Temu review: shop like a billionaire – but with a catch

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What is Temu?

Temu, pronounced tey moo, is an online shopping platform much like Amazon or Ebay.

It allows you to buy directly from manufacturers or retailers based in China, which is one of the reasons why Temu is so cheap (more below).

While most users shop via its app, you can also make purchases using its website*.

One reason why the shopping platform has been so successful is because it has generous discounts for new users – but only if you’ve been referred by an existing user.

Temu code for savings and discounts

Is Temu legit? And is it safe to use?

Despite appearances, Temu is not a scam. It’s just as legit as say Amazon or Ebay. That is, you will get what you purchased.

There are however some things to bear in mind when you shop with Temu, such as the occasional poor quality and long delivery time.

Some people have also raised concerns about privacy and issues with malware.

You can read more about this in the post What is Temu and is it legit?

My Temu experience

I came to Temu via word of mouth.

Like everyone else, I had been bombarded by Temu ads for weeks and disregarded the site as a scam. But after hearing good things from other shoppers, I decided to give it a go.

In the beginning it was a clunky, time consuming shopping experience.

The number of retailers was overwhelming, and there were constant annoying pop ups offering additional discounts or promotions.

However, the app has improved over time, and it’s become much easier to use.

Shopping with Temu in December 2023

In December 2023, I made my first purchase with Temu.

I bought 16 items in total, which came to £29.26.

All of these were small household items ranging from ear plugs to storage containers, as you can see from the screenshots above.

I would normally have bought these on Amazon or Ebay, but Temu offered the same items at a huge discount; some items were less than 10% of what I would have paid elsewhere.

There was a long wait for delivery – about 10 days for me – but all of the items arrived within the time frame Temu specified, despite the fact that I was shopping during the Christmas/New Year period.

They were also as described, but three were of poor quality. It was small things, like lids not closing properly on boxes or attachments falling off.

It wasn’t entirely unusable, but it certainly wasn’t the standard I expected it to be.

Shopping with Temu in January 2024

Shortly after that first purchase, Temu offered me some more discount coupons.

So in January 2024, I went on another spree.

This time I bought 17 items, which came to a total of £31.61.

Of these I returned just two items because they were of poor quality.

Shopping with Temu in June 2024

In June 2024, I spotted that Temu had made some big changes to the app and added many more product categories so I decided to try it again.

This time I got 10 items for £18.33, a mix of household, beauty and craft bits.

As it wasn’t the holiday period, my parcel arrived very quickly – about a week this time.

Again, there were a couple of poor quality items – I ended up returning three things – but the deals I scored made it all worth it.

For example, I got a set of four tweezers* for just 65p.

I had returned a similar set from LookFantastic* a week earlier because they were of poor quality. That set cost me £7.99 and took much longer to get a refund, requiring multiple emails before I eventually got my money back.

One change I saw this time round was that Temu had improved its user experience.

It was much easier to navigate the app in 2024 compared to 2023, and I was able to find what I needed relatively quickly.

However, prices were starting to creep up. I had a couple of items saved in my basket and about half of these were higher than when I added them.

Shopping with Temu in July 2024

In July 2024, I decided to test a category I wouldn’t normally: clothes.

I always find it hard to find stuff that fits property, and usually need to return stuff.

Temu lets users rate whether an item is true to size so it was quite easy to decide whether I needed something larger or smaller than usual.

I got nine items this time for £15.17 and I would say this was my best haul yet.

From this shop, I returned just one item because the item didn’t quite match the description and therefore wasn’t suitable for my needs, even though it was a great fit.

Shopping with Temu in August 2024

So normally Temu only offers freebies to new users but while checking delivery times for a previous order, I spotted a coupon in my inbox.

The offer was that I could choose any two freebies from a list, and to qualify for them I’d have to buy £40 worth of stuff from that same list.

I noticed two things.

First is that many of the items on this list were more expensive than normal.

The second is that most of these didn’t have reviews.

As it turned out, there was actually stuff I needed on that list, and with the freebies it worked out about the same as if I shopped from Temu normally.

I decided to take up the offer just to see what happens.

Well, it was kind of a disaster.

I got 12 items for £41.14, which was my most expensive shop yet.

I ended up returning half of the items because either it wasn’t a good fit, was defective, or wasn’t as described – including one of the freebies I got.

To its credit, Temu refunded me quickly after I returned the items.

For the freebie, it even gave me the equivalent value as a Temu credit so I could use it on future purchases.

And where the items were more expensive than normal, I was able to claim back the difference as a Temu credit under the price adjustment policy.

Temu’s price adjustment policy

Something that’s little known – because it wasn’t well advertised until recently – is Temu’s price adjustment policy.

Temu says it will “provide the price difference in the currency that the order was paid in if the list price of the item purchased was reduced within 30 days of purchase in the same country or region”.

You can request this refund through the “Your Orders” section of the app; look out for the price adjustment button, it’s in the same place as the refund button.

If the item is on clearance, part of a promotion or no longer available then it’s not eligible for the price adjustment refund.

I’ve tried this and it works. The refund is saved in my Temu account as credit though, so I have to spend it on the app.

How to get a refund from Temu

Of course I wasn’t happy with the low quality items I received.

When I first shopped on Temu, I was actually writing a negative review for one of these when it suggested via a pop up that I could also request a refund.

I hadn’t thought about it because the items were so cheap that I was just going to cut my losses.

To get a refund, I had to submit a form with photos of the defects, which took a few minutes to do.

However, Temu got back to me almost straight away with details of the next steps.

On lower value returns, it simply offered a refund and told me to keep the items.

For more expensive returns, I had to send back the items using a prepaid label; the refund was issued soon after.

I’ve never had an issue with getting refunds from Temu, and I’ve had to return a lot of stuff.

But I also use my credit card for extra financial protection.

Temu’s returns policy

Temu has a Purchase Protection Program*, which covers things like damaged goods, lost items and orders that don’t match their description.

Basically you should be able to get your money back relatively easily if things go wrong.

For returns, you have 90 days to decide whether you want to return an item.

Your first return is free, regardless of the reason, and is with Evri, Yodel or Royal Mail.

If you need to return something else later on you may have to pay for that separately.

Temu gives you 14 days in which to ship your items once you initiate a return, and refunds are made within a few days of the item being received on their end.

The verdict on Temu

Temu hasn’t had great reviews on Trustpilot but for me it’s been a pretty painless experience. 

Some of the products I received were low quality, but getting my money back was quicker and more straightforward than some retailers based here in the UK.

I’ve already shopped from Temu a few times and I would certainly consider buying from the app again – especially now that Amazon requires a £35 order before it’ll offer free delivery.

Temu is also incredibly good at offering you suggested products – things that you didn’t even know you need – so don’t be surprised if you walk away with more than you bargained for.

Finding cheap deals on Temu

Temu is already pretty cheap, but recent updates mean you can now sort the items by price, which makes it easier than ever to find great deals.

The cheapest items are always ones where there are multiple retailers offering identical products, like storage boxes.

Look out for ones featured in flash sales too, as the prices can be discounted by 50% or more.

Also check the coupons section and your offers for any special discounts.

For items where there are only a handful of retailers, the prices are actually comparable to what you might pay on Amazon or Ebay so you might want to shop there instead for the faster shipping time.

Read more: How to get the best Amazon deals

Temu delivery costs and times

Temu offers free UK delivery on all orders over £15 – this was previously £10. Within the UK, it uses Evri, Relay or Royal Mail to make the deliveries.

However, as the items are generally shipped from China, there’s a slightly longer delivery time.

Temu’s standard delivery time is six to eight business days after the order has been processed, which is almost two weeks when you factor in the weekends.

It might be even longer during public holidays in China, or if it takes a while for your order to be processed.

Once your order goes through, you’re given a delivery window – if your order doesn’t arrive on time, you’ll receive a £4 Temu credit as compensation.

Temu credit basically just sits in your account and is automatically applied to new purchases.

More recently, Temu has also started allowing some providers to ship from local warehouses.

For these, free delivery is offered when your purchase is over £35 but can vary from provider to provider so do check the fine print carefully.

This Temu review was first published in April 2024. It was updated in December 2024.

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