I’ve been running a Temu semi-managed store for right around 5 months now, and I wanted to drop some real numbers and unfiltered thoughts — good and bad. Curious if anyone else is seeing the same.

First off, pricing. You have basically zero control. Temu sets your price, not you. They typically want you at least ~15% below Amazon, and if you don’t play along, you just don’t get sales. Margins are razor thin right out the gate.

Returns are noticeably higher than Amazon, too. Same SKUs, different platforms: Amazon ~3% return rate, Temu ~8% (from ~1k orders). Low prices attract a super price-sensitive crowd that’s way more likely to send stuff back. If you’re already at 10% returns on Amazon, Temu will be rough.

Then the fines. Late shipments, delivery issues, false delivery scans — they stack up. Usually around 1% of revenue in normal months, more during peaks. The worst part is they feel almost unavoidable. Carriers mess up, glitches happen, and appeals almost never work. A ton of sellers complain about this.

On the bright side, volume is where Temu delivers. If your price is competitive and your product is decent, you can move units without constant ads, keywords, or complicated marketing. You list it and it can run on its own. Frees up time for product development. Not everything sticks though — you still need a product people actually want.

Compliance fines are no joke either. If your factory sends fake docs or even a small mismatch on model numbers vs certificates, Temu hits you with thousands in fines. Amazon would typically just delist and let you fix it. A lot of sellers now pay for their own certifications just to avoid the risk.

Bottom line: On Amazon I net around 30% margin; on Temu closer to 10%. More capital tied up in inventory. Temu feels like a high-volume, get-in-get-out play — not a long-term stable asset like a good Amazon listing that can perform for years. It’s more survival of the cheapest and most compliant.

That said, Temu isn’t going away. Low prices win, especially with budget shoppers. Platform will keep growing. But for sellers? Thin margins, hard to build anything sustainable.

Curious to hear others’ experience — does this line up with what you’re seeing?