Martin Koss | Perplexed

Shop Like a Billionaire – or “You Get What You Pay For”

Shop Like a Billionaire - or "You Get What You Pay For"

Written 2 years ago in Lies, Scams and Data Mining

Every time you scroll through Temu looking for a bargain, tap “accept all cookies” without reading, or share one of those referral links promising something for free, you’re not winning. You’re being sold. And the people profiting from it are bloody brilliant at what they do.

You’re Not the Customer. You’re the Product.

This isn’t conspiracy talk. It’s how the business model works. Chinese firms like Temu aren’t unique in hoovering up your data. They’re just more obvious about it. Western tech giants do the exact same thing, but they wrap it in prettier language and fancier privacy policies.

Temu Isn’t Being Kind

Temu sells tat for under a quid that costs tenners elsewhere. How? The profit isn’t in shifting knock-off phone cases. It’s in your shopping habits, personal details, and every click you make.

The setup is simple. Temu runs supplier auctions, keeps stock in consignment warehouses, and only pays sellers when items sell, sometimes months later. Unsold goods get returned. Temu takes commission on every sale, keeps overheads low, and collects data at every stage.

Those “freebies” and referral schemes aren’t generosity. They’re bait. Each time you share a link, invite a mate, or play one of their gamified promotions, you’re feeding the algorithm and extending their reach. You’re doing their marketing for them.

What They Know About You

Tech firms don’t just track what you buy. They track where you are, what device you’re using, who you message, what you search for, how long you stare at a product page. All of it.

They know if you’re skint, stressed, or about to make a big life change. Sometimes before you do. Location data shows where you live, work, spend your weekends. Browsing habits reveal your politics, health worries, relationship status.

Once that profile is built, it’s not just used to sell you stuff. It’s sold, shared, and traded with data brokers, insurers, lenders, advertisers. People you’ll never meet are making decisions about you based on data you didn’t even know you’d handed over.

What They Do With It

Big tech uses mined data to predict and shape behaviour. They decide what products you see, what prices you pay, what content lands in your feed.

Different people see different prices for the same flight or insurance policy, based on what algorithms think they’ll pay. That’s not personalisation. It’s manipulation.

Data is also used to nudge opinions. What news you see, which posts get promoted, who gets silenced. All decided by algorithms trained on your data. Elections have been influenced this way. Not by force, but by feeding people the content most likely to trigger a reaction.

And if data leaks or gets stolen (which happens all the bloody time), it can be used for identity theft, fraud, blackmail.

It’s Not Just Chinese Firms

Temu gets scrutiny because it’s Chinese and new. Fair enough. China’s data laws are murky, and there are real concerns about state access to user information.

But Google, Meta, Amazon, and every other Western tech giant are doing the same thing, just with better PR. They collect more data, store it longer, and monetise it just as hard.

Your browsing history, voice recordings, photos, messages, location. All fair game. Most of it sits on servers you’ll never see, analysed by people you’ll never meet, for purposes you’ll never be told about.

Nothing Is Free

You’re just paying in a currency you don’t see leaving your account.

Every “free” app, platform, or service is funded by data collection and advertising. The more time you spend online, the more they know. The more they know, the more they can sell.

Temu’s bargain prices work the same way. The goods might be cheap, but the cost is elsewhere. In personal information. In weakened privacy. In the slow erosion of control over what you see, hear, and believe.

What You Can Do

You can’t opt out entirely unless you’re willing to live offline. But you can make it harder for them.

  • Use browsers that block trackers.
  • Turn off location services when you don’t need them.
  • Read privacy policies, even the short versions. Don’t accept every cookie banner without thinking.
  • Don’t share referral links just because there’s a freebie attached.

And perhaps most importantly, stop pretending these companies are on your side. They’re not charities. They’re businesses built on extracting value from your attention, habits, and identity.

Every click is a transaction. Every like is a data point. Every “bargain” has a hidden cost. The sooner you understand that, the harder it becomes for these firms to treat you like cattle at market.

You’re not the customer. You’re the product. And until that changes, the least you can do is know what you’re worth.

What People Are Asking About Temu (etc)

Why Is Temu’s Stuff So Cheap?

Because you’re not the one paying. The real cost is your data — Temu collects your habits, purchases, and browsing patterns every time you use the app.

Is Temu More Dangerous Than Amazon or Google?

Not really. It’s just less polished. Big Western tech firms mine just as much data — they’re simply better at hiding it behind friendly design and PR.

What Kind of Data Are These Companies Taking from Me?

Pretty much everything. Your location, browsing history, messages, contacts, spending habits, and even how long you stare at a product all feed your digital profile.

Can I Stop Companies from Tracking Me?

Not completely. But you can limit it — use privacy-focused browsers, block trackers, disable location access, and actually read those cookie notices before clicking “accept.”

Is Data Really That Valuable?

Absolutely. Your data decides what prices you see, which ads you get, and what information reaches you. It’s the world’s most profitable product — and you’re the source.

Why Should I Care If They Know What I Like to Buy?

Because it’s not just about sales. That data is used to shape your opinions, filter what you see, and subtly steer your choices without you realising.

What’s the Catch with “Free” Apps and Platforms?

The catch is you. Your time, behaviour, and identity are the product. The more you use them, the more data they harvest and sell.

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I don’t write for the algorithms here. I write for you, the reader. So I am so grateful for your time. Thank you for reading.

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About me…

I’m Martin. I’ve been working online since the early 90s and dabbling with technology since the mid-80s – long enough to have lost count of the platforms that promised to change everything for the better and didn’t. I run 28 Pixels and inLouth.co.uk and I facilitate at Andy’s Man Club, a men’s peer support group. This blog is where I put down my own opinions on AI, social media accountability, and the small business end of digital marketing. All of it’s mine, often dictated first and argued with second.

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