If you watched the live stream of Sunday's Super Bowl 2024, you may have noticed that among the barrage of big-budget Super Bowl commercials, there were a few Tem ads. But what are they?

As its "shop like a millionaire" motto suggests, Temu (pronounced teh-moo) is an online marketplace where you can buy a surprisingly wide range of products at very low prices. The e-commerce site, which made its advertising debut during last year's Super Bowl, also advertised several times during this year's big game.

Tem ran three commercials during the Super Bowl after the game, promoting $15 million in coupons and other giveaways. In one ad, animated shoppers dance around to see bargains on furniture, clothing, kitchenware, and other items ranging from 99 cents to $9.99. Temu's free app has since shot to the top of Apple's App Store and Google Play Store, with over 100 million downloads.

Temu is headquartered in Boston but owned by Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings, which also owns sister company Pinduoduo, a Chinese social commerce platform. Temu's website states, "The parent company PDD Holdings' extensive network of over 11 million suppliers."

Of course, as one would expect with such low prices, you get what you pay for, and Temu's main business model seems to be to beat out competitors like Amazon and Walmart, which are online retailers that, to varying degrees, are trying to suppress off-brand similar products and dubious merchandise, whereas Temu, by comparison, feels more like the Wild West. Many have likened it to apps like Shein, Wish, and AliExpress. These are e-commerce sites known for low quality products, long shipping times, and short return periods.

Since its launch in 2022, Tem has been accused of using forced labor in its supply chain to pay for its low prices, and unlike Shayne and other retailers, it has not published audits of its manufacturing facilities to ensure it is not using forced labor or committing other violations. Its sister company, Pinduoduo, has been on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's "Notorious Markets List," which identifies markets reportedly involved in or facilitating substantial copyright infringement or trademark counterfeiting, for six consecutive years.

Since May, Tem has been under congressional scrutiny by the House Select Committee on the CCP, along with Shayne and other online retailers with manufacturing operations in China. Lawmakers have also accused the company of failing to abide by the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and illegally spying on customers.

Prior to the big game, several Republican lawmakers sent a letter to the CEO of CBS urging him not to run Tem's commercials during the Super Bowl.

The letter, signed by Senators Roger Marshall (R-South Carolina) and Mike Braun (R-Indiana), stated, "Temm is committed to ensuring that its suppliers do not ship goods to Americans that were produced by forced labor in violation of U.S. law and prohibit the use of forced labor. The letter reported that Temu has agreed to a standardized covenant that prohibits the use of forced labor in the U.S. Temu also acknowledges that it "does not expressly prohibit the sale of products originating in Xinjiang to third-party sellers."

Temu sells everything from avocado slicers to power tools. You won't find cheap iPads or $300 OLED TVs here, as you won't find many brand names when searching the site. Instead, you'll find tons of fashion accessories, apparel, kitchenware, and everything in between.

Last year, my colleague Kate Kozuch spent $50 at Temu to buy three Pokémon "inspired" miniature architectural bricks for under $3 each, decorative glass straws for $3.68, and two coffee glasses that rival Crate & Barrel's quality for $4.99 each. 99 per piece. Nevertheless, the glass straw survived the trip from China unscathed, but one of the coffee glasses arrived as a pile of broken glass. Shipping was surprisingly fast, only eight days. She received a partial refund of $2.71 from Tem, as some of the items had dropped in price from the original order. It may not seem like much, but in Tem's world, a few dollars is a lot.

On the other hand, her experience ordering a fake Apple product from Temu was a disaster. A $19 smartwatch "inspired" by the Apple Watch Ultra was nothing more than a shoddy attempt with misspellings and printed details, including a bare fake screw; the fake AirPods came with a flimsy case that looked like it would shatter on the first drop . The delivery time was also quite long: two weeks.

In short, your mileage may vary when it comes to ordering from Temu. And if the price seems too good to be true, it might be.

As of this writing, Temu offers free shipping for returns within 90 days of purchase. If you want to return an item you have already returned, but want to return an additional item from the same order, you can do so as long as the 90-day period has not expired, but you will have to pay $7.99 for shipping, which will be deducted from the refund amount.

For refunds, you may receive a refund as a Tem credit balance for future orders, or you may receive a refund using your original payment method. Please allow 5-14 business days for refund processing.

According to the Temu website, some items are not eligible for returns or refunds. These are garments that have been worn, washed, or damaged after delivery; garments that have had the tags or hygiene stickers removed; items that are listed as non-refundable on the Temu Marketplace listing; and "some free gift orders."

It is worth noting, however, that Temu currently receives approximately 1,000 complaints on the Better Business Bureau website from shoppers who either did not receive their items or received damaged items despite being charged for them. Temu's overall BBB rating is currently C+.

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