TEMU ??????

Potbellypig

I placed an order the other month after being sceptical of it before. I just picked things out and aimed for a total of about £20, knowing that worst case scenario it gets 'lost'. Here's what I ordered...

Golf chipping mat - rubbish
Water bottle - good
Pens - good
Mouse mat - good
Mouse - stopped working after about 10 minutes
iPad stand - good
Golf towel - smaller than I thought but gave to my lad
Car phone holder - worked initially but after a few bumps in the road it barely clings onto the phone now
LED toilet light - good
Headphone fan - does what it says

Overall, for £20 I bought a load of tat, some of it is good, some not so good. I don't think I'd bother with large purchases on there and expect anything that requires electronics to be a gamble. How they make money though I don't know. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Potbellypig said:

How they make money though I don't know. 

They don't! It's been reported they lose around 30 USD per order, they are owned by a company in China that has been around for years in the Chinese market and are now breaking out in to the West so have money to burn on advertising and covering the loss on orders.

Not sure I'd trust a water bottle from anywhere other than a branded website, Mountain Warehouse do a one litre aluminium bottle for a fiver. 

horsewithnoname

There was a programme on telly about temp, quite a lot of the stuff contains harmful substances at higher than allowed levels. Personally I wouldn’t buy anything from them. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

horsewithnoname said:

There was a programme on telly about temp, quite a lot of the stuff contains harmful substances at higher than allowed levels. Personally I wouldn’t buy anything from them. 

Dispatches?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgH8HqGwg_Q

Deru

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Potbellypig said:

How they make money though I don't know. 

They don't! It's been reported they lose around 30 USD per order, they are owned by a company in China that has been around for years in the Chinese market and are now breaking out in to the West so have money to burn on advertising and covering the loss on orders.

Not sure I'd trust a water bottle from anywhere other than a branded website, Mountain Warehouse do a one litre aluminium bottle for a fiver. 

Actually.... How wrong you are, despite the returns of some items, most are okay and the company makes billions. Losing 30 USD but probably making maybe 50-150 USD per order. Also it's a market place so Temu probably don't lose much as it's the sellers losing out on refunds.

The parent company is worth about £74 BILLION!  They can afford a few loss leaders (but I suspect they're raking it in 💰)

for me, usually 9 out 10 items are okay. Sometimes all okay.

The Despatches programme does highlight some low quality, questionable and unsafe items.  I'm careful not to buy certain items from them. Some items, can't go wrong. As you say, I'd rather buy a mountain warehouse water bottle for example.

I've spent a few hundred £ with them this year. Oh and I know multiple ppl who shop there and are happy enough to continue shopping there. 

For those whom end up completely dissatisfied and try to return entire orders, I suspect their expectations were too high or they didn't do their research.  You can't spend £5 and expect GUCCI quality.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Deru said:

Actually.... How wrong you are, despite the returns of some items, most are okay and the company makes billions. Losing 30 USD but probably making maybe 50-150 USD per order. Also it's a market place so Temu probably don't lose much as it's the sellers losing out on refunds.

The parent company is worth about £74 BILLION!  They can afford a few loss leaders (but I suspect they're raking it in 💰)

You'll have to tell Wired that rather than me  

https://www.wired.com/story/temu-is-losing-millions-of-dollars-to-send-you-cheap-socks/

. An analysis of the company’s supply chain costs by WIRED—confirmed by a company insider—shows that Temu is losing an average of $30 per order as it throws money at trying to break into the American market

Yes the parent company is absorbing the losses. 

You are no doubt correct the sellers are taking a hit also, one report said they have little control over pricing with Temu dictating what the customer pays.