When Chinese fast-fashion online retailer Shein opened its first boutique last week, there were both protests and a crowd of shoppers.
The brick-and-mortar shop inside the BHV Marais department store in central Paris hit a nerve and not just because it is in the home of haute couture. It was a love-hate response to the company seen in many other areas.
Ultracheap and still duty-free
Shein, which is often put in the same category as the Temu online platform that allows manufacturers to sell much more than just fashion directly to consumers, has been criticized for things like counterfeits, aggressive marketing, poor working conditions, and unsafe products. Despite that, many are happy with more shopping options and the cheap prices.
Though the two companies are different and have different business models, the result is often the same: a flood of cheap Chinese goods and the packaging to go along with it.
Besides simply being ultracheap, another factor that played in the companies’ favor is the European Union’s exemption from import duties for packages valued under €150 ($174).
The US had a similar loophole for packages valued under $800 (€691), but has changed its regulations leading to a reduction in shipments. The EU is in the final stages of passing a similar rule to close its own low-value loophole, though it may not come into force until 2028.
In the first half of 2025, Temu had an average of 115 million monthly active users in the EU and Shein had 145 million, according to their own numbers. For both platforms, this is around 12% more than the previous six months.
Millions of packages from China
One of the biggest concerns about these Chinese e-commerce platforms is sustainability. A majority of goods bought on their platforms are sent directly to consumers around the world from manufacturers in China. These individually packed goods are flown in for quick delivery and overwhelm customs authorities and often cannot be returned.
Environmental groups are concerned about the clothing waste caused by cheap fast fashion, the plastic and cardboard packaging trash, plus the emissions from all those flights to move the goods around the world. And the numbers are indeed huge.
In 2024, around 4.6 billion low-value items were imported into the EU, according to a report published in February by the EU executive Commission. That is twice the number in 2023 and more than triple the number in 2022.
Of these 12 million packages a day, 91% are from China. Not all of these packages are from Temu or Shein, but together they have a huge share of the pie.
“Europe is inundated by a tsunami of small parcels coming from China, and it’s not about to stop,” Agustin Reyna, director general of the Brussels-based European Consumer Organization (BEUC), told DW.
Protecting consumers in the EU
Besides sustainability issues, consumer protection watchdogs and the European Commission have repeatedly warned of unsafe products that don’t meet EU standards.
New test results published on October 30 by Stiftung Warentest, an independent organization based in Berlin that specializes in product testing, reinforce what many fear.
The tests, which were conducted with groups from Belgium and Denmark, showed dramatic results. Together, they looked into necklaces, USB chargers and baby toys.
Of the 162 items purchased from manufacturers selling through Temu and Shein, 110 were not up to EU standards, and around a quarter were potentially dangerous. Some of the items had high levels of formaldehyde or heavy metals like cadmium. Some of the USB charges simply got too hot.
The European Consumer Organisation thinks flouting safety regulations leads to unfair competition since some companies sell products that do not meet European safety standards, while local companies must follow such rules.
EU authorities are not sitting still
In May, the EU Commission notified Shein about practices on its platform that infringe EU consumer law. Among the complaints are fake discounts, pressuring consumers to complete purchases, misleading information about consumers’ legal rights, deceptive product labels and misleading sustainability claims.
In July, the Commission preliminarily found that Temu is in breach of its obligations under the Digital Services Act by not doing enough to stop the sale of illegal products. Further investigations are ongoing and could lead to a large fine.
EU countries are not sitting still either
In October, Germany’s antitrust authority, the Cartel Office, initiated proceedings against Temu. They want to see if the platform is possibly influencing the pricing on its German online marketplace, including setting the final selling prices.
In August, Shein was fined €1 million by Italy’s competition authority for using misleading environmental claims.
In July, Shein was fined €40 million by France’s competition agency for misleading discounts and environmental claims. That brings total French fines for the company this year to €191 million.
France has gone a step further and is working on new regulations for fast-fashion companies like Temu and Shein. If approved, it would ban their ads in France, force them to report on the environmental effects of their goods and add a levy of up to €10 for each garment bought.
Big fines and more regulations may slow Chinese e-commerce giants but will not stop them.
“Europe needs to get its act together and make Temu and Shein accountable,” said Agustin Reyna. “We need clear responsibilities and deterrent consequences when the products they sell break our rules.”
To make this happen, the EU needs ambitious customs reform and market surveillance. But if the EU allows packages valued under €150 to come in duty-free until 2028, companies will continue to take advantage of the loophole and European customers will likely keep shopping.
Edited by: Uwe Hessler
