Why Temu is a NIGHTMARE

Temu has quickly become a trend online with influencers and youtubers using the platform to buy and promote ridiculous products selling for ridiculous prices. This is the latest peak in unbridled consumerism but its meteoric rise has much bigger implications than just another cheap knockoff website.
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For further reading, check out the sources for this video here:
docs.google.com/document/d/e/...
Script: Caroline Eaton Pickard
Editor: Kirsten Stanley
Project Manager: Lurana McClure Rodríguez
Host: Levi Hildebrand
Want to work with Future Proof? Suggestions? Hate mail? Get in touch with the project manager, Lu: [e-mail]

[@munkyenima]

I click the "Why Temu is a nightmare" video, and immediately get a Temu ad. 😂

[@728huey]

Same here. 😂 I downloaded the Temu ad after Black Friday last year and ordered some kitchen ware and other cheap shoes, and it was so cheap. But then I kept getting multiple notifications from my app everyday for the next six months, which became rather annoying.

[@Generation-Faith]

Me too lol

[@vectorwolf]

Yep, same...

[@catalinborz5445]

I got a Temu ad going into this video 😂

[@homogenicmp3]

Same.

[@theredkitteh]

As a tailor, I couldn't tell you how many people bring clothes to us and are shocked by our (reasonable for the labour involved) prices, and say "that's more than I payed for x item to begin with" like I'm supposed somehow magically get the work done in half the time so the price is half as much so the client can keep their bottom line at exploitative levels. Henny, these pants are so cheep bc they came from a sweatshop. My studio is not a sweatshop, and I nor my colleagues will work for sweatshop prices, please understand the difference

[@leifmeadows3782]

And I absolutely get that. I understand that it probably really would cost them $150 to replace the zipper on my coat. That doesn't change the fact that the coat itself cost about that much and that if I'm going to spend $150, it may as well be on a new coat.

[@neofromthewarnerbrothersic145]

​@@leifmeadows3782 Can't argue with that, but that's why if you're just going to buy a new coat, you go and buy a new coat. You don't go to a local tailor and criticize their repair prices, as if they are supposed to donate their time to salvage your garment. (I'm reminded of "ending is better than mending" from Brave New World). Option 3 is learn to replace the zipper yourself. Obviously we don't have the time to master every skill and do everything for ourselves, but it pays to be handy in as many ways as possible. Thankfully there is sort of a "maker movement", a lot of interest in DIY and "upcycling" etc., but we can always use more.

[@monocledmanatee6355]

Say what, it doesn't even have to be a sweatshop... In China they tend to have whole regions devoted to one industry. All the suppliers, all the skilled labor is just next to you. And then there's economy of scale as they don't produce 1000 shirts - it's 300,000 minimum (and if you get a low price it probably means your design is good enough and it'll be cloned and they'll make 3,000,000 shirts and sell it to everyone before you get your first shipment). Economy of scale and tight integration of everything work miracles, y'know! Source: 20+ years in China, 16 of those in manufacturing.

[@user-ov4wr5yu4r]

They look like they bought twenty cent pants, if it's any consolation. Tailoring won't save those clothes. Thank goodness I still have a lot of good vintage stuff. And I can sew. But I will definitely use a tailor for anything heavy or difficult like jeans.

[@Semi-Obsessed]

this is why I take into account tailoring prices if I'm trying something on that I like that doesn't fit me as well as I'd like it to -- because technically that accounts for the total cost of the piece. if I try something on that already costs $150 and it doesn't fit as well as it should then it's just not worth it to get it tailored lmao

[@CherokeeBear]

I was once told, that if something is abnormally cheap for how much time, skill, and effort it takes to make it, someone else is paying the price.

[@velichor]

This is exactly accurate. Made me think of a Lucy Siegle quote: “Fast fashion is not free. Someone, somewhere is paying the price.”

[@xXVibrantSnowXx]

@@velichor Who cares? i don't Lmao

[@igniss777]

@@xXVibrantSnowXx people who have enough self reflection not to be egoist I guess

[@dread1262]

Cool 😃👍. As long as its not me

[@alexmin4752]

What about rtechnology and automation? On average, Mercedes makes one car per employee per month. Which implies they could (in theory) sell one car for an avg monthly German salary.Which is lower that $5000. So they could dump Mercedes cars at avg price of $5000 w/o screwing anyone working there.

[@nikzel]

I think my adblock and algorithms are on point. It's 2023 and I'm on the internet on a daily basis. This is the first I've heard of Temu.

[@michelle.uncensored]

Check your calendar, it's Feb 2024

[@nikzel]

@@michelle.uncensored Hey, I have at least until March to keep making this mistake.

[@sealeo5772]

@@michelle.uncensored my brain is still stuck in 2022

[@linkhidalgogato]

almost the same for me the only other time i heard about it was one person saying it sucks

[@michelle.uncensored]

@@sealeo5772 lol, I feel that.

[@kookykiddo]

Temu to me is so strange because…did people forget Shein? We were basically at the point of fast fashion=bad and starting to move forward from Shein and then…boom, popular asf.

[@FutureProofTV]

One step forward two steps back :\\\

[@xaviersmith5154]

It's more than fashion. And fast fashion isn't bad. Obviously majority of people aren't as delusional as yall.

[@pedrojorge2741]

@@xaviersmith5154 How is fast fashion not bad? It's bad for the environment as it leads to overconsumerism and bad materials, it's bad for the workers who get paid less, it's bad for the buyers who get low quality items that don't last and thus become more expensive on the long run. Every single one loses, except the investors in the company.

[@clemfandango6897]

agreed, plus I'm sure the plastics used in most of the temu kitchen ware products are gonna give everyone cancer

[@wandtpag]

@@xaviersmith5154 "fast fashion isn't bad"? who's the delusional one here?

[@thirdpedalnirvana]

Going onto Temu's website feels akin to walking into a casino. It feels designed to overwhelm your senses. You can palpably feel changes to how your synapses are firing in your brain. You know you aren't finding anything good, but the products are arranged so randomly that you just want to scroll one more time to see what comes up next.

[@MrKush815]

This has to be the best way I've heard Temu described and it's the truth

[@ruralsquirrel5158]

TEMU feels like "online looting".

[@elizabethl6625]

You're right. It's addictive.

[@twinoferos]

Tbh that sounds fun

[@Ericwolf520]

It does feel like a casino 🎰

[@PegasStar]

I've never ever clicked on Temu's website, yet I am bombarded by ads, so tedious! Not even Shein was this aggressive in my recommendation.

[@TheBioniXman]

Good that you have never clicked on their website and that is your democratic choice. I also have a democratic choice and I like TEMU.

[@redwoodcoastcreativearts]

I don't cluck on their shady site either. They've stolen photos from many of my artist friends. They are a scammer company! Still, I am constantly bombarded by them even though I report them daily.

[@Serenitywilde]

One time I ordered a children's book for my daughter on Christmas via Amazon. When I got it I read through it and exactly halfway in the book, there was a print of a full 12-month calendar. A Playboy calendar with all of these naked ladies. I contacted the author and sent pictures and a video. She apologized and sent me a digital book. She had no idea that Amazon had done that and somehow in the production of the book there was porn in the children's book, about kindness. 😅

[@Philip_Taylor]

How on earth!

[@mosesetafuna5958]

Dam it should’ve been me

[@WiggaMachiavelli]

Just a digital book? So she didn't apologise and actually replace the product with a rectified equivalent or provide a refund? A digital book doesn't cost anything to copy so it's a cost-effective way of making people feel good, I guess. Shows how much the apology is worth!

[@toddjal]

@WiggaMachiavelli What she's saying is that it wasn't the authors fault. This would be a case where the author had uploaded the book using Amazon's Print on Demand system, and the books are only printed when they're ordered by a customer. But Amazon messed up on the printing and either had files get combined somehow, or pages from different books get combined. Either way, there's no way an author would intensionally do this as they'd have their account shut down in no time, which would be an expensive waste of their time.

[@TopG20073]

You should have sued

[@Orneldan]

As someone who works in a warehouse with packages, my biggest annoyance is looking at how many Temu and Shien packages come in, they make up at least 1/3 of all packages I see its the worst.

[@FutureProofTV]

That's actually so so sad 🤦‍♂

[@xaviersmith5154]

Your upset you have a job? Stfu and find something actually worth complaining about.

[@joeybaseball7352]

And the other ⅔ is Amazon

[@Maria-eh1ki]

We all know that some amazon productos are the same as the temu ones because they come from china. Amazon sellers just increases their prices.

[@bulld0gmom760]

so they are providing you, or those in your close vicinity, a secure job. that's a good thing. fewer packages means fewer package warehouse employees. if my job was to manage packages, i would give thanks for all of them i see. that's just my outlook. you are free to look at a situation from any angle you please.

[@LillyxTopaz]

My feelings on Temu is that if you buy at dollar store prices, expect dollar store quality. It isn't 'cheap' or 'inexpensive' if the quality is trash. It's just what you paid for at the price you paid for it.

[@scarlettdamante4945]

I place one order on temu when it was new and this simply didn't ring true to my experience. There was a make up case I'd been looking for for over a year, everywhere I found it online it was simply too expensive for me (almost £100 for a plastic case) I even asked my local Chinese store that gets direct shipments from China if they could find it to no avail. I found it on Temu for £30. It was the exact one, it came, the quality was completely fine, the plastic wasn't wrapped or damaged in any way and I've had it since with no issues. I expect it to last at least 5 years.

[@LillyxTopaz]

@@scarlettdamante4945 Oh yes. I've made two orders from Temu. They sell the exact same items on Temu as they do in many amazon fronts for much cheaper. It's just I don't really think 2$ for a hairclip is 'super insane cheap' like a lot of people seem to indicate. I worded it in a round about way, but I don't think Temu is horrible if you shop mindfully and/or can't afford more expensive 'ethical' alternatives (or you don't have time to spend 4 hours researching everything you buy)

[@hithere8140]

It can be disappointing sometimes, no different than amazon but im surprisingly impressed way more than disappointed

[@valerista4269]

You are aware that Amazon sells the same shit from China but with 100% price increase, right? RIGHT?

[@joylox]

And they're even like half the price of dollar store items! What scares me, is that when CBC Marketplace did an investigation into Amazon, they found a lot of lead beyond safe levels, and with Temu being worse in pretty much every way, I can't imagine their stuff being safe from such toxins. Especially with makeup/skincare and toys, I can't trust anything that cheap to be safe.

[@webspaghetti]

The problem is I've noticed a lot of 'small local businesses' where I live are obviously buying stock from Temu and then marking it up 900%. So by supporting them you are indirectly buying from Temu anyway. We're screwed!

[@b1378m]

Holy smokes!

[@jessy1982]

Yep, I bought some shoes from a "growing local business" with their own website that always wanted reviews, replied personally, said they designed a new color/type of shoe for the first time... Basically watching it expand from the ground up as they got more popular. Then I found the same shoes, with more colors, on Temu! For a fraction of the price! And it had been there for years before this "local made" business started! I felt so scammed since I overpaid for the shoes thinking I'm supporting a business, when it was just shipped from China and had their logo added!

[@lauralewis2430]

I have seen these too! I buy a lot of craft supplies on Temu and have seen the same stuff on Amazon, local craft stores, and online retailers for MUCH MUCH more

[@Lamafiasiberiana]

"The sketchy version of Amazon". Just imagine, as if Amazon were not sketchy enough.

[@OdinTheTall]

Explain.

[@LaPrincesa.DelHielo]

@@OdinTheTall they make their delivery drivers wee in bottles because they are not allowed wee breaks

[@OdinTheTall]

@@LaPrincesa.DelHielo Thank you. But you can say "piss". It's fine.

[@LaPrincesa.DelHielo]

@@OdinTheTall you shouldn't swear!

[@OdinTheTall]

@@LaPrincesa.DelHielo You should try it. It's liberating.

[@savannah4439]

I hate that Temu has been so aggressively marketing through influencers. It’s been so disappointing to see how many of my favorite creators have been taking brand deals by them. Creators who I thought cared about human rights, the environment, or even just the quality of the products they’re advertising to their audience. Frankly, it makes me sick to see new products being sold so cheaply bc I know how shady it must be

[@daveisdead]

Honestly if you’re a small creator who’s not making any money and you are a sponsorship deal come in, it’s very easy to just accept since you don’t get many

[@FutureProofTV]

Yeah, the company's pretty awful all around. Of course we'd never work with a brand like this because our entire ethos is based around critical thinking and researching before you buy, but a lot of other creators might not even know what they're selling to their audience. We're just glad to contribute to the conversation surrounding this!

[@Code7Unltd]

Being honest though, products and services that are sponsored through KZbinrs really aren't worth being bought or used. I'm sure you heard enough about Lootcrate to know you don't want one or about Raid: Shadow Legends to not play it.

[@pearlite6243]

@@daveisdead I totallyy understand that. it's actually the larger creators I'm disappointed in, who have their own released products and books and such. but I hope they will eventually realise the truth about TEMU and Shein etc. and stop purchasing and promoting them in future. and I hope they get other better sponsors

[@justanotherjessica]

I was really disappointed when I saw Ann Reardon (How to Cook That) promote Temu. She has to know how bad Temu is for the environment and how poorly their workers are treated. I guess the money was worth more than that to her. :(

[@Macsrus5]

It’s like the old saying. “Just because you have a coupon, it doesn’t mean you have to use it”

[@zero1188]

So you shouldn’t use the coupon?

[@axolotlIl]

@@zero1188 if you don't need to. let's say you have a 50% coupon at IKEA, a more reputable store (and a very generous coupon). You don't currently need to buy anything, no closet, no chair. You don't need anything, but the coupon entices you to go buy something. Yes, you may have saved X $, but you still go and buy something from the company, in turn, they make money. This is how coupons work, especially if it has an expiry date on it. They make you feel like you are missing out on money if you DON'T buy something from them, when in actuality the companies are the ones benefitting from them most. If however you were already looking for an IKEA bed and you happen to get a coupon, that's fair game. The companies take this into account and have to balance the "enticing-ness" (leading to more sales) and the loss of money through purchases with coupons. I hope I explained that in a clear way.. I'm not the best at it...

[@Macsrus5]

@@zero1188 meaning JUST because it’s cheap, you don’t need to buy it😊 Per-this videos point👍🏼

[@bruceh4180]

I've never heard that saying, but I like it. My mental trick is when I see "save 50%", I revert that in my mind as "I'm spending 50% more than I planned". (except in rare cases when I needed something)

[@tydshiin5783]

My sister will absolutely be mad at you if you say that She's like the most easy target to get fucking scammed or something Any voucher or coupon given to her will be used

[@Lukie-Boy]

My mom is insane with this. Sometimes she gets useful things, got me a pair of shoes to ruin for like $8. Got me a small pencil torch that feels really cheap but objectively works. You can't walk out my door without seeing a temu package

[@chakr.a]

😭😭😭

[@no1233i]

How sad

[@veravye]

my friends mom is doing the same thing right now. so many times ive heard about what they can't afford (food, namely), and yet now shes somehow addicted to buying cheap garbage. sad and frustrating :/

[@coya8coy175]

My aunt has recently become a Temu shopper. My mom keeps trying to keep her away, but she won’t stop. She even sent me Temu spam so she could get “a free gift”. I basically told her I will never click on any links and to stop sending me that crap.

[@Lukie-Boy]

@@coya8coy175 I think it appeals in the same way as a gumball machine, cheap and random items. If they suck you can write it off, if you get lucky and get a good quality item you can go brag about the deal you just got. I'm happy to say my mom has chilled out a bit since I wrote this post, I imagine the crap was coming more than the good quality items.

[@user-xb1ib8wm5u]

my options are: I shop cheap at amazon, target, Walmart, etc. who are all shit and treat people like shit, or I shop even cheaper at Temu who is doing the same thing and is just as bad. what tf am I supposed to do I do not understand where tf im supposed to shop, second hand things are just as expensive as new, anything that is quality is way too expensive for me as a student, so where do I buy things that I need? like I do not understand how I am supposed to afford college, rent, and even basic shit for my life, its a struggle even with cheap shit from amazon and other places but I have no idea how im supposed to afford buying *high quality things that are all perfectly ethical and green*. makes no sense, I can barely afford the cheap shit let alone the "good" stuff....

[@keaixiaomeinv]

Temu offered me a job in Shanghai to work with the localization for the Nordic region. They were expanding so quickly and so aggressively that they didn't even bother to verify if I actually spoke at least one Nordic language. The impression I get is that both Temu (being the overseas brand) and Pinduoduo (being the domestic brand) are burning unbelieveable amounts of money in order to get market saturation before the money runs out. It's a terrible business strategy, but very popular in China. Problem is that for 90% of companies it just leads to bankruptcy.

[@MoriMementa]

Let's hope Temu is part of that 90%.

[@keaixiaomeinv]

@@MoriMementa Yes, for the sake of the planet I hope so. Problem is that if it happens, another player flush with VC money will step in and keep the garbage faucet running.

[@jiahaotan696]

That's the strategy of most big companies (that have a siginificant tech department) nowadays. Get capital, burn money, flood the market, get consumers addicted and kick smaller players out, then once they have a monopoly raise prices and profit. (Either that or fail in the process)

[@jayg473]

@@MoriMementaI’m also hoping Target, Amazon, Walmart are part of that 90% as well.

[@that1niceguy246]

@@jayg473 I wish Disney was near those 90% but end still in a state to be broken up into the dozens of already big firms it absorbed over the years. [Serious look up what firms they own and where they hold shares it is unbelievable and to me unethical.]

[@brandonsakelarides676]

You DEFINITELY need to make the Amazon video. The amount of people who just let it be "out of sight, out of mind" could use a refresher.

[@squakers9950]

I used to shop on Amazon all the time, and now it's been years since I purchased anything from it. I haven't gone anywhere near Temu for the same reasons. I'm glad videos like this exist.

[@nanorider426]

+1

[@tsunsu]

They should that site is just as gilty as this site is as was ebay thir no saints.

[@deborahamado-taylor3327]

@@squakers9950you haven’t said why you stopped at least using Amazon for certain things.

[@TheMW2informer]

I don’t get how he brings up “unbridled consumerism” then tries to protect the major companies that sell ‘luxury’ items for insane prices from discount sites?? I mean c’mon.

[@nicholasmargolies]

My neighbor told me I needed to try temp because of the great deal she got on a pair of shoes. Temu was the most horrifically stressful shopping experience, like being stampeded in a crowd on black Friday. I felt like I was being screamed at from every direction, and I couldn't get out of there fast enough. It has some seriously bad vibes, and I'm so grateful I'm not in a position of being so desperate for distraction that it appeals to me.

[@francosmith9326]

Sad reality is that you need to be incredibly privellaged to be able to afford to shop at more expensive, sustainable sources..

[@jacklinemukiibi4388]

That part.😊

[@hokuuniko]

EXACTLYYY IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS COMMENT

[@heyheytaytay]

Temu is the Raid Shadow Legends of online shopping: ubiquitous and obnoxious ads for what seems like at best a sketchy product.

[@Gage_The_Comrade_or_Something]

Same with Shein. I swear to god 25% of ads I get on KZbin are Shein ads

[@parteuy3434]

I had a colleague once who played world of tanks. This idiot was so happy to play that game after shifts and in his weekends. He has a wife and a daughter, I pity them both. 60+ and still doing manual labor.

[@oldcowbb]

at least no one actually play raid

[@commoncentsamerican]

I have gotten many good items half the price of amazon from Temu. No regrets.

[@JoeStuffzAlt]

I wonder if it would be like Hero Wars, which seems like a sketchier version of Raid: Shadow Legends

[@jdd3786]

I was bombarded with Temu ads for several months on KZbin. The sheer aggression of their forceful presence immediatly were red flags for me. It took many times of me clicking on "stop seeing this ad", for it to finally go away.

[@annadayl]

Yeah, I'm bombarded too! After many MANY times clicking on stop seeing this ad and kept seeing it anyway I stopped caring because it just seems impossible to get rid of it

[@AppleLatte]

yours went away?! lol!

[@SnoFitzroy]

install an adblocker then lmfao imagine actually letting ads exist.

[@SPZ-gv2on]

I thought I was done with those ads but then I got one on this video...

[@incognitoburrito6020]

​@@SPZ-gv2on Highly, _highly_ recommend getting an ad blocker. KZbin tries blocking them, but ad blocker devs are powered by spite and move faster than they can. Ublock Origin is fantastic on browsers and incredibly simple to install, and on mobile there's KZbin Revanced (which can be a bit more complicated, but there are lots of tutorials available)

[@katherinec2759]

I might have gotten into Temu at least a little bit, but when I clicked on one part of an ad to see more information about the particular product I was interested in, it just took me to the main page, with no way to figure out how to find the one thing I had been interested in. Noped out and never went back.

[@nbgrooms]

Thank you so much for breaking all this down! As someone who's on Instagram a lot as a fitness creator, I quite frankly get tired of seeing Temu ads pop up. You really delved deep into how shady this company is. I'd not spend $1 on that site. Particularly thought your point was good about how its bankrolling Communist China's oppression of its people.

[@tomyurkovic]

I currently work at the UPS Store and the amount of returns from Temu (and especially Amazon) is an absolute nightmare for the planet. Even if this clothing is resold once returned, every single return must be placed in one of those shipping bags. If the clothing isn't immediately thrown in the trash, the shipping bags certainly are. I know some waste is inevitable but you can't even imagine how out of hand it's gotten.

[@susanlee7079]

Exactly the reason why I don’t buy online at all.

[@ThesmartestTem]

That's why I refuse to clothes shop online. But unfortunately, most stores closed their dressing rooms during covid and never reopened them.

[@honestytoafault]

You dint think that retail items don't arrive in plastic? Not only plastic but also tissue paper. And it all gets thrown away.

[@ShintogaDeathAngel]

@@honestytoafault they weren't saying that stuff doesn't arrive in plastic - we all know it does, but it's thinking about how much plastic gets thrown away needlessly as a result of buying/returning stuff from companies like Temu. Most people just don't stop to think about that, they only see what they're getting/sending and it really doesn't seem like much when it's only your stuff you're dealing with.

[@RaveN_EDM]

@@susanlee7079 buying online cuts out the middleman. If you buy something at Walmart, it comes from a US warehouse and that comes from a warehouse in China which comes from the manufacturer. On Temu you buy it directly from the factory that makes it, it goes to a port in China then customs in the US, then the domestic postal system and then your house. There’s no need for the product to sit in American warehouses then American retail stores.

[@a_r_a_i_z_a]

My mother moved in with me about 5-6 months ago & has been getting Temu packages delivered almost nonstop since the day she moved in. She complains about 90% of the things she ordered being the wrong size or otherwise useless, but she will not stop. It's awful.

[@TheeHuntress]

😂😢

[@YaroLord]

average boomer behavior

[@tomruth9487]

@a_r_a_i_z_a I worked for a family that was fairly wealthy and the husband would order cheap stuff every day from Amazon and others. I call it "the Christmas mentality" of needing the fix of getting a box in the mail to open every day. I think there are a lot of people like your mom in the world.

[@annabellelee4535]

Your mom needs to pull up the sizing information since the sizes are Asian.

[@TheSwauzz]

My mom has bought many things, including clothes and shoes and has never had issues with things fitting. Idk if people don't know how to pick stuff, but there's actually great deals on there.

[@mobee9181]

they just offered me 28 loose teeth and an adorable cat shelf for $8 and im fighting with myself. I dont even know wtf the teeth is about

[@sailorvenus72]

Inflation has a lot to do with it , everything is expensive. So when people see that Temu is giving away free things or low prices items, of course they’re gonna wanna go buy their things there But they don’t realize that they’re just wasting more money than saving

[@jannettb7930]

I used to sell jewelry and other art at small local markets. I got so fed up and frustrated with "I can get this only better on Amazon for a fraction of that price!" I quit selling. It's depressing.

[@randomcow505]

Honestly, its this and the same company's totally taking over local markets I used to love going to my local Christmas market, there would always be really interesting and unique things at reasonable prices (considering they were hand made) but as of about 6 years ago all the supposedly "hand made" items are just junk from alibaba Completely stopped going when I bought some jewellery from a "local craftsman" who claimed he made it all himself from our local jet... and then 3 days later on the other side of the country I found a totally different guy selling the EXACT same jewellery. Stopped using etsy for the same reason, It's mostly just alibaba crap resold at a premium price

[@Edited6]

I watched my mother struggle with the downfall of craft-fairs for many years before she was able to pivot into a pretty successful Ebay store that sold custom bottle-caps. Hardly an original idea, but it was pre-etsy days and she used a disgustingly pungent brand of resin to seal pictures onto them in a way few of her contemporary competitors could compete with. It's been many years since she quit and still hates looking at the boxes of spares we allow just about anyone to pick through for free. I've come to learn the crafting world is just a glittery version of life's darkness.

[@Eduardo_Espinoza]

thank goodness you didn't have to deal with smash and grabbers!

[@jennyjesse3725]

How rude that someone would say that at a market 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

[@steeviebops]

I had something similar, used to work in a small computer store about 15 years ago. We didn't have the buying power of a large company so our prices were admittedly higher than online. But one thing we never budged on was laptop power supplies, we insisted on getting the genuine articles because of the amount of untrustworthy fakes. Once a customer complained that the power supply was too expensive and she could get one online somewhere for half the price. Which she did, only for her to come back in to us a couple of weeks later because the cheap knockoff she bought blew up!

[@skiingowl]

The first Temu ad that I saw made me think: no way can you make that dress for that money. Someone is getting screwed. It also made me sad that the tags were "I feel RICH! I feel like a billionaire!" Like, millionaire doesn't cut it any more. Then there's the whole image of buying stupid shit for random people who neither want nor need it. It's very sad that the concept of well-made, quality items that last, that you saved up to afford and look after carefully seems to have gone by the wayside.

[@D.von.N]

Just billionnaires usually don't buy cheap knockoff... their edge, at most, is second hand. Still better than those cheap knock-offs.

[@Berkeloid0]

@@D.von.N The meaning behind it is that thanks to the knockoffs you can have similar products as a billionaire because you can afford the knockoffs. But it's a valid point - rich people don't buy crap they don't need, it's only poor people who do that, which is one of the main reasons why they are poor...

[@FROOB202]

The only place to get truly well made items built to last these days is the luxury watch industry lol. Everything else has been sent straight to the bottom courtesy of the economic conditions. If you make quality items for reasonable prices what happens now is you just go out of business shortly after.

[@glamglam8347]

@@Berkeloid0 LMAO "rich people dont buy crap they dont need" yeah bc the rich REALLY need multiple mansions/properties, luxury cars, yatchs, private jets, vacations, drivers, chefs, maids etc. tell me youre a simp for rich people without telling me. poor people spending is bad but foh if you think rich people are these frugal gurus that only waste money on necessities. if you really think wealth gap is an issues that can be solved if the poor just "stopped buying crap they dont need" then congrats youre smooth brained .

[@kiwitrainguy]

You are over-simplifying. The reason that rich people have multiple properties is because they are doing business in multiple locations around the World and spend maybe a month or two in each location and (for them at least) it's cheaper to buy a property and set it up the way they want it than to stay in a hotel. As for the private jets, with all the travelling they do the same principle applies. Flying these days is apparently not the luxury experience it used to be even if you do travel first class. Employing chefs, maids, etc also makes sense if they are hosting clients at home for business meetings. @@glamglam8347

[@matglk2084]

It genuinely surprises me that Temu hasn't been extraordinarily scrutinized and outright banned from consumer use based on the type of stuff they do

[@ChaoticBliss23]

Some small business crafters are losing business because Temu has found their work and is selling it cheaper. They even use the creators photos in their advertising!

[@theshoppingexpert]

They once offered me an absurd amount of $$$ to promote their stuff. Even though the way the brand operates goes against my own product philosophy and shopping ethos, the offer was so disproportionately high that I often find myself regretting saying no because it honestly would have been incredibly helpful haha. But hearing some of the things you said in this video were timely reminders that the right choice was made. Glad you made this video.

[@adomaskn]

You did the right choice, proud of you!

[@uweschroeder]

Maybe the right choice - you still missed out on a lot of money and that seems to be everything we care about today as a society.

[@MasterBroNetwork]

Made the right choice, Another thing is to ask yourself where that money truly came from, It's suspicious if they offered so much with the amount of sponsorships they do.

[@rabbitlove1785]

The right choice is rarely ever the easy one to make, but I'm sure your audience will have a greater appreciation for your considerations I'm what to promote to them and trust you more for it down the line. Having a base audience that trusts you is much more profitable down the line than one quick buck would.

[@rabbitlove1785]

In*

[@jameszhang3672]

PDD has perhaps the worst record of employee treatment. Several its workers died of overworking just last few years and the company did everything to cover it up.

[@Darkest_matter]

China is just bareky above north Korea in terms of human rights.

[@uweschroeder]

You think the kids digging up the Cobalt for your iPhone or Tesla are doing better than PDD employees? Think again. Capitalism is built on exploitation.

[@SgtJoeSmith]

and consumer/employee greed drives it

[@christopher9727]

Don't follow the worldly trends follow Jesus Christ today There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus

[@strawberries217]

That's why they had a new factory built for better working environment?

[@littlelyndseylou]

If I see an influencer promoting temu, it's an immediate unfollow and block.

[@toddjal]

Very well done coverage. Thanks for covering this. I have several friends in e-commerce that are fighting Temu after their designs and copyrighted content have been blatantly duped relentlessly.

[@SayaViking]

I'm from Sweden and I have never downloaded or even visited Shein and Temu just on principle due to their shady dealings. Selling the clothes that just Shein sells are made with slavery wages. What makes me more furious is that I have worked at Klarna that handles buying things and pay via invoice later, and the amount of people that buy several products from Shein just to return 80% of their products to get destroyed as they returned. People handles it like it is only a price and no people are taking the consequences and Temu is very likely the very same thing. Amazon I also refuse to buy from unless I can't find thing anywhere else since I can't stand how Jeff Bezos handles thing.

[@larrylobster9896]

wish there were more people like you. unfortunately, the vast majority of people won't stop to think about their actions and are easily manipulated. i don't think even being made vaguely aware about the consequences of their choices is enough to stop them. a race to the bottom.

[@siulagrande1984]

I couldn’t agree more.

[@-opus]

Amazon is easily avoidable, I don't make excuses to shop there.

[@-opus]

@@larrylobster9896If youtube comments are anything to go by, most people do not even care about others, or the state of the world that they live and breed on.

[@hynnow18]

@@larrylobster9896Sadly, there’s also the group who are aware but believe it is the govt’s job and not theirs to change behavior

[@carlosjuantavies289]

Temu had always been sketchy. Glad its been brought to the light

[@FutureProofTV]

We didn't even know it was a thing until earlier this year and now we're just hoping it stops being a thing soon 😅😩

[@AnonsTreasures]

Honestly I couldn't care less. Everything is 3x more expensive than it should be, equal amounts of exploitation, my labor is undervalued, and I'm left worse for wear. So I don't much care as long as the stuff I get from temu actually works. Just like 75% of Americans I'm too poor to be so haughty with my morals.

[@machadofilm]

@@AnonsTreasures 👏

[@DuridPid]

@@AnonsTreasures The Leftist take on it all is that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Look at influencers who tell you something is unethical -- their alternatives are also unethical 100% guaranteed. "Temu exploits workers!" yeah no shit, welcome to capitalism. Videos like this missing the point are frustrating.

[@AnonsTreasures]

@@DuridPid Frankly my problem is how un-utilitarian most are when they approach "social change" if that is really the goal half the time. People will do what is practical and most beneficial (generally in the short term). This is even more exacerbated now because of the tough times we've found ourselves in. Ethical consumption in any respect isn't on the minds of those who don't have the money to even feed themselves. It's cool if you can do it and it makes you feel good, but frankly most of that stuff is as diminished of a return as you can get. Just let me buy my cheap chinese garbage that I could buy equally as exploited for 5x the price but instead I'm giving my money to poor ol' Jeffery Bezos.

[@Unknown_2711]

If someone try to find a video on youtube talking about a Temu, when you open the video a Temu ad opens

[@fannya9985]

If I’m watching a KZbinr and they announce that the video is sponsored by Temu, I’d unsubscribe immediately.

[@breearbor4275]

I’m currently in Teacher’s College. Last year during placement I noticed a bunch of kids in a high school class were super distracted by their phones (more than usual), one girl in particular kept bothering other students to get them to download some app. After confronting her I found out it was Temu, they were doing one of these promotions where you have X amount of time to recruit a certain number of your friends to sign up to get a deal. My first thought was it sounded like some disturbing combination of a pyramid scheme and the lottery. It’s bad enough we have social media in the classroom, now we have these exploitative companies using gambling tactics to get teenagers addicted to shopping. Teens are so vulnerable to these tactics and these companies absolutely know that.

[@jamescollins6085]

Companies like Temu will always exist to exploit naive people. It's quite sad that they have been able to get millions of teenagers to become an incessant advertising tool. Especially as this will only serve to harm friendships, as people get sick of constantly being used by their peers in the hope of getting a deal that was clearly too good to be true from the outset.

[@slopely]

happened at my school too

[@LooNeYlv]

😉Nothing new! ebay DID IT, amazon DID IT, wish does it, aliexpress and Alibaba does it. Temu is just on a trend right now and of course it does the same 'lure in' tactics to sign up....

[@moneym0ney]

You're not too far off by comparing it to a lottery/pyramid scheme hybrid. When I was sent the invitation link, it led me to a set of digital reels that spun to show I had won the top prize of 3 free gifts if I invited 3 or so more friends. The most insidious part of all this is that I'm pretty certain that the reel "spin" is just a animation for show and you will always get 3 free items but it preys upon combining the percieved good luck with a timed window to pressure you into inviting as many people as you can to win your prizes.

[@Rosie_Da_Red]

My friend asked me to join temu for that reason, and it was so difficult to turn her down, but I didn't want to sign up for something with doubtful intentions

[@FlyNavy1271]

Here's a good rule of thumb. If you've ever seen a company, product, or service spam you on a cell phone game app ad...avoid said company. Nice and simple.

[@Tendomcgoobin]

Even better: just avoid all companies.

[@DccToon]

you're on youtube, google is a company@@Tendomcgoobin

[@kaufmanat1]

Except raid shadow legends. They're solid. This comment brought to you by RAID: Shadow Legends.

[@CLove511]

Even better: just avoid everyone

[@Philip_Taylor]

I have this rule about advertising in general. When do I actually buy anything that they try to sell me? Never. And the brands that I actually respect don't need to advertise, because quality speaks for itself. So if I see your ad, I avoid your brand.

[@AlleineDragonfyre]

Love Temu. Not stopping buying direct from China. I save a ton and i'm tired of paying middlemen. You're a fool to think the practices on Temu are not the same as the identical products being sold on Amazon.

[@UltimatePerfection]

Two questions were constantly on my mind while watching this video. These two questions were: "Who cares?" and "Who gives a fuck?" Because I sure as hell don't.

[@bulgarianvillagelife]

I live in a small Bulgarian village. People here still go to the local shops to buy what they need. The main street is buzzing with life. I know the names of the store keepers and they know me. Unfortunately, Temu is here as well. I wish there is a way to stop these discount shops. We trade our lives for cheap trinkets that we can live without.

[@denigroz]

But this is the closest thing to Amazon that we can have here, and to be honest I don't feel bad about ordering from temu. The same things from the mall but really on a different price and many many times it is the only place where you can find something. All the companies use sweat shops - designed in Sweden, produced in Cambodia...

[@medina__anidem]

I live in USA I NEVER OREDED FROM TEMU

[@SayAhh]

​@@medina__anidemGood for you. Me, neither. Not from Wish, not from Temu, and not Shein nor any new companies that will come out in the future.

[@greg1439]

100% agree for most things. but for niche things e.g. I needed a buff to protect me from sunburn - $50 in a chain store or $2 from temu. Otherwise I despise the philosophy of consumerism it promotes. I wish there were more small businesses for staple items e.g. bakeries, bookshops, butchers, vege markets etc rather than chain stores that remove all character from small towns and cities

[@bulgarianvillagelife]

@@greg1439 I am not sure what the answer is but I hate to see our small stores disappear.

[@beardiemom]

I refuse to buy from Temu for the same reason I refuse to buy from Wish and Shein: I don't trust that their products are safe. Here in Germany, products from Shein were tested for their safety and for example, a yellow children's raincoat was found to have 20 times the legal lead level, if I recall correctly. Of course not every item is going to have this kind or level of contamination but the fact that it happens at all makes me refuse to spend my money there.

[@gossamera4665]

Why does a raincoat have lead in it??

[@kelmanl4]

Aliexpress is about as trustworthy as amazon, it's a marketplace so anyone can sell dangerous goods but they are pretty good at dealing with this stuff. It really brought Chinese warehouses a way to sell to western consumers.

[@beardiemom]

@@gossamera4665 If I had to guess, probably unchecked contamination.

[@dang7824]

@@gossamera4665 Lead paint and varnish made it into pvc.

[@dang7824]

@@kelmanl4 I don't trust either of them. Aliexpress started as a doods, overproduction and bad business leftovers websites from alibaba. Basically alibaba was the place were the good deals with wholesale were made and whatever didn't sell, had quality issues or misspelled, made its way to aliexpress to liquidate in smaller quantities.

[@hey-nowww]

Accreditation by the Better Business Bureau is not a good metric of quality. 9:50 Businesses have to pay a fee to be rated, and BBB actively solicits membership by calling businesses. Many BBB A+ rated businesses have numerous complaints; the only requirement to maintaining a good rating is that the business "responds" to the complaint. This does not mean resolving the issue to the customer's satisfaction, just that the business replies to the message. Reviewers of businesses should not continue to legitimize the BBB by referencing BBB accreditation--it means nothing.

[@leslietiwari8625]

I think Temu is great. The selection on so many different items is amazing. I would.have to go to ten different stores and I still wouldn't find such a large variety. I buy a lot of clothes and I am very happy with most orders and if I'm not I get 90 day free returns. Who else does that? And free shipping. Temu is a dream come true for me.

[@rwanich1]

I didn't realise how addictive this kind of shopping apps can be until I saw my mum using the one of Shein. Almost every week she buys a bunch of stuff that she never uses. Clothes that are too small for her but she doesn't ever return. Shoes that are too uncomfortable to wear, sunglasses that do no really protect from the sun, etc. She buys staff just because the feeling she gets when buying and receiving the items, but most of them end up in her closet, never to be used. And I think Temu must be even worse because of the low prices.

[@victor.i]

im not sure if i'm right but i heard that even if u return clothing it doesnt go back to the shop's storeroom, but simply goes to trash and thats awful.

[@debbiemanning5983]

resell them

[@yt_hatesfreespeech]

for some ppl its the opposite, i get anxiety and nausea when im on those sites, which is why i never spent a dollar on them.

[@sirzebra]

@@victor.i Just like 98% of amazon returns tho, and it is heavily documented.

[@victor.i]

@@sirzebra amazon is not a fast fashion brand like shein

[@Dwagginz]

I had to laugh when you said it's like a trash Amazon or something, because I think Amazon has become just as bad as sites like these. Ignoring that their site is now utterly awful to navigate and use, the amount of fake/dupe products on there with ridiculous names (often including a Chinese name or word) is scary.

[@justjosie8963]

I find Amazon amazingly easy to navigate! It saves me time, money, gas and waste..

[@sandrasnow3569]

@@justjosie8963 But most of the stuff they peddle is trash.

[@irmar]

@@justjosie8963 I also agree that it's easy to navigate, but you have to do detective work to find out whether the shop selling a product is Chinese or not. Sometimes the writing style gives them up, at other times you have to look where the product is shipped from, and some of the times even if you look at the storefront of that shop it's very difficult to ascertain. But when you see an identical item being offered at more or less the same price by a dozen different shops, you can bet where it comes from.

[@SalamanderTheCat]

exactly, at least for some items, Amazon is simply way more expensive than Temu (random fitget toy for example). It is not like Amazon version has better quality or anything.

[@kqlolll2618]

amazon is much nicer than this lol. you get some quality items! i have a coat my mom bought from there for me and its still good. a normal coat, unlike a coat you'd buy from that site..

[@kIrani1]

We have been familiar with this chip Chinese product in IRAN for many years because of the sanctions on a lot of American and European products we couldn't find the original products. Believe me, the quality is sacrificed to the price (you get what you pay!), and in the end, you lose your money because you have to throw it away in no time! That's the trap of Chinese chip products.

[@user-kq3ko4cw7g]

Temu: Cheap Chinese Products Amazon: Not cheap Chinese products

[@jessy1982]

Amazon IS cheap chinese products too though. Just overpriced ones.

[@johnyoung823]

Exact same products on Amazon and Temu. From the same damn factory in China. Temu just 1/3 of the price but with 2-3 week shipping instead of 1-2 day shipping.

[@swoop2]

I come from a family of independent book publishers. Amazon absolutely killed their business and they were forced to close, basically as a result of 6:30. Thanks for bringing attention to this.

[@jochenklausberger9076]

Makes me really glad that book prices in my country are fixed, so Amazon was not able to push all the small bookstores out of business.

[@420.........]

Pepe, the book industry died when I could download your entire supply on a portable device.

[@420.........]

The fuck, dude, the book industry is dead. You can download your entire countries book supply onto a SD card now.@@jochenklausberger9076

[@BronzeOrwin]

@@jochenklausberger9076 just get e-books at that point, completely kill off price fixed paper.

[@margaritoamargo6347]

@@420......... Not everyone wants to read on a tablet. Plenty of us still enjoy books.

[@jdiamante427]

I think it should also be considered that people gravitate towards aggressive deal sites in part because they also feel like so many other companies/industries regularly take advantage of them (think airlines, streaming/cable, insurance etc) so it can be hard to let go of something that makes you feel like you're coming out ahead for a change

[@ckcox]

Excellent point!

[@mikatu]

wrong, people want to have stuff for the lowest price possible, no matter the consequences!

[@amicaaranearum]

But you’re not coming out ahead. It’s cheaply made garbage whose shipping costs are subsidized (via an international postal treaty) with your tax dollars.

[@ChowOne1]

Temu is a nightmare because of all the intrusive, unsolicited ads it forces on cell phone users.

[@andrewj3177]

I am woodworker, selling product online here in indonesia, this is simply predatory pricing, losing money in purpose, tiktok shop did that last year, then the gov ban them, just to return searching some loophole, with merging etc. I am a producer, and its hard to keep competitive, imagine the resellers and dropshippers. The "destroy" the market price and people expectations of absurd prices

[@only1bladetitan]

I hate shops like Temu and Shein so much. It got to the point in my personal life where I had to BEG my parents to stop buying from them, because they’d be buying gifts from those shitshows that again, were shit, for other people because my parents both have online shopping addictions and “it’s such a great price, you can’t beat that deal!” And they live for the high of getting packages in the mail. Their businesses make me sick, Their businesses made me have to explain the difference between a LOW price and a GOOD price (which are VERY different).

[@matthewyoung6263]

As someone who works on the retail returning end of amazon, temu, etc., I have gotten to see the explosion of people with this invented addiction of online shopping and subsequent returning because people are buying way more than they can return. And as time goes on each company makes the process more confusing to prevent those addicted people from making the return. And most people involved in the return process are ripped off through this process with no choice. At my specific store, about 80% of our traffic and time is amazon returns that we make no money from, because the corporate overlords brokered the deal with amazon and receive all the profit.

[@steve00alt70]

personal responsibility

[@TassieJake]

Low price is good price 👍 So what ya talking about ?

[@DevilOnlyKnitsLace]

@@TassieJake A low price isn't always a good price if you're getting crap quality, or the people who make the items are treated like slaves. Would it be a "good price" if your company sold it's products or services at 1/10th the price it currently does, and paid you $8 a day?

[@finkamain1621]

I'm the same way and I got my mom a while ago to even stop buying me any brand clothing or anything at all. I have enough and I don't need anything that isn't 100% my style and comfortable. To give an example, I have about 20 pairs of boxers that are Fruit of the Loom and all the exact same, and I love them because they are really comfortable. I threw out all my other underwear that were from different brands because most of them were through presents and I hated wearing most of them on days I had to before laundry day. The same goes for my socks and my jeans

[@ApparentlyGoogledislikesmyname]

Maybe it was covered on this channel, but I want to bring up a tangent issue: stores that are physical and online (Target, Wallmart, Macy's, etc.) that no longer bring all their merchandise in store. Often those are the best looking items too. Instead of walking up to a store, trying on the clothes/shoes, I have to order them home (often in 2 different sizes) and then haul 90% of it back to the store to return because they are not how they looked online or/and don't fit. This is so annoying. Let me try stuff and then just buy what I need and be done with it.

[@Lobonova]

This seems to be a lady thing. As a man i have never bought clothes online.

[@moonbreath1637]

​@@Lobonova Gonna disagree with that. Dunno where you live, but I've gotten sick of wasting my time going to the high street where the mens clothes have dwindled to about 25% of what's being sold, and all look the same. And whenever I go there aren't many dudes shopping, with the exception of teenagers in urban sportswear shops. From everything I see men must be shopping at the high street even less than women these days.

[@ReineDeLaSeine14]

Especially plus size. Target has an awesome dress I was given but it’s not available in store because they stopped carrying plus size altogether where I live.

[@Ithaca1937]

@@Lobonova I've started buying jeans online because as a man that is 5 foot 6 inches tall my local stores don't carry inseams under 30 inches.

[@zippehzuppah9046]

@@Lobonova tshirts, medium, that's it.. don't look at anything else hahahah

[@Northerner_Transport_Hub]

Theres literally a TEMU pop up ad underneath this video on my phone

[@SystemHasFailed1989]

And it looks like US congress will be tackling de minimis exemptions, thus destroying Temu's ability to keep things cheap despite being garbage quality which is their only advantage.

[@copper589]

That conditioning is so much a part of my life right now. I sew for myself and do little repairs for friends and family, I recently made myself a coat for Halloween with a big long train and all I heard was "You should sell this you could make money" and I'm always like "no one will pay what it would cost me to make a profit on this, there's like 24 yards of fabric in this coat at like $25 à yard (cause I don't use any kind of polyester) and it took me 30hrs to make" no wants to pay $1500 for a coat unless it's some over priced hype brand, I also made my mom some dresses and she was appalled by fabric prices saying "I thought this was supposed to be cheaper" companies like temu and fast fashion are ruining the clothing industry.

[@ShaneFerrell]

Someone who sews and has an invader zim profile picture

[@juliatarrel1674]

Yes. This is exactly my own experience. I made a similar comment upthread, but you explained it better. I knit and crochet more often than sewing (though I can sew). Like you, I know exactly how much a quality item costs in both time and effort. I try to support my local yarn shops ("lys" in Ravelry forums), and when I can afford it, the local spinners & dyers they source some of their best product from. Most of my crafts cost around $100 (au) in materials alone. If I buy the locally spun/dyed materials, $200 to $300. On a cost per wear basis, that's damn cheap. And it keeps me entertained for months. But noone who doesn't craft would be willing to buy these things even at materials price.

[@joylox]

As someone who sews, I wouldn't trust an item being sold for less than half the material costs. I try to upcycle and use more sustainable fabrics when possible (my local chain store has quite a few recycled and organic options available now), but I'm still aware of how much things cost to make, and a lot of their prices are less than that. When I was in high school, I really liked some of Bluenotes' graphic tees. They'd frequently have them on for $5 or less, and after a few months of wearing them when not in my school uniform, I found out that they wear out very quickly. It's like the cheapest polyester that you can't really do much with. At least if you buy a quality item, you can rewear it for years, and sell it when you're done, or if it gets stained or ripped, the fabric can be reused and it can be made into a bag, or re-dyed, or something fun like that. Buying all this plastic crap isn't doing anyone any good, and I wish more people realized that.

[@TeganThrussell]

Absolutely! When I recently started getting into sewing and found out just how expensive fabric is, I finally understood why I was always given second hand clothes or hand-me-downs as a kid. My parents were very picky about what they bought me to wear, and never got me cheap thing from big shops or online cause they wanted it to last! If its lasted long enough to be resold, it'll last a long time! After that I became a lot more careful about the clothes I buy. And I've had the exact same wardrobe for a few years now, and the clothes still look good! I didnt skimp out or fall for fast fashion so these graphic tee shirts that are closing in on five years still look just as good as the day I bought them! Much better than cheap polyester shirts I've tried getting in the past.

[@mobgamer6346]

My brother doesn’t even know about Temu, even though it was literally everywhere on KZbin. 😂

[@trionnemesisrr1725]

The fact that I literary got a Temu ad before this video started.

[@flaval24]

This video reminds me of conversations I had with someone who was almost violently opposed to people shopping at Walmart. At the time I was struggling to raise a family while the other person was older & much more comfortably well off. I remember telling them I agreed with all their reasons why I shouldn't shop at Walmart but in my current situation I couldn't afford not to. Since then my kids have become adults & I can't even tell you the last time I set foot in a Walmart. With Temu though I knew it was bad from the moment I saw it, same as Wish & Shein. There are affordable prices & then there are stupid low prices that should be a red flag to anyone that the quality is going to suck if you receive any product at all. And having heard a number of times about Temu losing $30 per order it doesn't take many brain cells to wonder how & why a company would do that & expect to stay in business - unless they're getting something even more valuable from their shoppers like personal information. Do I want to hand over my info to any company,much less one based in China? Nope, & neither should anyone else.

[@Fx_-]

I do. I want to hand over my information to china i dont care. But I do not shop on temu.

[@bearmugs1408]

Pretty much every company who operates online will take your data. Google is notorious for this and we are watching videos on KZbin, which is owned by Google. They may sell your data to a data broker. Things like your phone number, or which websites you visit. But I've not heard of them take your bank information and sell it (as shown in the video). Point is, USA companies are no better than Chinese ones when it comes to taking and sharing your data. It's just the laws and restrictions in China are more relaxed when it comes to online privacy. Even if you are ok with your data being shared about, you will get emails from these basement bargain online retailers until the end of time. I made the mistake of making a Wish account a few years ago and they bombard your inbox like nothing else. Luckily it was on a spam email address (I recommend having one email address dedicated for spam for this reason) and most modern email clients have built in spam filters which detect marketing emails like Wish sends out. But still, I wouldn't recommend going anywhere near Temu or the like.

[@flaval24]

@@bearmugs1408 I'm aware & even worse, I've worked in retail a long time so I've been complicit in helping companies gather that info. Companies nearly hold you hostage to hand it over or you lose our on sale prices, points or rewards, sometimes you can't even access their site. I haven't been able to look at Targets website for awhile because I won't answer their questions & even my long standing Pinterest account won't let me in now unless I give them my date of birth. Sorry, not their business. It's been years since I gave Every Plate a try & didn't like it but they sometimes still send me multiple emails in one day. I've become that person in line who keeps shaking their head no through the whole sales pitch & if a website wants too much info before I can proceed I simply won't order from them. It isn't much & it does make my life more difficult but I do try to keep my business my business.

[@pirbird14]

I'm a senior living on Canada Pension. yer darn right I shop at Temu and Walmart. Since I only discovered Temu recently, I've only placed one order. Almost every item in it it was something I had been looking at elsewhere at higher prices. None of it was unnecessary stuff bought just cause it's on a flash sale. I'm 70, fer Chrissake! I can resist high pressure sales tactics. I assume right from the start that Temu was underselling in order to buy into the market - same way Amazon did. And Japan before them. In my youth, "Made in Japan" was a synonym for cheap crap, which Japan mass produced to make up in volume what was lacking in quality. That's how they turned into the Asian Tiger and look at them now. By the time Temu has turned into the next Amazon, there'l be another Temu; and, I'll be buying from them. Oh, and everything I've got from Temu has been worth the price paid.

[@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley]

I don't have a lot of money, but I would still shop at Walmart over Temu.

[@Mari8i]

“It’s like the shady version of Amazon” Amazon is already the shady version of Amazon.

[@DelectableLemons]

It's the more shady version of Amazon

[@mohdazminishak6387]

Some rich dude are jealous now that poor people can buy things at cheaper price

[@arnesahlen2704]

1st time I saw online Temu ads in 🇨🇦 Canada, I had a gut reaction JUST like what you describe. Kudos to your team and you, Mr. Hildebrand! Keep spreading the needed message. 🎉🙏

[@drodlaren]

Sucks cause everytime I want to buy something and search for it, my search results are flooded with temu ads. I used to get locally available or at least national stores up but now NO matter what I search for temu apparently had a cheaper version i’m not interested in

[@Asrashas]

Just goes to show that American Companies like Google are just as much on board with that as the chinese companies like Temu. If Google would be responsible and not air Temu ads, the whole model wouldn't work. But they are not responsible. They are capitalistic. If it makes money it's right. Temu struck me as shady - to say the least - the moment I first saw an ad for it. I'm shocked how people don't see that.

[@IamSnowbird]

When I saw all the different influencers from various genres were doing Temu I knew something was up. Plus everything was too cheap. I never went on the site because I didn't want to be drawn into it. Something about them never felt right.

[@spika5872]

Bought a bunch of cheap stuff from them, works just fine. I even went to compare them with those on Amazon. Guess what, same pic and the same detail but is more expensive on Amazon. Turns out Amazon sellers are mostly from China selling the same things on Amazon. Well, unless you are the upper of the upper middle class (on the +2 sigma side of the normal distribution graph), I earn 6 figures in NYC and I still can't live as nice as my parents back in the 90s. They were blue-collar workers. I tell you what does not feel right, the current state of this world. My generation and the following generations will continue to suffer. Who cares right? It's a dog-eat-dog world now. Those people that created this mess are probably gone or will soon be leaving this world.

[@-opus]

@@spika5872 You are the people who created this mess, since you are the consumerist people buying tons of sh*t on amazon. Makes you feel better to blame others though doesn't it... while you do everything just as bad, or worse than they did.

[@oldherl]

Prices on Temu is actually still higher than that in China. It's just the stuff in US and other "developed" countries are too expensive.

[@catemcmillian6622]

Not to mention the obviously photoshopped models

[@LukeyBoyAndTheCatlings]

I saw something for £90 with a discount making it £30, then I span a discount wheel and the final price was literally 6p.

[@BAYBAY_316]

I work at a landfill in America and part of my job is to pick up trash that gets blown around by the wind that gets on the road and other areas of the property where it's not supposed to be and I can tell you there are so many Amazon and Temu bags just flying around when the wind picks up. Those are only the ones that escaped before the trash is covered by dirt. Makes you wonder how much goes in there.

[@hyperturbotechnomike]

It is not only in America, here in Europe it is also spreading. Temu bags hanging in bushes. After the chinese gave us a virus, they now dump their rubbish here lol

[@bradbrad6521]

so your argument is capitalism is wrong because it gives you a job? makes you wonder for sure.

[@BAYBAY_316]

@@bradbrad6521 how the f*** do you get capitalism is wrong from what I said? I didn't say s*** about capitalism. I was talking about the amount of trash going into a hole in the ground. You're just trying to pick a fight. I hope you find some peace Brad Brad.

[@jessy1982]

Can't you improve landfills somehow instead of covering trash with dirt? Isn't there better ways to deal with garbage for the environment? This can surely be something to research and invest in, since it's harder to fight all the quick cash cheap item companies.

[@BAYBAY_316]

@@jessy1982 Probably but that's a huge question that I'm sure has been answered by now. So likely like most issues in the U.S. , it comes down to money.

[@chrazzl]

it's so frustrating to see people automatically going to temu, shein, etc. for clothing when online secondhand stores exist, like the wait is the same, the prices are the same, just one has better quality items from actual brands!

[@mleobviously]

It's the marketing machine. You'd click through a lot of pages on google before you saw the secondhand options with low quality pictures. Primacy effect is very real.

[@zsigzsag]

I love shopping second hand stores even garage sales. Most of my clothing furniture and many household items are second hand finds. Many good quality items for a great price. I actually think it's more fun and satisfying. I know there is a lot of people like me that feel the same too bad that doesn't catch on as fast. Have never bought from or even looked thru apps like Temu, Wish, Shein and the rest.

[@chrazzl]

same! i go to my local flea markets often, they're very common where i live so im definitely more fortunate than some when it comes to great finds @@zsigzsag

[@anthropomorphicpeanut6160]

Thank you for saying this! There are only two second hand shops in my city and they are very small (one of them only had like 20 items last time I went) but I'm definitely going to buy from them instead of fast fashion companies. If I can't find something I need, I'll even try to sew it myself

[@hmnhntr]

I had literally never heard of an online secondhand store until this comment. I'll have to look into that

[@AlexDogwalker1234]

This video made me go check out what TEMU is all about and.... what can I say, my shopping cart is full :'(

[@shawngerard]

Great video! I have always assumed this was the case with Temu but now know it's worse than I even imagined.

[@pgramsey1]

Temu certainly gives me a lot more ads full of female torso shots on my work computer than Amazon.

[@jessy1982]

I wonder how much the women are paid paid, there are thousands of images of their hands, feet, torsos, faces with countless products.

[@pamelataylor3537]

I have never, ever seen a TEMU ad on KZbin or Facebook, not that I’m on Facebook very often, but I’m on KZbin a lot and never seen an ad.

[@mid-sizesedan488]

I feel like Temu is just having fun manipulating Americans

[@Kaienhere]

For real

[@glennso47]

Like TikTok. They are manipulating people to go out and steal cars.

[@glennso47]

If it’s too good to be true, IT IS!

[@mhawang8204]

Amazon is basically the same thing but with another middle man. They sell the same products. All the graphics and ad copies are the same.

[@anubizz3]

So Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX not?

[@etarnkufecin]

I appreciate that you were able to provide a very informative video about a know "scam" without actually buying items from the site. The creators that support it just to make content then rip on it as if they are the ones to make it known that the site sells junk are quite annoying.

[@zandrewmorano10]

I tried ordering an exact replica of an umbrella on Temu that I first saw on Shein. It was like $6 on Shein but $4 on Temu. I tried to checkout on Temu, but they had a ₱550 or around $11 minimum purchase 😢 I only needed a small umbrella to fit on my bag 😔

[@catlovin]

I don’t want to live in a TikTok TEMU world. I wish society wouldn’t drag us to extinction with them.

[@uweschroeder]

Society will - that's just inevitable.

[@anjunadeep.8384]

The solution to your simple: Just unplug ALL the gadgets in your life connected to the internet of things. If you can't, quit complaining ! 😅😅😅

[@frantaspacek9583]

@@anjunadeep.8384 that's not a viable solution, because even if you do that, you'll still be affected by other people

[@anjunadeep.8384]

@@frantaspacek9583 That's nonsense and a lame excuse, if one want to live a not affected by others one could easily lead a life in the solitude of the mountains... 😅

[@frantaspacek9583]

@@anjunadeep.8384 what are you even talking about? I'm saying that you can complain about something because even if you personally have nothing to do with it, it can still affect you. I never wrote about living in mountains and don't know where you got that from. Maybe people want to live in a society but think that others being abused for cheap trash is not okay.

[@omgbuffy2276]

I create art in a very niche industry. It's disheartening to see dupes and rip-offs of art from people I know on temu. Customers are unwilling to pay a fair price for an artisan made product but get mad because they don't get the same quality for 99 cents. Be for real. Good quality takes time and money. Worse, it reflects badly on my industry when scammers use our pictures and we get called scammers and associated with poorly made products.

[@thechortshow]

Me every time I click on a YT video: Feels like a dream, feels like magic! Now I believe I can have it!

[@TheGahta]

Therapist "what do we do when we feel sad?" me "Add to shopping cart?" Therapist 😮

[@vanessamaciel9306]

I make clothes that are hard do find at local stores. Some people came to me asking how much to make them these itens custom made size, high quality material and all, I priced it quite cheap and they where like "okay I can find it cheaper from Shein". Frustrating that you can't compete with those massive fast fashion shops.

[@malikkelly]

They’ll also get the quality they pay for. Good riddance

[@TopG20073]

QUALITY MATTERS. I love clothes when I know what I am paying for. Never bought clothes online because of size problems.

[@strawberryfields7330]

True but you know what, it's their loss. I'm sure your clothes are amazing and Shein's clothes have been scientificly proven to be toxic to the skin and health, they get what they pay for. It's too bad clothes designers and workshop workers have to suffer because of this and the planet and animals too

[@emi_333]

you CAN compete. theyre lying to you to try and get you to lower your prices. they'll never find something of a high quality off temu. keep doing what you're doing.

[@sd-ch2cq]

​@@vsr3777 Says India has far fewer sweatshops nowadays. Describes how everyone there still works in sweatshop conditions. Can you please make up your mind.

[@davevanfunk8917]

Fast fashion and Temu represent everything that is wrong with us. Every time I have to dispose of a container or a broken whatever, I feel so guilty. The one bright spot is our local buy nothing group. I've gotten some useful things: mostly consumables AND I've been able to declutter by listing items.

[@davevanfunk8917]

@@stooglesgoogles7246 in buy nothing groups, the members offer items for free. They post pictures of the item, and say when they’re going choose a recipient. People can also ask for items to have or borrow. We see a lot of this around Halloween. Buying or trading items is not allowed. As far as I know, all the groups work thru Facebook.

[@anny8720]

I don't really know any people to so it with but do you guys do like a group yard sale meet up or list things online and do local pickup?

[@davevanfunk8917]

@@anny8720 Hi anny - check out the links below.

[@silkvelvet2616]

@@stooglesgoogles7246 look up Freecycle you should find a group near you, maybe not by that name, but it was one of the first and most widely spread series of groups in the US and UK, maybe elsewhere too, but the name is synonymous with passing free useful items along. We gave away our bread machine that way, I prefer making bread the proper way, it's much nicer to eat, so we passed it on lol. Also see if there's a Repair Cafe near you too. Those are brilliant. When the pandemic started, One of my monitors went on the blink, but I could not get a replacement for love nor money due to the lockdowns (UK) forcing office workers to work from home. Well, I did some research on my monitor, found out what was the problem, accepted that I couldn't to the fix myself, so when the first lockdown lifted, I booked a slot and ordered the parts. Then the the next lockdown was called, but they squeezed me in before it went into force, which was awesome. The electrician was impressed that I'd done my homework and had the transistors or capacitors or whatever ready to replace and did there and then, he said that quite often, if they don't have the spares, people have to go away and come back with the parts. I'd already had about 15years out of this top of the line monitor, but I'm pretty sure it's time has come, at the ripe old age of 20something. I really hit the jackpot with it, but once we get the money together to replace it, I'll donate it to the repair cafe for spares, it's the screen that's going now, not the circuits, so it will probably be cheaper to replace now, and they can get some use out of what's still viable fixing things for others.

[@nathanherbert892]

​@@stooglesgoogles7246it's like a community give-away thing. You just post up stuff you don't need and someone in your community asks for it. They're usually on Facebook and pretty common here on the east coast.

[@mojo.adventures]

Good video and breakdown of why you shouldn't support places like these! None of these marketplaces should be used by anyone who claims to care about the Earth or has moral standards for other humans. There is a reason you are getting all that junk so fast and cheap- someone is getting exploited or environmental standards are being skirted. Or like Amazon... you get a sweetheart deal with the USPS to subsidize your "free shipping". Solid content, just subscribed to your channel 👍

[@hadeelhaddad1900]

just found this channel and you are awesome!!!!

[@monideun]

Sometimes my anxiety is a blessing. If I'm overwhelmed with having to make a decision I freeze and don't buy anything. Happens when I'm at markets, chaotic shops, and when I see websites like Temu.

[@sonseraedesigns7167]

Yeah, my ADHD brain can’t handle too many options. I get overwhelmed and leave.

[@jasonhaiad]

@@sonseraedesigns7167 i have ADHD as well and same, I'll even be going onto the site with a specific item in mind but the barrage of alternatives, accessories, and whatever other shit they shove in your face just overwhelms me and I end up buying it later on somewhere else, usually an actual store if possible

[@luceas6834]

Something important not mentioned in the video is the way in which Temu gifted users money for each Temu code they sent to a new user. When Temu was first coming out I was constantly asked for the code and even borderline pressured to just download the app so this person would get the money for me downloading it. It’s an incredibly predatory marketing practice by Temu.

[@vertyisprobablydead]

...and so what? Im not seeing a reason to not use them.

[@anna9072]

I was scrolling down through my feed, and saw this, followed immediately by an ad for Temu - thanks algorithm.

[@Nick_Lewis]

I did a video on Temu and had to have the same grim ending. There is no silver lining with them, it's just that bad.

[@FutureProofTV]

It's honestly pretty disheartening to see their meteoric rise when they're so obviously awful

[@anubizz3]

Because they Chinese companies? You have same feeling against FTX?

[@djsaidez271]

@anubizz3 it’s not that they’re Chinese, it’s the human rights and labor rights, among other things

[@anubizz3]

@@djsaidez271 really you don't seems to really care when you buy fast fashion in zara, h&m and other? How about buys stuff made from. A country that actually kill millions of people base on fake WMD to justify invading other countries?

[@TheHouseOfWaffles]

Also, Temu doesn't ship anything in boxes. They pile your crap on a sheet of plastic then wrap it up like a hobo sack. Then they (probably) dropkick it onto a pile of outgoing packages that are crushing each other. My wife ordered a metal sign that arrived bent out of shape, and a cleaning wand that I had ordered arrived intentionally bent in half so that it would fit in the ball that was my shipping package.

[@Buttercup697]

you get what you pay for. 🤷‍♀

[@steve00alt70]

well what do you expect for really dirt cheap products

[@johnrussell5592]

Half of my stuff that says not in box arrives in original packaging boxes. Go figure.

[@nathanjamesbaker]

"hobo sack" is such a funny yet accurate analogy.

[@TheHouseOfWaffles]

@@johnrussell5592 In _crushed_ boxes.

[@_sarayiii]

In Spanish we say “Lo barato sale caro” (what’s cheap turns out expensive). As soon as I saw Temu’s prices lower than SHEIN, I said HECK NO!

[@oO0Xenos0Oo]

In Germany we say "Wer billig kauft, kauft zweimal" (If you buy something dirt cheap you are going to end up buying it twice). You dont save any money when you have to replace bad products all the time. Just buy a good one once and be done with it.

[@randahe1569]

Temu paying 1k dollars a month to Chinese workers for 14 hours a day, 6 days a week’s hard work😅Employees are dying and forced to sign unequal contracts, but Temu always wins in courts. What can we say? Gov can’t live without their taxes. Stop shopping Temu, just stop the shit.

[@VickieEB]

From the first time I saw the ad "Shop like a billionaire" and the lady in the ad buying stuff for everyone who didn't ask, I knew Temu was trouble...

[@johnbillings5260]

The sad part - as Ted Danson said - is that we impact many people's lives somewhere down the line when we buy stuff from pretty much anywhere and there's not much you can do as an individual.

[@jannettb7930]

There is a lot you can do about it. You can be aware of your impact and make the most ethical choices you can.

[@jasonhaiad]

exactly, what we can do is just be more thoughtful of our own choices. the show that ted danson clip is from actually has some decent messages regarding this, yeah in the modern world a lot of our choices have far reaching consequences. so instead if buying the tomato from a supermarket, see if you can find a local farmers market, or grow your own, or try petition your local council to start a community garden. change starts on the community level, sure our individual decisions don't do much in the bigger scale of things, but whole communities slowly changing our ways and becoming more critical about the impact we have is a part of how change happens

[@chuckyfox9284]

You can almost entirely control what happens to the people down the line. You can first of all not buy stuff you don't need to not hurt the planet and the people living in the regions most effected by climate change and pollution. Than you can buy fairtrade food and clothing which doesn't eliminate poverty for the workers, but helps tremendesly. You can stop eating animal products which reduces your carbon footprint by 20-40% and not murder innocent animals. You can buy organic to help not destroy the soil. You can live without a car and not fly. You can only buy stuff made from sustainably sourced materials. Electronics are sometimes hard, but 95% of consumption can be done ethically. And with all the money you save from not buying random BS you don't need you can help build schools and supply water in impoverished communitys in Africa. I agree that we're never gonna get to a world where everyone chooses to not be a piece of shit, so we should enforce all of these things, but never use "there's not much you can do as an indiviual" as an excuse, it's just not true. Also, just because I've heard it so many times, your indivual action might not have a big impact when looking at the entirety of climate change, but it still has a big impact. You wouldn't kill someone and then say "looking at all the murders I increased the statistic for this year by only 0,0001%, so what I did doesn't make a difference anyway".

[@johnbillings5260]

@@chuckyfox9284 Not everyone lives in an area where some of those luxuries exist. If we try to act as individuals to solve problems many times more waste is created in the end. We can't take a trip to where those things are available because the carbon production would be greater as a whole if everyone did that. So we are in a mature system that is hard to break out of. I'm not being apathetic or nihilistic. I'm being realistic based on logistics.

[@chuckyfox9284]

@@johnbillings5260 it’s just not true. Which one of the things could you not do while living in any western democracy?

[@Huzuh.]

Temu is great, will keep continue to buy things there.

[@evanh252]

Contrary to being depressed about the state of online shopping. The video actually makes me appreciate the value of good products more, and makes me feel more happy when I purchase good quality products albeit it being more expensive.

[@ChristianBehnke]

Here's a Future Proof video I'd love to see; thoughtful, reasonable, responsible gift ideas! A bit of a counter to the "all these companies are bad," instead, give viewers some direction on how to support small businesses, local artisans, etc. for this year's holiday shopping.

[@stradric]

All the best gifts are experiences; a comedy show, concert, play, trip, cooking lesson, dinner, etc. Good _things_ to gift people are those items that enhance stuff they already love to do such as new goggles or gloves for a skier, a new multitool for a mountain biker, new sneakers for a runner, a new pan or utensils for a home cook. Consumables, like a kit to make cookies, are also fun and less expensive and create an opportunity for a new experience (like baking the cookies with one's loved one).

[@ChristianBehnke]

@@stradricOur family gifts typically consist of travel and other experiences ... they're far more fun than crap that builds up on a shelf or in a room. We also make a photo book each year of the family's adventures so we can look at PRINTED copies of photos instead of reaching for devices.

[@Aidennification]

Right?? Everyone is so focused on the bad markets and not to go near them and NEVER show you a good place to get deals and quality products. Almost like they want to cash in on the hot topic 🤔repeating the same lines, I was able to predict this entire video.

[@quemma]

local farmer's markets / craft fairs are great for this kind of stuff! also etsy has been getting worse ( for sellers too, speaking from personal experience 😭) but is still decent for finding small businesses and artisans in your area ( you can filter by location )

[@HarmonyHope7534]

For me I just literally ask what genre the person wants that year and find them those lol Like if someone asked me, my genre would be that I want plushies. Don't get too specific so it's still a surprise, but you also guarantee the person would appreciate it.