So I saw an ad for this cool looking led strip thing you can put in your car and then it has lots of settings.
Clicked the link and it took me to Temu, figure sure I’ll give it a go and download the app.
OMFG what the heck is this gamified shopping?
When it loaded I swear to Odin it went like a casino and said you can get the item you clicked on for free and you can choose another 5 items.
So I’m browsing through all this crap I don’t really want and adding things to move on. After selecting all free items it then said you win again or something and gave me more things to pick.
Then at the end it’s like right spend $35 to get all the other stuff for free, but said the original thing I clicked to get was not available. It’s like a bait and switch and I’m thinking I don’t any of this really I just wanted the cool led strip thing and to be left alone.
Honestly I really can’t believe people would use this place at all.
I bought one thing on Temu. Once.
My mom was recovering from back surgery and needed a bed that could lift up and lower down. Those beds are expensive as fuck, and her insurance wasn’t covering them. I tried to rent, but I was in a funky area where none of the rental companies covered my area.
Anyway, up pops an add on Temu. So off I go. Find one for like $250. Read reviews, and they’re English reviews and have legit pictures. So, terrified and desperate, I bought a whole-ass bed off Temu.
Came two weeks later. Put it together. It worked. She still uses it. It’s been almost a year now. Those two weeks of wondering if I just threw away $250 were wild though, lol.
I think you’re probably better off constructing whatever you need out of trash and free debris, lol
My wife shops on Temu regularly. She doesn’t trust them, so she uses one-time cards. Most of what she buys are single-use items: party accessories, crafts for kids, etc. The exceptions were solar lights, which are surprisingly durable, vastly outlasting those we got locally or Amazon. Speaking of Amazon, we used to shop there a lot but almost completely stopped. 90% of goods are just rebranded Temu products, and the “premium” selection can be found cheaper in the nanufacturers’ or speciality stores. Amazon is currently positioned very poorly, with competition pressuring them both from top end and junk. Looks like Amazon as a retailer is heading back to its origin, with books being the only reasonable deal there.
I tried Temu and Wish around the same time and had mostly the same experience:
Tons of misrepresented garbage, often with varying prices for the same, exact product, that you may or may not even receive after several months.
I’ve imported things from other countries before, even China, using other services such as eBay and never had it take the better half of a year to receive anything, and I almost always got what I expected. These sites suck even for trying to get cheap crap.
I love watching Vargskelethor’s Temu Trash streams where he browses the site looking at funny awful products. (clip from one of them that I cut together) That’s the closest I’ve gone near it.
Yeah I vastly prefer AliExpress, there are items in a similar vein with the ‘pick three!’ type, but those are in the significant minority.
And if you check for good sellers then you’ll get good products, like all the other buying platforms. I usually buy stuff on there if there are no fair labor made alternative
My guy has been living under a rock for the past 5 years. Nah don’t get it, just buy it off aliexpress
Apparently so 😂
99% of modern, mainstream things are brainrotted, clickbait scam. Including Temu, ofc.
You’re much better off supporting local, physical business, if you can afford it. Because I can guarantee you that Temu shit will not last for much longer than their return policy.
your local businesses sell you the same stuff at a fat upcharge
But supports actual people and not bezos and such
thats fine only if you dont actively screw yourself over to do it, most ppl just want to maximize money they make off of you and arent saints
those actual ppl buy off the same source, suppliers that sell to amazon
actual ppl run online businesses too, with that logic a solo owned dropshipping business = local businesss
You get what you pay for and your local business is going to provide customer service that is most likely worth the markup
no it isnt, the only benefit is its instant
I do tend to do most of my purchasing locally if I can and I don’t shop at Amazon and I’m actively trying to boycott American companies.
I am curious about quality though. China makes everything pretty much so it’s likely most of the stuff comes from the same factories making good stuff?
I’d guess the difference is quality control. Temu and the like sell completely uncontrolled, no labels of approval, no standards and without consumer rights.
Temu, the online equivalent to Harbor Freight.
Which is owned by Amazon.
This is blasphemy. Harbor Freight is a saint compared to Temu.
HF tools are not designed for the long term, generally. If you need a tool to work at least once, for one job that you are never going to do again, HF is “good enough”.
The rule of thumb is to never buy a tool there that could result in a gruesome death if it fails to protect your life, like jack stands. (Invest in quality safety equipment first if you get something like an angle grinder.)
Harbor Freight has come quite a long way and has multiple tiers of product quality now, including stuff that can be compared to SnapOn, Matco, etc (the Icon line). Some of it is really good without requiring you to pay insanely inflated tool truck pricing and the rest of the market outside of tool truck brands is also built in China now so it’s fairly slim pickings if you don’t want to pay outrageous prices. If you use your tools for a living, there’s a good argument to use mainstream brands like SnapOn for their convenience, but for hobbyists and the like HF will suit you well. For power tools I mostly use DeWalt mainly because they’re better quality and because of the battery lock-in, but I do have a few Bauer power tools and they work great and cost half as much along with batteries being half the cost. DeWalt wants you to pay $100 for four 18650 batteries which is insane. For stuff like griding disks, cutoff wheels, or other consumables, I do tend to go with name brand since they’re all universal and the cost difference isn’t that much.
I do agree to be careful with stuff like jackstands, but I always double them up keep the jack under the car, put a tire under the car, and avoid being completely underneath them when possible. I actually bought a set of ramps just to avoid having to use them when I don’t need the wheels off.
When getting into a new project or hobby, I tend to go to HF for the tools first. The tools are inexpensive, and I’m probably going to be dropping the hobby or thing soon after my hyperfixation dies off. So, that means I didn’t spend a lot of money on this thing that I’m not going to keep going on. If the tool dies, and I’m still into it, it’s not just hyperfixation and I can get a better tool, but now I understand what I’m looking for. Sometimes, the tool from HF is just fine for the long term, and honestly this happens more than you’d think. I have some drills that aren’t the best, but get things done for near a decade, and some yellow, teal, and reds that have died within 6 months.
My wife bought me a HF (Port Cable) pancake air compressor for a father’s day. It wasn’t the best, but it was from her and what she could buy without pinging the account in a way that alerted me. It’s just now starting to die off and it’s nearly 12 years old.
I bought a Harbor Freight brand SawStop and honestly I’m almost typing at full speed again on 9 fingers now
Haven’t used temu, but I have used Wish a lot. It’s a lot of misrepresented low quality stuff. But if what you’re after is impossible to misrepresent and quality doesn’t matter it’s alright.
I bought a toy for my nephew on temu and have since been getting constant emails offering deals. I’ve ignored them cause I suspect it’s some kind of scam
I bought two things on temu through a friend. I got what I paid for. One was a pack of origami paper for 0.60€, it was crap. The other was a pack of 4 typewriter ribbons for 6€, the quality was bad but good enough to use, I may buy them again.
nope
It’s essentially an app to cause as much addiction as possible, with 10-20% discounts to allow for it
It was cheaper than resellers in local sites, but you could usually find the same thing but on AliExpress instead (much more honest of a site)
Thanks for this info.
I’ll check out AliExpress next time I see something interesting.
They’re still not great, but better. If you don’t hear from in a week or so, check your order. It might have been cancelled. They do give refunds within a certain window though.
Prices have got up a LOT with the tariffs
Honestly I really can’t believe people would use this place at all.
Why? Have you seen what people in general are up to? How easily every one of us is manipulated?
Valid. I should have stuck to my disbelief in this as a viable business model, but clearly people are using it.
