just as dodgy, no-one has good, protected sales anymore 😞

[@10p6]

Nice. I do like the little flashlight, especially as it would be handy to keep in a car glove box, maybe another in a house draw for those times you need some easy to access light that you can slip in your pocket.

[@paulwilson6357]

I think a combination of the charger and the flashlight would be ideal, and I know they already exist, but the ones I've seen are about as reliable as that charger thing.

[@awhite3747]

I have one. It was a stocking filler. I agree with AS - it's a great little thing & I use it in exactly the way you suggest that you might. 👍🇬🇧

[@expl0sive296]

Hmmmm an easy to access light that slips into my pocket. I wonder if I could find one of those on something like a phone possibly.

[@Jehty21]

Or you could buy an actually decent one for not much more. But I guess if you like to gamble weather your flashlight will work when you need it or not then the Wish one is the right choice 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@xXVibrantSnowXx]

@@expl0sive296 if your phone died/run out of battery or can't use flash due to overheating or even suddenly froze Then why not? this mini light proves to be handy, just because you didn't need to use anything other than a phone, doesn't mean everyone is magically the same as you 🤦‍♂

[@Murmel_Bahn]

Regarding the flashlight I would like to mention, that they all seem to have the same battery capacity and the higher capacity thing is kinda a scam. I know because I ordered one before and took it apart just for the purpose to check whether that would be the case or not. Other than that I pretty much agree to the things you said about it.

[@AtomicShrimp]

Yeah, I wondered about that too - it was part of my reason for choosing the cheaper one

[@countrystyle5076]

Could you please review temu?

[@JPizzy986]

I consider myself a professional Chinese shopper, and you bring up many valid points. It's unfortunate as there are Chinese companies who do make good quality items and their pricing is either a fairly good deal or what you would expect. When it gets out of wack, like battery packs of 25000mah for less than 10 dollars, it's buyer beware as that's far too good to be true. Although there is a strong case to be made for cutting down on the useless bargain hunting and supply on both ends of the transaction.

[@ChelseyK1ng]

any tips on successfully buying Chinese items online that are good quality? is it just a matter of trial and error?

[@algemeennut6683]

The 471 on the resistor is 47 * 10 to the power of 1 = 470 ohm. The 285 could be a 3 pin (low drop out, LDO) voltage regulator, not sure. But clearly the unmarked capacitance is most likely too small to get some decent smoothing effect after the single wave rectification hand cranked 'generator'. At least would need some electrolytic cap with a certainly larger physical appearance. Nice Big Clive reference, I'm sure he'll appreciate it :)

[@treelineresearch3387]

Easier way to remember SMT resistor codes is the last number is the number of zeroes that follows ;)

[@danielleanderson6371]

Thank you for your kindness towards the crystal healing folks. I’m not one of them, but it’s refreshing to see someone who consistently treats others with compassion and respect. Plus, if looking at a pretty rock or doing rituals with it or whatever makes you happy, then that’s kind of like healing anyway.

[@sparki9085]

I dunno, selling crystals saying they heal you when they don't feels a lot like a scam to me.

[@pigshittinginmuhammadsmouth]

​@@sparki9085well if they called them "placebo crystals", they wouldn't sell as much.

[@PalehorseThirteen]

I'm into fountain pens and kind of kicked off my collecting buying inexpensive ones off wish. It is kind of a mixed bag, but every pen I've received has at the very least worked okay, even if I didn't care for it for one reason or another, and I have a few that I enjoy very much that are great writers. One's even a fairly nice brass pocket fountain pen I got for about $5 that I've seen sold elsewhere for up to $20.

[@JDizzlePowah]

I could watch this all day, definitely worth doing a set of these videos in my opinion, very interesting stuff especially watching you disassemble stuff

[@NHarts3]

I've never ordered anything off of wish and thank you for reminding me why I never will 😂😂 the manual phone charger is an interesting concept and I wonder if you will be up for theorising ways to improve the design. Seems like something that can be made at home

[@lightweight1974]

Many years ago, my daughter and I made something similar from a small DC motor. We did it for her science project in 6th grade. All it did was illuminate the LED. She's an engineer now.

[@satsumagt5284]

It's probably better to have it driven by a bicycle, and a GOOD voltage regulator so that it stays at 5V DC.

[@KellyS_77]

I've bought a decent one that was also an emergency radio, and (small) backup battery. It was surprisingly decent for the price. I didn't get it from wish though, it was maybe 20 dollars US.

[@FixerUK]

That design of charger has been around since the old Nokia days as I have and still own an original one. It did the job back then as an emergency top up but I wouldn't chance it on a modern device.

[@CainXVII]

​@@KellyS_77 i got one like that for my mom. Seems to work great

[@HexOverride]

Your videos are so cool, theres never clickbait, no brain rotting editing, no garbage, just great videos

[@Mushroom67]

I love your big Clive reference and where did you get that head set of bits? I've bought a lot of stuff from Wish too. It's not all bad. The illuminating toilet light is a must have. 🤯😁

[@strayling1]

I use one of those lights as a proximity light on my staircase. It gives enough illumination for going up and downstairs without switching on the main lamps and goes about a year between recharges.

[@99nerka]

Motor in this handcranked generator thingie looked used when you took it apart :)

[@AtomicShrimp]

Yeah, I thought that too. Like it's a 'pull' from some defunct toy or something

[@Eleanor_Ch]

Good thing I can say about Aliexpress is that when I got the wrong product and opened a dispute, the seller immediately send me the product I wanted, with air shipping at no cost. Sellers on Aliexpress seem genuinely scared of disputes.

[@eloquentsarcasm]

I've never used any service like this as I'm innately suspicious, so someone I trust like you doing it means a lot. My instincts seemed to be right, odds are you'll get crap from it, for a low price as opposed to paying more from a reputable source. Thank you Mike, for "taking one for the team" as it were, lol.

[@thedutyfree-tdf]

Temu is now in England! I would be interested in videos similar to your wish ones but with items from temu

[@Chad-Shakespeare]

I find Wish is best used not for gadgets, but for clothes and little novelty or decorative items. Clothes are still usually poor quality, but you're getting what you pay for, and if you expect it to be $2 Shop quality for anything you buy, you're generally safe.

[@unclekevin5094]

I love shopping with Wish. Its always like Christmas. Half of the time they take so long to arrive that you have forgotten what you have ordered and when the package does come its exciting to fine out what you have got. I have had a few fantastic outdoor lights and shoes but also some odd sized clothes. As they say with Wish "you often wish you hadent" or "you wish you had got what you had ordered".

[@Yamezzzz]

I remember even when I was a kid we had a pretty hard stance on false advertising. How we've progressed in society, that Wish is mainstream and worth so much when it's so amazingly blatant in how misleading it is.

[@philipareed]

I note others have mentioned a new imposter - Temu. I ordered four items on 7th May. A 9-LED rechargeable torch, a headlight torch, an emery sponge which turned out to be a roll of it, and a 4-piece cereal container. It was claimed the items would arrive "in a bag" between 15th and 18th of May. Also, "If delivered after May 18, you will get a £5 credit within 48 hours." To be fair, there were thirteen updates via both texts and emails including, amongst others, order being packed, flight departure, package arrived at airport, customs clearance completed, Item Received Princess Royal Parcel Hub. It was delivered on 16th of May. In a bag, as stated. All the items were fine. The torch has five settings. The headlight, two. I haven't tried the emery roll yet, but I did open the bag, and it seems very 'rough' as it should. The cereal container wasn't very big, but suits me. Overall, I'm pleased with all four items. No postage costs and the total payable was £11.35. I expect I'll use them again.

[@mrjoe5661]

I just posted a comment recommending Temu before i saw your comment. I started using them a few weeks ago, just a trial run like yours, rock bottom prices and no shipping costs, I was willing to "take one for the team" for the sake of a couple of quid, but I was very pleasantly surprised and I continue to use them. They have an excellent line in Harry Potter paraphernalia!

[@philipareed]

@@mrjoe5661 Bit more exciting than torches and emery boards 😂

[@mrjoe5661]

@Philip Reed One of my (numerous!) nieces turns 18 next month, really big into HP, I've bought her around a dozen pieces totalling less than £10, all arrived in good time. One was a pendant watch in the shape of a golden snitch, retail less than £5, a real bargain!

[@user-xw9pp8tb3k]

I tried to order from this site.. I was told they didn't accept orders under 25.00....i was merely buying tin pictures I collect.. One a b day present.. I immediately logged out and deleted them from my page.... Why would u tell someone your under a certain amount they can't deliver??? ⚱ wish.... Slips were to small... Jewelry faded after a few weeks or months.. Pictures rugs... Even bedsoreads are great ordering... So.. It just depends... God bless

[@afonsohenriques6276]

My bet on the crank charger is that they are using a zener diode and a nmos to act as a simple voltage regulator. Using the zener connected between ground and the gate of the nmos, and the resistor between the nmos gate and motor (drain), would allow the nmos to be conducting when the voltage is below the zener value, and open when it's higher. The current flows then by the resistor and zener to ground causing the voltage to diminuish and the circle starts again... The capacitor is there probably for hysteresis in parallel with the zener...

[@annalang5687]

I feel bad because I only had good experiences with wish (and aliexpress). But admittedly, I always only bought art supplies and washi tapes/ washi stickers. And they are exaclty as advertised, even it you get less tape than the much more expensive washi tapes you get at the art store.

[@TheLondonLass]

I have a similar experience with papercraft items and stationery items. They are so much cheaper than stuff sold here but the quality is the same.

[@lukasg4807]

Yeah, pens, knives and lighters are all decent.

[@strayiggytv]

Those are the types of items that sellers on AliExpress would be selling irl in shops in Hong Kong. Basically you shouldn't ever be buying electronics on wish unless you know Exactly what it is your looking for and at.

[@memetech-]

I like the hexagon blurring, it's a nice twist from all the squares. I also really like hexagons

[@AtomicShrimp]

Hexagons are the bestagpns

[@DadgeCity]

The marketing sensation of the moment is Temu - it'd be good if you'd order a dozen of their "UK launch offers" so that I don't have to.

[@McVaio]

I honestly love your reviews on these Wish items. It is very interesting and enjoyable to see your comparison of the items to the item descriptions.

[@BritishRifleman]

From my time on wish, my best buys were survival/utility things, I got a multitool for £3, a basic flashlight for £2 and a set of metal rulers for £2. All have been great value for money. Also, basic items like stickers and what china does best, small plastic things like zip ties, clips, are usually up to scratch. It's the niche things like your handcrank charger that are usually only made by a couple companies that are terrible as well as other things ofc

[@Yamezzzz]

I'm glad that I subscribed to this channel one day many years ago because just a few days ago I was wondering to myself literally the exact same questions this video tackles.

[@KirbyMario12345_939]

3:17 to simplify its name, it's a small small light light small light keychain light strong light non-heavy portable light. Okay. Good. Wasn't sure if it was a small light emitter; could have mistaken it for a pink elephant if the seller didn't hammer it home as hard.

[@jonathanrichards593]

The word salad descriptive names are just so that the item will come up as a result in an improbably large number of searches, i.e. they're debasing the concept of "keyword"!

[@treywilson9901]

you should do this for Temu. Seems like they're trying to do the same type of junk.

[@SomeRandomPiggo]

It took about 1 day for their ads to be plastered everywhere and everyone acting like they've been using it for months, just another Wish clone

[@mrjoe5661]

I've yet to be scammed or even disappointed by Temu, no minimum order value and free shipping is so much better than Wish

[@johnpatus]

Great review as always Mr Shrimp ,your videos are always fun to watch and uplifting , sometimes your humor reminds me of the old TV series from the radio show the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy ,i do not know why but you do,keep up the good work:)

[@hjalfi]

That generator makes me cringe. No battery, no capacitor, just a half-wave rectifier, meaning that it's sending decidedly non-DC pulses down the line, thoroughly confusing what's at the other end. I wouldn't want to plug anything electronic into that, not least because if you're getting an _average_ voltage of 5V, then each pulse will be hitting a _peak_ voltage of about 1.6 times that. The reputable ones charge an internal battery and then you use the battery to provide a stable supply for the external electronics. Also those terrible gears and dodgy motor are probably wasting nearly all the energy as heat.

[@johannaverplank4858]

Thanks for the honest reviews. I personally would never order anything from Wish because the website is so dodgy. Thanks for the informative and entertaining video!

[@karen4you]

Great review as always. Most crafters seem to be buying cheap jewelry for reuse and miniature dollhouse items. I would think that the paint used on miniatures is lead based as cheaper.

[@beastycakes7958]

Monkey’s paw rules

[@thisisus.504]

Yup! Found your channel, loved this vid, made me smile, I'm now a subscriber. I have a basic knowledge (recently got my amateur radio FL, so that basic of knowledge). Very entertained and feel well informed. Thanks buddy.

[@handle_1969]

Your “engineers” take on these items is quite valuable. I appreciate your time. 👏

[@TheRattyBiker]

To be honest I've only ever used Wish for buying underwear and small novel things like the key chain LED - small rechargeable bicycle lights for example and I can honestly say in those cases I've been "happy for the price" sure, things haven't always quite fitted as advertised or had the lumens or battery life as advertised.... BUT for the few quid it cost I've been more than pacified - it's been superior quality to anything I've found in *_no longer a_* PoundLand... However, I personally would trust anything on Wish that's more than a 5er!

[@gerardmcquade9102]

i bought the wind up phone charger when i first heard about wish ages ago and it didn't last, it broke

[@WolfmanDude]

I am always happy when you correctly describe technical stuff like the pulse modulation effect. Other youtube reviewers are so clueless with basic tech/physics knowledge; it can be very frustrating to watch.

[@Jessica_Costantini]

im loving this fitness for purpose checklist on wish products video!!! if you haven’t yet, you should definitely do more!! ❤

[@domramsey]

Thank you for shopping on Wish so we don't have to! I've always liked your technology focussed videos, I'd love to see more of them. Just with... better technology maybe!

[@Lenszel]

In regards to the reviews people leave on Wish or similar overseas shopping sites, often the sellers offer discounts / discount codes for leaving a 5 star review, which explains good ratings on bad products.

[@tenthz]

The hand cranking sound was exactly the same as a high-quality emergency hand-crank radio that my grandfather had in the '90s. We thought it was magic! Thanks for triggering that memory.

[@FirstLast-oe2jm]

I like the haxagon-tiling blur, visually appealing but not too busy or distracting

[@Jamiesonfrox]

I would love to see you make a better crank generator! That would make a fun video!

[@chronicgaming3280]

From what I've seen in other videos Alot of wish Fossils on wish are fake castings, Keep up the great content 😁👍

[@gabewilliams380]

Appreciate the Clive reference, I had the same thought as you were inspecting the circuit board

[@PokeMaster22222]

5:02 I believe you've already successfully charged something with that crappy hand-crank charger. You charged your credit card. The only thing it could successfully charge.

[@madcatjo]

Thank you for buying Wish tat so we don't have to. ❤

[@yerocb]

I was curious about wish a couple of years ago so i downloaded it. I was mostly concerned about my credit card info being stolen, but i did some research and that wasn't really a complaint, so I went for it. First purchase was a cap (think news boys) which took over a month to arrive, was under $10 and i still wear ot regularly. I'd say it was probably a $20 item from a shop here in the states. Then i ordered a soft dog house that turned out to be about a quarter of the size shown in the picture. The pic had a Golden Retriever in the thing with some of its body out, would barely fit a decent sized Chihuahua. Gave it to a friend with a small dog. Next uo, car cell phone holder, the kind where the weight of the phone causes the sides to close in. I'd had one in the past and all the ones on Amazon were like $20. They were under $2. Again, took months, but they were great! One started breaking and i fixed it and kept using it, but it finally died. The other one is in my car right now. Overall, a pretty good experience.

[@rogink]

Yes, I can't say I've used Wish but know people who do. If it was just a website selling badly made Chinese tat it wouldn't have become so big. Like it or not, we in the West have become hooked on Chinese manufactured products. Here in the UK there are stores that only sell Chinese goods. If we ever have a trade war ...

[@lunondisposable5382]

I buy a lot of various stuff on Wish and I've found the best things are enamel pins (usually bootlegs of others' designs but whatever), hobby materials like little diorama people and foliage, at silly novelties like socks that look like geese and a flask shaped like a jerrycan.

[@SVMSICE]

Just an FYI. Those little keychain lights they sell on Amazon also. I haven’t seen the different color range ones on there but the ones on Amazon are really great quality little lights. Super super bright. I’ve had one for a couple years now and also a while back ordered 4 more just to have them here and there. I highly recommend them and the Amazon ones last a lot longer, battery wise than the one you tested here. Also the clasp on the Amazon one is metal, that one looked plastic to me and the clasp is very durable. 2 years on my key ring can attest to that. The magnet did end up falling out of mine not too long ago but luckily I found that it was just stuck to the trick door below the key hole so I was able to just glue it back in. Highly recommend them!

[@offender0]

I've had no real issues with ordering specific things from AliExpress despite people saying it's a scam. I've ordered many Airsoft related articles from there and they've always been spot on. I guess this comes down to being careful and checking the reviews that have pictures to kind of confirm they're real people that received the item they ordered. Wish just seems like playing the lottery.

[@ccaagg]

AliExpress is pretty reliable, they just don't vet what's on there. Plenty of scams and plenty of great sellers selling for much cheaper than other places (the other places more likely than not dropship it from AliExpress themselves).

[@daniel-andersson]

AliExpress can be dodgy but the sellers do care in my experience. One time I misclicked and placed an order for far more than I intended - ~70€ - and the seller messaged me asking if it was intentional, then let me cancel. Really appreciated it.

[@FamilyTeamGaming]

@@daniel-andersson Yeah, my experience with AliExpress is that unless you're buying electronics or clothes that are blatantly over-promising, you basically always get what you asked for (and if you don't, you can get your money back every time). I did buy a couple of things that were lemons that had no business being bad, and admittedly some of the nicer stuff in there is sometimes not even all that more affordable than what you can probably find in your town, but my shopping experience there has pretty much been spotless to be honest.

[@solistheonegod]

I’ve used wish 3 times, 1 of the things was nothing like what was advertised and the other 2 never arrived.

[@WUB0105]

you should maybe pay by credit card when you choose wish, they will help you, Mine did, anyway.

[@atti_tube]

I remember noticing the weirdness of the reviews when I used to use Wish off and on a few years ago. If I remember correctly, I thought the reviews were from the entire seller's reviews and not specifically the product you were looking at. Though I could be conflating that with another online marketplace.

[@ZombieEnthusiast69]

Never seen one of your videos before, this is my first, but the BigClive bit got a like and subscribe from me. Looking forward to your future content!

[@maiyannah]

Olny today!

[@AidenRKrone]

Back in 2019 I spent over $100 on clothes and fashion accessories on Wish. It goes without saying that none of the clothes fit me, and the accessories didn't work as intended. That was a hundred dollars down the drain, but my friends and I got a good laugh out of it, so that's what matters.

[@gamerhood5688]

Thankyou Shrimp you helped me become more aware of scams when buying and emails, keep up the good work 🙂

[@thedarkknight1971]

11:00 - With regards to a 'Emergency' power supply/charging unit... If you look in Aldi or Lidl, sometimes they will sell a Solar back up battery/usb charger unit (about the size of a large phone - 6" length, but twice the thickness of a mobile phone), has a 10,000MAh built in battery, multiple ports, and.. Only costs about a tenna! I've had mine for a coupla years and it's still doing great! 👍😏 😎🇬🇧

[@MrWylis]

Ah, Shrimp! You're like the opposite of Wish. The subject matter should be dry, dull boring and nothing special... but we always get a treat. Top Notch, with a Touch of Chrome... as my dad would say 👌

[@venenareligioest410]

How things have changed, about 20 years ago a friend of mine went to Hong Kong to see his daughter who worked there. He and his wife ordered and paid upfront for a unique set of China. They were told it would be manufactured and Bev with them in a matter of weeks. I was incredulous and said he must be mad!! But sure enough it arrived on the dot, properly packed, perfect! His daughter said she had no doubt it would be so because it was a matter of honour! I guess that generation are dead and gone 😕

[@lasskinn474]

it's a bit different when it's not nameless moonlighting of middlemanning crap.

[@FamilyTeamGaming]

Oh to be honest I have had good experiences with Wish and its competitors (admittedly Wish the worst one out of the lot though). They do have some quality stuff for good prices of you look. Scammers are everywhere regardless of time and place.

[@venenareligioest410]

@@FamilyTeamGaming Mainly China though 😳

[@littlemiss_76]

That battery charger has a pencil sharper feel to it. I have bought a few things off Wish I would say I only have had a few dogy experiences and and mostly because the item gets sold out. But as a window shopping experience Wish is a funny place to see strange items.

[@ilovebacon304]

Keep up the good work Mr. Shrimp. Love your videos! 👍🏻

[@vukkumsp]

1:37 not just Wish, even amazon uses this tactic by showing a big costly product and says pricing starts at 1-2 dollars. When you click on the link, it will show some useless accessory as 1-2 dollar price and the real shown product at highest price.

[@SebasTian-xk4xt]

3:36 I like how the minimizing window doesn't disappear and you can see it still being there for a while...being all small and threatening like my hamster

[@SamuelVain]

Thanks to a Facebook ad I bought a cat toy off of wish that was supposed to be motorized when the cat played with it and then stop, but it wasn't, it was just a pillow that she completely ignored. Was also much smaller than advertised.

[@CosmologicalCanvas]

I use wish for plenty of craft supplies. Often, it comes out to slightly cheaper or the same as Amazon prices, but I can often get some variations not up on Amazon. I.e. I get some stained glass, and WIsh has ones pre-cut into shapes and Amazon doesn't. I'm in Canada so mileage probably varies. Craft supplies are pretty safe to buy from my experience and the worst you'll get is some broken pieces from poor packaging.

[@lolmistro]

As someone who worked in multiple warehouses i can say that a picking error is a million to one chance that it happens, it goes through stocker to picking line through a second picking set then to shipping or trucker then at the local stop it gets checked again so thats so many checks that its all on the seller not on picking errors for products faults and it not being correct.

[@martinrose2668]

This was a fun video to watch. I often have the same experience when shopping on Amazon, I would bet that some sellers post on both platforms one way or another. So, like you said in the conclusion, if it's an item that matters and must be good, I will just buy it elsewhere or double-check that the seller is legitimate and the price is adequate. Or otherwise I spend a lot of time reading reviews, comparing to other similar listings (sometimes with the exact same photoshopped pictures...), and calculating how much risk this particular item carries with it... So far, most of the things I bought this way have been satisfactory, but I should admit it's not risk-free and I only do it to save money. Going for a more expensive well-established brand in a nearby store is always going to be easier and more reliable. But, again, money.

[@martinrose2668]

The biggest difficulty in all this is distinguishing fake positive reviews from real positive reviews. At the same time, negative reviews can be quite genuine, but every single product has one that is a horror story and could very much be an exception. So how do you balance your trust? Follow your gut feeling? There's no real way to measure it. Oh, one fun tip for negative reviews though: if most negative reviews come from people who seem to be using the device wrong, then you can be more or less sure that the device is good. Since the only complaints are coming from confused people rather than genuine device error. This happens rarely, but it does happen.

[@drscopeify]

Your videos are so good! Fantastic as always!

[@TheHappyKamper]

That light is awesome. It even has a kickstand, which you didnt mention, but used during your test. Would've been interesting to know how long it actually lasted too.