Are you comfortable with this ?

It is very hard indeed not to buy anything made in China - and I am aware that many high street brands who claim to inspect thoroughly the conditions in their supply chain can have no real idea what is going on when they are not there.

My car, my white goods all come from South Korea (DH is an engineer and insists that everything we buy in that line come from countries with high standing as engineers and he reckons that South Korea and German are the best.) My phone was not made in China, I think it was made in Vietnam. I know I checked.

My car (petrol) is German. So are all my white goods. My husband’s car (diesel) is British. I rarely buy clothes but I research very carefully before I buy. I would rather pay more or go without than knowingly buy something made in China. Yes, sometimes you unexpectedly end up with something from China especially if you buy from Amazon (battery tea lights in my case recently) but if you’re careful you can minimise what you buy from China.

Louella12

But so much of what we buy is from China. Look at your smartphone. Car. White goods. Medical equipment. Parts from China are everywhere.

Lots of complaints about how the workers are treated in many factories, not just Shein and Temu.

And in other parts of the world, let's not forget the horrendous conditions cobalt mining. For our clean batteries for electric cars.

This.

This is my dilemma too.

There are many high street brands which also use Far Eastern and even some Caribbean countries to help make goods.

On GN I mean.

Has anybody else had an advert for Temu pop up on the right side of the page?

Various descriptions like "designed in UK" and "assembled in UK" disguise the fact that components, materials etc are manufactured anywhere but UK, commonly China.

Well, it mainly DH looking for specialised small tools for repairing odd bits of machinery and maintaining our aged cars where many parts are no longer available and he has to work out and decide what alternative to look for. If you are looking for a right-handed pinion wrangler, or some such arcane tool, you buy them where you can find them -and when you find it, it is Chinese.

M0nica

Barleyfield If you are buying tools or parts for anything it is almost impossible not to buy Chinese made items.

I have been on ebay and scrolled through pages of specific items I require and failed to find a single site offering me other than goods made in China.

What are you looking for exactly? I’m not surprised that you find Chinese products on eBay, same with Amazon. Cast your net wider and be prepared to pay more.

I’ve never bought from Shein or Temu , but these days it’s very hard to find a product , whether it’s clothing , tools or media such as phones or tvs , which aren’t made in China .
My dd works for a high street fashion company and has been to China and visited the factories which supply her company , and didn’t find any issues . However she’s aware they show what they want to show .

I wouldn't say I was exactly 'comfortable' with it, but I have bought from Shein (and Primark) before and it certainly wouldn't stop me buying from them again. Even some of the high end brands are made in China, so price isn't necessarily an indicator that something has been ethically sourced.

Barleyfield If you are buying tools or parts for anything it is almost impossible not to buy Chinese made items.

I have been on ebay and scrolled through pages of specific items I require and failed to find a single site offering me other than goods made in China.

Marks & Spencer used to boast that all their clothes were made in Britain. They haven't made that claim for a very long time now.

I don't think it is just China where these sweatshops using child labour exist.

Plus with clothes, they are so cheap nowadays relative to the price of food, no-one needs different outfit every week, it's pretty affordable to buy something 20% dearer.

I used to buy from Primark, but despite being tempted I've never bought from Shein or Temu. I think with them being online, I just want the added security of a reputable company, & this plus the ethics has made it easy to pass the bargain by.

I wouldn't be comfortable buying from Temu, Shein or even Primark. I'd like to support UK manufactured clothing but surely nobody wants to support the Leicester sweatshop setups either? For anybody to do the 'second hand clothing' only route, then somebody else has to buy new in the first place, which is just 'passing the buck' in a way. It's a complex problem that will never be easy to solve.

M0nica

Louella12

But so much of what we buy is from China. Look at your smartphone. Car. White goods. Medical equipment. Parts from China are everywhere.

Lots of complaints about how the workers are treated in many factories, not just Shein and Temu.

And in other parts of the world, let's not forget the horrendous conditions cobalt mining. For our clean batteries for electric cars.

Which is why I try to shop ethically, but it isn't always possible and at times a Chinese made item has to be bought. But if everyone tried to look for local or non-Chinese items, it would encourage more manufacturing in the UK and Western Europe.

Anyway for clothes most people have far too many anyway and fewer but better would probably leave many people better off. Neverlet perfection stop anyone aiming for the best possible.

I disagree that ‘at times a Chinese made item has to be bought’. At times, particularly when buying online, it is impossible to discern the country of origin. Apart from a situation in which it is impossible to know the country of origin despite all reasonable investigations, a Chinese item never has to be bought .

It would be lovely to be able to buy clothes that were made in Britain. But they are few and far between, and very expensive. Probably the only thing I've got on that was made in Britain is the jumper I knitted myself from British wool.

I have never bought anything in Primark and would certainly not buy from Shein or Temu.

Can we trust that supermarket clothes are ethically produced? They are mostly made of man-made fibres, even though some are said to be made of recycled plastic bottles.

Try Oxfam clothes online! There are some great bagains to be had.

Delila

“Better” doesn’t necessarily mean more ethical.

It does if you do a bit of research before buying

“Better” doesn’t necessarily mean more ethical.

Louella12

But so much of what we buy is from China. Look at your smartphone. Car. White goods. Medical equipment. Parts from China are everywhere.

Lots of complaints about how the workers are treated in many factories, not just Shein and Temu.

And in other parts of the world, let's not forget the horrendous conditions cobalt mining. For our clean batteries for electric cars.

Which is why I try to shop ethically, but it isn't always possible and at times a Chinese made item has to be bought. But if everyone tried to look for local or non-Chinese items, it would encourage more manufacturing in the UK and Western Europe.

Anyway for clothes most people have far too many anyway and fewer but better would probably leave many people better off. Neverlet perfection stop anyone aiming for the best possible.

I do acknowledge, GG13 that there are other companies just as guilty when it comes to using forced, or underpaid, or slave labour, including some very big names. However, Shein and Temu are so blatant, not only in their use of cheap labour, but in undercutting other manufacturers and suppliers. Surely everyone can work out that if you can buy a dress for £5, then after profit, postage, materials, there isn't an awful lot left to pay the pour soul who made it.

In this piece scroll down to * what happened in Cardiff*
This gentleman’s address was registered to 11,000 Chinese companies.
That’s just one address 😡 Can you imagine how many millions there are.

Astitchintime

I make most of my own clothes and I am selective as to where the garments are made that I do actually buy. I have never bought from Shein and never will. I have seen the clothing that some friends have purchased and not been impressed with the standard and quality.

One lady even wanted me to 'fix' a faulty garment but I pointed out that my time would come at a cost and she would be better off sending it back. She was horrified to learn that she had to pay for the postage to China and she binned the dress in the end.

This is TEMU win. The returns couldn’t be simpler.

It must be about 8 years ago that a syndicate of us on FB tried our best to get the adverts banned.
We told the public the truth, we put photos up of the quality of some of the clothes. We listed the 260 companies ( at the time) who were involved with Shein
We were warned several times but kept going. Then we were banned. We got round that but were issued with another ban.
Now they are going to be listed on the Stock Exchange. And they will. Money talks.