RIP Haul Culture: How the Great Temu/Shein Collapse of 2025 Killed Fast Fashion's Golden Era

Introduction

If you’ve ever sat through a 15-minute haul video watching someone unwrap twenty cheap tops and a pair of glittery boots, you were inside the golden era of fast fashion culture — a Gen Z pastime built on dopamine-driven discovery, unboxing rituals, and the thrill of bargain finds. Between 2019 and 2024, platforms like Temu and Shein rewired shopping behavior: ultra-low prices, algorithmic virality, and a constant stream of “haul” content made mass disposable fashion feel effortless and glamorous. Then, in 2025, everything changed. What felt like a cultural pivot — the sudden evaporation of haul content and the rapid decline of these once-ubiquitous apps — was actually the product of a fast-moving market correction.

This post is a trend analysis aimed at Gen Z readers who lived through the haul era (and maybe profited from it) and creators and brands trying to understand what the collapse of Temu and Shein really means. Using the hard numbers and timelines that emerged during April–June 2025, we’ll trace how regulatory shifts, ad and user flight, and preexisting quality and logistics cracks combined to extinguish the economic engine behind haul culture. We’ll also map practical takeaways for creators, consumers, and brands, and forecast what the decline of the ultra-cheap fast fashion model might mean for trends, sustainability, and creator economies going forward.

In short: the haul era didn’t die because people suddenly decided to stop shopping. It died because the market conditions that made mass micro-purchases profitable — regulatory loopholes, tiny cross-border duties, and relentless ad spending — were removed overnight. And when price advantages disappeared, the cultural infrastructure (ads, sponsorships, algorithmic feeds) that supported haul content collapsed with them. Read on for the detailed timeline, the numbers, and what to do next if haul videos, discount excitement, and viral cheap-couture nostalgia are now part of a closed cultural chapter.

Understanding the Temu/Shein Collapse

To make sense of this shift, you need two lenses: the macro policy change that catalyzed the collapse and the consumer-creator ecosystem that amplified it.

The policy pivot was deceptively technical: a May 2, 2025 suspension of the de minimis exemption for certain Chinese imports, coupled with increased tariffs on Chinese goods. The de minimis rule — which allowed low-value international shipments to enter the U.S. duty-free — had been expanded in 2016 from $200 to $800. That change fueled an explosion in small-package imports: U.S. de minimis imports rose from $9.2 billion in 2016 to $54.5 billion in 2023, and Chinese sellers accounted for about 60% of those shipments. That regulatory arbitrage was the secret sauce: it let cross-border sellers price items below what U.S. retailers could sustainably match.

When that exemption was suspended, the bottom line changed overnight. Suddenly, the micro-margin model of shipping thousands of low-cost items into the U.S. without duties became untenable. The financial math that let platforms subsidize loss-leading prices and pay for huge ad budgets — both of which drove viral haul culture — collapsed.

But policy was only the trigger. The platforms had been showing signs of internal stress for months. Quality problems, inconsistent sizing, shipping delays, and a growing trust gap with consumers were already eroding loyalty. Pre-collapse survey data showed Shein’s weekly shopper rate fell by 8% and monthly shoppers were down 11% between April 2024 and February 2025. Temu’s declines were steeper: weekly shopping dropped 19% year-over-year and monthly shopping fell 18%. Daily shopping metrics were even more telling — Shein’s daily shopping activity cratered by 41%, Temu’s by 17%, while AliExpress saw a 4% dip. Consumers were already shifting behavior.

Then ad budgets retreated. Temu cut U.S. ad spend by about 31% in early April 2025 versus March; Shein cut about 19%. Temu, which once ran nearly 30,000 active ads in Meta’s Ad Library, pared back campaigns to just a handful. That withdrawal not only reduced acquisition funnels but also ripped the oxygen out of content ecosystems that were financially tied to ads and sponsorships — the haul creators.

The final picture is stark: between March and June 2025 Temu lost roughly 51% of its U.S. monthly active users (from ~58 million to 40.2 million), while Shein’s user base fell about 12% to 41.4 million. App rankings mirrored this: Temu crashed from #3 to #85 and Shein from #7 to #80 in April 2025. U.S. web traffic told the same story — Temu down about 51% YoY (May 1–16, 2025), Shein down roughly 44% over the same period. Traditional retailers benefited: Walmart.com spiked roughly 15% in traffic and Target.com about 10%.

So while the de minimis suspension was the arson, the match only ignited a pile of dry fuel: shaky quality, logistic headaches, faltering consumer trust, and an ad-funded creator economy that couldn’t survive without the platforms’ price advantage.

Key Components and Analysis

Let’s break down the collapse into its core components so we can analyze cause and effect and why haul culture was uniquely vulnerable.

Regulatory arbitrage as business model

- The de minimis rule’s expansion to $800 made micro-shipping a multibillion-dollar lifeline for Chinese cross-border sellers. When U.S. Customs rules changed, platforms weren’t just taxed — their unit economics were fundamentally altered. With duties added, the prices that made “haul” videos so addictive were no longer competitive.

Advertising-fueled growth and the creator pipeline

- Ad spending didn’t just bring customers — it scaffolded an entire creator economy. Temu and Shein’s massive ad buys increased visibility and subsidized acquisition costs, meaning creators could reliably monetize haul content with affiliate links and sponsored deals. Once ad spend dropped (Temu -31%, Shein -19% early April vs March), creators lost sponsorships and affiliate revenue. The algorithm’s interest in cheap, high-engagement unboxing content waned, shrinking haul video incentives.

Consumer trust and quality concerns

- Trust numbers were telling: about 88% of respondents trusted Amazon more than Temu; only 4.9% trusted Temu over Amazon. When shoppers already question product quality and delivery reliability, removing the cheapest price option is a big turning point. People will often pay more for predictable returns, faster shipping, and reliable sizing. That’s why Walmart and Target saw traffic gains as Temu and Shein declined.

Rapid user and engagement attrition

- The speed of the user losses mattered. Temu’s 51% user fall (March–June 2025) and Shein’s 12% drop weren’t normal churn — they were symptomatic of an accelerated migration. App ranks sliding from top 10 to top 100 indicates users uninstalled these apps en masse, not merely logging in less. When user critical mass collapses, network effects disappear and creators have less reason to focus on the platform.

Geographic differences and survivability

- The crisis was most acute in the U.S. where the regulatory change was centered and where haul content had the most cultural impact. Both companies continued to expand in Europe, moderating revenue loss, but the U.S. decline cut away the cultural momentum that had globalized haul culture via influencers and viral videos.

Structural results: cultural and economic feedback loops

- The interplay between creators, ad dollars, and platform pricing created a fragile ecosystem. Pricing fed content; content fed engagement; engagement justified ad spend; ad spend subsidized pricing. Remove any one element, and the loop unravels. The policy change removed pricing advantages, ad cuts removed revenue for creators, and creators shifted focus — killing the virality loop that had fed haul culture.

All of this combined to produce an unusually rapid cultural shift. Haul videos were not just a reflection of cheap fashion — they were the social expression of a set of economic levers that vanished quickly.

Practical Applications

If you’re a Gen Z creator, a brand, or a consumer trying to adapt, here’s what to do next. The haul era may be dead, but learning from its rise and fall will help you thrive in post-haul culture.

For creators and influencers - Diversify revenue streams. Don’t rely on sponsored hauls or affiliate links tied to a single ultra-cheap platform. Explore long-form sponsorships, brand ambassadorships, paid community subscriptions, and direct-to-fan product lines. - Pivot content styles. Move from “mass unboxing” to curated styling, durability testing, repair tutorials, and thrift flips. These formats are more sustainable and monetize via affiliate sales of fewer, higher-quality items. - Build platform-agnostic audiences. Use email lists, Discord servers, and multi-platform presence (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, BeReal) so you aren’t dependent on one app’s ad ecosystem. - Emphasize transparency. Audiences now care about supply chains and quality. Show sourcing, size testing, and return processes to rebuild trust.

For brands and retailers - Stabilize supply chain and quality control. Invest in local warehousing and faster logistics to compete on reliability, not just price. - Tap resale and rental channels. The secondhand market is a frictionless next step for consumers used to rotating wardrobes. Partner with resale platforms or build in-house refurbishment and resale. - Leverage community and sustainability. Marketing that emphasizes longevity, reparability, and input from real consumers will win trust formerly given to low-price dominance. - Rethink ad spend. Ad efficiency from 2020–2024 came from low unit prices. With margins tighter, ads should inform, not subsidize. Shift toward lifetime value (LTV) metrics and high-ROI loyalty programs.

For consumers - Re-evaluate cost-per-wear. A $5 top is only “cheap” if you’re not paying for returns, slow shipping, or poor quality. Learn to calculate cost-per-wear and prefer items that last longer. - Consider resale and upcycling. Thrifting and thrift-flip tutorials from creators are getting better and cheaper than ever, and they build personal style rather than disposable trends. - Reward transparency. Vote with your wallet for brands that show clear sourcing, transparent returns, and realistic delivery timelines.

Actionable takeaways (quick list) - Creators: diversify income, shift to curated and sustainable content, grow owned audiences. - Brands: invest in quality, local logistics, resale/rental programs, and transparent marketing. - Consumers: think cost-per-wear, use resale apps, and prioritize retailers with reliable returns and trust signals.

Challenges and Solutions

Change rarely comes without friction. Let’s be candid about the challenges that will accompany the end of the haul era and the realistic solutions that can smooth the transition.

Challenge: Creator income shock - Many creators earned significant revenue from sponsored hauls and affiliate commissions tied to Temu and Shein’s aggressive ad budgets. With ad spend down (Temu -31%, Shein -19%), sponsorships evaporated. Solution: - Short-term: creators should quickly pivot to paid community models (Patreon-style), digital goods (presets, ebooks), and affiliate programs with established retailers (Amazon, major brands with higher conversion reliability). - Long-term: build productized offerings (merch, small capsule collections) or offer services (styling, consulting) that leverage audience trust beyond transactional hauls.

Challenge: Consumer price sensitivity - Higher tariffs and duties translate to higher shelf prices. Many Gen Z shoppers are price-sensitive and may default to fewer purchases or delay spending. Solution: - Retailers can offer loyalty discounts, bundle deals focused on higher-value items, and clearer total-cost breakdowns. Encourage smarter shopping: quality basics over impulse buys.

Challenge: Supply chain and margin pressure - With de minimis benefits gone, cross-border low-margin inventory is costly. Brands face squeezed margins and uncertain demand. Solution: - Localize inventory where possible, invest in nearshoring and regional warehouses, and implement stricter quality control. Use data to forecast demand and reduce overproduction.

Challenge: Platform and regulatory uncertainty - Policy changes can come fast. Relying on regulatory arbitrage is inherently risky. Solution: - Build compliance functions and diversify geographic markets. If one market tightens, move promotional energy to other regions (as both platforms did in Europe) while building a more resilient global strategy.

Challenge: Cultural shift management - Audiences used to cheap hauls may resist paying more for clothing or for alternative entertainment. Solution: - Creators and brands should invest in storytelling: why higher-quality, ethically-sourced items are worth it, and how upcycling or thrift can be equally aspirational and creative. Training audiences through educational content nudges behavior change.

Real-world example pathways - A mid-tier creator who earned 60% of income from haul sponsorships can reallocate effort: 20% to long-form styling content for durable brands, 30% to selling a capsule wardrobe guide (paid download), 30% to community access (monthly), and 20% to affiliate programs with retailers who have reliable delivery and returns. This mix can stabilize income and be less volatile than haul sponsorships.

Future Outlook

What does the retail, creator, and cultural landscape look like five years after the Temu/Shein collapse? Expect transformation rather than a return to the exact pre-haul era.

The end of the ultra-cheap fast fashion golden age

- Without regulatory loopholes enabling extreme price competition, ultra-cheap mass fashion becomes economically rare in large Western markets. That doesn’t mean cheap fashion vanishes, but the scale and visibility of mass micro-item floods will decline. Consumers will likely face higher sticker prices but better reliability.

Resale, rental, and circular models go mainstream

- As cost-per-wear becomes central to purchasing decisions, resale and rental markets will expand. Expect partnerships between legacy retailers and resale platforms to accelerate, and new startups to invest in refurbishment logistics.

Creator economy retools

- Creators will emphasize durable-style content, repair and upcycle tutorials, capsule wardrobes, thrift hauls, and “quality over quantity” storytelling. Platforms that reward depth over quick consumption will rise in cultural relevance.

Retailers regain cultural influence

- Target, Walmart, and other retailers who saw traffic increases (+10% to +15%) will not only capture purchases but reassert cultural authority. They’ll invest in marketing targeted at young consumers with faster fulfillment and hybrid resale programs.

Geographic rebalancing

- Chinese platforms will continue growth in markets less impacted by U.S. policy — Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia — but their cultural influence in the U.S. will be reduced. Shein’s complicated IPO prospects and potential moves toward Hong Kong signal a strategic shift away from Western capital markets.

Regulatory and consumer alignment around sustainability

- Policymakers and consumers are both more attentive to supply chains. Regulations that favor traceability and fairness will reduce the prevalence of opaque, low-cost mass imports. Gen Z’s value alignment with sustainability and ethics will accelerate this trend.

New opportunities in local manufacturing and tech

- Advances in on-demand manufacturing, improved supply chain transparency tech, and better regional logistics will enable brands to offer variety with lower inventory risk. This could recreate some of haul culture’s variety benefits, but with better quality and higher price points.

In short: the marketplace will become more transparent, slower in its churn, and more focused on longevity. For Gen Z culture, the immediate emotional loss is real — the thrill of 20-item hauls and endless closet refreshes will be curtailed — but the long-term gain could be a wardrobe that lasts, stories that center creativity over consumption, and a creator economy less beholden to ephemeral ad cycles.

Conclusion

The 2025 collapse of Temu and Shein was far more than a business downturn; it was a cultural punctuation mark that ended an era of algorithmically amplified, price-driven consumption. The de minimis suspension and tariffs were the proximate causes, but the fall revealed deeper structural weaknesses: quality deficits, logistic friction, eroding trust, and an ad-funded creator ecosystem that depended on unsustainable pricing. The result was an abrupt tearing of the social fabric that made haul culture possible.

For Gen Z, that means grieving a format that was both joyful and wasteful, and then deciding what replaces it. Creators must diversify and reframe their content; brands need to invest in quality, transparency, and circular offerings; and consumers will likely trade the instant thrill of endless hauls for smarter cost-per-wear calculations and more meaningful style choices. The platforms will survive in some markets, adapt in others, and new models will emerge — but the golden age of ultra-cheap haul culture, propped up by regulatory loopholes and massive ad subsidies, is over.

This is a reset more than an end. It’s a chance for creators to build sustainable businesses, for brands to regain trust through better practices, and for consumers to shape a fashion culture that’s creative, affordable in the long term, and less disposable. RIP haul culture — you were a fast flash of dopamine, and now we get to rebuild something steadier.