As an avid shopper, the flashing “90% off” Temu ad that pops up on every single website I visit is enticing enough to persuade me to download the app to explore an offer that seems too good to be true. I found myself browsing through the app’s catalog, searching for the best deal on an item I didn’t even know I needed until I saw it two seconds ago. The app’s “shop like a billionaire” slogan truly feels real when you’re finding things like $10 shoes that would typically go for upwards of $70 and $4 reading glasses that usually cost around $30. However, after growing suspicions of the site’s legitimacy, I took a step back and did a deep dive into it, and I’m happy to say that I will no longer allow myself to be sucked into their illusion of a good deal. 

It seems as though Temu has completely popped up out of nowhere. One day I heard about this new app and thought nothing of it, and the next I’m seeing multiple Super Bowl commercials sponsored by the company. Since the app was launched in 2022, it has gained upwards of 100 million users and has soared to the top of global charts. In the last year alone, the app traffic skyrocketed nearly 700% according to a digital study done by SimilarWeb.  This sharp growth is nothing short of phenomenal, but it also raises questions about how it’s being pulled off. 

Not only does Temu use the profits it gets to fund pop-up advertisements on hundreds of different websites, but it also spends big on influencer marketing campaigns on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The hashtag #Temu has hundreds of millions of views between the two platforms, and this social media marketing strategy has drawn a lot of attention to the company.

In the midst of a world full of rising prices, the appeal of dirt-cheap items is universal, yet how Temu manages to set these prices so low is worth taking a second glance at. Temu has been accused of unethical labor practices and exploitation of both sellers and workers. The company forces sellers to set their prices at suspiciously low levels by refusing to manufacture the product if it isn’t set low and then takes, on average,15% of the profit for each product sold. In making these low costs a requirement, Temu enforces a cycle of cheap production. With manufacturing being so cheap, it creates a small budget for materials and supplies, which leads to low-quality products that are shamelessly distributed to consumers. 

Recently, Temu customers have reported to the Better Business Bureau that the packages they received were below the standard advertised, accusing the company of false advertisement. They have also made complaints of not receiving some of their packages at all and face the challenge of trying to contact a customer service department that is largely unresponsive. Shoppers have also taken notice that Temu has a tendency to steal ideas from other smaller businesses and sell the stolen product for a fraction of the price. Small business owners like Liz Bradford of the OXHIP Etsy shop have reported seeing their designs stolen and sold for a fraction of the price on Temu, according to North Carolina news station WRAL.

The owner of Temu, PDD Holdings, used to operate another company in China called Pinduoduo which has been banned from multiple app stores for containing malware that allowed the site to bypass user security permissions. It had the capacity to view private messages and access data from other apps and websites beyond typical ad tailorization. This scandal has made some users pose the question of whether or not Temu contains the same malware. So far, nothing has been found, but there hasn’t been a sufficient investigation conducted fully examining all the app’s coding yet. 

Needless to say, after seeing the darker side of what I thought was a go-to for my daily purchases, I am proud to say I will no longer allow myself to fall for the facade of a cheaper online shopping alternative.