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Temu pulls its U.S. Google Shopping ads

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Re: Temu pulls its U.S. Google Shopping ads

#71

I used to buy a lot from Temu. Till I got a product that fell apart after three months. I tried to leave a bad review, but Temu wouldn't allow it. If you're trying to leave 3 star rating or below, they redirect you to customer service. But since customer service only dealt with items under 45 days (as far as I remember), they would just tell me something like "too bad, you're out of luck". So I can't get a refund, I…

Aliexpress has the same problem, quite frustrating.

Re: Temu pulls its U.S. Google Shopping ads

#72
post #49
post #20

I loved temu, aliexpress, and shein. I probably averaged 1 item per day arriving to my house, for years and years. Mostly little electronics parts and specialized tools for my workshop. Buying from Amazon or locally would have cost me 10x as much. Obviously it's over now. Anyone getting a package in May will be hit with a $75-$150 or more bill per package, even a 75 cent envelope will be charged +$75. I feel bad for…

Are you saying a consumer will pay $75 later if they order a package from China now and it comes in May?

There is a minimum fee for packages, yes. At this point I've lost track of all the changes but at one point I remember seeing $100 or $150 per package under some conditions.

Carriers will also charge a fee for brokering it. USPS has a $9 fee, other carriers are higher.

We went from being free to order things internationally to having out of control fees and taxes on top of everything.

There's a lot of sneering at Temu and Shein, but the hobbyist and electronics worlds are about to get hit extremely hard by the lack of access to tools and parts from Aliexpress. It's really sad.

Re: Temu pulls its U.S. Google Shopping ads

#73
post #20

I loved temu, aliexpress, and shein. I probably averaged 1 item per day arriving to my house, for years and years. Mostly little electronics parts and specialized tools for my workshop. Buying from Amazon or locally would have cost me 10x as much. Obviously it's over now. Anyone getting a package in May will be hit with a $75-$150 or more bill per package, even a 75 cent envelope will be charged +$75. I feel bad for…

realistically speaking, it is likely not possible to deliver envelop from China at 75c cost, its likely someone else is paying for your 75c envelops (like taxpayers through subsidies).

You've been downvoted, but you are 100% correct. It is the result of the UPU treaty: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2018/10/us-withdrawing-144-y...

Re: Temu pulls its U.S. Google Shopping ads

#75
post #38
post #15

Good riddance. I'd rather have fewer things I care more about. If we rethink our consumption, we could become happier, need less space and spend less money even at higher prices. And when we do need to buy things, we'll be either supporting local workers or friendly nations.

Do tariffs raise the quality of domestic substitutions, or do we simply pay more?

Either you will pay more for domestic producers or (more likely) you will not pay at all since either domestic production will not ramp up for niche things, or you will not be willing to pay hikes domestic prices for the same utility.

Re: Temu pulls its U.S. Google Shopping ads

#76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a minimum charge, as well a percentage. > Washington will also increase the per postal item fee on goods entering after May 2 and before June 1 to $100 from the planned $75. Parcels entering after June 1 will pay a fee of $200 per item instead of $150 announced previously, according to the Wednesday order. ref. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-10/trump-aga...

Wow I’m genuinely surprised that’s not getting more press. That’s absolutely going to shock the hell out of some people.

There's so much chaos being flooded out all at once that things that massively impact normal people don't have time to gain traction in the news. And the moment things do make the news, there's an even larger flood of people everywhere saying, "Fake news. Didn't happen." followed by "So what? How does this affect you personally?" and then ending with "This is actually a great thing and you're suspicious if you're against this."

Re: Temu pulls its U.S. Google Shopping ads

#77
post #15

Good riddance. I'd rather have fewer things I care more about. If we rethink our consumption, we could become happier, need less space and spend less money even at higher prices. And when we do need to buy things, we'll be either supporting local workers or friendly nations.

> If we rethink our consumption, we could become happier, need less space and spend less money even at higher prices.

I can't believe how many people are trying to put a positive spin on the government imposing massive taxation on people's right to buy things from other countries.

It's easy to sneer at junk fashion from Temu or whatever, but access to cheap tools and parts was the lifeblood of hobbyists and experimenters across the country.

It's not just cheap clothes from Temu. This administration just took away your right to buy anything cheaply internationally. That's not a good thing.

Re: Temu pulls its U.S. Google Shopping ads

#79
post #38
post #15

Good riddance. I'd rather have fewer things I care more about. If we rethink our consumption, we could become happier, need less space and spend less money even at higher prices. And when we do need to buy things, we'll be either supporting local workers or friendly nations.

Do tariffs raise the quality of domestic substitutions, or do we simply pay more?

For many products, domestically manufactured substitutes still have some inputs that come from international suppliers.

Could be some raw materials, the machines that make it, or the packaging. Now everything is going to be massively more expensive and it's going to have impacts even on domestically manufactured goods.

There's also the substitution effect, where heavy tariffs on one thing will increase demand on substitutes and therefore raise their prices.

It's really bad policy all around. Nobody who has any familiarity with manufacturing thinks it's going to encourage more domestic manufacturing because the tariffs suddenly restricted your ability to buy inputs and machines at reasonable prices. You're better off building a factory in another country to service global demand.

Re: Temu pulls its U.S. Google Shopping ads

#80
post #20

I loved temu, aliexpress, and shein. I probably averaged 1 item per day arriving to my house, for years and years. Mostly little electronics parts and specialized tools for my workshop. Buying from Amazon or locally would have cost me 10x as much. Obviously it's over now. Anyone getting a package in May will be hit with a $75-$150 or more bill per package, even a 75 cent envelope will be charged +$75. I feel bad for…

> I'm surprised the websites don't even acknowledge this yet. Well, why would you waste the opportunity to enrage Americans against their government, for free? "Your $5 package has arrived on time, now you only have to pay the $75 extra that the candidate you voted for has decided to take from you". It's the best ads campaign ever, and it's entirely free.

It's not that complicated.

They don't pay the tariffs. The person receiving the package does. Many carriers will slap you with the tariff charge, a brokerage fee, and then send you to collections if you don't pay it.

The vendors don't care because they're making the sale and the tariffs are the other person's responsibility. Caveat emptor.

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