Our Editors' Complete Guide to Temu: 5 Tips to Help You 'Shop like a Billionaire'

If you're an online shopper, chances are you've seen advertisements for Temu. In this article, we reveal what it's really like to shop from Temu and share our five expert tips to help you "shop like a billionaire".

If you frequently shop online, chances are you have come across an ad for Temu. They claim you can “shop like a billionaire” by browsing their catalog of thousands of home, beauty, and lifestyle items that are offered at seriously low prices. Their prices are surprisingly low, but are they too good to be true?

As someone who has personally ordered from Temu, I can confidently say…yes and no. In this article I’ll share the items that I have bought from Temu and how they’ve held up. I’ll also recap everything you need to know about this popular retailer and share our editors' top five tips for shopping Temu like a pro.

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Harry & David Moose Munch Premium Popcorn, 1 lb 14 oz (850g), features caramel-coated popcorn and nuts with milk and dark chocolate. The drum is adorned with festive snowflakes and includes flavors like milk chocolate, classic caramel, and dark chocolate.

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The It Cosmetics 3pc Hydration Skincare Set includes: \“Confidence in a Cleanser\“ with ceramides and hyaluronic acid, \“Confidence in a Cream\“ anti-aging cream, and \“Confidence in an Eye Cream\“ to rejuvenate and brighten.

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The 2024 Lenox Snoopy Ornament features Snoopy with a red scarf and gold antlers, holding a gift with a green bow. It is designed as a festive hanging decoration.

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Hallmark Ornaments Peanuts Countdown Calendar with 12 mini character ornaments and a paper tree display, featuring designs from the Peanuts series.

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Kenra Color Maintenance Conditioner is a 1-liter bottle designed to protect and lock in hair color. It helps maintain vibrant color with a focus on color preservation.

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A white Nike sneaker with a black swoosh, featuring a textured upper, lace-up closure, and a speckled black sole.

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The Lenox Merry Grinchmas Collection features festive dinnerware including plates, mugs, and a tray with playful Grinch-themed designs in green and red. Accompanied by small candy dishes and mugs with Christmas motifs, all set against a pink background.

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High-waisted gray leggings paired with white socks and white sneakers.

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A cozy electric blanket with a festive dog and snowflake pattern, featuring a soft, plush exterior and a wired remote control for heat settings.

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Twelve vibrantly colored shower steamers featuring smiley faces are arranged in a teal box. Each steamer has a unique tie-dye pattern, with shades including blue, yellow, purple, orange, and green, offering a cheerful and aromatic shower experience.

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Levtex Santa Claus Lane Quilt Set features a festive design with Santa illustrations, holiday phrases, and bright colors like red, green, and white. It includes a quilt and matching pillow shams, creating a cheerful Christmas-themed bedding ensemble.

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A woman wearing a red long-sleeve top and blue denim jeans with a red belt.

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Two white pillows with light green piping are stacked on a bed with a gray headboard.

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Lindt Lindor Holiday Gift Box contains 7.6 oz (216g) of assorted chocolate truffles in a festive gold packaging with decorative baubles. Flavors include milk chocolate (red), dark chocolate (blue), and white chocolate (yellow).

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What is Temu?

Temu is an online marketplace, similar to Amazon, that sells a huge range of products at wildly low prices. The company is operated by Chinese e-commerce company PDD holdings, and most goods are shipped directly to consumers from China. Selling directly to consumers helps them cut out the middleman and offer the lowest prices possible.

Is Temu Legit?

Yes. Temu is a legitimate website and not a scam. However, it may be important to manage your expectations when it comes to the quality of the items on the site. Shopping the site is a little bit of a gamble, and the quality of the items you receive may not be the best. Our editors recommend you do your research and follow our tips at the end of this article to increase your chances of getting quality merchandise from Temu.

Does Temu Accept Returns?

Yes! One of the best parts of shopping on Temu is that they do accept returns. They will accept returns on most items for free, with no shipping or handling fees, within a 90-day return period. In my experience, returns have been easy and convenient, but some users have reported complications with their process.

My Experience with Temu & What I Bought

While it may be true that you get what you pay for, some of these Temu items have really surprised me. Some have been expectedly cheap, but I found that many of them have been on par with Amazon quality.

Although I’ve heard that the shipping times at Temu can be rather long, that hasn’t been my experience. The orders I have placed have arrived within a week or a week and half. I’ve placed two orders so far, and I didn’t have any issues with missing items or broken merchandise.

Enamel Pins

For my first order, I ordered a lot of enamel pins to adorn my Fjallraven pack. I was able to find many unique styles, like my new prized possession, this “Van Gogh Away” pin. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of all of these. While they’re not metal, they are a very thick plastic and have held up quite well, even with the abuse that my Fjallraven is frequently subjected to.

Cutesy Office Supplies

A white pen with space-themed designs and a matching notebook featuring an astronaut illustration.

I also purchased fun office supplies, like these cute astronaut-themed pens. They actually write quite well, but they are very flimsy. My pack of four quickly dwindled to two because of faulty springs, but I am not entirely upset because I only spent $1.72 on the pack. The ones that have lasted seem to be going strong, and the gel ink writes really well. It glides and doesn’t bleed or run like you would expect from a cheap pen.

Claw Clips... Lots of Claw Clips

Hair clips shaped like flowers, a lit candle, and a hair comb.

I have bought a TON of claw clips off of Temu, and I think it may be the only place I go to buy them from now on. Claw clips seem to be notorious for breaking no matter where you buy them from, but most of mine have held up well even with my thick hair. They've also managed to face the bite of my French Bulldog and come out relatively unscathed. The small flower clips are my favorite for French twists, and I wear one almost daily. I picked up a pack of four for around $3, and a similar pack is selling on Amazon for $8.

A Graphic Tee

A person is wearing a graphic t-shirt with a nature scene and light blue ripped jeans.

I have only purchased a few apparel items from Temu, but my experience has been positive enough to make me want to purchase more. I purchased this graphic tee about eight months ago for $7. It’s been worn almost weekly. I’ve washed and dried it, and it still looks really great. I went about two sizes larger than my normal size with this one, as I really wanted an oversized fit. I'm glad I did. The sizing on Temu is very inconsistent, and I would recommend reading the reviews before making any purchase.

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The Wisconsin Holiday Sleep Set features a red long-sleeve top and pants with festive patterns including white \“W\“ logos, snowflakes, trees, and the words \“Badgers\“ and \“Wisconsin\“ in rows.

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A brown corduroy shirt jacket featuring a cozy beige sherpa lining, single chest pocket, and buttoned cuffs for added warmth and style.

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Metallic rose-colored Crocs Classic Clogs with a slip-on design, adjustable heel strap, ventilation holes on the top and sides, and a textured sole for grip.

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Dark blue fleece slip-on slippers with black soles, designed for comfort and indoor use.

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A woman models a Columbia Winter Warmth Jacket, which is a cozy, cream-colored, sherpa fleece with a hood, zip front, and drawstring ties. It features pockets at the front and chest for added convenience.

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Black high-waisted, wide-leg trousers with a tailored look. They feature a clean front with no visible pockets and reach full length, paired with black shoes.

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A white, plush cotton spa robe with a shawl collar, waist tie, and two front pockets, hanging on a wooden hanger against a tiled background.

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A women's loungewear set featuring a red and black festive pattern with reindeer and snowflake designs. The set includes a long-sleeve top and matching pants, accessorized with white sneakers and a white bag.

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A red Ohio State hoodie with a large \“O\“ and \“Ohio State\“ printed on the front, featuring a gray-lined hood and front pocket.

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A woman wears a 32 Degrees Poly-Fil Shirt Jacket, featuring quilted diamond stitching, a dark green color, long sleeves, a front button closure, and two chest pockets over a light fleece zip-neck top.

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Men's black joggers with an elastic waistband and drawstring, featuring side pockets and a slim fit. The pants are paired with gray athletic shoes.

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The Wolverine Trade Wedge 6\“ Work Boots are rugged brown leather boots featuring a moc toe design, metal eyelets, and a white wedge sole, offering durability and comfort for work environments.

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Black knee-high boot with a chunky heel and lug sole, featuring leather detailing and a sleek vertical stripe.

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A vibrant pink, long-sleeve V-neck sweater with lace trim at the hem, offering a stylish, layered look.

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Two women are wearing ribbed loungewear sets, one in pink and the other in beige, with long sleeves and wide-leg pants, each holding a white mug.

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Kawaii-Inspired Cow Slippers

A pair of sandals with an animal face design, worn with jeans.

If you haven’t already noticed, I obviously make a lot of serious adult purchases. I picked up these cow slippers to wear around the house, and they have lasted me months, even after my Frenchies confiscated one and attempted to turn it into a chew toy. They’re comfortable and look just like the picture. I went with my regular size on these, but I wish that I had sized up. They’re just a little snug. Sizing up seems to be the way to go with Temu merchandise, just to be safe.

A Mini Astronaut Projector

A small astronaut shaped projector sitting on a black counter in front of a dark teal background.

Rounding out my sophisticated purchases is this little astronaut projector lamp. Honestly, this thing kind of rules. Similar projectors are selling for $15 on Amazon, but this little guy only cost me $8. The projector is vibrant, colorful, and works just as described. It’s a fun addition to movie nights for my husband and me. If you’re not an adult child like me and have an actual child, I can imagine this being great at bedtime.

Our Top 5 TEMU Shopping Tips

Because things on Temu are so inexpensive, you may be tempted to add everything to your cart. But to get the most out of your Temu hauls, we reccomend spending some time and doing a little research before you buy. Here are our top five tips when it comes to shopping from Temu.

1. Read the Reviews & Look at Review Pictures

This advice is especially important when it comes to apparel items. Since quality can vary so greatly, it's important to carefully scan the reviews for comments about quality and fit. To play it safe, we’d advise only buying products that have review photos attached. Buying products sight unseen is a bit of a gamble with Temu, but they do have a rather generous return policy if you end up really unhappy with your purchase.

2. Stick to Fun, Cheap Items

Shopping on Temu is the most fun when you shop for unique items like weird enamel pins, home accents, or accessories. We also recommend them for things you typically replace no matter where you buy them from (like my extensive claw clip collection). Because quality can be so questionable, buying items that will get a lot of everyday use may not be the safest bet. We don’t recommend buying higher ticket items like vacuums or furniture from Temu.

3. Buy in Advance

If you’re planning to buy things for a specific event like a birthday, or maybe Christmas stocking stuffers, we recommend placing your order as early as possible. While we’ve typically received our order within 10 days, we have heard stories about very long shipping times. Since the items come from overseas, it’s best to buy well ahead of time so you’ll have them when you need them.

4. Use Filters & Specific Search Terms

There is so much to look at on Temu and you can quite literally lose hours of your life by browsing. To save time, use a specific search to narrow down the items. For example, if you know you want a new water bottle, try a search for “pink 40oz tumbler with handle” instead of just “water bottle”. This will help you view items that you’ll actually like instead of stifting through thousands that you don’t.

5. Search for “Local Warehouse” Sellers to Get Your Items Faster

You can now filter your search on Temu to only include items that are at a local warehouse. These items ship from a warehouse that is relatively close to you, so you can expect to get them within 4-7 business days. These items typically cost a little bit more than some of the items coming from elsewhere, but they’re still often less than similar items on Amazon. Shopping Temu in this way gives you a little more peace of mind if you’re concerned about long shipping times.