A large number of products are automatically reduced in price! Sellers: Loss on every sale

It has been criticized since its launch, so why are there still so many Temu sellers who are not getting off the market?

Temu, which has made a name for itself by offering low prices , has recently been embroiled in controversy again because of the word "low price"! A large number of Temu sellers said that the platform suddenly slashed the supply price, further squeezing the already meager profits.

A wave of sellers got off the bus, but Temu still has a large number of followers.

Less than half a year after its launch, this platform has been constantly increasing its presence through “red and black”, so the comments are polarized. Those who approve of it think that it caters to consumption downgrade and will definitely pose a threat to well-known e-commerce platforms such as Amazon; those who are pessimistic say that this platform is only suitable for sellers who are willing to do charity and will definitely not go far in the future ...

Caught off guard, Temu cuts supply prices

Recently, Temu sellers have said that they have received price reduction notifications from the platform, which will be reduced by 20%-30%. If they are not processed within 24 hours, it will be deemed that they have automatically agreed to the price reduction. Even if they click to reject the price reduction within 24 hours, the platform will remind them that this operation may involve risks, such as the product may be returned.

The "supply price cut" operation caught sellers off guard. Many sellers did not pay attention to the notification during the Spring Festival. When they logged in to the backend, they found that all products had been automatically reduced in price by the platform. They had to accept the fact that they were "losing money again". It is understood that the prices of many hot-selling products are very low. The links that originally had hundreds of orders a day only made a profit of a few hundred yuan a day. Now that they have been "cut", they are almost losing money on every order.

Xiao Liu (pseudonym) is a seller who has invested a lot in Temu. Like many sellers, he said that he had no room to lower prices when faced with the platform's request to lower supply prices, so he chose to refuse to lower prices for all his products. In Xiao Liu's opinion, the platform is suspected of forcing price cuts and lacks integrity.

"Because they were afraid that products would be out of stock during the holidays, the platform called us every day before the Spring Festival to urge us to send a large amount of goods to the warehouse. As a result, not long after the goods arrived at the warehouse, they asked us to lower the supply price, otherwise they might return the products or remove the links to the popular products." Xiao Liu said that the platform's operation was too overbearing. When the products were first put on the shelves, they were not shipped to the warehouse for sale until the product prices were approved by the price verifier. Now there are a large number of goods in the warehouse, but the platform uses words such as possible removal from the shelves and possible returns to ask sellers to reduce prices, which inevitably makes people feel uncomfortable. "It is understandable that the platform wants to lower the seller's supply price to make a profit, but at least let us sell the goods with a confirmed price first, and then negotiate the price of new goods. If both parties agree, they will ship, otherwise forget it. This is a fair approach."

In fact, in addition to the sudden requirement to "cut" the supply price, Temu has many other practices that have caused widespread dissatisfaction among sellers.

According to feedback, when Temu was first launched, the platform clearly stated that it would be responsible for domestic shipping costs, and asked sellers not to consider shipping costs when quoting prices, which meant lowering the prices further. As a result, many sellers quoted prices based on the free shipping plan. As we all know, the sellers' supply prices have already been pushed down very low. Some people bluntly said that they only made 1 yuan or a few cents per order. However, not long after, the platform sent a notice stating that it would only be responsible for 50% of the shipping costs, and the remaining 50% would be borne by the sellers. This is tantamount to luring the sellers on board and then reaping the benefits.

Some sellers also said that the Temu platform stipulates a 90-day unconditional return and refund policy, which leads to an extremely high product refund rate. Many sellers have found that Temu has the highest refund rate among all the platforms they operate.

In addition, Temu's chaotic management has also been widely criticized. Many sellers expressed their desire to test the waters on this platform, but no one reviewed the samples after nearly a month of signing for them. During this period, they contacted relevant personnel in the group but received no response. Even if the product is successfully listed on the platform, there are many problems in the middle and communication is not smooth. The attitude of some of the waiters can almost be described as "arrogant".

"They have used shipping fees to trick us, and now they are threatening to cut prices by returning the supply. According to this trend, the platform will definitely have other operations next." An experienced cross-border player with more than 10 years of experience said frankly that Temu has too many incomprehensible operations, and many important factors in store operations are not under the control of sellers. This platform is the one with the most routines and the most deceptive merchants among the many platforms it has entered...

The profit is slim, but a large number of sellers are still optimistic about Temu

Summarizing Temu's development path, we can find that it has taken a "red and black" route by relying on the "low-price" strategy. Amidst continuous criticism, the number of downloads has been soaring.

According to data released by Apptopia, in the 2022 US e-commerce shopping app list, Temu, which was only launched in September last year, has already received 16.5 million downloads, successfully ranking eighth on the US e-commerce shopping app list. In other words, it took only three months for it to stand out among a number of well-known e-commerce platforms and successfully captured the hearts of a large number of American consumers. By analogy, Temu's performance this year will not be bad.

"Embracing consumption downgrade, I have started downloading Temu for shopping. The prices of goods on the Amazon platform are too expensive." A consumer said that he spent only more than 100 dollars on 8 pieces of clothing on Temu. Such a good price allows him to ignore minor quality flaws and he will continue to shop on this platform in the future.

In addition to consumers who are extremely pursuing cost-effectiveness, Temu is also supported by a large number of merchants. The editor found that the reputation of this platform is polarized. Although a large number of people have left the platform in disappointment and questioned: Temu is a platform that greatly reduces the profits of sellers and has been making money from sellers. Can it go far? There are still merchants who continue to join in and rely on the path of small profits but quick turnover to successfully make a name for themselves on Temu.

Factory-type sellers have reported that after a period of running-in, the current products have reached several levels. The operation of this platform is very simple. You only need to upload the products and ship them to domestic warehouses, and you don’t need to worry about anything else. It saves time and effort. Judging from the current situation, it can continue to do so. After all, it can add an additional sales channel.

Another merchant also expressed his confidence in the platform. He found that Temu's previous problem of slow payment collection is improving, and currently it can collect thousands of yuan in payments almost every day.

" Only when the platform makes money can we merchants make money. It's harmless to give it a try within our own capabilities . " An industry insider said that Temu is indeed a hot spot, which cannot be ignored by sellers of low-priced or fast-selling products . However , whether it is a single product or multiple products, sellers cannot underestimate the maintenance and management of the supply chain. For the platform, the current problem of "favoring buyers and neglecting sellers" can only be improved in the future to go further!