Right in the article they cite the analysis has numbers on a few groups of products like protrction equipment, makeup, and whether they pass EU standards. 60%-something do not. That also means 30%-something pass EU standards. That’s a lot of quality cheap product. Of course as a consumer you can’t tell whether you’re getting something from the 35% pile or the 65% one. But that doesn’t detract from the point of a lot of the cheap stuff in the category is the same stuff when it comes to EU standards.
Here’s an anecdote - years ago I really wanted a magnetic USB cable. Being skeptical of AliExpress stuff, especially electrical, I found a North American brans called Volta. Bought a cable. Cost me CAD $20 or $30. Some time after, I was browsing AliExpress for some specialty ebike parts that aren’t imported in Canada, I took a look at the magnetic cables they got. After a few pages of results I found a suspiciously similar cable to the Volta sold by the manufacturer itself. $3-4 for a set with a few magnetic tips. Ordered one. Once it came, I meticulously compared it to the Volta. It was identical in every way. It even failed in the same weak spot after a couple of years of use as the Volta. So yeah, while not everything is the same, not everything is not the same either.
Side note - the AliExpress prices are not the low prices available in other cheaper Chinese domestic retailers. Stuff on AliExpress already has significant markups. Volta did not pay $3-4 for that cable. They prolly paid $0.50-1 if even that much. They made exorbitant profit.
Sure, go and buy the stuff if you want. Personally, I do not have the competence to know which products contain harmful chemicals, for instance. I am not questioning that a lot of products are badly made quality wise. I’m just saying that any European retailer / producer is legally responsible to ensure the product is safe and not harmful. And testing costs money, believe it or not. (Yes they carry out tests. I have worked for a large retailer)
Right in the article they cite the analysis has numbers on a few groups of products like protrction equipment, makeup, and whether they pass EU standards. 60%-something do not. That also means 30%-something pass EU standards. That’s a lot of quality cheap product. Of course as a consumer you can’t tell whether you’re getting something from the 35% pile or the 65% one. But that doesn’t detract from the point of a lot of the cheap stuff in the category is the same stuff when it comes to EU standards.
Here’s an anecdote - years ago I really wanted a magnetic USB cable. Being skeptical of AliExpress stuff, especially electrical, I found a North American brans called Volta. Bought a cable. Cost me CAD $20 or $30. Some time after, I was browsing AliExpress for some specialty ebike parts that aren’t imported in Canada, I took a look at the magnetic cables they got. After a few pages of results I found a suspiciously similar cable to the Volta sold by the manufacturer itself. $3-4 for a set with a few magnetic tips. Ordered one. Once it came, I meticulously compared it to the Volta. It was identical in every way. It even failed in the same weak spot after a couple of years of use as the Volta. So yeah, while not everything is the same, not everything is not the same either.
Side note - the AliExpress prices are not the low prices available in other cheaper Chinese domestic retailers. Stuff on AliExpress already has significant markups. Volta did not pay $3-4 for that cable. They prolly paid $0.50-1 if even that much. They made exorbitant profit.
Sure, go and buy the stuff if you want. Personally, I do not have the competence to know which products contain harmful chemicals, for instance. I am not questioning that a lot of products are badly made quality wise. I’m just saying that any European retailer / producer is legally responsible to ensure the product is safe and not harmful. And testing costs money, believe it or not. (Yes they carry out tests. I have worked for a large retailer)
Wouldn’t it be nice to have cheap, pocket mass spectrometers. 😅