Temu Review: Is Temu Legit and What to Know about the Shopping App
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The shopping app that rose to popularity for its super low pricing. Have you heard of it? You may have downloaded Temu after seeing their Super Bowl commercial. Is it worth the hype and is it legit? This is my honest Temu review. Read on for what you need to know!
Affiliate links may be used in this post. To learn more, please review our full disclosure statement below (on mobile) or to the right (on desktop). Also, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Before we get to the Temu review, let’s clear the air. This post is not in any way sponsored by Temu. I personally paid for all of the items shown in this post.
Another thing, it is no secret this app has received mixed reviews and that’s easy to see by doing a simple search on social media. As an affordable fashion blogger, I wanted to share my unbiased opinion with you based on personal experience before you go and spend your own money (or not) on this app.
In this review, I’ll share a little bit about Temu, how to shop on the app, what product reviews are like, shipping info, return policy, and more. I bought a few things from the app and will share those also!
What is Temu
Temu is a e-commerce platform and shopping app offering countless items at extremely low prices. I’m talking shoes for under $5! That’s dangerously cheap. From what I know about the production cost of clothing, it makes me wonder what ethics and regulations are really like at Temu.
Temu was founded in 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. The parent company is PDD. Temu is NOT accredited on BBB (better business bureau) and has an average customer rating of 2.5/5 stars… can you see where this review is going…
According to Yahoo Finance, “PDD Holdings Inc., a multinational commerce group, owns and operates a portfolio of businesses. It operates Pinduoduo, an e-commerce platform that offers products in various categories, including agricultural produce, apparel, shoes, bags, mother and childcare products, food and beverage, electronic appliances, furniture and household goods, cosmetics and other personal care, sports and fitness items and auto accessories; and Temu, an online marketplace. It focuses on bringing businesses and people into the digital economy. The company was formerly known as Pinduoduo Inc. and changed its name to PDD Holdings Inc. in February 2023.” Several other sources online claim that PDD was originally based in China, though Yahoo states it is now Ireland based.
You can say this app is comparable to Wish.com and AliExpress. It can also be compared to Amazon, however, from my personal shopping experience Amazon is my preferred shopping app if I want to snag a deal. Unlike Amazon, Temu shipping is not quick (more on that later). I am not a Prime member and I still receive Amazon orders pretty quick. Sure, Temu has low prices, but prices are scary low. I’d love to know more about the labor environment, how are the employees treated, etc…
How does the Temu App work?
Like other e-commerce sites, sellers list products for sale on Temu for customers to view, purchase, and review. Customers also have the option to rate and view sellers.
You can use the website or the app to search for products.. I will explain my thoughts on this below! Temu sells nearly anything you can think of. Home goods, office supplies, clothing, toys, etc.
When you find what you want, simply add to cart and either continue shopping or checkout.
After the checkout process, you will receive an on screen order confirmation followed by an email confirmation with an estimated delivery date.
Temu will then coordinate the shipping. When your items ship, you receive tracking info via email. I bought from various sellers and received all items (individually wrapped, much like Amazon) in one big Temu bag.
What does Temu sell?
What don’t they sell is the question… wait, don’t answer that. Temu sells so much STUFF. You can certainly go down a rabbit hole searching for things here.
Here are just a few of the Temu product categories listed in the top bar of the app:
- Women
- Home
- Men
- Jewelry
- Sports
- Toys
- Crafts
- Electronics
- Bags
- Industrial
- Beauty
- Office
- Kids
- Automotive
- Baby
- Pets
- Health
- Garden
- Household
- Musical
It’s a lot, right? Much like other popular shopping apps.
Searching for Products on Temu
As mentioned above, you can use the app or website to search for products.
Usually when I’m shopping online I have very specific items I’m looking for. For this Temu review, I really wanted to buy some nude faux leather flip flops with a skinny strap. If searching my usual shopping app, I could find this relatively quickly.
Finding the same thing in Temu? A night mare. I typed “nude leather flip flop skinny strap”.. anything but nude leather flip flops with a skinny strap showed up. Ironically, sandals with WIDE straps appeared.. see below. Like, what?? Needless to say, I did not purchase nude colored sandals from Temu. After scrolling for several minutes it was clear that this search was going nowhere.
This happened on another search too. My final attempt was to utilize their filter features, which was a fail. Then I gave up.
For me, personally, I prefer to search for an item and have several viable options appear instantly rather than scrolling aimlessly, sifting through items unrelated to my search. Unfortunately, the latter was the case with Temu and I found it very difficult to find what I was looking for.
I felt that this was important to include on a Temu review simply because the point of shopping online is to find what you are looking for relatively quick.
What Are the Product Reviews like?
I put a lot of trust in product reviews when shopping online. Especially for clothing. If I cannot try it on then I want to ensure the item is legit before purchasing.
Other shopping apps I use have very helpful reviews on the actual product. Usually, you are provided the customer height, weight and other characteristics in the review which is helpful to know when making a purchase decision on clothing.
Temu product reviews were another huge pain point for me. They were hit or miss. Some reviews seemed legit but others did not.
As an example, a product would be listed with an average rating of 4.5 stars and 15k reviews. Then when I dug into the reviews, they clearly weren’t for the product I was interested in. Customers would have pictures in completely different products than the product listing. Therefore, I felt like I was buying many of these items blindly and it was also another huge waste of time.
What I bought From Temu
For this Temu review, I purchased 11 items. All of which are clothing and accessories. I ordered basic, everyday items that I will use a lot in a short amount of time just to see how good the quality is.
Here’s what I got (non-affiliate links):
- Black Workout Top
- American Flag Sweater
- Metallic Pocket T-Shirt
- Olive Ribbed Tank
- Gray Ribbed Tank
- Khaki Belt Bag
- Graphic Sweatshirt
- Leggings
- Double Buckle Slide Sandals
- Slippers
- Socks
Most of these items are just OK, here is my full Temu review of each item.
Black Workout Top: This one was a miss. The fabric is quick dry and the color was as expected. What didn’t work for me was the shape, though it was long and appears legging friendly, when I raise my arms the entire shirt raises up too, showing my mid section. Not the fit I was looking for, especially for working out. My favorite workout tops stay put when in motion.
American Flag Sweater: This one is so cute! I did go up a size for an oversized fit and am glad I did, otherwise the sleeves would have been extremely short. I would recommend sizing up one and size up 2 for an oversized fit.Quality appears to be ok. It is not machine washable, therefore I did wash it by hand. It took forever to dry.
Metallic Pocket T-Shirt: I actually like this shirt. It is stretchy and runs true to size with a naturally oversized fit. It has a lot more shine than the product image implies, but it isn’t terrible. I’ll be able to wear this out on date night or maybe to a concert.
Olive Ribbed Tank: Soft and washes well. The color is more vibrant than I expected based on the images online, but again not terrible and I’ll probably wear this a lot. This is true to size.
Gray Ribbed Tank: This one is a major miss. It is very similar in style to the green tank. I love this style/fit of tanks, they’re great for everyday wear. But this tank is a miss. The fabric feels like paper and I just can’t. it also bunches weird at the armpit. Not sure how this has any good reviews.
Khaki Belt Bag: My favorite purchase of the order. I have been wanting a belt bag similar to this and at this price, I had to give it a shot. Very pleased with my initial use of it. Lots of space inside and has various pockets inside and one additional outside. Adjustable buckle strap. The true test will be if it can withstand this summer with an active toddler doing all the things.
Graphic Sweatshirt: Wanted to love this, but it is a miss also. The inside is soft, that is the positive. Fit is weird. I ordered a large and the sleeves are still a bit short. Fabric has a weird stretch too it. It wants to stretch but is also stiff, if that makes sense. I prefer lived in feel to my sweatshirts. Not in love with the hemming either. I may cut the bottom hem off to give it a raw hem. I saw a similar one on Etsy that appears to be a better investment.
Leggings: Don’t even click the link on these above. They’re bad. See through, thin fabric. Baggy in the crotch. The pockets bunch up. I already have these in a donation bag.
Double Buckle Slide Sandals: These were packaged in a bag and had a slight smell upon opening. I ordered my true size and they fit well and have good arch support, though I haven’t walked a significant amount in them yet. They also do not make any noises when you walk, which I have struggled with in other sandals like this!
Slippers Review: These were packed so tight during shipping, which caused deep creases in the upper portion. They also had the worst smell upon opening! I normally wear a size 10 and ordered these in size 10.5-11. The fit is good and they footbed is slightly cushioned which I like, though the rest feels very thin.
Socks: OK, the socks came through! They are soft, fit well, and are thick. All of which I was hoping for in this purchase.
Temu Review: Is Temu Safe to buy from and Is Temu legit?
Honestly, I have never seen so many security alerts when making a purchase online. Which was concerning to me. However, thus far my personal data has not been compromised.
Is Temu legit? Sure. It is a legit shopping platform. In terms of user experience, it certainly is not up to my personal shopping standards as explained in my review above.
The company itself? There’s a lot of gray area for me. I haven’t done enough research into the regulations and ethics of Temu or the Parent company to fully comment. I briefly researched the company and the transparency was lacking for me. It was tricky to find out basic information. A quick google search brings up a number of red flags for me.
What is Temu’s Return Policy & Process
As of my purchase, this is their return policy.
It looks like the first return is free from an order. However, if you initiate a second return from the same order it will cost you $8, which might not be worth it if the actual product cost was around that amount.
I won’t be making a future purchase, so be sure to check the current policy if you decide to make a purchase.
Does Temu Have Free Shipping?
Yes, at the time of my purchase I received free shipping. I would assume this is common.
Payment Methods Accepted by Temu
Below is a screen shot of the payment methods accepted by Temu at the time of writing this post, along with the security declarations!
My Checkout Experience
Maybe you are aware of the security concerns many customers have voiced surrounding personal information retained by Temu. During (and after) the checkout process it was VERY clear to me that Temu wants customers to be reassured of data protection, especially payment information. This is what I saw at prior to checkout:
After my purchase I closed the app and went back in immediately to review my personal information. Like I suspected, the credit card info was saved to my account. I immediately removed the information.
Can I remove my credit card info from my Temu account?
Yes! Like I said, I had done research on Temu before downloading the app and saw a lot of controversy online related to credit card security. This was a big concern of mine before purchasing. However, I have an excellent card with great security features. I also removed payment info from my Temu account immediately after purchasing.
Temu’s Shipping Time
It took me 11 days to receive my order. All 11 items were received at the same time, in the same package.
At the time of purchase I received a shipping date estimate with a range of 7 days. I received my order 3 days prior to the end of that range. I was happy it was on time but it still took significantly longer than most other online retailers I have purchased from.
What is Temu’s Customer Service Like?
I did not contact customer service and probaly won’t. Why? Because it isn’t easy to find contact info. Another spiral of endless scrolling. Every route I tried led me to product scrolling. Even on my order page I couldn’t find the option to contact support anywhere. Other shopping apps make it easy to at least chat with a robot!
Negatives of Temu
Overall, after this purchase I felt exhausted and frustrated. I will not be placing another order. Here are the cons I experienced with Temu:
- Lack of transparency: why is it so hard to find out information and why is this the only site I’ve ever ordered from with numerous reminders that my data is secure. I don’t have warm and fuzzies about this!
- Searching Capabilities: It was difficult to find what I wanted.
- Reviews: I just want to see legit product reviews up front, not seller reviews or reviews of other items.
- Prices: A little too cheap for me. Can someone break down the cost of some of these items? How are we covering basic overhead, material, and labor costs?
- Quality: Hit or miss. Some of my items were great, others were not.
Positives of Temu
Like I said, I don’t have the warm and fuzzy feeling of buying from Temu. Here are a few positive takeaways:
- Vast selection. There is no shortage of products here. You might buy more than you need!
- Savings potential. If you are on a tight budget, this is an excellent option to save some cash. Just be careful not to buy more than you need.
- Packaging: I bought from several sellers and received everything at the same time and in the same package, rather than multiple shipments/packages.
Would I recommend Temu?
No, as you can read from my Temu review above, I am not confident in Temu as a company.
Transparency is a big one for me. I would like to know why I should be concerned with the security of my payment information, why is customer service difficult to find for customers of an e-commerce platform, and are the thousands of reviews listed really for the product I’m looking at or for another product/seller.
As a frequent online shopper, these are my initial red flags from my one order for this Temu review. I could certainly dig deeper into the other questionable topics related to Temu. I’ll let you do a Google search and see what the controversy is all about.
This was my honest Temu review. Have you bought anything from this shopping app? Let me know what you think in the comments or DM on social media!
As always, I appreciate you stopping by today. Thank you!
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