Temu: 5 Things You Should Know Before Buying

Who has not purchased something from the famous Temu application? This Chinese app has taken over social media by flooding them with its advertising.   

Adding more and more users not only in the United States, but in the world. At the beginning of the year the online giant made sure the entire world knew about it with multiple commercials during the Super Bowl. This was broadcasted six times in the prime time of the most important sporting event of the year.  

The commercial had a potential cost of $21 million, in addition to the $10 million in gifts the platform gave out that day.   

While trying to seduce a huge audience to “shop like a billionaire.” However, its landing in the country has also opened the debate and has made users wonder about the security of their data and, above all, the quality of its products.

It is worth emphasizing that Temu is a virtual store and quoting the company's description of itself: “ The Temu shopping center is available at www.temu.com and through mobile applications. It offers a wide range of quality products in 29 categories, including men's and women's clothing, beauty and health, home and kitchen, sports and outdoors, home appliances, tools and home improvement, pet supplies and toys and games, among others .”  

The Temu virtual store is officially incorporated in Delaware. Headquartered in Boston, although owned by global trading group PDD Holdings .   

This was founded by Chinese billionaire Colin Huang, 43 years old. It is the sister site of national e-commerce platform Pinduoduo and its joint parent, PDD Holdings . Which was founded in 2015 and moved its headquarters to Dublin, Ireland, in 2023.  

Late last year, PDD Holding 's market capitalization surpassed that of Chinese giant Alibaba , making PDD the most valuable Chinese company listed in the United States.   

Temu sells a wide range of products directly from Chinese sellers at super low prices. Shoppers can see even lower prices through deals and flash sales, with up to 99% off. The reason why you can see these savings is because manufacturing costs are much lower in China.

The model Temu uses is based on keeping costs to a minimum. Thus connecting consumers directly with suppliers, only handling shipping to the customer.

Temu was initially available in the United States, where it was released in 2022, Canada, Australia and New Zealand .

As of April 2023, Temu also began serving Europe, including the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands .

Temu 's Super Game commercial revealed that even his super fans had said his name wrong. 

Although the name means “ to team up ,” the advertisement pronounced his name as “ teh-moo ,” not tee-moo or tea-moo . 

Temu is more general than Shein . This one focuses on fashion and accessories, and is usually cheaper than Wish and Amazon. 

It may have generated controversy in several quarters, but that is very different from being a scam. And opinions on Temu probably depend on the buyer. It's certainly received criticism from buyers when products appear that might not be as big or substantial as they seemed online, but at these prices, should it really be a surprise? 

It's also good to know that Temu is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB). People have been worried about data risks when using the online site. To help prevent some of these worries, you can always use the "hide my email" feature when signing up for a Temu account. And we always recommend paying with PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, or Samsung Pay, that way you aren't linking your banking info to an online retailer.