Move over Amazon. A new online marketplace is gaining popularity. Temu is the number one app on Apple and Google right now, but it is also receiving a massive amount of consumer complaints.
Temu’s main marketing assets are its customers, who post about their purchases on social media.
“The reason Temu has really taken off is they encourage people buying items to post on social media and then they’ve incentivized to buy from their link, which they get an award for doing,” Logan Hickle said.
On Temu $100 can go a long way. And, you can find almost everything on the site, from women’s clothes for as little as $1.47 to earbuds for $10. That is what their customers want. It’s called a haul, and it is all about incentives and low prices.
“It’s a lot of stuff for not a lot of money,” said Logan Hickle of the Better Business Bureau.
Temu has more than 100 million customers worldwide. However, lots of customers means there will be complaints. The BBB has received over a thousand complaints about Temu in the past 12 months.
“Most of what we are hearing is just quality control or customer service issues,” said Logan.
He said just remember, if you’re buying something for $2, that may be $8-10 dollars with other competitors, don’t expect high quality.
Also, don’t expect a speedy delivery. Nearly everything on Temu ships from China.
“It doesn’t sit in a warehouse,” said the BBB.
It comes directly from China to your doorstep. “That is how they can get those lower prices but then that’s why there is that longer lead time.”
The BBB said it’s keeping an eye on the company. So far, Temu has been responsive to customer complaints, which is the #1 criteria the BBB grades businesses on.