The Temu webshop is very popular and the app has been in first place in the App Store for quite some time. But buy from Temu? You better not do that.
Buying from Temu: you better not do that
On Temu you can buy a lot of nice things for incredibly low prices. Sometimes you even get everything for free. This all sounds very nice, but it is still better not to shop at Temu. There are a number of reasons for this.
Temu and Pinduoduo
Temu is a sister company of Pinduoduo (PDD). This is a similar app that has often received the wrong attention. In 2023, privacy experts were concerned that the Pinduoduo app could collect vast amounts of user data without permission.
In response to the allegations, PDD then disbanded the developer team. According to a report from CNN Business, most team members then went to the Temu development team moved. Of course, this does not immediately mean that Temu cannot be trusted, but it does make you think.
Free is not without costs
However, in the app you give away quite a bit of personal data. When an app is ‘free’ you often pay with this information. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily make a company suspicious, but it’s important to remember that this information is stored by a Chinese company with a questionable reputation when it comes to user privacy.
Young consumers in particular are often the victims of this and they sometimes don’t even realize it. You are regularly asked to share the app with as many friends as possible so that you get more discounts. According to the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, this is not even allowed without the recipient being clear that it is advertising.
Also the Youth news At the beginning of last year, attention was paid to the popularity of purchasing at Temu. Many children do not fully trust the app, but they do have it on their smartphone. They say they got it forwarded from a friend and then downloaded it.
Questionable quality
That is not the only reason why you should not buy from Temu. The products are often of questionable quality. The quality marks that we have here in Europe for certain products are not mandatory there. A study showed even then 1 in 6 garments from China contain carcinogenic substances. Now this does not apply specifically to Temu, but to clothing from China in general.
There is also sometimes a lot of haggling with the products. For example, they do not look like the picture or the dimensions are wrong. Prices are also sometimes cheated by using a picture of a more expensive version of the product.
If you still buy from Temu: pay attention to this
Do you still want to buy something at Temu? In any case, always read the reviews for the products. It is better to ignore items that only have a handful of reviews (or none at all).
Also avoid large purchases, because if something goes wrong you will immediately lose a significant amount of money. Temu has buyer protection, but in practice you shouldn’t expect much from it. Also keep in mind that you (usually) have to pay customs clearance fees and VAT when you buy something from China. It also often takes one to several weeks before you receive the ordered products.
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