With the cost-of-living soaring, mega e-commerce platforms like Temu, Shein, AliExpress, and Amazon are more alluring than ever with their cheap prices, endless variety and the sheer convenience of shopping in your PJs. But experts warn consumers should proceed with caution.

The appeal 

Search for almost anything online, and chances are, many of the items that pop up will be tempting deals from the likes of Chinese-backed Temu and Shein. Consumer NZ’s acting head of research and advocacy Jessica Walker acknowledges the appeal of such sites, especially when its research shows 67% of Kiwis cite the cost of living as their top concern.

 

The risks

Unfortunately, cheap doesn’t always mean safe. Earlier this year, Consumer NZ found that at least six of the 16 toys it purchased from Temu for testing purposes weren’t safe, while four weren’t durable. A key concern was the security of the battery compartments housing button batteries. The organisation flagged its concerns to Product Safety New Zealand.

“Parents want to buy their kids birthday presents and Christmas presents, and if the only place that they can afford to buy the presents from is Temu, then we don't want to make them feel bad about that. But they should be able to shop with confidence that anything they're buying is safe, and these test results would indicate that's not the case,” Walker says.

The allure of ‘dark patterns’

Big e-commerce sites often use ‘dark patterns’ in their marketing. These are manipulative marketing tactics designed to encourage overspending.

“Temu is really interesting from a dark patterns perspective,” Walker says.

“They use things like countdown timers, or there's a spin the wheel… they encourage people to spend longer on their app, or the site, and to spend more.”

Ethical concerns

Buying cheap can come with other costs. There are the downstream impacts of not buying locally, potentially hurting our local businesses and supply infrastructure.

Concerns have also been raised about potentially poor labour conditions behind some ultra-cheap products. Then there are environmental concerns. Companies have also come under scrutiny for data security practices when handling customers’ personal information.

What protections do we have?

Walker says your protections under the Consumer Guarantees Act still apply when buying items from overseas. 

“But it's so much harder to enforce your consumer rights when you are not dealing with a company based in New Zealand,” she says.

Keeping yourself safe

Walker encourages what she calls ‘mindful’ shopping.

“If somebody's making you an offer that's too good to be true, then stop and think,” she says.

Check to see if there is an email address you can complain to before making your purchase, she says. This can help give you some comfort if things go wrong.

It’s also important not to store any financial or personal information on the app, including saving credit card details.

And if customer reviews are available (such as on sites like Amazon), make use of these to get a steer on the quality and confidence you can have in the products you’re after and the company behind them.