The scoop about Temu (from my experience)

So, a couple months ago I started suddenly getting absolutely SLAMMED with ads for this "Temu". They were EVERYWHERE -- Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Amazon, whatever. I would see videos on TikTok of all kinds of home gadgets from Temu. BUT, I also saw a lot of people saying not to trust Temu, and that they "steal your information" and their packages never arrived... yikes. 

So I decided to see what all the hype was about, and here's how it went!

So right off the bat, they are extremely pushy with their promotions of coupons and discounts, 90% of which aren't even worth it. $3 off an order of $90 or above? Lol please.

They also have these weird little minigames, and this is where I started to understand why so many people were talking about Temu -- the games promise free items as the prize, but they require you to refer countless people, making them download the app. I have yet to see anyone actually win them, despite referring dozens of new users. These games work with a link or code system -- if someone clicks on your link, or searches your code in Temu's search bar, it gives you progress toward "winning" the game -- but it is hopelessly rigged to keep churning in new users. This has led to mass-messaging campaigns and spam.

Scammy mini games aside, as a shopping app, Temu is great. The prices are lower than the likes of Wish or Aliexpress, but the quality is lightyears better -- many items I've gotten for less than a dollar, are the same quality I would find on Amazon for $15 or more. I started out testing the site by ordering items for only a few cents -- the pitiful 2 cent rewards from one of their minigames were actually perfect for this. They came in about a week; much faster than Wish which often takes several months for orders to arrive.

Now that I knew the items would in fact arrive, I placed a real order. I plan on starting my small business soon, so I figured I would order some supplies, as well as some other fun little things. I gave myself a budget of $25 -- and was able to get 19 items. First of all, for what I got, that is INSANE. Anywhere else, $25 would have gotten me 3, MAYBE 4 of those items. The order came yesterday, so let's talk about it.

A complete list of what I bought:

-A pack of 100 earring hooks with backers -- $1.77

-A ring mandrel (also came with sizing rings, and a flexible measure) -- $1.88

-10-pack of organza jewelry bags -- $0.88

-Acrylic frog ring for my friend -- $0.38

-Elastic beading string -- $0.48

-Elastic beading string (different size) -- $0.48

-25-pack of beading needles -- $1.18

-2-pack wig caps -- $0.71

-Glasses cleaner -- $0.18

-Electric lighter -- $1.97

-50-pack of earring cards -- $0.37

-Chrome art marker -- $2.98

-White mascara -- $1.99

-Gold foil for nails -- $1.98

-Infinite pencil -- $0.98

-Sheet of silicone skull molds -- $1.88

-Silicone cloud mold -- $0.71

-20-pack of glass teardrop beads -- $0.71

-Metal wax seal stamp -- $2.98

Firstly, they aren't kidding about being less wasteful with their packaging -- they jam-packed everything into a single small package that fit into my mailbox. The outer packaging was unscathed, although whatever orange stuff they use to color their envelopes rubs off -- I looked like I had Cheeto fingers!

Out of all 19 items, only one was broken/defective; unfortunately it was the chrome marker, which I was pretty excited for. The felt tip was completely missing, rendering it useless. Temu was pretty quick to give me a full refund for it though, so I can't complain too much. Everything else was intact, despite a few dented boxes. The quality was again, surprisingly good for the price; the only thing that felt kind of cheaply made was the electric lighter. In the picture it definitely appeared to be made of metal, but the casing is thin plastic. But I mean, it lights, so it serves its purpose well enough lol. (I don't smoke; I wanted an electric lighter to seal the ends of my macrame pieces/melt the ends of strings.)

Some things I was particularly impressed with: the white mascara, gold foil, wax stamp and infinite pencil. I'm actually wearing the mascara as I type this, it shows up super well and doesn't have a funky chemical smell. It's very light and feels like nothing on your eyes. The jar of foil -- it's HUGE. Like, WAY bigger than I expected for the price. On top of which, they packed it CHOCK FULL, to the point where I couldn't open the lid without making a mess. I'll never have to buy this again; they gave me enough to last a lifetime LOL. The wax stamp is exceptional quality -- it's got weight to it, the handle is solid wood, and the engraving is clean. Will definitely be getting a lot of use out of it. The infinite pencil is just too cool! It writes like a dream, and is super smooth and consistent; I'll be using it for art as it shades very smoothly. The tip was a little loose when it came, but it screws on, so all I had to do was tighten it a little. I'll be buying more of them for sure.

So, over all, I love Temu for shopping -- not so much for their coupons or their MLM-like strategies. The quality is good for the most part, the prices are fantastic, and the stuff ships pretty quickly! Try it out for yourself, and stop giving Jeff Bazos so much of your hard-earned money lol XD