---
title: What’s Temu and why is it everywhere?
description: The ecommerce app that offers everything at cheap prices exploded after a Super Bowl ad.
---

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# [What’s Temu and why is it everywhere?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/02212023-temu)

 Written by [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) | Feb 21, 2023 9:44:39 AM

A Super Bowl [commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgNuwb9lpeg) for ecommerce platform Temu depicts a woman scoring outrageously cheap deals, including a $9.99 red evening gown. “Shop like a billionaire,” the ad says.

It turns out American consumers worried about inflation enjoy Temu bestsellers like ~$10 Lenovo earbuds and ~$3 sunglasses.

It’s now the most-downloaded app in the US, with **24m** downloads since its September launch and **11m+** monthly active users, [per](https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/16/tech/temu-shopping-app-us-popularity-intl-hnk) *CNN*.

#### **Why’s it so cheap?**

Temu is based in Boston, but owned by China’s PDD Holdings Inc. PDD also owns Pinduoduo, a shopping platform with ~900m users, and  generated [$14.7B](https://www.temu.com/about-temu.html) in 2021 revenue.

As such, it can cut out the middleman and ship directly from China, with no need for US warehouses, in ~7-15 days, [per](https://www.wired.com/story/how-retail-app-temu-lures-us-shoppers-with-mind-bending-prices/) *Wired*.

Temu drives prices even lower with perks like free shipping and referral-based discounts, but it’s unclear if that’s sustainable. Some analysts think it may be subsidizing customers to gain users.

#### **Is the stuff any good?**

At first blush, Temu looks kind of like Wish, whose products are often so bad it’s become [a meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sites/wish).

The influencers with whom Temu has partnered may declare everything in their hauls as “[sooooo cute](https://www.tiktok.com/@itscookiedoughh/video/7200058086558616875?q=temu%20haul&t=1676919700708),” but other creators have [noted](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8Pu8wxz2no) a mix of good and meh products, longer shipping times, and damaged or incorrect items.

It’s also racked up 127 complaints on the Better Business Bureau [website](https://time.com/6243738/temu-app-complaints/), where its rating is a measly 1.8 stars.

Meanwhile, in China, the deaths of two Pinduoduo workers have led many to call for a boycott — which is reminiscent of Shein, another fast-fashion, bargain app [under fire](https://thehustle.co/11082022-chinese-ecommerce/) for labor and environmental concerns.

[View full post](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/02212023-temu)

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