If You’re Thinking of Getting Dorm Essentials From Temu: Don’t
By Caraline Squires | Staff Writer
As the United States government’s interest in TikTok dwindles after the mandated forced sale of its parent company, ByteDance, to a U.S.-based company or individual, Temu may be next in their sights.
Temu, the most downloaded app of 2022 according to Time, is an online shopping app known for its competitive discounts and free product deals with TikTok influencers. These discounts, however, may be too good to be true—and your data may be the price to pay for these steals and deals. As explained by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Temu is directly related to People’s Data through its parent company, Pinduoduo Inc. People’s Data is allegedly involved with the Chinese Communist Party and the Central Committee. Unlike in the United States, “Chinese companies are obligated to cooperate with government surveillance efforts,” says the CSIS. This raises concerns for American lawmakers and business regulators about the protection of American data.
It’s getting colder, but Temu is not the place to buy preparations for winter. According to the BBC, space heaters sold on Temu that were advertised by influencers not only fail safety tests but are also likely to explode or start fires. Although they were pulled from sale by Temu, similar products were soon seen in their place. Time also reported that, in addition to dangerous products, many customers have complained that their orders never arrived.
Even if orders do arrive, they may not be what they seem. One TikTok user, @froginahatgirl, realized that the croissant lamp she had ordered from Temu was a very real, very edible croissant covered in resin. The user grew curious whether the croissant was pastry or plastic after ants seemed drawn to the lamp. Although this was not an attempt by Temu to conserve money by using pastry rather than plastic, it was instead a dupe of a real Japanese brand called Pampshade, created by artist Yukiko Morita, as reported on by Vogue back in 2018. Morita warns e-shoppers about the dangers of buying replica lamps online—so you might want to look for room decor somewhere else as well.
Other inexpensive places to buy dorm essentials, like room decorations, kitchen supplies, and school supplies, include the USM Free Store, located in Anderson Hall on the Gorham campus, Goodwill, and Five Below.
I have bought many items from Temu and never had problems from any of them. From Sheets to Bandages to Clothing to Shoes and have loved them all. Never had to send anything back and Maybe I’m One of the Lucky Consumers Who Believe in Temu, But Now your “Free Press” Scares Me!!! So I haven’t bought anything else Since You Started to Scare US Consumers!
I Remember when I was 10 years old and went to Benjamin Franklin’s Store in Illinois and I was looking at the dishes and everyone of them said “Made in China”, and I thought that was so cool because it came from a Foreign Country and I bought China Bowls for my Mom for Christmas. At Christmas Time even though she said she liked them, I saw them all broken up in the Garbage can a Couple days later. I was so upset, so I took them out of the trash and took some Glue and put them all together and hid them under my bed. I decided that I would buy me a whole set of Plates, more Bowls and Serving Bowls for myself for when I had my own House. To this day, I see all kinds of things Coming from China and I will still buy them. As for Temu or Tic Tock, I’m waiting to make sure they are safe to Buy again.