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Temu: the Amazon of cheap shit people don't need but will buy because cheap prices


crash_davis

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China deserves all the shit they get. But one thing is for sure, China mass manufacturing keeps prices low, except when asshole corporations inflate the fuck out of prices because some assholes need their $40M annual bonus. I've never purchased anything from Temu. I see their ads all over the net, especially on Instagram. I've perused the site every now and then. They offer fantastically cheap prices for shit that most people don't need but will buy just because it's so cheap. Hence this article...

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/temu-victims-parents-kids-bargain-shopping-ca25ef93?st=tmpfgz0vuohmywu&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

LaTonya Mullins-Mobley was surfing the web for Arizona Cardinals gear when she stumbled across an ad for Temu, the Chinese online-marketplace app known for ultra-discounts. She couldn’t believe the low prices.

These days, Mullins-Mobley, who is 53 and works for a cellphone carrier, jokes that she’s “having an affair” with the app. She buys clothing, including T-shirts with Bible quotes for her daughter. She started a sunglasses company, picking up pairs from Temu for $3 and selling them for around $15.

Her 19-year-old-daughter, Angeline Mobley, isn’t impressed. 

Angeline recently made a TikTok in which she begged viewers to take the Temu app away from her mother, actually, any mother, “expeditiously. ASAP. Stat.” She hit a chord. “My mom bought 57 of the same spatulas bc they were .03,” one commenter commiserated. 

 

The app is a particular hit with older shoppers—a development that is spawning a new genre of family friction. Gen Z’ers are roasting their moms, dads, grandmothers and uncles as “Temu victims,” saying they are buying cheap and sometimes useless stuff from the site.

In March, Temu’s fastest-growing demographic was the 55 to 64 set. Sales attributed to that age group grew 271% since last March, according to Earnest Analytics. Temu is expected to spend nearly $3 billion on advertising this year, according to JPMorgan.

 

As in most bargain shopping, Temu regulars say part of the appeal is stumbling across items they—or anyone—could probably do just fine without.

“You’ve lived your life without that pasta spoon rest, but then you see it and you’re like, ‘Wow, that’s genius and it’s only 98 cents, and it’s cute,’ so you need it,” says Chaunda Thompson, a 44-year-old marine shipyard painter in Newport News, Va.

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3 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I see weird ads for Temu on mainstream sites like ESPN. The weirdness of it probably say more about me and my browsing history than them.

This.  I look at my Temu suggestions on ads....then think of my browsing history......and, ummmm......

giphy.gif?cid=790b7611joa4cvbhbyuv95qgtp

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3 hours ago, crash_davis said:

 I've never purchased anything from Temu. I see their ads all over the net...

----------------------

As in most bargain shopping, Temu regulars say part of the appeal is stumbling across items they—or anyone—could probably do just fine without.

1. Same here with your first two sentences.

2. The joy of the bargain is short lived and an elusive high. The cost saved is passed forward with interest to the heirs who pay with their time and emotional energy to clear out the estate.

 

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Posted (edited)

It's become my wife's go-to for basic art supplies now. To be fair a lot of it seems to literally be the same cheap Chinese stuff that makes up 90% of Amazon's inventory nowadays, but priced more appropriately. At least when it comes to knock off Copic markers and shit. 

 

Edited by ultimaton
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5 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

I've always assumed it was just a Chinese data mining racket.  It sounds like it's just a modern QVC and taking advantage of housebound elderly folks.  Probably both, I guess.

It’s just ultra cheaply made Chinese goods. These things are coming straight from the factory to you and avoiding import taxes (by direct shipping). 

The quality is going to be low but at those prices most people don’t care/accept that as part of the cost. 

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Wife ordered me a ton of multi tool blades for a ridiculously low price. I knew they’d be weird size or plastic fakes or whatever. Turns out for cheap blades they weren’t that bad. Harbor Freight throwaway quality for less than a tenth of the cost.

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45 minutes ago, GoPokes83 said:

Wife ordered me a ton of multi tool blades for a ridiculously low price. I knew they’d be weird size or plastic fakes or whatever. Turns out for cheap blades they weren’t that bad. Harbor Freight throwaway quality for less than a tenth of the cost.

I use wire strippers just enough to need them but never find the pair I bought the last time I needed them. They have some for $10 and I’m pretty tempted to get about 12 of them. 

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11 hours ago, UT_OB1 said:

I use wire strippers just enough to need them but never find the pair I bought the last time I needed them. They have some for $10 and I’m pretty tempted to get about 12 of them. 

 

1 hour ago, JMFP said:

It would be nice to have a pair of strippers around for when you really need them... 

Probably not a bad idea to pick up a couple of hoes while he's at it.

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19 hours ago, gofuckyourself said:

There's some sort of gamification on there also right?

Wife and mom both use it. Wife says it has wheel spins or some shit during shopping or checkout or something.

She did "win" a defecating dog Christmas ornament, which naturally now my favorite ornament. So I can't complain.

Img_2024_04_11_13_25_45.thumb.jpeg.703bfcb0f4a765b943938d18c67df4cf.jpeg

New Surly logo?

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I think this is part of a broader conversation (what forum am I in, what can I say politically?) about Chinese governments incentives to over-manufacture and flood markets with goods. Janet Yellen tried to rein this in a bit last week on her visit to China, folks are mad China is compressing prices on things, etc.

I get being protectionist (and China isn’t paying $20/hour minimum wages and healthcare etc), but some things are good to be price compressed like solar panels helping folks (as discussed in climate thread)

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Posted (edited)
10 minutes ago, texasdago said:

My dad was about to buy some lithium rechargeable battery charger for under $4.00 and I told him to keep away from that Temu garbage unless he wants to have the charger burn the house down.

Yeah you shouldn't be buying anything that will charge your other devices from temu or AliExpress, or even Amazon if the vendor is shady enough. An under or out of spec charger can overheat quickly and become a serious fire risk, or it could just fry your device

Edited by Captainant
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34 minutes ago, BeardIP said:

I think this is part of a broader conversation (what forum am I in, what can I say politically?) about Chinese governments incentives to over-manufacture and flood markets with goods. Janet Yellen tried to rein this in a bit last week on her visit to China, folks are mad China is compressing prices on things, etc.

I get being protectionist (and China isn’t paying $20/hour minimum wages and healthcare etc), but some things are good to be price compressed like solar panels helping folks (as discussed in climate thread)

Disposable plastic goods is disposable plastic goods. I'm not the least bit mad that China, whatever the motives, is keeping downward pressure on those products. 

I'll pay extra money for quality on the more advanced, technical shit, but for disposable crap, I'm usually going cheapest.

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21 hours ago, crash_davis said:

China deserves all the shit they get. But one thing is for sure, China mass manufacturing keeps prices low, except when asshole corporations inflate the fuck out of prices because some assholes need their $40M annual bonus. I've never purchased anything from Temu. I see their ads all over the net, especially on Instagram. I've perused the site every now and then. They offer fantastically cheap prices for shit that most people don't need but will buy just because it's so cheap. Hence this article...

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/temu-victims-parents-kids-bargain-shopping-ca25ef93?st=tmpfgz0vuohmywu&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

LaTonya Mullins-Mobley was surfing the web for Arizona Cardinals gear when she stumbled across an ad for Temu, the Chinese online-marketplace app known for ultra-discounts. She couldn’t believe the low prices.

These days, Mullins-Mobley, who is 53 and works for a cellphone carrier, jokes that she’s “having an affair” with the app. She buys clothing, including T-shirts with Bible quotes for her daughter. She started a sunglasses company, picking up pairs from Temu for $3 and selling them for around $15.

Her 19-year-old-daughter, Angeline Mobley, isn’t impressed. 

Angeline recently made a TikTok in which she begged viewers to take the Temu app away from her mother, actually, any mother, “expeditiously. ASAP. Stat.” She hit a chord. “My mom bought 57 of the same spatulas bc they were .03,” one commenter commiserated. 

 

The app is a particular hit with older shoppers—a development that is spawning a new genre of family friction. Gen Z’ers are roasting their moms, dads, grandmothers and uncles as “Temu victims,” saying they are buying cheap and sometimes useless stuff from the site.

In March, Temu’s fastest-growing demographic was the 55 to 64 set. Sales attributed to that age group grew 271% since last March, according to Earnest Analytics. Temu is expected to spend nearly $3 billion on advertising this year, according to JPMorgan.

 

As in most bargain shopping, Temu regulars say part of the appeal is stumbling across items they—or anyone—could probably do just fine without.

“You’ve lived your life without that pasta spoon rest, but then you see it and you’re like, ‘Wow, that’s genius and it’s only 98 cents, and it’s cute,’ so you need it,” says Chaunda Thompson, a 44-year-old marine shipyard painter in Newport News, Va.

Have you ever had a $40 million bonus? It's pretty awesome.

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