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Chinese immigrants in the U.S. are running Temu shipping centers out of their homes
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this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2024
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I've met people that have gotten decent stuff off there. Their clothes seem nice and the electronics are hit and miss.
It's about the same rate of crap to quality as EBay these days, and Amazon is only marginally better.
eBay is completely different though, since they have a lot of consumer protections, as well as a variety of services and used products. I got my phone on eBay used, which was about half the cost of buying new, and the phones was <6 months old. I also got a smart watch on eBay refurbished, again about half the price and there's zero indication on the watch that it's used or refurbished. I buy used Switch games (w/ case) on eBay as well, which aren't as good of a deal, but I still routinely get them $30-40 when they'd normally retail for $50-60.
You can buy utter crap on eBay, but you can also buy high quality used products. On Amazon, those same used products tend to be about 10% more expensive (my experience), and Temu just doesn't have anything similar.
If you're after cheap everyday items, shop at your local dollar store or buy on AliExpress. If you're after new electronics, wait until one of the regular sales (usually holiday season and tax season), or shortly after the next version launches, and then shop online (lots of retailers). If you're after used electronics, check your local classifieds, and fall back to eBay.
At no point is Temu on my list of options.
You've clearly never lost a dispute on eBay. It's possibly the worst customer experience I've had.
I needed a glass part for a projector, it showed up broken. Tried to send it back and the seller offered like a 10% refund. eBay...after waiting a week (mandatory dispute resolution time) showed up, spent another week trying to meditate, the just said fuck it, the seller is right, eat a dick and your broken color wheel.
eBay gives you the illusion of consumer protection until you actually need it.
But no, based on some of the car parts and things I've gotten off eBay...the quality is objectively not better than what I've seen off Temu.
You can't trust ebay ratings either because if you have a bad experience they often won't let you post a review
That's really too bad. I have never had to file a dispute since everything I've ordered has so far been as expected. Then again, I haven't had any problems in my area with shipping companies mishandling packages either, so YMMV in your area if that's a common issue.
My favorite thing I've got off eBay so far was a catalytic converter. It was empty.
My state doesn't do emissions, and I kind of knew what I was getting...but wow...I can't believe a company would allow that in the first place.
Wow, that's ridiculous...