Temu will charge storage fees? Sellers: Cutting again and again

The "low price is really good" law that consumers can't escape has made Temu soar in the eight months since its launch. But Temu's reputation has always been polarized. Some sellers lamented that "Temu gave me a way to survive", while others laughed bitterly and joked that "I have great love and paved the way for Temu"...

Temu will charge storage fees? Sellers' profits are further under pressure

Recently, a seller said on a social platform that Temu’s new agreement hinted at charging storage fees. In response, Ennet interviewed several Temu sellers, and they all said that the storage fee policy may be introduced.

Previously, Temu had a provision in its draft of the "One-Stop Warehousing Comprehensive Service Agreement" that if the seller's products are stored in the Temu warehouse for an extended period of time, Temu will charge an overdue fee of 500/day during the extended period. If the extended period reaches 7 days or more, Temu has the right to dispose of the goods at its own discretion. The proceeds from the disposal of overdue products belong to Temu, but the expenses incurred during the period shall be borne by the seller .

Recently, Temu said that it has corrected and deleted the clause. Currently, Temu’s confirmed charges include: 1. The seller’s VMI warehouse preparation costs (shared with the platform); 2. The logistics costs of returning the goods to the seller (shipping still enjoys the agreed price).

Although no overdue fees have been charged, a storage fee policy may be introduced. A "PayPass Collection Service Agreement" presented by Temu indicates the existence of this fee, and the profit margins of Temu sellers will be further squeezed.

As soon as this clause came out, Temu sellers said, "Now they don't even bother to hide their freeloading."

"It's so shameless!" The seller Lao Li couldn't help but say angrily during an interview with En.com. "Temu's eating habits have always been very ugly! I have been working with Temu for eight months, and I have gone from laughing to crying."

Lao Li was one of the first sellers of Temu.

After it went online in September last year , some sellers thought that Temu was ultimately "much ado about nothing", while others thought it might be a new way out. " At that time, the cross-border situation was not good, and the sales on Amazon were barely breaking even each month. Temu just happened to appear ," Lao Li told Ennet.

According to Lao Li, because Amazon is not selling well and the platform’s inventory capacity is constantly updated and limited, plus various fees and policies are becoming increasingly unfriendly to sellers, “I’ve kind of given up on Amazon. After so many years, I increasingly feel that I can’t compete with the platform and the ever-emerging competitors.”

Just when Lao Li was planning to change battlefields and platforms, Temu appeared. "After all, it is a new platform launched in China, so it should be more friendly to sellers. And I have been working on Amazon US for 5 years, so I feel familiar with this market."

In this way, Lao Li settled in Temu.

"Everything was good at the beginning. The number of orders gradually increased and I could see hope. Although the profit was a bit low, I could make 5 or 6 yuan per order. In February, after Temu ran a Super Bowl ad, my store could handle up to 1,300 orders a day and more than 25,000 orders a month. But the profit was low, I could only make 2 yuan per order ."

In fact, even if the profit dropped by two times, Lao Li was not too upset, because he knew that Temu was all about small profits and quick turnover. However, the good times did not last long, as Temu took away the discounts from the new platform, revealing its "true colors".

After that, various return fees, fines, and forced price cuts were introduced one after another. In the past two months, Lao Li's products have been frantically undercut by buyers. " The price recommended by the platform is impossible to do. It is only half of my cost price or even lower. In the end, I had to give up on listing . "

Due to the crazy surge in orders at the beginning of the year, Lao Li also hired several new employees. " The more employees I hired, the more orders I received. It was a headache . "

Among the sellers interviewed this time, some had a good impression of Temu. "Our European site has had several single-day sales of over 2,000, which is very impressive."

Of course, most people are like Lao Li, who is getting more and more frustrated. "Sometimes when I open the backend at night , I suddenly find that several products with good sales have been reduced in price without any notification . Even if I don't check the option of default price reduction if I don't agree within 24 hours, many products are still discounted by 20%."

" I wanted to cancel the store and get my deposit back, but the buyer said there was no policy on the cancellation and deposit refund process . "

Not only that, Xiao Liu, a seller of dried flowers, was suddenly notified of changes in the quality inspection of dried flowers after he ordered hundreds of thousands of goods from Yunnan. "We will not accept dried flowers with seeds, and we will not accept dried flowers that look alive."

Temu was also accused of " using sellers as guinea pigs to test models, and then contacting the factory itself . " Xiao He, a toy seller, said , "Temu contacted my supply factory and showed them my store data, asking if it was the source factory. The platform wanted to cooperate directly with him."

Too many complaints, Temu sellers say they are "tired"

Temu's " shameful operations " have been one after another, and the interviewed sellers have complained to En.com. According to the summary, the current Temu sellers are mainly complaining about the following points:

1. Buyers are frantically lowering prices by “cutting prices in half”

" They ask us to prepare large quantities of goods every day , but once we prepare, they lower the price. They ask us to declare a price lower than the wholesale price. All platform fees have skyrocketed , but the supply price has been lowered again and again. "

Yien.com found that the prices of new products declared by many sellers were directly cut by more than half. The seller declared 106 yuan, and the platform "suggested" 46 yuan; the seller declared 20 yuan, and the platform " suggested " 2 yuan. Recently, a "high supply price rectification plan" was launched .

"Temu bargained with his eyes closed, fishing for innocent people in the ocean."

2. After the price is verified , the price will be reduced when the product is put on sale

"First, I was asked to send samples. After the price was approved, I was notified to prepare the stock. Then, I was asked to lower the price on the grounds that the price was not competitive. I had to stock up and had to bear the loss. Temu's tricks always refresh my cognition."

3. There are many returns during the quality inspection process, and the shipping costs make the sellers cry

" We sent hundreds of items to the warehouse, but they said they failed the quality inspection. We had to return them one by one, and they sent them via SF Express. "

4. The return process is full of loopholes

" Sometimes there are missing items , or they fail to meet quality inspection standards . Whole batches of goods are not returned, or they are delayed for several months. Some seasonal products are directly unsalable . "

Some sellers also said that the returned products were so damaged that they could not be resold.

5. The agreement can be changed at will

" The agreement changes too frequently, and the terms are changed and added at will , without considering the opinions of the sellers at all. This is just rogue behavior. Some categories are not sold anymore, and I don't know what to do with hundreds of thousands of goods. "

6. Funds are suppressed and settlement is incorrect

" The stockpiling funds have to be held for a month or even longer , and the settlement funds are often insufficient. We have to check from time to time. If we fail to find it, we will suffer huge losses. "

7. Heavy fines and slow payment

" Quality issues are fined five times . If the customer returns the goods, they will be refunded. No matter what the reason is, the fine is five times. JIT overtime is also fined five times . In many cases, the fine is even inexplicable. The goods shipped in October last year were fined in March this year."

"It feels good to impose fines, but collecting the money back is as long as a pregnancy. The bills are extremely simple and the financial department has no way to calculate them."

8. No traffic if you don’t lower the price

“ No matter how well the product sells, you are asked to lower the price. If you don’t, you won’t get traffic. We were flooded with orders and had a lot of stock, but suddenly no one bought it. ”

9. Serious warehouse explosion, enter the warehouse to grab a spot

"The warehouse was full in March and again in May. Every day we have to wait until the early morning to get a spot in the warehouse. Now there has been no shipment for two or three days . Some are out of stock and some are slow to enter the warehouse . "

10. Products with a rating below 4.2 will be removed from the shelves

“Many returns due to platform logistics issues rather than product quality are also included in the rating criteria . As long as the score is lower than 4.2, it will be forcibly removed from the shelves , and there is no appeal process . ”

11. Staff members “losing contact” has become a common occurrence

" When problems arise, there is no feedback channel, and the money deducted cannot be recovered. No one from the buyer, the waiter , or the customer service staff will respond to me . "

…

All kinds of dissatisfaction are rampant among sellers. Temu is trying to open up a gap in the sinking market overseas, but this great dream seems to be built on the " sacrifice " of sellers .

( The interviewed sellers Lao Li, Xiao Liu , and Xiao He are all pseudonyms )

Temu

Storage Fees

Seller