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TEMU black hole

When I want something cheap, I usually hit Aliexpress (website). As I was looking at the Aliexpress app page on the Google Play Store to check its privacy details, TEMU came up as a recommended app.

Now, my wife has used TEMU in the past, but since she often can’t find her way around things, I downplayed her negative experience as “user error”. That said, I went to the TEMU website and started looking around.

I found something that was a reasonable price, but then get this message saying I could get this item free through the app… sigh. OK. I sign up with my usual fake/random credentials and add this “free” item to my cart.

A spinning prize wheel comes up. Hey, I can get THREE free items now! Sweet. I spend the next 3 hours looking for stuff I can actually use, doom-scrolling through everything from women’s underwear to t-shirts with assault rifle print. Literally something for everyone. LOL

Then I select my third “free” item, and another spinning prize wheel comes up. “100% off the next $35”. Ok.

I didn’t need more stuff, but hey, 100% off sounds like more free stuff!

I spend another hour looking, keeping an eye on the amount “saved” (apparently $600+, for stuff that is sold on Aliexpress for maybe $25).

When I finally get to check out, I get another spinning prize wheel. “100% off $100”!! Goddamn, I’m on a roll here. How do these guys make any money?!!

More time looking… I must have spent well over 4 hours on their app. Time to check out.

$67? Huh? What about 100% off and all that nonsense? Enter your phone number*

  • You must agree to get promotional texts, or you can’t check out… hmm, maybe my wife wasn’t wrong.

In any case, there was no way to actually get anything “free”. I deleted the app, deleted my account, and will never touch this scam ever again.

Do people actually end up getting anything from Temu? I thought AliExpress was bad, but the experience is 1000x better.

Reverendender ,

From what I have come to understand (from Lemmy), they make their real money off of your data, and are a privacy nightmare. I actually was ordering from them regularly until I learned that.

Showroom7561 OP ,

I was prepared for this, despite seeing all their banners saying how private they are. All the details I gave them were disposable, and had they let me actually order these items, I would have likely used some kind of disposable credit card to process the payment.

But it’s so bizarre, like they keep throwing one promotion after another, and none actually materialize.

ShepherdPie ,

I’d been using AliExpress for quite a while before hearing about Temu. Went to go check it out and it’s like an exact clone of AE (including the discount popups) but then it forces you to install an app in order to buy anything so I noped out. Not sure why anyone would use them when you can get the same shit off AE without all the hoops.

Reverendender ,

There is some differentiation in terms of product selection

wjrii ,

It’s not literally a scam, in that I’ve ordered things and they’ve arrived (in a timely fashion, actually), but the “free” stuff is pretty close to being one. The free credits or whatever are so over the top as to be eye rolling, so while they probably are officially a scam, I just couldn’t get too worked up.

Overall, it’s basically a tiny bit cheaper than AE, a tiny bit faster, but with more limited selection and they make the annoying gamification on AE look like the height of restraint and class. I found my personal line for trading time and tracking for cheap prices, and it’s between AE and Temu.

One tangential weird thing is that I’ve seen Shein, the fast fashion brand, has gone full “marketplace” and is now selling a lot of Temu like stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with clothes.

moody ,

(in a timely fashion, actually),

I bought two things. One of them had a message saying “Guaranteed by (X date) or you get a $5 credit.” Obviously that was the one item that showed up late. Sure enough, I get a $5 credit, followed by a bunch of emails on how I can get five or ten times the value out of my $5 credit.

CerealKiller01 ,

I’ve ordered some household items (door stoppers, tools etc.). The prices were somewhat cheaper than AE, the quality was fine (some things were better than expected. Some very cheap items were… Let’s say they were priced according to their quality. Thought other very cheap items turned out good, so it’s a gamble) and shipping was OK. Never tried the app for privacy reasons, but the site seems ok-ish (it’s a bit janky, but I suspect it’s due in part to some privacy addon I use. In short:

  1. Don’t use the app.
  2. Don’t buy very cheap stuff unless you’re willing to chance it.
  3. The “prizes” either appear only in the app or can be disabled via ad blockers and/or privacy addons.
Showroom7561 OP ,

I only tried the app because the website said that the item I wanted would be “free” through the app. Scummy way to get me to install the app, since I didn’t end up with any “free” items.

I’ll just stick with Aliexpress. I’ve been getting stuff within a week, and it doesn’t feel like I’m in a casino every time I visit. LOL

Asidonhopo ,

Anecdotally my boss at work bought some stuff from there with her debit card and had her account hacked, fraudulent charges etc. Another friend has bought things from there with a throwaway card and likes it lot. Caveat emptor.

bionicjoey ,

TEMU is pretty widely talked about as being a scam. Sorry you weren’t in the know.

Showroom7561 OP ,

Why the hell is it so popular??? I don’t get it. Do people like these never-ending promotional games without actually being able to buy something easily?

bionicjoey ,

Marketing. It popped up for you and has marketing taglines suggesting it’s substantially cheaper than other options. Some people are willing to jump through a lot of hoops for the possibility of savings

Showroom7561 OP ,

Some people are willing to jump through a lot of hoops for the possibility of savings

Sounds like a lottery! Even jumping through hoops resulted in no sale for them, and no product for me. Such a stupid concept for a “store”.

Wilzax ,

Temu uses illegal marketing tactics. The illegal marketing tactic they used on you was the Bait and Switch. These tactics are illegal because they are effective. Many people with weaker wills would just say “fuck it” and check out anyway, rather than deleting the app. These people prop up Temu and give them the funds to continue running their illegal business the way they do.

I’m just wondering why the FTC hasn’t fined the app out of operating in the US yet

Showroom7561 OP ,

Yeah, that pretty much explains it. Sad state of affairs when you have too many people willing to support such an unethical business model. I can imagine that anyone with a gambling addition could spend thousands of dollars quite easily on their platform.

Zerlyna ,
@Zerlyna@lemmy.world avatar

I have ordered from TEMU. Yes, getting their free stuff sends you into a black hole. You have to wait a few weeks for most items to show up. It saves a few bucks. Gotta watch the clothing fabric, lots is “shiny polyester”. It’s great for cheap seasonal decorations. Used to be free shipping on a $10 order. Now it’s $15 I think. My partner has figured out you can return at least one item per order for free (and still keep the item) so if you play it right, order a small quantity every day and when you receive it, see what you can return. When you order, it will keep the shopping cart “open” for hours, so if you come back it just adds to the initial order. That’s why I said order a few things once a day. It take like 8 hours to close out the order window.

Showroom7561 OP ,

Damn, sounds like way too much work! LOL

Had I been asked to pay for shipping or something, I would have been cool with it for these “free” items. But my god, it’s like they didn’t want me to actually close out the order without paying way more than zero for it.

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