The viral shopping app Temu has taken the eCommerce world by storm with its unmatched bargain prices and nonstop free shipping discounts.
However, many people are also skeptical about the app’s seemingly too-good-to-be-true deals, with some warning that you’ll be trading off your privacy and information for the money you save.
In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about this trending Temu store, including why it offers such low prices and what most people say or complain about the platform.
Key Takeaways
- Temu is a legitimate online marketplace that connects suppliers directly to consumers to keep product prices as low as possible.
- Just like Amazon, Temu sells a wide range of product categories.
- Many people have raised concerns regarding the privacy and security risks of using Temu.
What is Temu?
Temu (link includes a $100 coupon bundle – for new app users only) is an online shopping platform founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2022.
Like Amazon, it lists thousands of unique products offered by various suppliers from across the globe. But, Temu’s product offerings are notably more budget-friendly compared to most online marketplaces.
This made the platform rise in popularity almost immediately, with it becoming one of the most downloaded mobile applications on both Apple and Android devices just several months after its launch.
Apart from giving users the opportunity to shop, Temu also allows buyers to play interactive games where they can receive a variety of rewards. Through these games, customers can earn gifts, discounts, store credits, and cash, enabling them to save more money on their purchases.
What Does Temu Sell?
Temu sells pretty much everything you could possibly need to purchase, from clothing and shoes to gadgets and home decor. This application is a convenient one-stop shop for anyone looking to simplify and frugalize their shopping experience.
The Temu store’s product selection scale is massive. However, when buying anything from this application, know that there’s a catch: nearly everything available on Temu is either unbranded or a direct knockoff of popular brands.
So, if you’re considering using Temu as a way to purchase products from your favourite brands at discounted rates, unfortunately, this application won’t meet your expectations.
Why is Temu So Cheap?
There are many factors that allow Temu to price its products as cheaply as they are. Let’s review each one in detail to understand how this platform makes its ultra-low prices come to life.
Shipping Directly From Suppliers
In most eCommerce platforms, you buy products from businesses that have also purchased their goods at wholesale prices from manufacturers. Of course, these resellers earn through their profit margins, so they markup the product prices to cover the acquisition cost and generate revenue.
Temu, on the other hand, does not operate this way. The platform only allows the suppliers themselves to sell directly to consumers, eliminating the costs associated with the traditional reseller model.
Cheap Materials and Labor Costs
While Temu is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, most of its suppliers are stationed in China, where the costs of materials and labour are known to be way cheaper compared to those from North America.
This allows Temu’s sellers to produce products that are up to five times cheaper than their Canadian or American-produced counterparts while still maintaining profitability.
Pressuring Suppliers
Unfortunately, the reasons why Temu is so cheap don’t only revolve around the cost advantages it gains from sourcing products directly from Chinese suppliers.
When journalists from Wired magazine investigated the root causes of Temu’s rock-bottom prices, they discovered one thing: Temu is putting immense pressure on its suppliers to keep their prices as low as possible.
One supplier who used to sell through the Temu store confessed that he had little to no control over the pricing of his listed products. Apparently, his goods faced the risk of being delisted from the platform if he ever refused Temu’s requests to lower his prices.
How Long Does Temu Take to Ship?
It usually takes two weeks to receive your items in Canada or the USA after you’ve placed an order in Temu.
However, don’t be surprised if it takes much faster or longer for some of your orders to arrive, as according to Temu, the shipping time can take anywhere from 5 to 20 business days.
Is Temu Safe and Legit?
The Temu app is a completely legitimate selling platform where you can directly purchase affordable products from suppliers or manufacturers. But note that there have been previous concerns about this application’s inability to be transparent about how or why it tracks user data.
In its early stages, the app violated the Apple Store’s tracking transparency policy by tracking the IP addresses of app users, even when specifically asked not to.
Fortunately, the selling platform immediately adjusted its tracking policies when the Apple Store warned it about its violations. But, for many users, this incident serves as a clear warning that Temu may not be as secure as other popular eCommerce applications most of us use.
Temu Reviews and Complaints
The reviews about Temu are as polarized as they can get, with some users being furious about the application while others are delighted with their purchases.
Some of the aspects that users praise about this app are its:
- Extremely affordable prices
- Free shipping discounts for most orders
- Games where buyers can receive money-saving rewards
On the other hand, the negative Temu app reviews often entail that the platform:
- Fails to deliver items safely, on time, or at all
- Does not meet the product quality it promises
- Sells knockoffs or low-quality variations of products
It’s worth noting that Temu lacks accreditation from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), an organization that helps consumers from Canada and nearby countries find businesses that they can trust.
Although this could simply mean that Temu hasn’t formally asked BBB for accreditation, there’s also a high chance that the Better Business Bureau choose not to accredit the app as the Temu reviews in BBB are often negative.
Pros and Cons of Shopping in Temu
Pros
- The product prices are very affordable.
- Free shipping is available on almost every product.
- Apart from shopping, you can earn rewards through the app’s games.
Cons
- Product quality can be inconsistent.
- Many have received damaged or incomplete orders.
- Longer shipping time compared to other eCommerce platforms.
Is Temu Worth It?
Temu is a legitimate selling platform that offers some of the most competitively priced products you can find online. However, keep in mind that in this app, you may come across deals that sound too good to be true because they actually are.
As mentioned, many products on this platform are low quality, while others are replicas of well-known brands. Moreover, this application’s data tracking policies aren’t exactly transparent, so you may be getting discounts in exchange for your privacy.
With all that said, always weigh out the Temu application pros and cons that matter to you most. When the positive side clearly outweighs the other, then you’ll know that Temu is worth checking out.
FAQs
Yes, Temu does provide a way for consumers to earn real money through its exciting games. Just win the activities that specifically offer PayPal redemptions, and you’ll receive the cash rewards in your digital wallet in a couple of days after winning.
Yes, Temu is a Chinese-owned retailer based in Boston, Massachusetts. PDD holdings from China own and operate this platform along with Temu’s sister company, the eCommerce platform Pinduoduo.
The common warning about Temu is that using the platform could put you in security and privacy risks. That’s because the app already had an incident where it was nearly delisted from the App Store due to the lack of tracking transparency.
No, the 750 Temu gift card is not real. Like most free gift card deals you see online, messages that claim they’ll give you a 750 Temu gift card are almost always a scam.
Related:
I received one of my order obviously an used, damaged, rreturn item Temu sent to me. Talked to their customers service they just offered return and refund for this piece of junk to me, they wanted me to process return myself even though it was them causing this.