Temu, Shein’s sites allegedly see unsafe goods for kids being sold in US – report

On PDD’s (NASDAQ:PDD) Temu and Shein’s websites, customers allegedly could have bought some goods for kids which have been deemed potentially unsafe in the U.S., The Information reported.

The U.S. Congress passed a law two years ago which banned the sale of padded crib bumpers, noting that they posed a risk of suffocation to babies. However, in recent weeks, people in the U.S. could have purchased around four different styles of padded bumpers in several colors and patterns on Temu. Meanwhile, on Shein, people could buy toddlers’ and children’s drawstring hoodies, which regulators note cause a strangulation risk, the report added.

Both Temu and Shein have removed the potentially unsafe products after the news agency requested the companies’ comment about them.

The two companies have expanded swiftly in last two years by providing low prices goods shipped from overseas. This has made things more difficult for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, which is trying to catch up with a deluge of unsafe goods online, the report noted.

Both websites are on the radar of the U.S. consumer watchdog. In a congressional hearing in July, the agency’s commissioners highlighted the risks posed by newer e-commerce websites including Shein and Temu and have requested more money to hire staff so they can better monitor listings and screen imports, according to the report.

Temu said it removed all the flagged product listings and started an internal investigation, the report added, citing a company spokesperson. The company is also “strengthening the monitoring of all baby sleeping products and their associated safety requirements,” the spokesperson noted. However, they did not disclose which requirements.

Some safety standard breaches require lab testing by regulators, such as children’s pajamas which do not comply to U.S. flammability standards, or toys consisting of lead. Other violations are more general and can be detected by only looking at the sites.

Another easily detectable example of a violation is toddlers’ and kids’ hooded sweatshirts with hood and neck drawstrings.

In recent weeks, Shein had at least four styles of hooded sweatshirts with drawstrings in toddlers’ and kids’ sizes for sale on its U.S. site, the report stated. All the listings were Shein branded, indicating they were made by Shein suppliers and were not sold by outside sellers.

Shein removed the four listings after the news agency contacted the company, but a following evaluation on Monday found three more listings for similar kids’ hoodies with drawstrings, the report noted.

“Where products are found to be noncompliant with Shein’s safety and quality standards, we take swift and necessary actions,” a Shein spokesperson said, adding that Shein continues to grow its team responsible for safety and quality standards, as per the report.

All types of infant sleep products must adhere to CPSC’s rules, and the commission has recently issued recalls and warnings for unsafe products, such as a baby lounger sold on Amazon (AMZN) due to suffocation risks and other breaches of safety standards.

Some of the baby products sold on Temu were not labeled as baby products. The news agency found a baby lounger, which had a product description for a pet bed. However, the images linked with the listing showed the items in a crib and reviews mentioned using the product with infants.

The Temu spokesperson added that the company removed the product as a precautionary measure for further review, and that the company carries out random spot checks to make sure that products match their online descriptions and adhere to standards.

For illegal goods such as the crib bumpers, the CPSC could issue a notice of violation and specify what steps a company should take to fix the issue, the report added.

The CPSC had sued Amazon three years ago to force the company to recall overall 400,000 units of products sold by outside sellers on its platform.