Love them or hate them, online stores like Temu have been stealing attention away from websites like Amazon when it comes to buying into low-priced product, and Amazon doesn’t like it. So the company has created a new storefront dedicated to low-priced goods all the same.
The new storefront is called Amazon Haul and it will operate a lot like some of these alternatives, where it will ship products from China via its own warehouses there. Because of this, shipping times will be a lot longer than normal, taking as much as two weeks for a product to arrive.
It will mostly feature generic products that fall less than $10, thus you will likely see a lot of the same items as you would those other websites. Spanning everything from common household products to apparel, it will only be available via mobile devices (app-driven).
Products like these can be hit or miss, hence the love them or hate them kind of relationship. Some end up lasting just as long as anything else, while other products may fall apart weeks later. There is always a bit of risk when it comes to buying from those sites (and now Amazon).
Personally, I feel like this is a bad sign for things to come if companies here are shifting towards embracing the cheap product ecosystem that China has always promoted. It could mean that the quality of standards are collapsing further for the products we buy every day. Showing that quantity over quality wins at the end of the day (which is why companies like Behringer end up buying Midas, versus the other way around).
What will be interesting is to see how the coming political changes will affect everything as tariffs are strengthened on imported goods. This could drive prices higher, thus bringing an end to the new storefront (and other sites) pretty quickly. At least when it comes to products being shipped into the US.
Co-Authors: Ryan S.
