I was looking for some eletrical component for my arduino and the only place that had it was aliexpress. That was a pleasant surprise. Three months later I still got almost daily spam mail from them. I block the mail address, but they just generate a new address to spam me with. Lukily it has stopped now. I’m never buying there again if I can help it.
I used to buy a lot of things in AliExpress, but since they’ve changed their business it’s usually better to just order on Amazon.
The things on AliExpress used to be dirt cheap and it was a no brainer buying random electronics components in a pack of five for a price of one in the EU shop.
Or sometimes I was looking to some oddly specific item and I always found it on AliExpress. It’s no longer the case, it seems the search results are 10 products of 3 manufacturers that are essentially the same thing.
Sometimes if there's a good deal for something I know I want. For instance, I was wanting an RG35XX (portable retro console). I had never heard about Temu, went there and got the $100 off bundle (basically a set of thresholds to hit for up to $100 off). I found the RG35XX for $53 ($17 less than Amazon), and that coupon knocked it down to $28. For me that was a no brainer.
I got a camping tent from aliexpress and it was pretty good. I have used it a couple times a year for about 4 years now. I think it’s called the lanshan or something like that.
I bought an Anbernic RG351P from Aliexpress as well. I have used it for countless hours playing retro games on it. Not quite nintendo quality, but definitely a lot better than other emulator consoles I’ve used.
I’ve also bought some great quality clothes from taobao. No reps only stuff like raw denim, hoodies, and styles that aren’t too popular in the US like high waisted pleated pants or heavy tees that are 11oz
This is a little outdated, but this spreadsheet has a lot of good stores. I would also check out /r/fashionreps and search for unbranded. Might find some cool stores.
I feel like AliExpress and temu aren’t really equivalent. Temu makes it seem like you’re, well I guess the tagline is shop like a billionaire. Aliexpress doesn’t exactly hide the fact it’s a cheap Chinese market.
I’m not asking what people’s thoughts on these companies business strategies/politics are, I’m just asking what people think of the actual items they’ve purchased from there.
To be fair we’re far past the point of saving the Earth. We’ve doomed it way early on and luckily by the time the sun explodes or whatever I’ll be long dead.
Not much I can do about it. I physically cannot force them to stop slave labor. Me not buying from them doesn’t change anything. 1 person not buying means nothing when 10 others will buy from regardless. I don’t worry about things I literally have no realistic control over. Whatever your opinion of me is on this is your choice. My life isn’t changed.
No, we shouldn't throw in the towel. That's just giving up! We should actively pour fuel on our neighbour's house fire and admire the pretty extra destruction it creates while we can. Immediate gratification is worth burning everyone's house to the ground, including my own. /s
Sadly apathy is a common reaction to huge overwhelming problems. And it makes sense, emotionally distancing yourself from the suffering of others can be necessary to still function in horrible emergency situations like natural disasters. Unfortunately it also makes this problem, like many others, worse.
But we all do it, to different degrees. And it's human. We can't fix everything simultaneously. Those of us who are still able to empathise with strangers to some extent will have to do more work, or we become the problem too.
Sorry. This post isn't targetted at you personally, I just am sad about the destruction of civilisations and the suffering people can inflict and this post came tumbling out. My coping mechanism is loud spontaneous complaining.
Aren't they the same sweatshop slave-labor factory goods though?
Not that it's possible to completely avoid goods which are made via exploitation, but I assumed they're just an alternate outlet / search page for the same distributors and factories.
Skeletons in their closet and actively using slave labor are very different things, not that I blame you entirely, it’s not your fault companies like nestle own so fucking much it’s impossible to keep track of.
So do I, do yourself a favor and find a local candy or chocolate shop. They’ll probably have something that is basically the same thing but vastly superior and not nestle. I know you’re just being a troll at this point but seriously do.
It's a bit different to grab a snack at the counter (that's likely partly produced in your country) than wait 1-2 months for a product to even arrive. Call it a convenience factor or whatever.
That said, I don't know what kind of labor AliExpress goods use. Haven't used them for a couple years but if I knew for sure (maybe someone here knows?) they used slave labor for example I probably would just choose to use some other company (which probably is just as likely to have unethical practices in some point of their supply chain tbf).
Like I said, highly doubt you can avoid companies that have shady practices of some form. Whether people like my opinion or not, I just simply do not care anymore. It is what it is, people won’t always agree with you in life. No point in dwelling on it, I don’t have the time to.
Sure I agree to a degree but choosing a product which you know uses 100% slave labor to save a penny is downright evil. (And this is exaggeration obviously before anyone butts in.)
The latest thing I saw from Amnesty International about Nestle was praise for Nestle for publicly announcing unprompted that they had found slavery in their supply chain . Is that how low the bar is to be "the most ethical", or is there an actual report making this claim?
I sometimes use AliExpress for DIY electronics like microcontrollers and other components. An Esp32 usually costs around 8-12 euros in Europe. On AliExpress I buy them for 3 (plus shipping). Its worth it if you are buying more than just a few. Shipping is usually slow but if its not urgent its cheap and so far of good/ decent quality.
I did also buy a small industrial camera on there which did not work. I contacted the seller and after some troubleshooting they agreed to ship a new camera to me (still waiting on that one) but in principle I am satisfied with the service for the price I payed.
AliExpress is the best place to buy electronics online. If you know you’ll need some stuff, just place an order for a few dollars, wait a month, and have your cheap eletronics for as long as you need.
Temu is just driving the social media impulse “buy buy buy you need it buy it now!!” Culture when in reality their stuff is crap, and even for the cheap prices… You probably weren’t going to buy it anyway. They are really striving in being a shitty company that’s bad for us and the planet.
Good video here that explains more of how they’re just manipulating us to buy more: youtu.be/7hGD5Cz_now
TikTok and them just fuel each other to create fake fomo and it’s so crappy. They target kids so hard and take advantage of them wanting to fit in, and get them to just spend money on crap they didn’t need to buy anyway. Not to mention they’ve pushed fashion cycles to be faster to make people think that top they bought 2 months ago is useless and should be thrown out.
Some things on Temu are complete trash but some are really good for the cash. They have a HUGE range of pin badges for less than a dollar, I’ve seen some of the more expensive ones ($2) sold for $10+ on other marketplaces like Amazon.
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