The Great Online Shopping Experiment: A Hands-On Review of Wish, Temu, and AliExpress

As I embarked on this online shopping adventure, I decided to purchase a variety of items from three popular platforms: Wish, Temu, and AliExpress. My goal was to compare these platforms and see which one offers the best deals.

My first stop was Wish, where I found an astonishing array of products, all priced at $5 or less. This was exactly what they advertise – ultra-cheap stuff that's perfect for impulse buys or trying out new gadgets. Among the items on display, a fishing hat caught my eye. As I examined it more closely, I realized that this strange-looking object had some surprising features.

To my surprise, this so-called "fishing hat" turned out to be a hands-free umbrella with straps around your head. It was an interesting concept, and I must admit that it wasn't as terrible as I expected. The design was functional, and the fact that it could keep birds away from my head was a nice touch.

Moving on to my next purchase, I stumbled upon Color Mou – a company that promised high-quality Razer DeathAdder Chroma mice at an unbeatable price. However, things took a turn for the worse when I discovered that these fonts were not real, and the mouse didn't even work properly. In fact, it turned out to be less than half the price of the original product.

Despite this initial disappointment, I was pleasantly surprised when the Color Mou mouse started working as soon as I plugged it in. The design was sleek, and the feel was surprisingly comfortable. It wasn't as high-end as the real Razer mouse, but for a fraction of the cost, it was an excellent deal.

Next up was my mobile bracket from Temu, which promised to be a three-in-one charging stand that could fast-charge Samsung phones, earbuds, and even Galaxy Watches. I was excited about this product, especially since it was specifically designed for Samsung devices.

The mobile bracket looked like a lightweight, compact design with two USB-C ports and a Qi wireless charging pad for my watch. I loaded up the phone, placed the Galaxy Watch on the stand, and waited to see if it would work as promised. However, things didn't quite go according to plan.

When I tried to place the Gear S2 watch on the mobile bracket, it kept sliding off. The band held it in place, but it wasn't secure enough to stay put for an extended period. It was clear that this product had some design flaws, and I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

As I continued my shopping spree, I realized that buying questionable items online could come with unexpected consequences. In fact, I'd like to say that I'm on top of all those subscriptions, but the truth is, I don't always know what's coming in the mail.

Shout out to today's sponsor, Rocket Money, for helping me navigate these subscription headaches. With their expertise and guidance, I'll be able to better manage my online shopping adventures – and maybe even avoid some of those questionable purchases in the future.

Throughout this experiment, I learned that buying cheap products online can be a gamble. Sometimes it pays off, but other times, you're left with subpar goods or disappointed expectations. As I wrap up this article, I'd like to encourage readers to be cautious when shopping on these platforms and to always read reviews before making a purchase.

As for me, I'll stick to buying what I know and love – regular mice that don't pretend to be something they're not. But hey, who knows? Maybe one day, I'll find a way to make those questionable purchases work out in my favor.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- I bought a lot of techfrom the internet Dollar stores.Wish, Temu, AliExpress,let's see which one's better.Big shout out to today's sponsor,Rocket Money.So let's start out with Wish.Now, the vast majority of these itemswere $5 or less.A couple of them wereslightly more expensive,but almost everythingwas the ultra cheap stuffthat they advertise all day long.What is-What am I holding?A fishing hat.All right.Well, it seems like aperfect item to start with.Uh.This is a hat?Did I buy this hat?Oh, good Lord.Yep, that's a hat.So it looks like a small umbrella,but on the inside,it's just, like,like a small strap.- Oh- Yeah.Straps around your head.Hands-free umbrella.- I'm not gonna lie.Actually, not bad.All right, that's a good start.- Yeah.And it's camoso that you're hidden from birds,I guess?- It's a good start.Let's see what else we got.I like this.I just get to like rummagein my bag of goodiesand just pull random stuff out.What could go wrong?How about Color Mou?Color Mou?Color M-O-U.So this is a Razer DeathAdder Chromawith some real great-looking fonts.Those do not look real.- We cannot see those fonts.- Oh, should I-?Okay, fine.I'll take the hat off.So these fonts are an instant giveaway.Also, the factthat this is likeless than a third of theprice of the real one.That's not a good sign.This is supposed to be Chroma,and I plugged it in,and no Chroma is happening.Oh, oh, oh.Nevermind.It just took a minute.Oh, snap.That actually looksjust like the real thing.Ah, okay.So this does show upas a USB optical mouse.So they're not going so faras to fake it to actually load up Chroma,which some could argueis an improvement over the real one.Um.I mean, do you feela little bit questionableabout buying a fake Razer mouse?Yes.Could you have just bought a regular mousethat's not Razer?Also yes.But I will say, very comfy.And it claims it's 4,000 DPI,and I'll say that itdoes feel pretty good,even on this wood surface.Next up,we've got ourselves mobile bracket.- Man, I love these descriptions.- Oh,a three-in-one charging stand.I know this one.So this is specifically advertisedas for Samsung.So theoreticallyit will fast-charge your phone,your earbuds,as well as your Galaxy Watch.Very lightweight.That's fine.I mean, this should work.'Cause really what you're looking at here,a pair of USB-C ports,so one for the phone,one for your earbuds,and then a little Qi wireless charging padfor your watch.So I'm gonna load it up here.Okay, Z Flip charging.Wonderful.We'll put the Galaxy Watch on.Oh.Wait, what?No, I actually don't know if I like this'cause there's no way for it to stay on.You can kind of, like,perch it there,but then the band has to hold itand it just slides off.You see that?If we had a different watch, maybe.So this is a Gear S2, right?So it's gonna be a little biton the older side, but.Nah, nah, that's not it.But hey, you know what?It's fine.We didn't waste that much money,so not gonna stress too much.Shout out to today's sponsor,Rocket Money.I don't know if you know this or not,but I buy a lot of questionable thingson the channel,and sometimes those thingscome with subscriptionsjust to make them work.Now I'd love to saythat I'm on top of allthose subscriptions,but you know,when you make 10 "consumer advice" videosat the same time every week,well, eh,things fall through the cracks.That's where today's sponsor,Rocket Money, can help.Rocket Money is a personal finance appthat helps you cancel subscriptions,lower bills,and manage your money better.Rocket Money was there to help me cancela number of sus subscriptionsthat I had honestly forgotten about.I mean, things I had donein-depth investigative videos on,and I didn't even have to makeany uncomfortable callsbecause Rocket Moneyhandled everything for mewith just a couple oftaps right from the app.You can even use Rocket Moneyto help lower your bills.That's right,they can call for youand automatically try toget you a better rate.No more outrageously high internet bills.So take control of your finances today.Go to RocketMoney.com/AustinEvansto get started for free.And big thank you to Rocket Moneyfor sponsoring this video.All right, what's next up for Wish?We got ourselves"Healthy daily necessities."What are healthy daily necessities?Water?A nutritious breakfast?Oxygen?Uh, what?Oh, my God,that's not what I thought it was at all.This is an LED name badge.How is that a healthy daily necessity?(Alex laughing)But, look,when I was shopping around,I saw it and I was like,you know what?I do forget everyone's names.So congratulations everyone in the room.You now get to wear a name badgeso I don't forget your names.- Oh, I thought that was for youso that Gen Z would know who you were.(Alex laughing)- Okay, so your badgeis Mr. Mean,and you get to wear that one.Instructions for LED name badge:put the CD into computer CD-Rom.- What?- Can someone remind me,is this still 2004with my computer and its CD-Rom?What?Is there some other way of doing this?Oh, wait, wait, wait.Hold on, hold on.There's also a Bluetooth mode.Maybe we'll do Bluetooth mode.Okay, turn on cell phoneBluetooth function.Okay.So, Alex has been very kindto prep this off-screen.Did you have to download a CD?- I did have to download a CDbecause the app didn't work, so.- Really?There we go.I am-Lots of emojis.Wow, there's a lot of emojis there.- Yeah, they gave a lot of options.I was like, why not?- What is it?Oh, my God.Oh, is it Duncan?(Austin sighing)Well, if you too forget your name oftenand would like a name badgeto let everyone knowin very bright, bright LEDs,well, boy, boy,is this the product for you?All right, what?I didn't order this.Eyebrow powder?What?Who ordered the eyebrow powder?It wasn't me.Also eyeshadow?Okay, I'll tell youthat while I ordered a lot of these items,I definitely was not responsiblefor eyeshadow and eyebrow powder.- That's what you say every time.- But I didn't order this one!Where's Matt when you need him?I'll just do the eyeshadow first.What if I just do, like, one side?So, wait.I have to close my eyes.Wait, how do you do-?Oh, you close one eye at a time?This one's pink.Why is it so red?Ugh.Oh, no.Oh, no.I need to do what they call blending.(Austin laughing)There we go.They look fuller now.More here.Boy, this is bad.And I-Oh, God.Uh.I need to put my glasses onso I can see.Oh, it just lookslike I got punched a little bit, right?- A few times.- All right.What else has Wish got for us?We have a key chain.Well, what could gowrong with a key chain?I don't think anything.Oh!Oh, I know this one!Okay.So this is listed as a key chain,but they had some choicewords to describe it.So this is like a little paracord,like, bracelet,but it's got like aheavy weight on the end.And the idea is,not only can you use this as,like, I'm like a little key chain guy,but as self-defense.Oh, there's a hole in the table.Damn.I'm gonna pull out my ninja moves.I've been training in the martial arts.- Here, break that.That's like an attacker's arm.- I think I could break this.All right, everyone ready?All right.3,2,1.Hiya!Ow.- You just hurt yourself.- Yeah.Okay, wait, wait, wait.Ow.Ow.Okay, you know what?This sucks!I have not defended myself at all!All right,next up we got watch band.Okay, it's very heavy for a watch band.Why is this so heavy?Oh!So I forget what this is called.This is an Apple watch band.I don't know if this isreal stainless steel,but it certainly feels,it probably is, honestly.It's very heavy.Oh, yeah.And it goes on totally fine, too.So it definitely is machined correctly.So it is a little bitdifferent of a color.So, like,I do actually havethe stainless steel Apple watch,which is very shiny.This is a little more matte.If I put this on,yeah, obviouslyhilariously big on my wrist, right?Like, I need to take a bunch of links out,like, most of the links.But, yeah.Oh, boy.Oh, wow.All right, I can't figure this out.Ugh.If I was a watchist,I would tell you all abouthow lovely this is.Unfortunately,I'm not good at putting links together.But it seems real good.All right,we got a twofer this time.We got some fake Pokémon cardsand we've got ourselves household.What's there not to likeabout fake Pokémon households?There are so many fakePokémon cards out there,and I'll be real,they're all really bad.Now there are some very high-end fakes,but you're not gonna find those on Wish.You're just not.Like, those are the onesthat are actually legit-looking.This I'm sure is gonna bea bunch of, like,cheapy fako cardsthat I only boughtfor informational purposes only.Nintendo.So basically what we've got hereis a huge chunk of Swordand Shield Vmax cards.And, I mean,just pretty much every single one,including the rainbow rares.But the problem is,is that while at first glance,that might look decent,but super fake.(everyone gasping)Like, no,the fakest of fake.Now, while I take all these cardsand submit them to Nintendo as evidence,we also do have our household.What the hell?Oh, oh, this cool.This cool, okay.So this is a fancy USB-C cable.So this is often used with,I think they call it, like,the aviator style cable.So it is definitelya little cheaper than it looks.Well, not in the actual price,but the factthat I don't know if this is real metal,I think it's probably plastic.But if you use, like,a nice mechanical keyboard or somethingand you wanna havea nice-looking cable on your desk,what you can do is,you can just plug this inand it will look likethose very expensive,like 30, $40 aviator cables.Except it's like three bucks.All right.Oh, oh, that's kind of neat.Can you see that?It's got a little LED on the end.Okay, yeah.So it is charging my phone.So that little LED is probably mostlyjust so you can see itin sort of dark places.But, like, that's cool.Like I'm not usedto a USB cable being this floppy.I'm used to it being much firmerand-- Mm, yeah.- Look at the time!Wow, what great items we have here.Speaking of chargers,this one's weird.This is a one-time-use chargerfor your phone.Now, if that sounds strange to you,the thing is, though,I've seen these for a while.So they used to-I remember, like,this showed up at CES like years ago.And then multiple companies sell it.I've seen,especially when you goto a place like Vegas or something,you'll see that they'll just sell these,there'll be like vending machineswith chargers in them,where if you're likein a pinch or whatever,you could just buy this thingand it would just work.Now this one,even though it says one-use,it actually does have a micro USB.So it looks like youcould actually plug it inso you could recharge it,which is good.'Cause otherwise thisis a complete disaster.But again, theoretically,I can just take thisand plug it into my phone,and it will just charge away.- It's dead.- Unless it's dead,which defeats the purposeof an emergency chargerand that it don't get no charge.Because it says it's 3300 milliamp hours,but also, it's dead.So if you're in an emergencyand you wanna keepa little charger around,this is your charger,'cause it'll be deadby the time you try to plug it inand then you have to pull a micro USB.We're gonna end Wish with a bang.And with a bang I mean fire,explosions, tears,the fire department being called,all my favorite things.Oh, this actually looks kind of cool.The DUKA lighter.What?It's do our best,do good tools.You know what?I do my best every day.So this is great if you need to light-What would someone light?Yeah.- A candle?- Candle, yes,that's exactly it.This is to light a candle.Definitely what I'd be doing.Just light it up real quick.I'm gonna show you it real quick.- Oh, my God.- Well, what am I gonna burn?I gotta burn something.- The candles in the studio.- Where?- Over there.Over there.Cold.Colder.- Has this been here the whole time?- Yes.- Really?- Yeah.- Uh-oh, hate that.Oh, it worked!But look at that!I was able to light my candle.Now let me smell some Sunday brunch.Still smells like a candle.All right,well, you know what, though?This is pretty cool.It USB-C charges.And while it's a little bit big,if you too want to light with plasma-I'll let you on a little secret.I can't use regular lighters very good'cause I always like flick itand then I, like,burn my thumband then I don't actually light it.At some point I'll learn,but I just burn my finger instead.But if I had one of these,I'd never burn my finger again.Anyway.What a great candle accessory.Most of the stuff was actually decent.Like, half of it was pretty bad,but considering thateverything we got from Wishwas something like 40 or 50 bucks,very reasonable.Like, if you get like a handful of thingsthat are decentand you got to take a couple chanceson some other stuff,not bad.Let's see how AliExpressand Temu stack up.Starting with this giant boxfull of all this AliExpress stuff.First up from AliExpress,we have the case for P5 controller,AKA a case for the PlayStation Portal."This profuct does not containa console."Well, this profuct doesnot containa consoleis correct.Okay, so I'm going to lock this in.I assume you just click it into place.Look, if you're the kind of personwho values your Portal,I'm glad that you're happy.And if you wanna keep it protected,I mean, this is not terrible.I just wish it wasn't so glossy.That's the big problem.Like, I think it actuallylooks kind of cool.Build quality's a little bit bad,but we got this for a few buckson AliExpress.This one, I think,was like $9, I think.But still not bad.- No, it was like four or five.- Was it four?Sorry, $4.Okay.It sure is a thing.Maybe not for me.But if you want your PS Portalto look real fancy,then, boy, oh, boy,has AliExpress got the case for you?See that whole bit,like seven seconds agowhen I was talking about AliExpressbeing really great for high-quality tech?They also sell this.This is an intelligent vacuum cleaner.Now, don't adjust your phone screen,your TV screens.Oh, no, my friends.This is a little baby guy.To be fair,this is actually not a vacuum cleaner.It is a sweeping robot.So you actually have to take this Velcroand put it on the bottomso we can use itbasically with some microfiberand these little spinny brushes.Okay.Okay.Shall we?By rechargeable,I mean, you gotta charge it.It's almost like when youbuy really cheap stuffon the internet,it doesn't come with a charge.You gotta be patient.'Cause patience is my strong suit.Well, I am going tocharge this little dude,and then we'll get it going herein a few minutes.Now I'll tell youthat I got a lot feweritems from AliExpressbecause these,these are the high-quality items,like a cube.Changeable magnetic magic cubepowered by 12 rare earth magnets.Wow.Actually, I will sayit's kind of cool.Whoa!Whoa!That's so cool.Actually,this is legitimately kind of cool.I think I can get myself$5 of fun out of this.Oh, look at this.Now this is some AliExpress right here.We got headphones for less than 10 bucks.The Edyell.This was the actual dollar segment.I think they called itlike, their choice or something.But these are legitimately $1 headphones.How AliExpress make money on that?I will tell you.They ain't.Wow.Those are some seriousheadphones right there.Look at that case.Look at that heft.That's a Chungusif I've ever seen one.It's got USB-C too.All right.Oh, that's good.Okay.So after letting our headphonescharge for a little bit,they actually do seem to be showing up.Yeah, what the hell?So music just started playing on its own.And it's not bad.I mean, don't get me wrong,they're not great,but they're not that bad.A little muddy,a little, like, quiet.Do they have any touch controls?Oh, they do.They have touch controls too.Yo, wait, these are actually not bad.I mean, look,you gotta be a big fanof this sort of very,like, LED aesthetic.But if you're lookingfor just some cheap gaming earbuds,dude, AliExpress is kind of running awaywith this right now.Now, can we activate sweeping?Oh, my gosh.Okay, it works.Wait, wait, wait.Buddy, buddy.- No, no, no, no!There's so much to live for.That is not made for carpet.- It is not made for carpet.I mean, it technically works very slowly.Okay, let's put it back on here.Oh, wait, it was just low anyway.Oh, I think the battery's low.Oh, it's dead.That was all the battery.I charged it for 30 minutesand it lasted for one.I don't think this does anything at all.All right,we got some little things.We got-Oh, no!Oh, no!I got another one of these.So are you familiar, friends,with an endoscope?It's a little baby camera.It goes in places.- Like where?- Why do you keep doing this?- Because I enjoy looking at my ears.Hey, it works.All right, cool.Hello, my friends,and welcome to Austin's Endoscope Corner.Ah!- Oh, my God.- Anyone wanna look at my ear?- No.- We don't have a choice.- No, thank you.No, no, no.No, no, no.No, no, no.I'm so sorry, audience.Oh, I'm so sorry, audience.- Oh!Oh, I need to clean that!Oh, gross.- Why?- I'm gonna go home after this videoand clean my ears.That was gross.So if you toowould like to join the Endoscope gang,#EndoGang,well, boy, oh, boy,is AliExpress the place for you?I'm just gonna vlog with this from now on.All right.So all of this leads uswith the final AliExpress itembefore we move on to Temu,which is yet anotherpair of wireless earbudsthat I probably shouldhave charged an hour ago.So we got ourselvesthe earbuds themselves,which are a little bit big,but okay,and the power bank,which is quite large.Wow. Okay.So theoretically,these are headphonesthat will not only deliverbeautiful audio quality,but also the case itselfwill charge your phone.Unfortunately,it's too deadto do either of these things right now.So let me let thischarge for a little bit,and I will be right back.(upbeat music)Welcome back, my friends.Let's see how this actually works.It says charging normal speed, yeah.So it's probably only doinglike, 5 watts is my guess.And I will tell you for surethat considering howsmall and light this is,it's not gonna be alot of actual capacity.But if you alreadygonna carry around your earbuds,being able to charge upyour phone a little bitis kind of cool.Let's see how these dollar earbuds sound.Not bad.These are actually fairly well-tuned.Now, they're still pretty low-end, right?I mean, they sound, like,you know, $10 earbuds.But importantly,it's actually a very sort of pleasant,neutral kind of sound.I gotta say,we put all this together,AliExpress, incredibly impressive.Now, certainlywhen you're talkingabout dollar store stuff,AliExpress has an unfair advantagebecause they're sellingtons of items for youfor literally a dollarand almost certainly losing money on them.But, I mean,AliExpress is way better than Wish.But how good is our goodfriends over at Temu?Because you know what?I've never been disappointedby Temu in my life,and I don't plan to start now.Flashing glasses.Flashing glasses, okay.All right.How do I look?Wait, can we dim the lights and see?Do I look cool yet?- Maybe.- Take me to your leader.Oh!Ah!This is very distracting'cause it's flashing RGB in my eyes!Well, if you wanna go to the cluband you walk up in your Temu glasses,you get to cut the line, my friend.And then you get to keep on walking'cause you're not gonna get in.It says wooden.- Okay.- That narrows it down real quick,doesn't it?All right, let's see what we got.Lemme look at this.It's a little wooden boxwith dinosaurs on it.Oh!Oh, this is sad.This was for Roboraptor Mini.Let's play a songfor our fallen little buddy.(melancholic music)(singing) Roboraptor Mini,we miss you so.Enjoy the pastures,hunting the other dinosaurs in the sky.(speaking) We miss you,Roboraptor Mini.That was beautiful.Oh, wait,is that the "Jurassic Park" theme song?Was I tearing up to-?Oh.Next up we've got a Loop Lsaao.Oh, oh, oh, oh!It's the loopy thing!We did this for a "This Is" episode.So the way I understand this,this is a knockoffof something that was on "Shark Tank."It's like a little magic toythat spins rope really fastand it makes it look like it floats.It's actually really cool.I think it might be dead.That's my thought.It's a USB-C.So maybe let me charge thisand I will conclude thisvideo in a little bitwith a beautiful interpretive dance numberwith UV-reactive string.We only have a couple of items left.White.I don't know.A pen?Oh!This is to clean your headphones.So if you get a real close look at it,you now have a little pick,but you also have a little brush.Well, we've already beengross in this video.We might as well go all the way.All right.So these are my personal Sony earbuds.As you can see,the case is scuffed'cause I've been wearing thesefor probably about a year or so now.All right, let's see here.So I can scrape offthe outside pretty easily.Actually, you know what?These aren't too bad.Well, there's a little bitof stuff on the outside,but it's not too bad.This actually works really well.All right.The product is in a dry state,so please do not air dryor blow dry before use.13 pieces.What did I-?What?Are these papers to-?What?What?- That might bepart of another item.It's supposed to be part of a wandthat shoots fire.Oh, it's like a refill for the thing.So it didn't come with it.- Oh, so we boughtthe refill for the wandwithout getting the wand.- Yes.None of these are very clear.- No, that's the thingwhen it comes to Temu.You pretty much alwayshave to get like a few extra thingsbecause you never actually knowwhat you're getting.Apparently I got fire paper.Who would've guessed?- Hey, let'sgrab the plasma lighter.- Yeah, we could.- Okay.(Alex laughing)- You didn't requireany convincing at all.- Lighting stuff on fire?Sign me up!Lighting stuff on fire?Sign me up!Everyone ready?Whoo-hoo!Oh, that's actually kind of cool.It's gone.Look at that.- Wow.- Wow!(upbeat music)Well, have I burnedthe table a little bit?Yes.Are there permanent burnmarks on the table also?Yes.A little extra burn never hurt anybody.(crickets chirping)- Hmm.- That's right.You heard him.Roast him in the comments.- No, don't roast!Behold, my friends.Whoo!- Whoa.- Ho-ho!It stays floating in the air.Look.- I was promisedan interpretive dance.- All right,can I go through it now?I think I can actually goall the way through it.It also has a glow in the dark string,which obviouslyit has to be incrediblydark in here to see it.But, like, this is really cool.Ah, no!No!No!Stop, stop, stop!No, no!Thank you very muchfor watching Dollar Store Tech.Let me know which storeyou think won in the comments.It was AliExpress.Until next time,I'm gonna go launch myselfinto being a hilarious YouTuber.