Comment on The Top 3 Apps in my Country (Venezuela) are all VPNs...
hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 5 days agoBecause people like cheap stuff. Need a phone case? Harry Potter merchandise knockoffs, socks, a brush for your arts project? TEMU has that for $0.61, delivered to your door.
And as far as I know it's sponsored by the Chinese government. They chip in with forced labor camps. And they also invested massively in advertising and making it a thing.
I wouldn't buy from them. As far as I know the app is also spying on the users etc. But yeah, enough people seem to buy stuff there. I suppose it's cheap and convenient and people don't care.
NONE_dc@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Isn’t Alibaba the same shit?
hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 5 days ago
I think Alibaba and Aliexpress are less tightly connected with the Chinese government. They also ship stuff from China, but they aren't specialized in the cheapest of the cheapest. Plus as far as I know they're more a marketplace platform. They handle the money and connect you with an individual seller in China. The platforms are a bit less convenient to use. I think it's a bit like eBay vs Amazon, if you want to compare it to western companies.
NONE_dc@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Huh, now I kinda get it. Thanks.
heavydust@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
Yes.