Joe’s Guide to ‘How Legit is Temu?’

Your mate Joe Fortune is here again to help work through the big questions you might have in life and today it’s about Temu! This online shop has been causing quite a stir with many customers loving what it has to offer, but… recently there has been plenty of controversy and negative press about the company and what it offers. So, I thought I’d give you an honest and fair dinkum overview on what it’s all about and for those of you who haven’t heard of it, I’ll start with a bit of its history.

What is Temu?

In a few words, Temu is an online shopping app. I guess you could say it is a bit like Amazon or eBay. Within the app, customers can buy significantly discounted products and goods, which tend to be transported directly to buyers from China. Temu is an American offshoot with its head office in Boston, it is owned by a large Chinese company called Pinduoduo. It was founded in July 2022 and first went live in the USA in about September of that year.

In March/April 2023, Temu arrived in Australia and New Zealand before rolling out across several countries in Europe. Presently, it is in about 50 countries but has plans to continue to expand further over the next 18 months. When Temu advertised during the Super Bowl earlier this year, it saw downloads hit close to 140 million and on the back of that it now has about 450 million monthly website visits. Sounds like it’s going bloody well to me.

Which Products Does Temu Sell?

I reckon the question that would be easier to answer is, what doesn’t Temu sell? I mean, you can literally buy clothes, car parts, white goods, kitchen stuff, electricals, gear for your backyard, babywear, kit for the ute and from what I can see, anything else you might need!

Why is Temu so Good?

Who doesn’t like a great deal, and what could be better than paying rock bottom prices for quality goods that get delivered direct to your door? That is how Temu has shaken up the online marketplace and is now being used by millions of people, but wait, there’s even more reasons why customers think it is so good.

While the prices are dead set cheap and offer great value for money, many of its new customers aren’t paying anything at all. That’s right, they’re getting their shopping for free! How is this possible you ask? Well, it’s because Temu has launched a campaign across social media platforms which is all about shoppers convincing mates, family, colleagues, and neighbours to sign up. The more they do this, the more credit they earn. This has meant many customers have earned enough credit to get goods without ever giving Temu their credit card details. Just hope they remembered to give them their address!

Where Are The Concerns With Temu?

As customers, there are a few standout concerns from what I can tell. Temu is starting to grow a reputation for not delivering products, orders going wrong, and unknown charges being applied, as well as its customer service being poor at getting back to help with queries.

The company has also had a few issues regarding data privacy and how it handles its use of customers’ info. From what I can tell, a lot of this came about due to its sister company’s app having supposedly been found to have malware and was suspended from Google Play in China. Other concerns have been raised in the US regarding forced labour usage in Temu’s supply chain.

Temu’s Spinning Wheel

Temu also gives customers the chance to win even more discounts, rewards, and prizes with its spinning wheel, but I’ll level with you it isn’t as good as my Wheel of Fortune. As regular players know, Joe’s Wheel of Fortune is an absolute ripper alright. If you don’t believe me or haven’t tried it, why not give it a go today and find out for yourself… you could win 1 Million Casino Points and enjoy playing a few online pokies or games of roulette whilst waiting for your online shopping to be delivered to your home!

Is Temu Legit?

You know how it is, battlers… if something seems too good to be true, sometimes that is spot on. Clearly, there are millions of people who have got some bloody good deals, many have also landed free products too, so Temu must be getting plenty right. However, Temu is not accredited by the well-regarded Better Business Bureau in the US, which has it scoring an average rating of 2.5 / 5 stars, which isn’t too good.

From what I can tell, most of the recent problems are due to items not arriving or taking far longer than promised. The company appears to try to respond to every complaint on the BBB website, but it sounds like a good number of them are still unresolved. For what it’s worth, I do see Temu as being legit but for a company to launch and then suddenly have demands from millions of customers every day all over the planet in under 2 years is a big ask.

Even your mate Joe here doesn’t always get everything I need from my trip to Bunnings or IKEA home correctly. There’s always something that I lose in the ute, or it falls behind a table and I forget about it!

For what it’s worth punters, this looks like a big effort from Temu to get market share asap as it aims to compete and grow. Just quietly, it isn’t too different from what other competitors have done previously. If I were to use Temu for shopping, I’d do it sooner rather than later as I can’t see the prices or offers sticking around for too long.