ULTRA-LOW prices, new items landing online every day and practically anything you could ever need just a click away – it’s no wonder Temu has become one of the fastest-growing online retailers.
In 2023, consumers placed an astronomical 412.3 million orders on Temu – or close to 1.13million every day.
Temptations of Temu bargains come at a price[/caption]
Since its UK launch in April 2023, Temu has offered a broad range of products for anyone and everyone.
And the site – which means Team Up, Price Down – offers huge discounts, too.
Cash-strapped shoppers can get up to 90% off as a new customer – which they can use to ”shop like a billionaire”, Temu’s catchy slogan.
There are also text alerts that will send you 20% offers, deals, seasonal sales, clearance sales, coupons you can find online or win by playing games on the app.
However, beneath the cut-price goodies, some going for pennies, lays a darker reality that customers don’t often see behind the bright clothing, cheap furniture and affordable beauty essentials.
Children’s clothing ‘containing heavy metals’
One girl’s arm was severely burned after using nail glue purchased from Temu[/caption]
With the costs skyrocketing, millions of cash-strapped parents are turning to Temu to snap up school supplies and kids clothing.
A gorgeous colourful short-sleeve dress sells for just £2.59 – while a similar version elsewhere goes for £15, or almost six times more expensive.
Meanwhile, a ten-pack of plastic rulers will set you back a mere £1.34 on Temu – with an almost identical product retailing for just under £8 on Amazon.
Unsurprisingly, these huge savings have seen a staggering 20million people in the UK download the app in 2023 – making Temu the most popular shopping app amongst Britons.
But a May 2024 Channel 4 documentary uncovered dangerous levels of toxic materials in a number of products, including kids clothing.
Toxicology tests commissioned by the Dispatches team found a £2.17 silver necklace contained ten times the quantity of lead that UK regulations permit.
Other products, such as a £2.97 gold chain, were also found to contain excessive quantities of heavy metals.
Prolonged exposure to heavy metals can cause serious mental and physiological problems, such as stillbirths, reduced sperm count and damage to the kidneys and lungs.
Professor Laurence Harwood, an organic chemist at the University of Reading, said: “I’m very concerned. Children younger than six are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning and it can have all sorts of effects on mental development and physical development.
“And it can cause neurological issues in young and old alike.”
Prof Harwood was also extremely concerned about the “absolutely unacceptably high levels” of heavy metal antimony found in a child’s leather jacket, which cost £11.09.
Antimony has similar properties to arsenic and has been linked to skin and breathing problems, as well as issues with the lungs, heart and stomach.
Responding to the findings, Temu previously said: “Our tests did confirm some items exceeded acceptable limits for heavy metals. These items have been permanently removed and we are working with the merchants involved.
“We aim not just to meet the minimum legal requirements but to exceed them . . . and will continue to devote significant resources to improving consumer protection.”
According to a Temu spokesperson, who insisted that the safety of their customers is their ”top priority”, the marketplace ”has a thorough process for vetting sellers, monitoring product listings and feedback, and enforcing compliance with platform rules and regulatory requirements”.
They shared with us: ”We work with globally recognized testing and certification organizations, including TÜV SÜD, TÜV Rheinland, SGS, and Bureau Veritas, to help ensure that third-party seller products meet required safety standards.”
5.8mil tonnes of CO2 emissions per year
In 2023, consumers placed an astronomical 412.3 million orders on Temu – or close to 1.13million every day[/caption]
Like with many fast fashion brands, such as rival Shein, there are also great concerns about the environmental impact Temu is having on the planet.
Despite its growing popularity, Temu has faced criticism for its environmental footprint, a common concern for fast fashion and e-commerce entities.
The rapid turnover and low-cost nature of products encourage overconsumption, which leads to significant waste and increased carbon emissions from transportation.
With almost 1.2million packages shipped daily, the China-based online retailer is projected to generate a whopping 1billion tons of packaging waste globally by 2050, warned Greenmatch.
Annually, the fast fashion sector, which also includes Temu, is responsible for producing an astronomical 92million tons of waste and consuming nearly 79trillion litres of water to produce the cheap bargains – that come at a cost.
This massive consumption exacerbates the strain on the planet’s resources, leading to severe environmental degradation, such global deforestation.
Annually, the fast fashion sector, which also includes Temu, is responsible for producing an astronomical 92million tons of waste[/caption]
The total annual impact
If Temu maintains its current shocking volume of over 1.2million parcels a day, then based on estimates the company will facilitate over 438million shipments annually.
As each air shipment from China produces roughly 10kg of CO2, Temu’s operations could generate over 4.3million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, not including other sources like packaging waste and energy usage.
According to Temu, they’ve partnered with Tress for The Future to plant trees across sub-Saharan Africa since July 2023.
The brand insists that ”these trees funded by Temu and its users are positively contributing to the restoration of acres of land and supporting local communities”.
As of February 2025, they have allegedly funded close to 17,600,000 trees.
Those shopping at Temu can donate to save the planet by clicking on the ‘Donate with Temu’ at checkout.
Following the backlash, the mega retailer also claims that their new packaging for express shipping ”contains renewable resources (roughly 3% PLA and 5% starch), biopolymers (roughly 66% PBAT), and synthetic materials (roughly 12% calcium carbonate, 10% masterbatch, and 3% various additives)”.
”This packaging meets the ASTM 6400 and EN13432 standards and is certified industrially compostable by DIN CERTCO and OK Compost,” Temu states online.
This massive consumption exacerbates the strain on the planet’s resources, leading to severe environmental degradation, such global deforestation[/caption]
According to the China-based online marketplace, the updated ”packaging is compostable in industrial composting facilities and should not be disposed of in home composting bins”.
A Temu spokesperson told us that the marketplace’s ”direct-from-factory model helps make shopping more efficient by cutting out unnecessary middlemen and reducing extra steps between manufacturers and customers”.
They shared with Fabulous: ”By giving manufacturers a better idea of what people actually want to buy, we help them produce the right products in the right amounts, reducing waste and excess inventory.
”This makes our approach less wasteful and more efficient compared to traditional retail and older e-commerce models that involve more middlemen.
”We encourage customers to be mindful about their spending. Most of what people buy on Temu are daily essentials, and our customers tend to be careful with their spending.”
‘Ripping off’ smaller brands
Temu has since taken down the cards from its site, reassured it acted ‘quickly’ when ‘potential infringements’ were reported[/caption]
Numerous independent brands across the world have seen duplicates of their products offered on the cheap on the Chinese retailer’s website Shein – and Temu has come under fire too.
Back in 2024, Anwen Roberts, who owns design company Draenog, claimed identical versions of her Welsh language products appeared on the Chinese-based site after being copied without permission, BBC reported.
The talented artist said it was an added pressure for small businesses like hers in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, when she was trying to make a living.
Temu, which has since taken down the cards from its site, reassured it acted “quickly” when “potential infringements” were reported, and its goal was to protect brands and artist rights.
Anwen said it was a “massive shock” to see her work and designs being flogged online without her knowledge.
Among the cards sold on Temu was nadolig llawen mam a dad – merry Christmas mum and dad in Welsh – featuring two hedgehogs nose to nose while snow falls.
Both the colouring, greeting and designs were the exact same.
The Temu version read nadolig llawen mam a dad while Draenog’s is mam a dad nadolig llawen.
It just breaks your heart a bit to know someone has used your work
Anwen Roberts
Another Temu replica showed a large balloon with penblwydd hapus – happy birthday – written on it and tied to a dachshund, which was identical to a Draenog card.
“They can just take hundreds of thousands of images, take them off the internet, create some text, do it really quickly and they miss out the bit of weeks and months and hours of working with small businesses like I do and putting a lot of time and energy in,” said the artist.
“They were identical and they used the designs we have online,” she told Newyddion S4C.
“It just breaks your heart a bit to know someone has used your work, put it out there and is potentially making money from something that I as a small business have created.”
‘Intellectual property complaints are are’
After being approached by The Sun, Temu claimed that ”intellectual property complaints” on the mega marketplace ”are rare” and allegedly make up ”just 0.0019% of total product listings”.
”We resolve 99% of cases within five working days, with an average resolution time of one day—among the fastest in the industry,” the spokesperson told us.
”When we receive reports of potential infringement, we investigate promptly and take necessary action, including removing listings and images.
”Temu is a marketplace where third-party sellers offer products directly to consumers. Each seller manages their own listings and must agree to follow rules and regulations that protect consumers and ensure legal compliance as part of our onboarding process.
”We have strengthened our brand protection measures to better detect similar designs and images.
”As our platform has grown, we have expanded our IP protection team, enhancing our ability to process complaints efficiently.”
Slave labour claims
It’s feared that the production of some mega cheap products coming out of China may involve Uyghur Muslim people, who have been detained by the Chinese authorities since 2017 in what they say are “re-education” camps in Xinjiang.
China-based marketplace Temu has strongly denied the use of forced, penal and child labour in its supply chain.
In recently told a House of Commons Committee it has policies and processes which require suppliers to adhere to ethical labour practices and specifically prohibit forced labour.
The Committee said it was reassured about some of Temu’s suppliers agreements.
Temu told the House of Commons Committee in January: “We are committed to continuously improving our compliance programme and … we are, at the moment, undertaking an industry-leading initiative whereby we will require and make mandatory for all traders on our platform, to disclose the origin of manufacturing of their products.”
‘More than 1 million slaves’
In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has detained between one million and three million other Uyghurs in so-called ‘re-education centres’[/caption]
In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has detained between one million and three million other Uyghurs in so-called “re-education centres”, where they are forced to undergo psychological indoctrination programs, such as studying communist propaganda and giving thanks to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
State officials have also reportedly used waterboarding and other forms of torture, including sexual abuse, as part of the process.
Using satellite imagery and other evidence, researchers have documented close to 400 re-education camp detention centres and prisons in Xinjiang.
Those inside the concentration camps – the largest mass internment of an ethnic-religious minority group since World War II – are exploited for cheap labour, forced to pick cotton, manufacture garments and other items for sale both in China and around the world.
What’s really going on inside the camps is difficult to know because of China’s disinformation campaign and clampdown on information.
The camps are also tightly controlled. According to a 2019 article by the BBC, detainees are ”never” allowed to escape and any ”behavioural violations” face discipline and punishment.
A US government investigation, in June 2023, found an “extremely high risk” that products sold on Temu may be made with forced labour.
In the report, the Congressional Select Committee said Temu’s business model enabled the company to avoid complying with US law blocking imports from the region unless firms can provide proof their items were made without forced labour.
According to the New York Times, Temu told the committee it asked its sellers to sign a code of conduct specifying a “zero-tolerance policy” for the use of forced, indentured or penal labour.
Temu’s code of conduct also stated that the company reserves the right to inspect factories and warehouses.
Safety fear
By Tara Evans, Consumer Editor
LOW prices on platforms like Temu are great for shoppers, but there can be big issues if there is a problem with a purchased item.
The law in the UK means it is up to the manufacturer to solve it, making it harder to get a refund via the online marketplace.
Many shoppers also assume that online marketplaces have to ensure the products sold on their platforms are safe – but this is not the case.
Some platforms have voluntarily promised to improve product safety, but no regulator has to oversee products are up to scratch.
And the mega-cheap retailer was not the only low-budget site to face growing criticism.
Fellow fast fashion giant Shein, which adds a whopping 2,000 new items to the website every day, has also come under scrutiny.
In a shocking 2024 documentary by Channel 4, Untold: Inside The Shein Machine, it was found that some factory workers were slogging away for 17 hours a day – and were fined three-quarters of their measly wages for any mistakes.
It is not, however, known whether these workers were Uyghur Muslims.
The Chinese government, however, claims that the camps are merely vocational and training centres, and that they’re teaching people job skills, Vox reported.
It has justified the oppression in Xinjiang as an attempt to clamp down on terrorism and extremism emanating from the Uyghur separatist movement.
There have been incidents of violent unrest over the years, including a few deadly terrorist attacks, and at least one Uyghur extremist group in the region, the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, has ties to Al-Qaeda and the global jihadist movement.
However, most experts say China’s repression of millions of Uyghurs is vastly disproportionate to the comparatively minor terror threat in the region.
