An investigation by Which? has discovered that knives and axes that ought to be age-restricted, along with what appear to be illegal weapons, are being sold on the Chinese internet marketplace Temu.
The UK consumer advocate claims to have seen listings on the website for folding knives and batons that looked like things that were illegal in the country.
According to its analysts, they were also able to purchase age-restricted goods like axes and knives without having their age verified. A few items were quite inexpensive, with prices as low as £4.48.
Which? demands that Temu enhance its verification procedure, get rid of hazardous products, and make independent sellers accountable when security flaws are discovered.
Meanwhile, the Chinese shopping app has been on the rise after being launched in the UK in April, keeping its grip on the number-one spot among shopping apps downloaded in the UK in the past six months.
Some reports suggest that the discount e-commerce site's growth could even crack Amazon's dominance in the online retail space.
However, the platform's growth hasn't been without controversy. Temu is currently embroiled in a US-based legal battle with its rival Shein. What's more, the US government said that there is an “extremely high risk” that products sold on Chinese bargain shopping site Temu were produced using forced labour.
With items costing just pennies, sceptical customers are wondering: is Temu too good to be true?
What is the Temu app?
Temu is a Chinese ultra-low-cost shopping app that launched in the US last September and has expanded into the UK.
It has been compared to other discount e-commerce sites, like AliExpress and Wish, which also sell a wide range of items at incredibly low prices.
The platform sells a range of products directly from Chinese sellers, such as clothing, jewellery, beauty products, and homeware, at ultra-low prices.
Temu’s prices are made even lower with its “lightning deals” and various sales, including deals promising up to 99 per cent off.
For example, at the time of writing, Temu’s “lightning deals” included a ring for 77p and a bracelet for 89p.
According to a report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), Temu placed more than 8,000 ads across Meta platforms in 2023, and spent around $14 million (£11.2 m) on two adverts during the Super Bowl.
The app also relies on influencer marketing, rewarding its affiliates with shopping perks and rewards, and encourages users to share the app with friends for deals in return.
Where is Temu available?
Temu was previously only available in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
As of April 2023, Temu also became available in the UK as well as a number of other European countries, including France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, as reported by Reuters.
It then entered the market in Japan and South Korea.
At the start of September, Temu also rolled out in the Phillippines, marking the app's wider expansion in Southeast Asia.
Mobile intelligence firm Sensor Tower reported that Temu was downloaded 19 million times in the first quarter of 2022, and was the most downloaded app on the Apple and Google Play stores in the US.
Who owns Temu?
Temu says it's headquartered in Boston. It's actually owned by the multinational commerce group PDD Holdings, which was founded by Chinese billionaire Colin Huang.
It’s the sister site of the Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, which was valued at $200 billion(£160 bn) in 2021, according to the Financial Times.
In March 2021, Huang stepped down from his executive roles at Pinduoduo and turned over the voting rights for his 29 per cent stake in the company.
In 2020, Huang was briefly ranked the second-richest person in China thanks to a surge in sales at Pinduoduo, as reported by the BBC.
Why is the US government concerned about Temu?
The US government published a report over the summer saying there is an “extremely high risk” that Temu uses an online shipping loophole to avoid requirements of forced labour screenings.
The report, published by the US Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (USCC), raises “serious concerns about the continued presence of products made with forced labour contaminating American imports”.
“Temu does not have any system to ensure compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). This all but guarantees that shipments from Temu containing products made with forced labor are entering the United States on a regular basis,” it continued.
The claims are part of an ongoing investigation into compliance with a 2021 US law that bars the import of goods made using forced Uyghur labour.
Nike, Adidas and Chinese ultra-fast fashion brand Shein are also being investigated.
The US government also accused Temu, alongside Shein, of “data risks, sourcing violations, and trade loopholes,” in a report published by the USCC in April.
The report also raises concerns about quality and copyright: “Like Shein, Temu’s success raises flags about its business practices.”
Temu has 3.3 stars on Trustpilot, with 33 per cent of reviews rating the platform one star.
Negative reviews complain about the quality of the products and the number of notifications the app sends.
The USCC report also says that PDD Holdings has been accused by China’s Labour Watch of forcing employees to work “extreme overtime”, and that CNN reported that sophisticated malware was found on the Pinduoduo sister app (though Temu itself was not implicated in either accusation).
A report by CNN Business also raised concerns about Temu’s sustainability, with the company telling CNN that it offsets emissions for every order with “carbon credits which support wildlife conservation efforts” in the US.
