You’ve probably seen Temu advertisements or have a shopping cart, considering buying anything. Before you buy on Black Friday, we explain the shopping site that’s everywhere.
When scouring through offers and comparing prices on Black Friday, you may be tempted to call it a day and head to Temu, where you’ll receive the lowest prices on what you want…or a copy.
Even if you’ve never ordered from Temu, the internet store is everywhere. You may have noticed its orange sacks on your neighbor’s doorstep. Or you clicked on an Instagram ad for an adorable product. Someone you follow on social media may have blasted you with discount codes.
Now that shopping season is here, you’re considering filling a cart on the site, but you don’t know what. Allow us to clarify.
It may seem like Temu appeared suddenly. Since its Super Bowl ad, which included a tune that haunted us and factory workers who looked like they had left The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou to work for Temu, we’ve been assured we can shop like a billionaire. The company began with Facebook and Instagram ads in September 2022.
How Do I Shop in Temu?
Temu has free Android and iOS apps and a website.
Why Is Temu Cheap?
It’s true that Temu’s prices are amazingly low. So now that they can’t help but catch your eye and make you add things to your cart. To get people to buy things as quickly as possible, Temu is probably selling things for less than they’re worth.
Temu’s website might say that it was started in Boston, but it’s actually owned by PDD Holdings, a company with a lot of cash that moved its main office from China to Ireland so it can keep doing business even if the US continues to look closely at apps based in China. Because Temu has low prices and sends bought goods straight to customers, it can avoid tariffs and save a lot of money.
Forcing people to work is a bigger problem. A study in 2022 found that Temu used cotton from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which is home to camps for Uyghur people who are being held by China. A report on Temu from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said that it is possible that Temu uses Uyghurs who are in jail to do his work.
Is Temu a Fraud?
There is a real website there, but be careful of lightning deals that say they will save you extra money. It’s now more like a game on Temu. There are countdown clocks, wheels to spin for discounts, and other visuals that make it look like time is running out on deals. However, these are just tricks to get people to buy. On Temu, sellers often copy designs so they don’t have to pay to create their own original works of art.
What kinds of designs do people who sell Temu take?
There are too many to name, but here’s an example of a long product description: Beautiful old dragonfly zircon pendant necklace – ideal bohemian jewelry for women’s holiday outfits. TikTok was used by the owner of the online store Godly Nature’s Jewelry to say that Temu stole her Champaign Dragonfly Sunflower Necklace design and even her pictures.
