I was given as a gift a Temu KZ-80 rechargeable (has a short USB cord) vacuum sealer for canning jars, regular and wide mouth, ( 5 lids of each size ).
I will use this with my dehydrated veggies for storage. It took 2 or 3 attempts for me to get the lids to seal on each size, but that was all on me, once you try a few times it is fairly easy.
The two jars I sealed as a test are still sealed as of today (5 or 6 days now).
I have no experience with Temu, I know some people that swear by them and then others that just swear at the name.
Time will tell, I'm only drying and sealing for one, so the sealer will not get much heavy use.
Temu is a marketplace like etsy, amazon, and even permies digital market. Temu doesn't have it's own brand, they just have a platform and distribution system for other people to sell stuff.
Most everything I've seen for sale on Temu I've seen for sale on amazon and/or already bought it from amazon. (pro tip: reverse image search when buying stuff online is a very handy tool)
The biggest difference between Temu and Amazon is the lack of middlemen. Temu makes it easy for manufacturers or brands to sell directly through them.
Here, let me give you an example of the old, pre amazon system (this varies depending on the niche. For example, clothing passes through a lot more stages. Spinningwheels a lot less. It gives a general idea)
1. someone makes the thing
2. a brand buys the thing from the maker
3. an exporter buys the thing from the brand and deals with the red tape of getting it out of the country.
4. an importer buys the thing from the exporter and deals with the red tape of getting it into the country.
(repeat step 3 and 4 again if in Canada)
5. a wholesale distributor buys the thing from the import service
6. a shop buys the thing from the wholesale distributor
7. a person buys the thing from the shop
On average, each of those middlemen doubles the price (again, varies depending on niche.) And with each of those, the government gets taxes of one sort or another.
The amazon system is so much cheaper than the old system because they usually knock one or two middlemen out of the equation. The coffee I buy from amazon sells for $12.49 locally. They buy it wholesale for $6. I can buy it on amazon for $3.99. That's the revolutionary difference amazon made: they knocked out a couple unnecessary steps from the supply chain. Which means the goods didn't need to be shipped those extra times. Not a bad thing.
This is what Temu does
1. someone makes the thing
2. a brand buys the thing from the maker
3. The brand sells the thing on temu.
Here's what it looks like in Canada
$3.37 per crayon on amazon.ca
$0.58 cents per crayon on temu
...
The biggest benefit of Temu is it shows us just how much money is being waisted on middlemen. It is staggering!
But it's also a bit like recycling. It's a useful stepping stone to get people thinking about environmental issues, but not going to save the world.
Does Temu have problems. Absolutely. But maybe not all the ones they are accused of. Since they aren't the ones making the stuff, that's a non-starter complaint. However, the manufactures making the stuff may not have the same labour standards as we do in North America. But that's not exclusive to temu. That's the same problem Amazon was accused of a few years ago before Temu became the big bad.
...
The solution to Temu or whatever big bad of the month is: To support local artisans who make things locally. That promotes trust in the manufacturing system as you know Charlie who made the thing and his reputation is on the line if it doesn't work.
When I looked into this, I was surprised that if we took out the middlemen, we could make some of these things cheaper locally, even with the high wages workers get here.
We aren't there yet and not every purchase can be locally made. However, every little bit we can do help and if it takes temu to save me enough money I can buy a nice locally made thing - it's a compromise.
I dont like the sites,and it doesnt matter which one,they all do it,buy from a country on the other side of the world for dirt cheap,sell it low enough locally that many people buy it because of its price and then runs the local maker out of business so people who would rather buy local now cant.Oh back on topic,sorry.
That sealer will be fine for random use around the home, and i hope it lasts for years,keep us updated!
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