IT’S known for its ever-growing fashion range and wallet-friendly last-minute gift ideas.
However, the online marketplace Temu may not necessarily be your go-to when it comes to finding cut-price households essentials – and one shopper’s experience may put you off the site for good.
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Mikayla Renfroe, from the US, has had plenty of success when it comes to nabbing epic bargains from Temu – but her latest haul turned out to be a major flop.
According to Mikayla, who’s already purchased a stunning wooden cabinet from the China-based site, she was on the lookout for pans.
Whilst browsing on the popular marketplace, she stumbled across a gorgeous pink set of cooking pans, currently slashed from £55 to just £31 for ten pieces.
The Stainless Steel Cookware Set comes in a range of vibrant colours, such as orange, blue, as well as baby pink – which Mikalya ordered right away.
But while the five-star rating and reviews seemed promising, little did she know there was a reason the cookware set was so cheap.
Sharing the epic fail on TikTok, the blonde beauty revealed that the pans – though stunning – were not sturdy at all.
To prove her point, Mikayla had her fella pick each one of them up and give them a squeeze with his hands.
One by one, the pans lost her shape, as he destroyed them with barely any effort required.
In hysterics, Mikalya – who posts under the username @mikaylarenfroe – chuckled in the caption: ”I’ve officially fallen victim to Temu. Got me.”
She went on in a recent video: ”Yeah, I have been personally victimised by my pots and pans.
”I bought them for my camp trailer, thinking I didn’t want to spend $100 on my camp trailer pots and pans.
”These are not it,” the furious mum said.
Why is Temu so cheap?
TEMU exploded onto the scene in late 2022, with people all over social media raving about the low prices.
The company is a Chinese-owned digital marketplace – essentially an online shopping app where people are connected to the retailer directly while the app takes care of the shipping element.
The frenzy over the app is not completely unfounded either as it offers a wide variety of products, including fashion, make-up, electronics and furniture.
According to a report from the US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Temu takes advantage of a trade loophole that allows the company to ship duty-free goods directly to the US.
The loophole is called the de minimis exception and it means they can ship goods valued up to $800 (£643) to the US without it being inspected or taxed by US customs.
Temu connects customers directly to manufacturers and only manages how the items are sent to customers.
It means Chinese vendors can essentially sell their products directly to customers and ship it without building a network of warehouses across the globe.
By doing this, they cut down on huge costs and ensure the product itself isn’t marked up extra.
While many of the products seen on the Temu app are from brands with extensive, original collections, many more are dupes of designer brands.
‘Buying like serious things from Temu is wild’
Since being posted on the platform, the video has gone viral, winning the stunner more than a whopping 22million views in just one day.
It also has a staggering 1.7million likes, over 52k shares, with a further 14.2k people flooding to comments to share their thoughts.
One person said: ”buying cookware on temu sounds like playing with your life.”
A second agreed, adding: ”Buy durable things, cheaper in the long run and good for the environment, stay off temu, shein and amazon.”
”Imagine you’re cooking and your pan just melts onto the stove,” someone else chimed in.
”Buying like actual serious things from Temu is wild,” a viewer commented.