The Terrifying World of Temu

let's talk about Teemu because there is something really strange going on here of one of these photos of 239 why why is Noah jacket Timo seemingly came out of nowhere and is now all over has been like watching a phenomenon unfold in real time if you're in the US like me there is a good chance you have seen timu's aggressive marketing campaigns from their 14 million dollar Super Bowl ad to the countless influencer Halls across social media to their very loud YouTube ads that are telling you how cheap their products are five cents 85 cents full gray fresh to be released probably costs 85 cents and free shipping timo's tagline is chopped like a billionaire meaning that you can buy lots of products without really worrying about the price because it's so cheap but at what cost exactly there is a whole lot to unpack with the rise of Teemu including how they're able to get their prices so cheap the negative effects timu can have on our finances and environment and the ethics that shopping like a billionaire poses in the first place so let's dive into the world of Teemu starting with a question that everyone seems to be asking is Teemu a scam by the way I'm Kara and I make videos on the intersection of money media and intentional living if you like this video you might like my other video essays like how Tick Tock is fueling over consumption and how consumerism is ruining our planet and finances also thank you so much to Mint mobile for partnering with me on this video I'll talk more about mint Mobile in a bit and how they offer an amazing way to save money every single month through their premium wireless network as low as 15.00 but first let's answer the question of whether timu is a scam is TAMU a scam TAMU too good to be true the simple answer is no timu is not a scam if we're defining scam as being a fraudulent way to get your money or a bordering on a legal way to keep your money then we really can't define timu as a scam though if you do want to learn more about scams you can check out my latest video on multi-level marketing schemes but make sure to watch that after this video no Teemu is seemingly a legitimate e-commerce company in that it sells products online it launched in China and is owned by a larger Chinese company called PDD Holdings that being said there were things I uncovered about Teemu during my research that were a little fishy for one this is not the first e-commerce company that has fallen Under the Umbrella of PDD Holdings another one of PDD Holdings companies is called pin duo duo and in March of this year Google blocked it from the Play Store because of malware concerns that exploited vulnerabilities in the Android operating system that's right the sister app to timu was found to be full of malware with cyber Security Experts saying it can quote bypass users cell phone security to monitor activities on other apps check notifications read private messages and change settings and once installed it's tough to remove to be clear though timu has been accused of security concerns it hasn't been suspended from any Us app store right now that being said the fishiness does not stop there in my opinion another interesting move that teemu's parent company PDD Holdings has done recently is move the operations from China to Ireland and make Teemo technically based out of Boston on one hand Ireland does offer great corporate tax incentives and Boston would align strategically with the goal of penetrating the US market so there is strategic logic there but I also suspect that the move extends to the desire for PDD Holdings to separate the association between Teemo and Chinese malware concerns nor do they want us to associate Teemu with the many labor concerns and Scandals that the sister company pinduo Duo has had now I won't dive into all the Deep details of the labor scandals from pinduo Duo and how it relates to timu but if you want to see an amazing breakdown of it I would check out Illuminati's video which I will link down below now anecdotally while researching for this video I came across more potential evidence of how PDD Holdings is trying to distance Teemu from the scandals of its sister company what I found was a ton of American Outlets spewing out the same exact positive talking points about Teemo specifically calling out how socially responsible and ethical Teemu is the Charlotte Observer Harlem World magazine and Cal Biz Journal are just a few of the examples I came across where phrases like social responsibility sustainability and ethical were regurgitated over and over now I know that this is bordering on conspiracy theory territory but I just found it odd and coincidental that all these articles started popping up just in the last few months and I also know that if I were PDD Holdings or Teemu I would be very happy about this because now when people accuse timu of being a Chinese company they can be like no we're based in Boston we're an American company and when people Google teemu's sustainability and labor concerns those keywords are going to now give you a bunch of positive articles talking about how good and responsible and lovely Teemo is it's just convenient you know but moving on from the fishiness surrounding timu let's talk about how temu gets such low prices because my gosh are those low prices and that's the main draw isn't it being able to buy all the cute unnecessary accessories and gadgets that your heart desires without breaking the bank it's an alluring deal barring all the financial and environmental issues which we'll get to in a bit but if Teemo isn't a scam and if we ignore all the potential labor issues that drive low prices then how does Teemo get such cheap Goods well for one teemu's business model allows them to cut out the middleman basically take a site like Amazon so Amazon has a lot of products on there that are probably from Chinese manufacturers but they hike up the prices a bit because they're the ones hosting and selling it to American audiences meanwhile Teemo cuts out Amazon so you can buy more directly from Chinese manufacturers it's part of a larger value chain shift that we've seen over the past few decades from made in China to sold by China to marketed by China with fewer groups in the middle consumers can get cheaper prices it's a smart and seemingly inevitable model on top of that companies like Sheehan and timu exploit a U.S trade loophole called de minimis allowing them to not pay taxes on most of the shipments to the US and therefore keep prices artificially low the artificially low prices are only further exacerbated by timu knowingly losing money on their orders according to wired Teemu is losing an average of 30 dollars per order as it throws money at trying to break into the American Market which seems crazy at first because I mean with thirty dollars you could buy at least 30 of these little plastic hands for your cat which definitely won't lose their novelty within the first five minutes and definitely won't be a choking hazard for your pet right but I guess when your parent company has a 100 billion dollar market cap you don't worry too much you can buy a lot of plastic cans and look I know it sounds weird for a company to just throw money away trying to be the cheapest but this concept of subsidizing the cost of a product or service just to undercut competitors and drive market share it's not new companies like uber have done this for years the practice can be great for consumers in the short term because you get unnaturally cheap prices During the subsidizing period but in the long term we all suffer because true competition can't Thrive which in turn stifles Innovation and as this New Yorker articles succinctly captures we deform capitalism but okay I need to stop because honestly I could go on and on about this but we need to refocus okay so if we know Teemu is not a scam and we now know how it gets such low prices what's the problem why is any of this bad before I dive into this section I want to thank mint mobile again for partnering with me on this video I like and appreciate mint Mobile's business model so much because I think it's incredibly smart for those who don't know mint mobile which is that company with the funny Ryan Reynolds ads saves money for its customers by selling directly online which cuts out all the costs of stores and sales people and because it's built on the nation's largest 5G Network you don't have to sacrifice coverage speed or data this means you end up getting a premium wireless network for as low as 15 a month and all mint Mobile plans include unlimited talk and text plus lightning fast speed and free mobile hotspot I actually was able to try mint mobile and I have to admit it was so easy to set up it took like 15 minutes or less and the coverage felt the same as what I was using before so if you're looking for a great way to save more money every month seriously consider switching to Mint mobile and as an extra special offer for my channel if you sign up before July 14th using my link you can get their unlimited plan which is is usually only thirty dollars a month for just fifteen dollars a month use my link mintmobile.com care Nicole to get started or click the link in my description or my QR code it helps my channel a lot so thank you in advance and thank you also to Mint mobile alright so what is the problem with Teemu beyond what I've said already one of my biggest concerns with timu is how it's further fueling hyper over consumption temu gamifies the shopping experience in a way we haven't quite seen in the United States yet there are spinning wheels countdowns and literal games that you play to earn points for buying things on their app gamification which activates the brain's pleasure Center through the release of dopamine can be used in really positive ways like how Duolingo uses it to encourage people to learn new languages but in teemu's case gamification and dopamine hacking are being used to encourage unnecessary and arguably Reckless spending you see the videos people share of their Teemu hauls and they're almost always buying useless products that are low quality and rooted in leading micro Trends someone took away my Teamwork because I just bought a [ __ ] claw machine shut up and yes these hauls make for really fun content and it's a rush to see those orange bags at your door but it also begs the question of do we actually want and need these items or are we just looking for the dopamine hit and if it's the latter can we find alternative ways to get that same dopamine rush but ways that are more sustainable for our planet and wallets because there is no question that this increasing trend of buying things just to buy them just because they're cheap and trending just because Teemu flashes bright colors and promises of free goodies in our face there's no question that that is adding to our shared environmental crisis over consumption and the overall manufacturing of goods especially unnecessary goods are a huge contributor to climate change as the United Nations explains quote a large chunk of global greenhouse gas emissions are linked to private households our lifestyles have a profound impact on our planet the wealthiest bear the greatest responsibility the richest one percent of the global population combined account account for more greenhouse gas emissions than the poorest 50 percent that last part is particularly interesting for me when thinking about teemu's whole tagline shop like a billionaire because what exactly does that imply yeah it means average Americans can buy tons of random products for prices that are pretty cheap for the American dollar but doesn't it also mean that we fall into the exact same billionaire tropes that we so often criticize billionaires don't care about the planet billionaires don't care about communities or laborers and billionaires just buy the toys they want and don't worry about who it affects shopping like a billionaire with Teemu and honestly any similar platform is a concept that has disastrous consequences especially if internalized on a mass scale and I get that it is enticing to see some of these products and how cute they are or how convenient the gadgets would be or just how fun it would be to have things like that show up at your door and know you barely paid anything for it I get that because while researching for this video I came across so many products where I was like oh my gosh the little voice in me was like give me give me give me so I get that it's alluring because it is meant to be these websites know what stimulates our brain they know how to get us to click that buy button but what I hope people take from this video is to try pausing when that little impulsive voice speaks because on the other end of these unnecessary purchases are real consequences the U.S Department of Labor put out a warning about the forced labor of the weaker population that is very likely fueling teemo's manufacturing for context many members of China's Muslim minority weaker population have been forced into prison and labor camps the United States determined that China's actions constitute genocide while a U.N report said they could amount to crimes against humanity if you want to learn more about what's going on with the weakers by the way I'll leave down below an Al Jazeera video that breaks down the situation really well okay but zooming out again to this impulse we seem to have at least in the United States where I live to essentially hoard things we love to buy even even if we don't need something which like I mentioned before isn't great from an environmental standpoint but it also isn't great for our wallets retail therapy can lead us to not save and invest for our future properly which is critical to be financially secure that being said I do think our cultural obsession with retail therapy can provide really interesting insights into our culture as a whole retail therapy is often rooted in Desiring a sense of control and wanting hope for the future this is something people are probably feeling a lot of these days with a looming recession inflation and a constant over-stimulating news cycle that can leave us feeling anxious and helpless pair that with an individualist culture that arguably over encourages competition that leads us to wanting to keep up with others and it's no wonder that people are buying hordes of cheap stuff off of sites like Teemu and look I'm sure someone here wants to comment well why shouldn't people buy stuff off of Teemo their dollars don't go as far because of inflation and to be honest I think that's a weak argument because Teemo sells a lot of things but I think it's a bit of a stretch to say they're selling anything essential the sentiment online at least is that Teemu is very much a place where you buy fun accessories and gadgets and trinkets but not exactly a place where you'd buy say a baby stroller and yes from an Ethics standpoint there are probably many products we're consuming on a daily basis that have forced labor somewhere in the supply chain which is why I think it's important to continue pushing companies and legislators on labor policies but I think we have to be honest with ourselves about when we are buying things purely out of entertainment or boredom and instead try to channel those consumer demands to Avenues that better align with our values it won't happen all the time now I'm not a big fan of the there's no ethical consumption under capitalism quote because I think people tend to overuse that to shirk individual responsibility but I do recognize that there are compromises when it comes to us buying things and I don't want people to think I'm against consumerism itself but what I'm encouraging here is for a site like Teemu for everything it does does and stands for maybe we consider there are just too many compromises involved that maybe we need to instead practice quieting that impulsive voice that urges us to buy the random cool thing we see in a video that if we're looking for something in particular we check out second-hand places like Facebook Marketplace first and that we try investing in our financial Futures more than our closets or collections the end of the day people can do as a please in everyone's situation is unique so I'm not here to tell anyone how to live their lives and I'm certainly not a perfect consumer by any means but I will say I'm definitely opting out of using Teemu and I'm really curious to see where the company goes from here but what do you think have you ever used Teemu before or have you considered it let me know in the comments below and also I would love to hear from you guys in the comments on ways that you find fulfillment and dopamine through ways that aren't just buying products for me I find a lot of joy in creating things like these videos as well as exercising and spending time outside if you like this video I think you'll also like my other video essays I made a whole playlist so you can binge watch them and if you want to start with a video similar to this one I recommend watching how Tick Tock is feeling overconsumption and let's talk about social media's aesthetic Obsession thank you so much for watching and to those who support me on buy me a coffee and patreon it really means a lot if you want to become a patron and support this channel the link to do so is down below make sure to subscribe and like this video to please the algorithm overlords and I will see you guys next time bye

Channel: Cara Nicole

Views: 628,747

Keywords: personal finance, temu, temu haul, overconsumption, pinduoduo, chinese malware, video essay, investigation, video analysis, climate change, consumerism, capitalism, money, money management, internet, tiktok, shopping haul, temu exposed, temu review, temu scam, wealth building, wealth management, invest, investing, saving money, suspicious, billionaire, pollution, interesting, analysis, cara nicole, financial freedom, retail therapy, shopping addiction, sustainability, opinion, social media

Id: 7hGD5Cz_now

Length: 16min 24sec (984 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 16 2023