Have you seen many digital ads from TEMU lately in the Philippines? Most of us got them, too, so we tried using the e-commerce platform for the first time and checked out some items to see how it went.

TEMU is an online eCommerce platform from China that aims to connect Chinese manufacturers and retailers to a global audience, similar to SHEIN or WISH. More known as Pinduduo in China, Temu has expanded globally including the Philippines, offering anything you can get from Chinese merchants such as clothes and household items at seemingly affordable prices.

The app also is hounded with controversy in other countries with the US government and regular users accusing Temu of potential data risks, from potential Chinese government espionage to reports of the app selling your banking accounts and potentially having unauthorized charges.

We tried it ourselves and see if it’s any different from the platforms we regularly use. Here’s how our experience went.

Navigating through the app isn’t that hard. The homepage has a banner, a rotating banner of categories, a section of highlighted special deals, and a list of other products available on the platform in a masonry-style layout. There’s a separate tab for product categories, your profile, and your cart.

We ordered a camera lens filter at one of the stores on a Monday. Our order came five days later, on a Saturday, all neatly packed and bubble-wrapped. There are tons of payment options available: Paypal being one, in addition to GrabPay, GCash, credit cards, and even Cash on Delivery.

The quality of the product we received is what we expected for a filter lens from a Chinese manufacturer given the cheap sub-Php 1000 pricing we saw. It worked well, too, when we tested it. Our resident budol guy Duey Guison noticed, though, that the filters were thinner and lighter than the ones he recently purchased, though.

This doesn’t mean everything seems to be good. I was looking for new phone cases and they seem to be more expensive than similar listings on other platforms.

One thing we liked is the pricing fluctuation: If you buy an item and the price decreases after your purchase, you can request a price adjustment, to which the difference will be available on your account as a Temu credit almost instantly. They also have a delivery guarantee, where you can receive credit for delayed deliveries, 30-day money-back guarantees, and a 15-day no-money refund if your order has not moved for 15 days.

As for permissions, the app did not ask for more than the usual notification and location permissions on my phone. Are you still concerned about this when other eCommerce apps know everything about you, including your app search history, and target you back with it on social media?

We also asked other Unbox fans on our page about their TEMU experience, and some were wary about the lack of product assortment and higher prices. Some also pointed out their somewhat misleading free items promo, which one can only get after making several paid orders first. A similar post asking for Temu feedback at a Facebook group I’ve joined had similar comments, too.

Our experience with TEMU is quite a mixed bag of impressions. We’re surprised with the varied assortment of products, the plethora of payment methods, and the fast delivery through known local couriers, but we’re also equally as shocked with the prices that are just as the same, if not priced higher, than other platforms we usually go to for our online purchases. 

With reports from Duey Guison