The most frequent shoppers on Temu are over 59 years old. That wasn't what I expected. Based mostly on their marketing, which often seems to involve younger female influencers I would have thought they were selling to young people, but this isn't the case.

The people they are making money from are old. Much like those "dial 1800 commercials" for civil war chess sets from decades ago.

I remember an episode of "hoarders" where most of what packed the house of a deceased elderly woman were products bought mail order from "dial 1800" commercials. Almost nothing was even opened... but even unopened and brand new all of the junk was still too worthless for the distressed children to even bother with selling. By the time the items arrived she often didn't remember what she ordered.

Their mother died in debt buried in worthless junk.

Call your mother. Call your uncle.

@futurebird we are dealing with that situation now. Not the crushing debt part, but the worthless pile of unopened junk part.

Not only do you have to take away the keys at some point...you also have to take away their buying power. Then cash hoarding must be stopped.

The most frequent shoppers on Temu are over 59 years old. That wasn't what I expected. Based mostly on their marketing, which often seems to involve younger female influencers I would have thought they were selling to young people, but this isn't the case.

The people they are making money from are old. Much like those "dial 1800 commercials" for civil war chess sets from decades ago.

@futurebird Side note, I randomly visited the Franklin Mint in 1995. They had a small store filled with every wacko chess set and commemorative plate. I still feel lucky for having the experience.

@uguisubari

I would have enjoyed that. Such an odd business, though I did have a moment when I was about 13 and got convinced that we needed to get that "Swords of History" subscription bugging my poor mother until she gave me a lecture about advertising.

Apparently the quality of their products varied wildly. And in some ways they almost seem quaint and honest compared to Temu.

But, they did pave the way for the "business model"

@uguisubari

I'm really susceptible to ads and so is my husband. I suspect this is true of many people but what makes us rare is we are willing to admit it? It's one of the things we bonded over.

Show me a shamwow commercial and I'm amazed. "Look at all the things it can do!" And just 19.99! (for three installments, plus shipping, terms and conditions may apply)

This is why I avoid ads whenever possible. They work. Even if you watch them thinking "this is trying to manipulate me"

@uguisubari

I would have enjoyed that. Such an odd business, though I did have a moment when I was about 13 and got convinced that we needed to get that "Swords of History" subscription bugging my poor mother until she gave me a lecture about advertising.

Apparently the quality of their products varied wildly. And in some ways they almost seem quaint and honest compared to Temu.

But, they did pave the way for the "business model"

@uguisubari

The human mind evolved to listen to and mostly trust other people. I don't really think the average person is set up or well placed to be the sophisticated research-driven type of person you'd need to be to be immersed in advertising all day without being influenced and at times tricked.

The simplest way to avoid being tricked or manipulated is to not see ads whenever possible.

... I still kind of want those "Swords of History" ... *eyes ebay furtively*

I remember an episode of "hoarders" where most of what packed the house of a deceased elderly woman were products bought mail order from "dial 1800" commercials. Almost nothing was even opened... but even unopened and brand new all of the junk was still too worthless for the distressed children to even bother with selling. By the time the items arrived she often didn't remember what she ordered.

Their mother died in debt buried in worthless junk.

Call your mother. Call your uncle.

@futurebird LOL!

@futurebird

If you do want to make an intervention please work out what is actually going on. Hoarding and Compulsive Shopping are different and usually have different roots. I know several hoarders and none of them shop, in fact many are extremely thrifty.

Shoppers may not mind having a clear out but hoarders may literally _never_ forgive you. So please take care and get professional advice.

@uguisubari

I would have enjoyed that. Such an odd business, though I did have a moment when I was about 13 and got convinced that we needed to get that "Swords of History" subscription bugging my poor mother until she gave me a lecture about advertising.

Apparently the quality of their products varied wildly. And in some ways they almost seem quaint and honest compared to Temu.

But, they did pave the way for the "business model"

I remember an episode of "hoarders" where most of what packed the house of a deceased elderly woman were products bought mail order from "dial 1800" commercials. Almost nothing was even opened... but even unopened and brand new all of the junk was still too worthless for the distressed children to even bother with selling. By the time the items arrived she often didn't remember what she ordered.

Their mother died in debt buried in worthless junk.

Call your mother. Call your uncle.

@futurebird
That's my dad, but with all the shit Alex Jones hocks.

@noplasticshower

Have you made any positive progress? Their app, and I also didn't know this, is "gamified" it has timers that say "buy now or miss the deal" it has lootboxes and reward points. It slurps up your contact list from your phone and tries to rope in everyone you know like Farmville or one of those Maffia Boss facebook games.

Gambling addict treatment programs ask that their participants abstain from Temu because it's got gambling elements and can trigger people.