Launched in September 2022, Temu is an ecommerce platform created by the founders of the popular Chinese ecommerce site Pinduoduo.
Since then, the platform has quickly caught the interest of consumers. With 130 million total downloads in less than a year, Temu sits as the #1 shopping app in the US in both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
So, what’s the big deal about Temu? Why is it so popular, and does it promise a business opportunity that’s worth your time, effort and investment?
If these are the questions on your mind, keep reading with us to discover all there is to know about Temu dropshipping. Tips for sourcing from Temu. And steps for setting up your Temu dropshipping business. Let’s jump in.
What is Temu and What Sets Temu Apart?
Temu is an ecommerce marketplace that offers cheap prices on clothing, electronics, beauty products, musical instruments, kitchen accessories, and more.
Temu’s advertising mainly revolves around the extraordinarily cheap products available in its stores. In their own words, Temu is where you find “prices up to 90% lower than Amazon.“
Like DHgate and Wish, most sellers on Temu are Chinese manufacturers and wholesalers. Thanks to this vast supplier network, Temu is able to offer many product categories, meaning if there’s demand for any given product, you’ll find enough suppliers for it on Temu.
Additionally, Temu targets the US and Western markets, while platforms like AliExpress and DHgate are used everywhere around the world.
Can You Dropship With Temu?
Well… Yes and no.
Pay enough attention and you’ll notice Temu’s stance on dropshipping is not straightforward.
From what I understand, Temu does not support dropshipping on their platform, meaning you are not allowed to register as a seller and fulfill orders by dropshipping.
This is no surprise as Temu ships packages in its bright orange packaging which has helped cement its brand identity on social media, especially TikTok and YouTube.
However, Temu’s policy does not say you can’t source products and fulfill them through your store.
This means that if you’re determined to take advantage of Temu’s budget-friendly sourcing without breaking the law, you can buy the desired products, rebox them with your branded packaging and sell them on your site.
Now I will tell you one tip.
How to Find Reliable Suppliers on Temu
1. Know Your Niche
You should begin your search by figuring out what you want to sell and finding the right market for it. Knowing what you’re selling and who you’re selling to helps you find suppliers who are experts in those areas.
Whether it’s electronics, fashion, or home decor, focusing on one thing makes your search easier and helps ensure that the suppliers you’re checking out have what your customers want.
Use tools like Google Trends and Trendhunter to find out what products are popular right now. These tools show you how much people are interested in a product and if its popularity changes over time. They also help you see if a product sells more during certain times of the year.
2. Find The Products First, The Supplier Will Follow
Once you are sure of the products you will be selling, next is to find suppliers. The best way to go about this is first searching for products and you do this by working with the search bar on TEMU’s website or mobile app.
When you search for a product, TEMU shows you all the listings from sellers who have that item. For example, if you search for ‘flower vases’, TEMU will display relevant listings from different sellers.
If you’re searching for items in a particular category, you can explore the category listings on the top bar of the homepage. These categories include:
Once you’ve seen a product you like, you can go ahead and click on it, you will be taken to the individual product page where you can see the seller of the product.
You can find the seller of the product by following the orange arrow in the picture on the site. Now you are on the seller’s profile page.
Each seller on TEMU has a dedicated profile page where you can quickly see important information. The profile shows the online store name, overall rating, response rate, processing & shipping times, positive feedback percentage, when the store joined TEMU, and the total number of followers.
When you’re browsing products on TEMU’s website or app, you’ll see filter options on the left side of the search results. These filters help you narrow down your search by category, price range, discounts, seller location, and more.
Just check the boxes or click the dropdowns to refine your search and find sellers that meet your expectations.
You can use other filters based on your product and seller preferences to find exactly what you need without being overwhelmed by too many irrelevant results.
3. Evaluate Sellers
At this point, you should start generating a list of potential suppliers who look good at a glance and have interesting products you are interested in. Now you will need to start evaluating and comparing them to see which fits into your business.
You can start by looking at their rating. TEMU allows buyers to rate sellers based on things like whether the received item is the same as the product image and description, communication, delivery time, and overall experience.
Sellers with a high percentage of 5 or 4-star ratings provide excellent service. Be cautious of newly launched stores with few or no ratings yet – it’s harder to judge their reliability without buyer reviews.
Looking through buyer reviews can also give you valuable insights into the quality of a seller’s products and services. Be sure to read both positive and negative reviews to make a well-informed decision.
You should take note of the number of reviews as well. Stores that have been open for many years and have a large number of buyer reviews provide a better basis for evaluating long-term service quality. However, new sellers with few or no reviews should be examined more closely using other criteria.
Another thing to check out is their pricing. Be cautious of sellers offering prices much lower than usual to attract buyers, as this could be a sign of fraud. If prices seem too good to be true, it’s best to be careful.
Experienced sellers with strong supply connections will provide competitive pricing and offer various quantity options, which is beneficial for bulk wholesale purchases.
4. Verify Their Credentials
For some products like health & beauty products, legitimate businesses may have certifications from quality control and public safety organizations showing they meet quality standards and ethical practices. You should check to see if your potential sellers show these credentials openly.
In addition to the basic email/number on TEMU, some reputable sellers often have an official business website with multiple contact options, social media pages, and more to build trust.
Take advantage of these, check them out, see their number of followers, how often they post, the impressions their followers leave on their posts and the likes.
Small shops or sellers may not have enough reviews or sales to prove their worth, but will usually have certifications or websites to demonstrate their diligence for online shopping safety so these tips work wonders for checking them out. Feel free to contact sellers directly to address any concerns before buying.
5. Follow and Keep The Suppliers List You Like
Yes, TEMU gives you the ability to follow sellers like a social media account. Once you open the shop or seller’s page, you’ll notice a “Follow” button on their profile.
To follow a particular seller, just tap on the “Follow” button. You’ll know you’ve successfully followed them when the button colour changes, indicating your action.
To see all the shops and sellers you follow on TEMU, hover your cursor or tap on your Profile icon at the top right.
Next, tap on the Following providers option. This will open your Following list which has all shops and sellers you currently follow. You can tap on a shop or seller’s name to open their store page.
To unfollow a shop/seller, tap on the Following button again. The button will revert to its original state.
When you follow a shop or seller, you’ll receive updates whenever they add new products. This allows you to quickly check out and purchase any newly added items that catch your interest.
Also, shops and sellers on TEMU often offer exclusive discounts and promotions to their followers. These special deals are only visible to those who follow their store. By being a follower, you can take advantage of these offers and save money on your purchases.
Advantages of Temu Dropshipping
Super Cheap Products
As mentioned earlier, Temu offers cheap prices, meaning you can source a wide range of inventory even with an extremely lean budget. With enough digging, you find that most products on the platform cost less than $10.
Bulk & Exclusive Discounts
Like other ecommerce sites, Temu gives discounts when you buy in bulk and when you register as a new user. But, in addition to that, Temu also frequently offers exclusive discounts to attract and retain customers.
Apart from spin-the-wheel rewards and holiday specials, all around the year you will find Temu offering massive discounts – sometimes even 99% off products, which then are virtually free.
Wide Selection Of Goods
From toothbrushes to apparel, kitchenware, pet products and electronics, Temu provides the convenience of finding virtually every product in one place.
The platform has no specific niche in mind, so thousands of Chinese manufacturers and wholesalers favor its service .But, when sourcing via Temu, you must pay close attention to the quality and standard of the products delivered.
Cheap & Free Shipping
Temu provides standard free shipping on most of their items, but not all.
Express shipping, on the other hand, costs $12.90 for orders below $129 and is free for orders above that threshold.
Additionally, as part of its strategy to attract customers, Temu occasionally offers free shipping on all items and a free first return even after 90 days of holding a product.
Disadvantages of Temu Dropshipping
Slow Shipping
Temu occasionally fails to deliver products within their promised time windows. Some users report standard shipping taking up to a month, despite Temu promising 6 to 20 days.
Temu also has a reputation for shipping your first orders out very quickly to keep you on the platform. Then subsequent orders are delayed with much slower shipping.
Unresponsive Customer Service
Again, while Temu promises 24/7 customer support, customer reports often tell a different story. Many reviews on Trustpilot detail less than ideal service experiences – with Temu’s support team being unresponsive, indirect, unhelpful, or slow in addressing issues.
Wrong Packages
With Temu, sometimes what you receive might not exactly match the product listing and photos you saw. If this happens to you, it’s important to acknowledge that the fault belongs to the specific seller and not Temu, which simply serves as an intermediary.
This is why you need to be cautious when ordering products for your store off Temu, especially product accessories displayed in the listing that may end up not coming with the product.
Are Temu Products of Good Quality?
Yes, if you decide to source from Temu, you are assured of finding quality merchandise 8/10 times. Because scammers will always exist, there’s undeniably the risk of buying fake or defective goods, but you’re good if you follow the right steps.
How to Source Products from Temu for Your Dropshipping Business
Search for Top-Selling Items in Niches
On the Temu marketplace, you will find rankings of the top stores and top-selling items. After deciding your niche, look through these lists to find best sellers you can resell via your store.
For instance, if you specialize in men’s footwear, see what types of footwear sells quickly in men’s clothing stores, then act upon this analysis.
As an added tip, you can filter Temu product listings by the number of orders. Simply select “Sort by Top Sales” to view items that are already selling well.
Compare Prices
When you decide on the product you want to source, the next step is to research how much other sellers charge for the same items.
This will help you minimize sourcing costs so your final profit is higher. Still, it’s important to remember the lowest price isn’t always the best choice. You want a supplier that offers great quality products at reasonable prices so you can give your customers the best value for money.
Evaluate Seller Ratings
Vetting potential suppliers is an essential part of the sourcing process. Opt for manufacturers and wholesalers with a large number of reviews and an excellent reputation.
To do this, you can check reviews on sites like Trustpilot and Google Business as well as industry publications that may mention them.
However, finding one from the masses can be tricky. What’s worse, many scammers are out there targeting beginner dropshippers. So you might need the support of an experienced and trustworthy sourcing agency to help you find the right products for your store.
Order Samples First
Before placing a bulk order, you should always ask for samples from potential suppliers to ensure you get high-quality products. Inspect the products carefully and pay attention to issues like poor craftsmanship, wrong sizing, wrong color, and non-durable materials.
Temu Shipping Costs and Delivery Times
As we said earlier, Temu offers free standard shipping on almost all orders.
Temu’s standard shipping takes 6 to 20 days to arrive. Meanwhile, express shipping, which costs $12.90 for orders below $129 and $0 for orders above that, usually takes 4-9 days for delivery.
Once Temu confirms your order, you will see the estimated delivery time and shipping cost on your order confirmation page. Temu’s fulfillment centers can take 1 to 3 days to process your order, and you will receive a message once your package has been shipped.
What Is Temu Purchase Protection Program？
As an advantage, Temu offers a that protects buyers against scams and damaged goods. Specifically, the Temu buyer purchase protection program covers orders that:
- don’t match their listings.
- arrive damaged
- weren’t delivered, arrived late or got lost in transit
Here’s how to use it:
- Visit the “Your Orders” page and select the item you want to return.
- Click on the order and hit the “return/other help” option that pops out.
- Then, state your reasons for demanding a return.
If your product never arrived, you’ll only need to select a refund method – either your Temu credit balance or the method you paid with.
If the product arrived but not how you wanted it, you will select how you wish to return it and get your money back.
After providing your reasons and choosing a return method, Temu will send a label. Print it out, stick it on your package and take it to the nearest UPS or USPS office, and your return is all set. Luckily, Temu returns shipping is free for the first 90 days after buying a product.
Check your order details to see if you got your money back for the returned item. Ensure to return the package within 14 days of requesting a return. If not, Temu will stop the process.
Final Thoughts
Dropshipping from Temu can be a great choice for anyone looking to benefit from its supplier variety and ridiculously low prices.
However, sourcing Temu products comes with potential issues like slow shipping, poor customer service, and wrong or delayed orders. If you choose to dropship Temu products, be prepared to navigate these problems.
