Chinese-owned Temu app offers low-priced items with free shipping

Chinese shopping app Temu first caught my eye when I kept seeing ads for a pair of Lenovo true wireless earbuds they were selling for some ridiculously cheap price lower than $3. According to AFP News, Temu has been the most downloaded app in the U.S. since the beginning of the year. There is no denying that the Temu app is full of low-priced items. It reminds this writer of the Spencer Gift catalogs that are full of cheap and often useful items.

The Temu app includes electronics (like cheap charging cables and adapters), products for the kitchen and the home, and make-up. First-time users get to spin a virtual wheel that could result in the shopper getting as many as two free items with the purchase of one item. Shipping is always free.

And it seems that American consumers can't get enough of the stuff that Temu is selling. A 65-year-old Californian named Silva told AFP, "I've seen so many things in their catalog... offered on Amazon and other online retailers for much more." She has gone on to place 20 orders through the app buying jewelry, craft supplies, and gifts.

Delivery of the items ordered from Temu is pretty fast according to another customer, 38-year-old Stephanie Wolfe, who says, "It got here so quick, I couldn't believe it. Once I realized it was legit, I just started ordering more."

Helping to promote the app, Temu ran expensive ads during this year's Super Bowl game. The commercials, viewed by 100 million people, told Americans that through the Temu app they can "shop like a billionaire." The ads helped as the app has been installed over 33 million times in the U.S. since its launch. The company has a U.S. office located near Boston although most of its products are sourced and shipped from China.

One concern is that the app is collecting huge amounts of personal data from U.S. consumers. However, a research paper written by Georgia Institute of Technology professor Milton Mueller, using Chinese short-form video app TikTok as an example, stated that "data collected by TikTok can only be of espionage value if it comes from users who are intimately connected to national security functions and use the app in ways that expose sensitive information."

Wolfe, one of the Temu shoppers we mentioned earlier in this article, said that she is not concerned although she uses a VPN (virtual private network) and pays for her purchases with PayPal. "Because I'm taking precautions, I'm not worried," she said. 

If you'd like to install Temu on your Android phone, click on this link which will take you to the Google Play Store. If you use an iPhone, tap on this link to be taken to the App Store so you can install the app on your iPhone.