Is Temu Legit? – Is Temu Safe? – What is Temu?
In this article, we will try to find answers to questions like – “Is Temu legit?”, “Is Temu Safe?” and will learn about how to keep ourselves safe while shopping online.
What is Temu?
Temu is way ahead in the race for the fastest-growing e-commerce business. Temu has over 270 million downloads on Google Play Store alone. The E-commerce industry is expected to grow at 14.4% year over year and in that expanding industry Temu is growing bigger than anyone else. Temu has grown its customer base by 950% year over year.
By looking into the stats, No one can ask – “Is Temu legit?“ But there are other factors that we need to take into consideration before answering whether Temu is legit or is Temu safe.
First, let’s get the details about what temu sells and how.
What does Temu sell and how does it work?
Temu has almost everything listed on its online store. A wide range of categories listed below is available on Temu to buy now.
- Home & Kitchen
- Women’s Clothing
- Men’s Clothing
- Women’s Lingerie & Lounge
- Men’s Underwear & Sleepwear
- Women’s Shoes
- Men’s Shoes
- Sports & Outdoor
- Jewelry & Accessories
- Beauty & Health
- Toys & Games
- Automotive
- Kidswear
- Kids Shoes
- Baby & Maternity
- Bags & Luggage
- Patio, Loan, & Garden
- Art, Crafts & Sewing
- Electronics
- Business, Industry & Science
- Tools & Home Improvement
- Appliances
- Office & School Supplies
- Health & Household
- Pet Supplies
- Cell Phones & Accessories
- Smart Home
- Musical Instruments
Unlike other e-commerce platforms, it mostly ships products directly from Chinese warehouses or local manufacturers. That’s why products on Temu are cheaper and more affordable than other platforms or marketplaces. Temu removes all middlemen from the supply chain and connects end-users directly to the manufacturer.
Is Temu Legit?
With its lower prices and Chinese origins, Temu often sparks questions such as, “Is Temu legit?” and “Is Temu a scam?” It is important to address these concerns and find clarity on the matter.
First and foremost, it is highly unlikely that Temu is involved in any fraudulent activities, as the government regulations would not allow for such a large-scale e-commerce scam to operate unchecked. However, there have been reports of customers receiving empty packages or not receiving their orders at all from Temu, which has raised doubts about the company’s credibility.
Despite these isolated incidents, it is worth noting that Temu processes over a million orders daily. It is not uncommon for a small percentage of orders to go missing during the delivery process, especially considering the sheer volume of packages handled by courier companies like those used by Temu. Similar issues are faced by other popular online shopping platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and Shein.
Given these factors, it is fair to give Temu the benefit of the doubt and acknowledge that occasional mishaps are to be expected in the industry. It is important to remember that instances of lost or undelivered orders are not unique to Temu and can happen with any company due to human error.
In conclusion, despite the concerns raised by some customers, it is safe to say that Temu is a legitimate company and not a scam. The likelihood of it engaging in illegal activities is minimal, especially considering the oversight of government authorities. So if you have a question like is Temu a scam?, Don’t worry about any scam. It is as legit as amazon or eBay.
Is Temu Safe?
“Is Temu safe to buy products?” – The focus here is on determining safety while ordering products from Temu. We aim to address this concern comprehensively, considering all relevant aspects.
First of all, let’s see if our personal details are safe with temu or not.
Temu asks our personal details like e-mail address, contact number, post address, profile photo, age, gender, etc. Our research concludes that Temu tries to keep all our data safe by combining firewalls with all new-age technologies just as other companies do. But in this digital era of the internet, no one can guarantee the security of your details. Whether it is Temu, Amazon, eBay, or Walmart, all of them mostly have the same security standards and privacy policies.
That’s why instead of trusting these companies, we should keep our data as private as we can. If you are using any Apple device to sign up on Temu, please use “Hide My E-mail” feature. This feature uses another random email address that will be linked to your current address and will forward all the messages to your iCloud e-mail. Thus you can protect your data.
If you are not an Apple device user, then you may create another e-mail address for the websites and apps with whom your data may not stay private.
It was about keeping your personal details safe, but what about your banking details?
To keep your financial details safe, do not ever link your bank account to these platforms. Please use other alternatives like Visa gift cards, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or PayPal. It is the best way to ensure the safety of your details.
Is Temu a Chinese company?
The parent company of Temu is PDD Holdings which is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. But it was only after April 2023. Before April 2023, PDD Holdings had its main headquarters in Shanghai, China. However, just shifting headquarters from China to Ireland is not a sign of anything fishy. Many companies including American ones have also shifted offices to Ireland due to very low corporate taxes in the country.
Temu has declared it was established in Boston, USA where it has a warehouse and central office that connects all other offices worldwide. So the answer to this question is quite complicated. However, we can say that Temu has Chinese roots in the administration of the company. It is normal to have questions like “Is Temu legit?” and “Is Temu a scam?” after knowing the Chinese history of Temu. But we should not focus on this because the government is letting Temu to operate. That means it must have to be legit, otherwise Government would not allow it to operate.
What are Temu controversies?
There are many controversies around Temu and its parent company PDD Holdings.
According to a report from CNN; Pinduoduo, another subsidiary of PDD Holdings and sister company of Temu was using malware in its Android app to use the security loopholes on the Google Play Store for gathering customer data and using it to leverage sales and marketing.
After that google inquired about the allegations and removed the Pinduoduo app from Play Store forever. That incident created a huge controversy around the data safety practices of these Chinese companies.
Controversy number 2 is complaints by many customers that their ordered items never arrived even after paying in advance. Temu itself says that its delivery time is longer than other competitors like Amazon, eBay, etc because the products are mostly coming out from warehouses in China and Chinese manufacturers. Temu takes around 10-15 days to deliver your orders.
Customers are ready to wait for that period, but sometimes they do not get their products even after 3-4 weeks. When the customer tries to complain about it on customer service, they neither get any satisfying answer nor timely refunds.
In Nov. 2023, Temu was served by a class action suit by many customers alleging that they had been hacked after using Temu. They also claimed Temu has loaded spyware in its app. This class action suit filed in the northern district of Illinois created a big controversy for Temu.
How are people getting stuff for free on Temu and get paid?
With all the controversies and Chinese app tag, people are earning extra bucks and getting stuff for free from Temu. Some people may wonder how this could be possible, but it is true. It is all a part of Temu’s marketing strategy.
Temu is giving products for free through two programs:
1. TEMU INFLUENCER PROGRAM (TEMU REVIEWER PROGRAM)
2. TEMU REFERRAL PROGRAM (TEMU AFFILIATE PROGRAM).
In Temu referral program, a user has to use his/her social media to persuade their friends, family, and followers to sign up on Temu. When they sign up on Temu the user gets credits for each sign up. By using these free credits the user can buy stuff from Temu without paying for it. The more customers you can bring to Temu the more credits you can get. More credits means more free products. That’s that simple.
Temu influencer program also known as Temu reviewer program is slightly different. All you have to do is you have to apply for it and after approval, you have to upload your reviews on different products. Temu will provide you with those products free of cost for reviewing purposes and for high-quality reviews, you can get a chance to earn some extra money.
For more information about Temu reviewer program click on the link given below.
HOW TO BECOME A TEMU REVIEWER
What data does Temu collect from you?
We need answers to questions like – “What data does Temu collect from you?” and “ Does Temu steal or sell your data?”. The answer is pretty simple here.
Temu collects some personal information and banking details from customers at the time of creating an account. All the details asked by Temu are mentioned below.
- E-mail address
- Post address
- Contact number
- Profile photo
- Name
- Age
- Gender
- Banking details
Besides this, Temu can also collect information regarding precise location, device ID, search history in Temu app, and contacts. Temu uses all these details to run its promotional and marketing campaigns.
Temu says they do not sell customer data to anyone for money. However, Temu may share this data with third-party service providers like data analyst companies, marketing companies, and advertising companies to show ads accurately to each customer.
What safety measures does Temu use?
Temu runs a customer protection program so its customers do not get cheated while shopping on Temu. Temu will refund the money If you are not fully satisfied with your delivered order. This program gives you a 90-day window to return the product and get a refund back. You can use this program’s benefits if,
- The product you received does not match the description or photo.
- The product is different from what you ordered.
- The product is damaged when delivered to you.
- You did not get the product or get an empty box alone.
- Your product is lost during the transition.
If we talk about the safety measures taken about our data, Temu uses TLS and SSL encryption protocols during transactions and storing data on storage. This is the latest technology that every other company uses to protect customer data.
But it is still necessary to use precautions while using Temu as we mentioned earlier in the article.
We hope you find our article informative and interesting. Please read our other articles for more knowledge about different topics.