A woman shows a vintage store selling a Shein dress for $129 in a viral video. Dresses from Shein usually cost less than $20.

In a TikTok posted over the weekend, Francesca Miller-Hard shows a tag from Melbourne, Australia based vintage shop Inferno Vintage that lists a "little black dress" for $129. Miller-Hard then shows that the dress is from Shein, a Chinese fast fashion company known for its cheap clothing.

"I was silently screaming in the changing room," Miller-Hard wrote in a comment on her video.

On Wednesday, Miller-Hard's video had over 175,000 views on TikTok.

@iburntmyburrito

little black dress 😍😍😍

♬ real - Dead account

Many commenters on Miller-Hard's video were confused as to why a simple black dress from Shein, which currently retails between $10 and $20 on the site, was priced at $129—and said that other vintage stores had also marked up cheap items.

"NO WAY," a commenter said.

"The vintage store at my mall took the cactus shirts from Target, cut them into crop tops," a commenter wrote," "And put a $45 tag on them."

"The time I saw a Kmart shirt for $35," another commenter said.

Though the word vintage is used by many retailers, clothing is only considered vintage if it was produced over 40 years ago. Items are considered "retro" if they were made over 20 years ago. Shein, however, was founded in 2008.

Other commenters posited that many vintage resellers don't research or fully inspect the clothes they sell.

"i once went to this vintage only thrift store in austin thinking they were authentic and i bought aliexpress shoes without realizing," one user shared.

"Praying on the downfall of vintage shops they never do research," a commenter wrote. "And put things on shelves for abhorrent prices."

"U know they know nothing about vintage too," another said. "Cause how can U not feel the polyester..." Polyester is a synthetic fabric that many Shein products are made out of.

The Daily Dot has reached out to Miller-Hard, and the vintage resellers that were involved with the retail of the item.

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The post ‘NO WAY’: Vintage store sells Shein dress for $129 appeared first on The Daily Dot.

There's a new fast-fashion culprit, and it's likely not a brand you'd expect. No, not online giant Shein or even mall staple Forever 21. It's the public's favorite faux boutique—Target.

In a trending video, thrift TikToker Caroline (@carolinetlord) shares a recent brand phenomenon she's noticed while out thrifting.

"You know how it was like Forever 21 taking over thrift stores and then Shein? We have a new suspect," Caroline says in the clip.

With screenshots green-screened behind her, the thrifter said she'd noticed an abundance of Target brand items at thrift shops like Goodwill or Salvation Army.

"Target has completely changed their clothing over the past few years, and they're churning trends, and people are buying them as fast as they're dumping them," Caroline says.

She adds that while people seem to be getting more conscious about impulse buying, they shouldn't be donating an item they bought new barely six months ago.

"That's insanity," Caroline says.

The New York Times confirmed what many thrifters around the country have found to be true. The age of being able to find high-quality items at a reasonable price at the thrift store is over. Instead, it's been replaced by racks upon racks of polyester fast-fashion with prices that sometimes don't beat the original price or how much you'd pay for it on sale online.

These fast-fashion donations make it so people in need of affordable clothing end up with lower quality items, and the surge of donations has driven up thrift store operating costs since they need to hire more people to sort through the mounting donations that have resulted from a quick trend cycle.

People no longer buy items seasonally, or about four times a year. Instead, new trends come out constantly, and people are getting rid of their clothes as quickly as they're buying them.

ThredUp, an online consignment shop, found that in 2022, compared to 2020, there was a 186% increase in the number of listed Shein items and a 75% increase in clothes from PrettyLittleThing.

@carolinetlord #thrifttok #thriftqueen #thrifting #thrifthaul #stylingthrift #howtothrift101 #howtothrift #thrifted #thriftingfinds #thriftedoutfits #thriftstorefinds #greenscreen ♬ original sound - Caroline Lord

Caroline's video has over 26,000 views and more than 100 comments as of Monday morning.

"But Goodwill has the nerve to charge over 10 dollars for those items," a top comment read.

"I think that Target donates directly to some thrift stores. One of my locals had a bunch of identical new items from them," a person shared.

"Especially for the price too. some Target clothing is not even cheap anymore," another wrote.

Update 4:30pm CT, Nov. 8: Caroline made a follow-up video in response to commenters who said Target donates clothing itself, which is why she could be seeing lots of Target-branded clothing at the Goodwill. In the follow-up, she says that "probably sounds like a good thing" Target is doing.

"The problem is this is a never-ending cycle of overproduction, and most of those clothes are just going to end up in the landfill," she says.

"I think the traditional thought of thrift stores is that it's full of your grandma's clothes, and that's just genuinely not the case anymore. A lot of times it's full of clothes that were on a rack in the store six months ago."

She then clears up the purpose of her original video. "My video was just to visually show what's happening and that there's overproduction, and that's a major problem," she says.

The Daily Dot reached out to Caroline for comment via email.

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The post ‘People are buying them as fast as they’re dumping them’: Woman calls Target the new Forever 21 and Shein, says all the ‘trend’ items end up at thrift stores appeared first on The Daily Dot.

Chinese sellers are making a ton of money on Amazon. According to EcomCrew, around 63% of all merchandise sold on the massively popular online retailer is manufactured in China.

While browsing for products on the site, you may have noticed that an item you're interested in, let's say a phone tripod, pop up in several listings on the site. Based on the images you're seeing, it's the same phone tripod in every image, but under different company names and slightly varying price points.

That's probably because many of these items are all produced in the same facilities and manufacturing plants in China and are just repackaged and re-branded under different company names: like the tripods listed above don't have any differences between the "Ubeesize" and "Aureday" offerings.

TikTok user Bri (@bri4nn4.mp4) believes that these identical listings just don't begin and end on Amazon, but that they extend to discount online retailers as well. This means customers are more than likely paying significantly more money for the same product just because it's featured on Amazon.

In her viral clip, Bri claims that she found the exact same sweater that's retailing for $44 on Amazon on Shein for less than a third of the price at just $14.

She displayed the identical items in a viral TikTok that's accrued over 1 million views as of Sunday morning.

@bri4nn4.mp4 tell your friends #amazonfinds #sheinfinds ♬ original sound - bri4nn4

"Get in loser, we're exposing Amazon," she begins her clip. "So I decided to order this sweater from Amazon, I saw some girl wearing it, thought it was super cute, it was $44 on Amazon. It was like OK that's fine and then I read the comments and some people were like you know this is actually pretty thin material for $44."

Inspired by the product critiques in the comments section, Bri says she investigated the product further. "So I decided to do some digging, and I reverse image searched this sweater and I ended up finding it on Shein and I thought I'd be finding a dupe of what was on Shein," she says.

Bri then holds up two nearly identical-looking sweaters on camera and urges viewers to try and guess which one was purchased from which website.

"If you think that you've noticed a difference between these sweaters: no you haven't," she says. "If you think that this is the Shein one, it's not, this is the Amazon one."

She believes that the more expensive Amazon variant was of a poorer quality than the one she purchased from Shein.

She then shows off more "evidence" by displaying the tags of the sweaters on camera. The Shein variant has a small black tag that reads "Shein" on it, whereas the Amazon sweater appears to have the same exact tag, except that it's been cut.

"Looks to me like the Shein tag has just been cut off," she says.

Bri claims that as a result of her experiment, she doesn't intend to keep the Amazon sweater and will be returning it. She ends her video with a suggestion on how folks can quickly do their due diligence when shopping for products online by using a handy Google feature.

"Just goes to show you reverse image search all of your items before you buy them on Amazon because somebody is probably upcharging you a ton of money," she concludes.

One viewer seemed shocked that more people weren't already privy to this kind of information, writing "How did y’all not know this stuff?"

Someone else said they've noticed that the cost of clothing items on Amazon has gone up in recent years. "Also Amazon hauls aren’t even cheap anymore," they shared. "Not much cheaper than Abercrombie. It’s insane to me that no one is talking about it!"

Another person said that they've noticed several Shein items on Amazon and that they'll always opt to wait a bit longer to receive their products from Shein instead.

"I always see clothes I find on Shein on Amazon randomly. I'm like yeah, no I'm gonna buy on shein and just wait like a week or two to get it," they wrote.

Shein doesn't necessarily make it a secret that its items are sold through Amazon, either: the clothing manufacturer has a dedicated store on Amazon's website. However, due to the percentages of sales that Amazon takes for selling items on its online marketplace, retailers like Shein can afford to offer their products cheaper when customers order directly from their websites.

Shein isn't the only website where people regularly find cheaper listings of the same Amazon products: various Temu offerings are on Amazon going for as much as three times the price, like this plastic Parmesan cheese grater Olive Garden fanatics are purchasing.

The Daily Dot has reached out to Amazon, Shein, and Bria via email for further comment.

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The post Customer exposes Amazon after finding $44 sweater for only $14 on Shein. They’re the exact same appeared first on The Daily Dot.

The Temu app is one of the most downloaded apps in the world, in both the Apple App Store and Google Play. The Chinese-based company connects shoppers and sellers in an online marketplace that promises consumers some of the best deals in the world. Yet, the popular company has quickly come under scrutiny, leading some to wonder, "Is Temu a scam?"

While Temu definitely has legitimate sellers, new users should definitely adopt a "buyer beware' attitude before downloading the app — and be aware of the potential security risks for their devices.

Here's what you should know before you start using Temu.

What is Temu?

Temu is an online marketplace established by the Chinese e-commerce company PDD Holdings Inc. Its U.S. headquarters are located in Boston.

The marketplace offers deals on nearly any type of product imaginable — almost always at a deeply discounted price.

Its business model is similar to other online marketplaces such as Amazon and its fellow Chinese-run marketplace Shein. Temu allows shoppers and sellers to do business with each other directly without third-party retailers and distributors.

This allows sellers on Temu to offer some seemingly "too good to be true" values.

Why is it so cheap?

Temu is supposedly so cheap because consumers are dealing with the original seller instead of a third party. Temu also operates under a "loss leader" model — encouraging sellers to lower their profit margins in order to increase the company's market share.

These two factors enable Temu to steeply discount the products available on the site. But many allege that isn't the only reason prices are so jaw-droppingly low on the app.

Is Temu a scam? (In other words, can you trust it?)

Low prices are what's good about Temu. Now let's look at some of what's bad.

In its just over one year-long existence, Temu has already developed a bad reputation due to what Time Magazine listed as "undelivered packages, mysterious charges, incorrect orders, and unresponsive customer service."

The company has been the target of several complaints to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and currently holds only a C+ rating with the consumer protection organization.

A joint investigation by the U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission did not outright declare the site as unsafe but did state that "lack of affiliation with established brands has brought concerns of product quality as well as accusations of copyright infringement," were cause for concern.

Are the products legit?

When it comes to quality, "you get what you pay for" is a good general rule of thumb on Temu. If something seems like an unbelievable bargain, chances are fairly high that you will receive a "knock-off" or generic version of whatever you ordered.

In many cases, these versions are of inferior quality and shouldn't be expected to last very long.

Hicober — a company that sells hair towels on Amazon — is one of several companies that have sued Temu for selling knockoffs of their product.

In addition, Shein, a China-based company that follows a business model similar to Temu, has sued them for copying merchandise listings, according to the BakerHostetler law firm, and hiring social media influencers to disparage the Shein brand.

That said, the site features many name-brand products designated with a blue checkmark. These products are generally trustworthy.

Are there privacy concerns with Temu?

One of the biggest emergent concerns about the Temu app is its security risks. One shopper, as covered by the Daily Dot, contended that her American Express credit card information was stolen after shopping on Temu.

Data mining happens in most Western companies as a matter of market research, but Chinese companies are often obliged, and even required in some cases, to hand over their information to the state government.

Temu collects a wide array of data on you including your name, phone number, address, and birthdate, and even gains access to your social media photos, and social security number.

According to Steve Bernas, President and CEO of Chicago BBB, downloading the app and using it essentially starts a file on you.

"The more information they get, the easier it is to steal their identity, especially with a company tied with China. You don't know where it's going, and the government has issued many warnings over the years. Because once you have all that data, they can use that data to harm the U.S. in some way," Bernas claims.

The final word on Temu

If you are truly desperate for a "good bargain" on Temu, you have to accept a fair amount of risks, both to your wallet and your statistics. However, if you are willing to accept the risks and stick to blue-check items you may find some good deals.

Just don't expect to find any $30 Nikes. And remember, Big Brother will probably be watching you.

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An Etsy customer is claiming he got scammed by a seller on the popular e-commerce website, alleging what he thought was a custom shirt turned out to be something from Shein, the fast-fashion brand.

In a video posted on Sept. 18, TikTok user Morgan (@morganic2percentmilk) shows how underneath the tag of a shirt he purchased was a black Shein label. The video has been viewed more than 455,000 times as of Saturday.

"Me paying a ton of money on Etsy for a shirt that took forever because they were ‘waiting for materials,’” the text overlay reads in the video.

Morgan then lip-syncs to “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)” by P!NK, uttering the lyrics, “I think you’re full of s***.”

@morganic2percentmilk Like @Etsy ??? I don’t use shein for a reason… … … #etsy #clothing ♬ Make an actual original video for once - Mage Man

“Like Etsy??? I don’t use Shein for a reason,” Morgan captions the video.

The Daily Dot reached out to Etsy via email for further information and to Morgan via Instagram direct message.

According to The Washington Post, some websites, such as Etsy, have become notorious for “dropshipping,” which is a “sales practice wherein someone offers products for sale online that they don’t actually have or make themselves.” If the customer decides to buy the product, the seller then buys the item from overseas to ship to the customer.

Etsy has marketed itself as a company that “supports independent creators.” However, there’s at least been one instance of a seller having her work counterfeited, when her Etsy shop became popular for its bedazzled cowboy hats amid Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour.

“Most people that are buying from me message me really nicely, like, ‘I want the one you made for Beyoncé,’” creator Abby Misbin told The Washington Post. “… [But now] there are a lot of people who … are like, ‘Um, girl, AliExpress already has it for $45. Don’t try and scam us.’ I was like, ‘Buy it from them, I guess. See what you get.’”

In 2022, a group of Etsy sellers went on strike to protest fee hikes and also the “proliferation of resellers,” tricking people into thinking products sold were handmade when they’re actually made in factories.

Commenters on Morgan’s video shared their mixed feelings about the e-commerce site.

“Aw and I used to love Etsy because it was unique handcrafted items when did that change?” one commenter asked.

“Etsy has turned into a shirt printing business/resale store for Alibaba and Shein,” another person wrote. “I almost never use it anymore.”

“No, because now when I find something cute on Etsy, I immediately reverse search it and see if it’s on SHEIN or Temu,” a commenter remarked.

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The post ‘I would lose my mind’: Customer buys custom shirt on Etsy that takes ‘forever’ to arrive. It was actually from Shein appeared first on The Daily Dot.

One Shein customer blames the company's lashes for severely damaging her eyes.

In a viral video that has amassed 595,000 views, TikTok user Mika Middleton (@Mika) says she is now legally blind after wearing a pair of lashes she bought from the online retailer.

@mikaneila #stitch with @Mika lawd please i cant even see with my glasses. #shein #sheinfail #sheinlashes ♬ original sound - Mika

In the clip, Middleton lip-syncs to a song as a text overlay reads, "IDK but since wearing those SHEIN lashes, something different." Her eyes appear extremely red and seem to be irritated or infected.

The video then transitions into a second clip in which Middleton's eyes appear recovered.

"Took over a month to heal, but I'm legally still blind," she writes in a text overlay.

In the comments section, Middleton further explained that she had used the lashes before but only recently had issues with a specific pair.

"Gotta be some with your eyes," one user commented. "I've been wearing Shein lashes for like 2 years now."

"I was using them for years also," the content creator responded. "Even the same kind, but this packet was obviously contaminated. :( I used my usual glue."

Others argued that it was likely her glue or an allergy, and not Shein's lashes, that was to blame.

"Girl it’s def the glue all I use is shein lashes and idk how a lash would do that to an eye," one viewer argued.

"Babe you might be forming a latex allergy my eyes do this now with every lash or any glue because I was lazy and slept with it on causing contact derm," another added.

Nonetheless, it appears others have experienced issues with lashes from fast fashion retailers.

"I wore temu lashes Once and my lashes have been itchy since," one commenter wrote.

According to Howerton Eye Clinic, using false lashes does run the risk of developing an eye infection or allergic reactions. The site also explained that there is also a risk of corneal injury.

The Daily Dot contacted Mika Middleton via TikTok comment and Shein and Temu via email for more information.

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TikTok user @sarzinaeasmin says she's "feeling like a Karen" after falling victim to what appears to be a bait and switch by a second-hand clothing app she found through the video-sharing platform. She's sending out a buyer beware warning to other users who might end up receiving inferior goods that were marketed as a bargain.

Sarzina claims that she used the clothes thrifting app Curtsy to buy a pair of jeans. "I thought they were so cute. It said retail price $77 or something then discounted for $33," she says in the video. "I bought them, they came in today, and they're f*cking Shein."

Shein is a Singapore-based Chinese fast fashion company that has become notorious in recent years for several controversies including allegations of IP theft, data and privacy breaches, and unsafe working conditions. According to the BBC, a Public Eye investigation found that workers in the six of company's Guangzhou sites were working 75-hour weeks.

"I do not shop with Shein," Sarzina states, "I don't shop there anymore because I don't support them." However, she did look up the jeans on the Shein website and found that their retail price was only $26. According to Sarzina, the pants had been "flipped" by using the site and she had paid seven dollars over what they would have retailed for originally.

"I'm furious, I'm so mad," she said.

The clip has received more than 268,000 views since going live on June 26.

@sarzinaeasmin #shein #secondhand ♬ original sound - Sarzina

Curtsy began in 2014 as a dress-rental app called Nimble. It currently has a one-and-a-half rating on the review website Trustpilot with commenters calling out the company for poor customer service and untrustworthy sellers. User Avery Jenkins wrote that "... so far, I've only had one transaction go smoothly."

TikToker @k_braswell reported a similar experience with Curtsy in a video. She shows a lingerie romper on the site listed at $35 dollars and then finds the same item. right down to the photos used, retailing on Shein's website for $8.

She added in the video's caption, "Can we not resell low-quality fast fashion for four times the price we bought it pls."

We've reached out to Curtsy and @sarzinaeasmin.

Update 10:57am CT, July 8, 2023: Sarzina responded to the Daily Dot saying Curtsy contacted her and offered a refund or a 20% discount. She noted that the discount "still didn’t make the pants lower than what they were selling for." However, she did move forward with the refund offer. Curtsy has reportedly sent her a shipping label to do so.

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A TikTok creator has gone viral after saying she thinks there's a double standard for criticism of two popular fast fashion brands.

TikToker Anayka (@anaykahee) recently posted about the different responses she's seen people give to Shein and Temu. The video has more than 565,000 views and 111,000 likes as of July 6.

@anaykahee

♬ original sound - Anayka he

"I'm being dead serious," Anayka said to start the video. "Are we all just pretending that Temu isn't just Shein? Because I feel like y'all was going hard behind Shein being terrible, but then y'all picked up Temu and was like, 'Oh my god, look at all these mysteriously low prices.'" 

Anayka concludes: "Girl, this is Shein part two."

Many viewers in the comments section seemed to agree. 

"They even recycle the same pics," one person wrote.

"I ordered shorts from temu and they arrived with a shein tag inside the shorts," a second said.

"It got way [too] many deals, it's so sketchy," another added.

Other commenters said that Temu's goods come at an even lower price point than Shein's.

"I think temu is def cheaper I be seeing the same shein stuff on there but they cost less," one viewer commented.

"Temu had a wider variety of options, cheaper, and delivers faster," a second wrote.

"Temu be having a whole outfit for $3.07," another said.

"I have literally told people' it's just a more streamlined wish that somehow had multiple million dollar ads during the superbowl. no ty,'" one comment read.

So, what exactly is the difference between Shein and Temu?

Shein, founded in 2012, is an online fast fashion retailer founded in China. According to The Cut, "The brand's low prices, fast production, and popularity on TikTok have cemented it as a Gen-Z favorite. It is one of the biggest fast-fashion companies in the world with a valuation of $66 billion, greater than that of Zara and H&M combined."

The Cut also detailed Shein's history of controversy: It has come under fire for allegations of design theft, exploitative labor practices, and environmental unsustainability. Most recently, the company caused viral outrage when it invited influencers to tour its warehouses. Despite the criticism, Shein touts commitments to sustainability and equitable employment.

Temu is newer on the scene; people might remember its Super Bowl ad. Launched in September, Temu is an American-market spinoff of Chinese online retailer Pinduoduo, Time reports.

According to Time, it's come under fire for unreliable shipping and product quality. Temu's also been the subject of cybersecurity concerns, according to CNBC. 

Temu's website describes the company as "an online marketplace that connects consumers with millions of sellers, manufacturers and brands around the world with the mission to empower them to live their best lives." The website also states that the company was founded in Boston and has return warehouses in New Jersey and California.

Shein and Temu are different companies, but they share countries of origin, low-price-point models, and the kinds of controversies that come with both. According to CNN, a congressional commission recently "called out Shein and Temu in a report that suggested the companies and others in China were potentially linked to the use of forced labor, exploitation of trade loopholes, product safety hazards or intellectual property theft."

The Daily Dot contacted Anayka via TikTok comment and direct message, as well as Shein and Temu via email.

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The post ‘Temu be having a whole outfit for $3.07’: Shopper calls out customers who criticize Shein—but order from Temu appeared first on The Daily Dot.

A Target customer went viral after discovering a Shein label on a Shade & Shore bikini.

Thinking she may have uncovered something nefarious, TikToker Ashlee (@aarroyo1203) posted a video about the situation on July 4. It has generated more than 392,000 views in a single day.

"I need somebody to answer my question here," she begins. "I'm at Target shopping for swimsuits, and I'm looking at this brand, Shade & Shore, right? Shade & Shore. Cute."

@aarroyo1203 Are these the SAME company?! I need answers. @target #shein #shadeandshore #fastfashion ♬ original sound - Ashlee

As she speaks, Ashlee shows several bikini tops that she pulled off the rack. They are all the same style and color, and they all have Shade & Shore tags on them.

After a brief aside about whether the tops will fit, she shows the item that prompted her to make the video: a matching bikini bottom with a Shein label inside, even though it has a Shade & Shore tag on the outside.

"Are these the same company?" she asks. "When you try to make semi of an effort to not support fast fashion, and then you're at a store and figure out that they might be made by the same people. What's going on here?"

According to an article in Make Use Of, Shein is a China-based company that "produces its clothes in generic wholesale factories to keep its costs at a minimum. While this allows you to buy clothes at dirt-cheap prices, it poses an ethical dilemma. The working standards of Shein seamstresses are controversial, to say the least. According to the BBC, some Shein warehouse workers work upwards of 75 hours a week."

The article continued, "While it has a base in China, there is no physical store or chain of shops responsible for managing orders. Shein began as an online retailer that only has occasional pop-up locations around the world, without permanent storefronts. Originally, everything on the site shipped directly from China. Now, the clothing on Shein comes from several wholesale warehouses around the world."

Viewers attempted to answer Ashlee's question in the comments section.

"Is there a Shein label inside all of them?" someone questioned. "I'm wondering if someone pulled a fast one on Target and returned those bottoms."

Ashlee replied, "Nope, just the one so I think the same thing now. Maybe because it would never cross my mind to do something like this, I had no idea."

Another commenter said, "I [used] to work at Target in the style department. someone probably returned it and the target employee did not look at the tag on the inside."

Several viewers think profit was a motive. As one theorized, "Could be that someone re-tagged a Shein bottom with a SaS one. If a Shein = $5 and SaS is $25 they just profited $20."

Another commenter, with advanced sleuthing skills, noted, "If you type in the DCPI #, a completely different swim bottom comes up on their website. The tag also states that it's green, aka not the correct item."

But some said it went beyond this one case. "I bought a graphic tee from shein in march," one commenter charged. "Saw the same shirt, same brand on the tag...at my local target yesterday."

The Daily Dot contacted Ashlee via TikTok comment and Target via email for further information.

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In this edition of Lon Harris’ weekly Passionfruit column covering creator labor issues, we’re exploring the notorious Shein influencer trip and when to say “no” to that lucrative promotional offer. 

Analysis

Recently, the Chinese “fast-fashion” brand Shein invited a group of American creators to tour their facilities in Guangzhou, China. The result has been a controversy with blowback for the Shein brand and its online creative partners, in a story that highlights the inherent allure and potential pitfalls of influencer brand deals.

More than anything else, the Shein saga is a cautionary tale for creators working with corporate partners. It’s a warning against sacrificing your values — and skepticism — in exchange for money or access. To understand why the trip proved so ill-fated for the internet creator, we have to reconsider why Shein likely wanted to fly this group to Guangzhou in the first place.

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