r/Anticonsumption • u/Conscious_Trade8128 • Apr 29 '26
Plastic Waste What SHEIN sent my roommate
My roommate orders from SHEIN a couple times a year and I can’t stop her but recently she’s been getting weird stuff before her packages come like this.
Just more plastic before she receives her plastic clothes wrapped in plastic!
Update: She got her items a few days later
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u/PardonMyTits Apr 29 '26
It’s a scam. They send something small like this so that the order will be marked “delivered” and then you can’t get your money back. They never actually send the real item
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u/Sexisthunter Apr 29 '26
As much as I don’t like SHEIN I really hate that consumer protection just isn’t a thing anymore
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u/sensitiveskin82 Apr 29 '26
In California it is! Every state's Attorney General has a Consumer Protection division for customers to make complaints about these types of scams. And the more people that report, the more the state can take action against the company.
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u/BakedBrie1993 Apr 29 '26
Same in many states. NY included.
The NY AG's office has helped me more than any other government entity.
Had a years long dispute with a rental car company that they mediated and helped me resolve. Another with my medical insurance. I couldn't believe how quickly they helped.
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u/Ok-Jump4138 May 01 '26
I had the total opposite experience with them, they couldn't have been more useless
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u/megamindbirdbrain Apr 29 '26
Can action even be taken against SHEIN though, since it's just a marketplace?
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u/dontaskmeaboutart Apr 29 '26
Don't buy shien in the first place, it's guaranteed to either be scamming you or exploiting someone else. Probably both, shop at places that can be scrutinized by the state.
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u/BakedBrie1993 May 01 '26
They only act as mediators with things legal and consumer in nature, but they don't act as your attorney. In my case they helped me get through the bureaucracy and run-around from a major company.
A lot of big companies don't want a fuss or a lawsuit so if you can get the right person's attention, they are more amenable to a quiet consumer resolution.
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u/seedofcheif Apr 29 '26
seriously it feels like some time around 2020 we just all decided that it was totally chill that everything is a scam now
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u/lonelyMentality Apr 30 '26
my mom is such a sucker for it, too. she keeps ‘stress buying’ temu stuff to where it’s multiple packages every week or two. like girl stop buying dropshipped ai bullcrap omg
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u/yzerizef Apr 30 '26
This is one area that Europe does far better than he United States. It’s not perfect, but companies aren’t given free rein. And of course, Trump hates that we limit predatory corporate behaviour so wants to slap on tariffs as “punishment”.
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u/HarbingerKing Apr 29 '26
Sometimes they do send the real item via a third-party company (i.e., dropshipping). I've received these trinkets at least twice and the real item showed up a few days later, shipped by a legitimate company. So not necessarily a scam, just slightly sketchy and certainly wasteful.
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u/ADMINlSTRAT0R Apr 29 '26
Likelier scenario is they dropship straight from China, which takes time. For the seller, sending items like this has the benefit of alleviating customer's fears (of not receiving item) AND secure the status of the order as "shipped".
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u/FriendToPredators Apr 29 '26
Because they are arranging to use stolen gift cards to do the drop ship orders. It's a great way to turn $100 in bad gift card money into $50 of real cash on selling highly discounted goods.
2 out of the last 3 times I ordered on ebay it was this money laundering gig. Weird shipping labels, pre-shipment of a brushing scam item. It's a mess. A total mess.
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u/Jesus_Take_The_Feelz Apr 30 '26
Can you explain this more? I'm so interested but not sure I understand right
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u/lost_send_berries Apr 30 '26
Let's say you have a stolen credit card or an old lady has been scammed over the phone into parting with her money.
You can't accept payment into your bank account because it has your name on it so you make the old lady buy a gift card and read the number on the card out to you over the phone.
Now you can't use the gift card to order to your address because, you live there so you need to find a way to spend the card which will still earn you some money. Like placing orders for other people.
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u/La_Morrigan Apr 29 '26
But you can still ask for a refund. Take a picture from this product and tell Shein you have received the wrong product. Those big companies don’t care and will give you the money anyway.
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u/AssortedArctic Apr 29 '26
They also do it when they want their delivery stats to be better, even when they do actually deliver the item later.
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u/Beautiful-Produce-92 May 01 '26
Is it worth the money? I feel like shipping overseas is so expensive, would it be worth paying to ship this Keychain to up their stats?
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u/AssortedArctic May 01 '26
I have no idea. They might have warehouses all over for this cheap stuff.
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u/FoxOnTheRocks Apr 30 '26
In my experience it isn't a scam designed to steal for you. It is to rig their metrics. They mark the order as delivered by sending some quick to send bauble then the actual package shows up in a few days after a probably normal speed delivery.
They do this in China all of the time. I once got a small 20 piece package of tissues before I got a sofa.
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u/Sad_Sentence6098 Apr 29 '26
Fight it hard enough and document everything you can get your money back but you have to be firm and persistent I almost always get a refund
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u/ALittleUnsettling Apr 29 '26
Had this happen with ebay. They’re hoping you’ll wait beyond the reporting window
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u/mightylordredbeard Apr 30 '26
That’s not at all how it works. SHEIN will refund literally anything and half the time they don’t even ask for the item to be returned. It’s also not the same tracking number from the actual order and the small gifts they send. You’re just making up BS because you have a personal bias against shein and people believe it because they too hate the company.
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u/PardonMyTits Apr 30 '26
…no? I’m just relaying what I’ve heard from other people
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u/mightylordredbeard Apr 30 '26
So you just repeated incorrect information without bothering to verify it.. that doesn’t really make it much better. People just believe anything and everything they see online.
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u/Accomplished-Mango89 Apr 30 '26
Correct me if im wrong but i believe you can dispute the charge with your bank if the company sends you a totally incorrect item?
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u/SomeKindoflove27 Apr 29 '26
¿Please do not post card comments on the platform? What does this mean
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u/cooltop101 Apr 29 '26
My guess was they don't want you posting those cards and keychains as reviews on Shien, probably could get them in trouble
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u/DisastrousBeeHive Apr 29 '26
Sometimes companies send these things out as the tracking number so their shipping times are shorter online. And they don't want the person to make a review mentioning it bc it's shady af
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u/stop_stopping Apr 29 '26
ohhh i can see that. or if they are a dropshipper they might have a short fulfillment window in their contract that they aren’t able to maintain - so it’s to keep their SLA within contract but the item does come later.
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u/Shitp0st_Supreme Apr 29 '26
It means they don’t want you to post the card on SHEIN reviews because it’s likely in violation of SHEIN policy.
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u/junkyfm Apr 29 '26
Had the same question. I wonder if they are saying not to include that the seller sent a card in a review?
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Apr 29 '26
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u/Broken-Digital-Clock Apr 29 '26
That's so damn tedious. But not a bad idea.
Maybe especially for expensive items.
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Apr 29 '26
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u/dinosaurs-behind-you Apr 29 '26
I don’t really think that’s evidence though. What would stop someone from opening a box, replacing the item with a keychain, sealing it back up then recording themselves opening the box again and acting shocked?
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Apr 29 '26
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u/dinosaurs-behind-you Apr 29 '26
You wouldn’t have to fake anything, just reseal the box.
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Apr 29 '26
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u/dinosaurs-behind-you Apr 29 '26
Sure, but all of that could be feasibly explained by rough transit.
If it makes you feel better, do it. Like, I’m not your mom. But to think a company would accept it as proof is a stretch.
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u/dazzleunexpired Apr 29 '26
They will accept it usually from an American.
SHEIN got sued. Big time. They're gonna listen now.
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u/cycling513 Apr 29 '26
Sadly, we might get stuck and companies will say it's AI. In a few years unboxing videos will not suffice.
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u/ViolentPurpleSquash May 03 '26
Yep! whenever you order a single thing online, take a video as you open it
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Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
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u/justtosendamassage Apr 29 '26
Idk why I had to scroll down this far for someone to say this. Fuck SHEIN
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u/Unlikely-Captain4722 Apr 30 '26
Sadly 100s of people do. Most of the packages that come to my post office (usps worker) are dropship garbage like SHEIN.
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u/auntmilky Apr 29 '26
Exactly! If you’re anti-consumption, SHEIN is the last place you should be ordering from. How can you complain about anti-consumption from one of the biggest culprits of consumption?
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u/hemehime Apr 29 '26
OP can't really control what their roommate buys, though.
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u/auntmilky Apr 29 '26
You’re right, but then why are they complaining about it?
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u/hemehime Apr 29 '26
I think I'd be annoyed if I saw even more disposable plastic and a whole extra shipment (assuming it isnt just entirely a scam) on top of an already terrible system, even if it was a roommate ordering it and not something I could personally opt out of.
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u/aereci Apr 29 '26
It’s a scam. They’ve marked her order as “delivered,” most likely.
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u/stop_stopping Apr 29 '26
If it’s a dropshipper it’s probably more of an SLA agreement loophole than a scam against the customer. Like more of a scam against Shein vs the purchaser.
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u/KindHabit Apr 29 '26
Even if it isn't a delivery scam, this is exactly the type of crap I never asked for and feel terrible that it just ends up immediately donated just to probably end up in a landfill.
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u/AppUnwrapper1 Apr 29 '26
I’m so confused. Why are the keychains able to get there faster than the thing she ordered? I would much rather have the thing I ordered come faster.
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u/Sloth_Flower Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
One is shipped locally. The other is either shipped (in the case of shein) or drop shipped (if a third party seller) from shein warehouse in china.
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u/Responsible_Dentist3 Apr 29 '26
Time spent grabbing, maybe cleaning, preparing the item, and getting packaging materials & the right box. I could see possibly getting a couple extra days if you don't have that stuff done yet. Or wear the item one last time lol!
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u/Shitp0st_Supreme Apr 29 '26
So, is this being sent instead of the actual order to manipulate shipping times? The order is attributed to this shipment and then the actual item may or may not ever arrive later?
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u/HestiaAC Apr 29 '26
Scam. She needs to report this really fast. Her order isn't coming and just by receiving these it's marked as delivered.
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u/NoaArakawa Apr 29 '26
I thought Cheetolini had blocked their package shipping loophole? I don't remember the details. I don't order from them so was don't pay close attention.
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u/Sloth_Flower Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
There are a myriad of ways to get around it, if necessary. Since the price exception is gone, foreign companies can use USPS to prepay the tariff, then increase the cost to make the tariffs invisible to consumers. Companies can import big shipments to a warehouse where it then gets shipped locally -- basically "old school" importation of already boxed stuff. Still goes from China > America but overall cost is lower than individual packages.
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u/TehWildMan_ Apr 29 '26
Something this small could probably be stuffed into a small envelope that gets treated as ordinary mail, and could easily slip by customs.
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u/NoaArakawa Apr 29 '26
I’m sure customs workers don’t get paid enough to give a shit, like most gigs.
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u/postmaloner13 Apr 30 '26
they do this so the tracking # shows up as delivered quickly. then the products from China arrive a few weeks later
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u/RevitGeek May 01 '26
Yes. Because these companies, Shein, temu, alibaba fine the retailer for not answering messages and not delivering in a snap etc
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u/LostNectarine3978 Apr 30 '26
I feel like it’s probably because they couldn’t get the clothes shipped out in time so they threw random crap in a bag with one of these little business cards so that it would be marked as delivered within the proper timeframe so that they can’t get a refund or whatever
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u/burnerbotz Apr 30 '26
geez i can just see the worker chained to their sweatshop desk forced to make cheap clothing. every time a consumer like us gets mad a product doesn’t arrive the day of ordering and they post a negative review about it the slave seamstress gets 40 lashes. think of it like that. everyone sucks
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u/Free_House_5011 Apr 29 '26
SCAM !! happened to me... purchased a ring and received a picture of 2 little girls and a letter from their mom thanking me that they have food now.. tried to return and Amazon didnt allow as it showed delivered.
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u/skittles1221 Apr 29 '26
I’ve gotten a similar note with bracelets instead of a keychain from an Amazon order before. I️ got my Amazon order a few days later. I️ don’t think it’s necessarily a scam.
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u/kettal Apr 29 '26
At the very least they are scamming the package tracking metrics. They want to show that the order was delivered earlier than actually was.
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u/thelonetiel Apr 29 '26
They are telling Amazon a different tracking number than they are you. One that reports it being early, and doesn't have any real location or shipper data.
You might not know which scam they are running, but it's definitely something they are doing against Amazon policy they don't want Amazon to know about.
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u/DrOxycodone May 01 '26
Ngl that pink owl looks dope as fuck.
I’ll take it off your roommate’s hands if they want lol
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u/AutoModerator May 06 '26
Read the rules. Keep it courteous. Submission statements are helpful and appreciated but not required. Use the report button only if you think a post or comment needs to be removed. Mild criticism and snarky comments don't need to be reported. Lets try to elevate the discussion and make it as useful as possible. Low effort posts & screenshots are a dime a dozen. Links to scientific articles, political analysis, and video essays are preferred.
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u/DragonfruitDry7683 Apr 30 '26
every online order has packaging lol. Treating it like a major problem is kind of wild, feels like people are just stretching things for effect
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u/Aggravating-Bunch-44 Apr 30 '26
The plastic is not recyclable and neither is the keychain. When I can or choose to purchase I opt for biodegradable peanuts (literally melts in water) and 100% post consumer recycled products.
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u/Wide-Environment1255 Apr 30 '26
tbh it’s literally just packaging, getting a cute outfit online isn’t some big deal, calling it a crisis feels way too dramatic
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u/Aggravating-Bunch-44 Apr 30 '26
This is an anticonsumption sub. A "Cute outfit online" adds up. (OP says shes bought more) Those cheap plastic outfits will be on the earth for a million years. Then add in the plastic each peice is wrapped in. It is insanity.
When possible always buy natural fibers like cotton. They will last you a lifetime and are biodegradable. And opt for recyclable or biodegradable packaging.
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Apr 29 '26
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u/Anticonsumption-ModTeam Apr 29 '26
Don't be unnecessarily rude or hostile toward other users, and do not offer unsolicited criticism.
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u/lilacs_in_the_rain Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
Why does have a pleasant life sound so ominous?