A watch for 53 cents? Headphones for 1.09 euros or even a backpack for less than 4 euros?! The Chinese online shop Temu lures with such mega bargains. But how serious can such an offer actually be?
First things first: Temu is neither a fake shop nor an illegal phishing scam, but a fundamentally reputable online shop. The almost absurdly cheap offers are part of Temu’s strategy to challenge the industry giant Amazon. TECHBOOK took a closer look at the supplier from China, because shopping on Temu is not completely risk-free.
Background to the Chinese online shop
Behind Temu is PDD Holdings, which moved its headquarters from Shanghai to Dublin in spring 2023, as reported by Fashion United, among others. Ireland has particularly favorable conditions for the taxation of technology companies. Incidentally, with this step, Temu follows industry giants such as Apple, Meta and Google, which are also based in Ireland.
Otherwise, Temu works like any other online shop: Credit cards, PayPal, Klarna and Apple Pay are accepted as payment methods. If you want, you can also install the Temu app. So many people have now done this that the Temu app knocked out both ChatGPT and Shein from the top spot on the Play Store download charts. However, the many authorizations that the app calls up are problematic. Unnecessary access, such as to the smartphone camera, should therefore be blocked immediately. In the USA, where Temu has been taking off since last autumn, the Chinese online shop has long since left its US competitor Amazon behind in terms of popularity.
With its activities in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Great Britain and the Netherlands, Temu is now trying to conquer the European market. How sustainable and conscious you shape your own consumer behavior and whether you want to take any risks when buying is up to you.
Also read: What you should know about the online store AliExpress
The Temu shop offers these advantages
Temu has been around since 2022 in the USA, among other places. In Germany, the online shop started in spring 2023. It remains to be seen whether it can become real competition for Amazon in Germany. In any case, Temu offers some advantages.
- a wide range of products, including fashion, electronics, cosmetics, household, toys and pet accessories
- cheap prices
- many discount campaigns
- free shipping and free returns within 90 days
Temu advertises with the slogan “Shop like a billionaire” and accordingly places its offers in the low or “budget-friendly” price segment. According to Temu, it uses wholesale prices to reach as many customers as possible, according to the motto: “A lot helps a lot.”
But unlike Amazon, the online shop itself does not maintain large warehouses, but only offers the digital marketplace between buyers and manufacturers. On the one hand, this means that there are no other middlemen and the prices therefore remain low. On the other hand, this also means that the goods have to be imported after purchase, which has some disadvantages.
What are the disadvantages of Temu?
In addition to the advantages mentioned, one should also pay attention to some negative points.
- longer delivery times (6-14 working days) compared to Amazon and other shops
- although shipping is free, import duties may apply
- low prices often mean lower quality.
- lack of sustainability
- there are reports that ordered goods never arrived or were damaged, were of poor quality or differed significantly from the information in the online shop
- the customer service does not seem to be reliably available in German
Negative testimonials are piling up, especially on Trustpilot, although Temu ultimately received an “acceptable” rating (3.1 out of 5). For comparison: Amazon is rated even worse with 1.8 out of 5 as “poor”. However, it is noticeable that many of the 5-star Temu reviews include discount codes and free credit. Another problem that could arise are counterfeit brands, such as TECHBOOK discovered on the Wish trading platform. So if branded products are sold at significantly lower prices than in other shops or online shops, you should be suspicious and refrain from buying them.
Temu is also not convincing in terms of sustainability, which is due to the company’s concept of first buying and then selling as many products as possible worldwide for the lowest possible price. The short lifespan of many goods, the long transport routes and non-transparent production conditions prevent environmentally conscious shopping at Temu. If you call up individual products, the note “Temu is committed to ecological sustainability” appears. However, there is no further information on the “ecosystem partners” on the website. The company has not yet commented on our request.