Temu is designed to be an app to swirl you into a mystical shopping frenzy. There’s so much to pick from and a lot of fatigue when it comes to finding just what Temu is good for. That’s why we’ve put together a list of items, into various tiers, of what’s worthwhile to turn to Temu for and what’s not. Our S Tier is items that are well worth it and likely much less than other retailers (when there is no shipping fees). Meanwhile, lower tiers are items you may not even want to deal with at all on the site.
One of the fun things about Temu is that it’s loaded with neat little mini-games like “hat trick” and “fishland” but none of these games actually pay out the reward (the free item) without inviting multiple users to the app. So probably the best advice you’ll get is to not put a ton of weight into a lot of the games and enjoy free credits when they do come.
The best items are ones where the free shipping offers make them a grand slam at getting the same cable from third-party sellers as a much cheaper price. Clothing is great, along with bags and shoes and accessories but they all have some nuance to them.
Check out our below easy to follow guide of why to buy and what to avoid on Temu. If what you’re thinking of buying isn’t in this list (which we try to keep as general and broad as possible) then I’d deeply consider googling “item + Temu” and “item name” to do some research.
S Tier
- Cables
- Adapters
- Clothing (YMMV)
- Brushes, Sponges, Applicators
- Items Sold by 1st Parties (i.e. Lenovo)
A Tier
- Lights
- LEDs
- Decorative Accents
- Kitchen Items (non-cookware related)
- Small Tools
B Tier
- Shoes (YMMV)
- Bags (YMMV)
- Keyboards (YMMV)
- Toys
- Household Items
C Tier
- Electronic Gadgets
- Mice
- Items with Few Reviews
Do Not Purchase Tier
- Game Cartridges (NES, SNES, N64, DS) (Likely non-functional)
- Retro Consoles
- Power Plugs
- Electronic Toys (Drones, RC Cars, etc.)
- Makeup
- Anything That You Feel is Sus
- Anything Too Good to Be True
Like all things, do some due diligence. Temu has a review system that’s pretty decent.
Temu and Gaming
If you notice there’s some really good gamer deals on this list and a lot of sus in the avoid tier. Let’s break that down –
Temu has some amazing legitimate deals on some awesome stuff but it’s still about as sus as Wish.com is; with the exception that it’s not as sus. The items actually arrive and are shipped either by Temu or through a reputable first party seller. The shipping is relatively fast and the items are the same ones you’d find on Amazon.
The difference being that Temu, trying to take market share from Amazon, is offering a lot of the same things like the drill brush attachment, various keyboards, cables, etc. that you’d find with the random manufacturer names at lower prices with the same free shipping. The only difference is instead of prime next day or same day or 2-day, it’s more like regular USPS however long that is days.
There’s some sweet stuff like retro handheld consoles that are really cool and some great deals. There’s also a lot of like avoid with whatever wish.com kind of like bleh stuff. So just be cautious, is the best word here.
