Shein and Temu are both retailer companies that have come under fire. They are both companies that have sold products for a fraction of the prices. Both are trying to compete for Amazon’s marketplace. Shein is a Chinese fashion retailer for online shoppers. Brazil is their largest marketplace followed by the US. There are over 13.7 million shoppers from the U.S in May of 2023. Junior Sage Quizon has shopped 2 times at Shein before, and bought some shirts as well as a new phone case.
“The quality differs from product to product. One shirt feels like plastic, while others are fine,” said Quizon. ” A complaint about Shein is that the photos for products don’t look like the real thing when you get it.”
Though the prices are good, the practice can not be said the same. Shein has been caught red handed for stealing designs of people. There have been three separate lawsuits against the company for such action. An article by Ayana Archie says how 3 main designers had their designs copied without their knowledge. Shein claims to not have done such a thing. Shein also has underpaid staff that are working in unsafe locations. A blog by Kylie Fuller says that sewers are paid $2.77 dollars an hour. With such allegations, people have become wary of Shein. Many have decided to shop at Temu instead, but can such things as online shopping even feel like the right choice anymore?
Shein scales nowhere close to what Temu is. It is a company founded in China with users worldwide. In the US alone, there are more than 100 million users. The user base is only growing as more people learn about such a good place to shop. Deals like 53% off your first product just seem too good to pass. The deals are even better than Amazon, some say. However, there is a dark secret behind Temu. It is said that Temu shoppers have more data collected on them than usual. An article by Natbaneeta Saha says, Temu collects consumer data after every sign in. It is to the point that they have enough data to track you on your personal data. Even with the recent updates to Temu, to stop the tracking, more people still fear using it. Junior Adam Lee is a frequent shopper of Temu and is mostly happy with his purchases.
“I mostly look for school supplies and things that generally look fun. The quality of products are good, but the clothes that they sell are pretty bad,” said Lee.”It’s a great place to get basic things you need for a reasonable price.”
“The deals on Temu just seemed a little too good to be true. They just seem like scams to me,” said Freshman Larry Lieu. “The fact they track your personal data is crazy to me.”
Both Temu and Shein are companies that give people a cheap alternative to products. Though the quality is questionable, the products often have good deals. Most professionals recommend shoppers shop through a web browser instead of the app. Trackers will have a much harder time finding your data on a website compared to the app. For people wanting to find products that won’t empty your wallet, Shein and Temu are great places to shop online.
