Ninety days, against fifteen
Almost everything written about Temu is about how it can possibly be that cheap. That is the wrong question, because the answer does not change what you should do.
Here is the one that does. Temu gives you 90 days to raise a problem with an order. AliExpress, the platform most people compare it against, gives you 15 days from receiving the item. Six times the window, from the two biggest names in our comparison, and we could not find another page that puts those two numbers next to each other.
Temu scores 8.5 under how we rate, the highest of the seven, and it is our Best Overall pick almost entirely on that.
What the ninety days actually covers
Most items, 90 days from purchase. Some electronics run 45 to 60 days depending on the seller, shown on the listing.
The first return of one or more items from every order is free. For a second or later return from the same order, Temu deducts $7.99 plus tax from your refund. SHEIN charges exactly the same amount under exactly the same structure, which tells you this is a category norm rather than a Temu decision.
And you often will not need to send anything back. Temu operates advance and instant refunds, paying out before the goods are returned, granted at its discretion based on your account history. That is common across this category and Temu is one of the more generous about it. If something arrives broken, open the claim before you find a box.
Two sets of Temu terms that disagree about customs
This is where Temu is genuinely useful and genuinely confusing, because the answer depends on which side of the Atlantic you are on.
In the European Union, Temu's terms, last updated 23 September 2026, put every charge in the checkout total. For goods shipped from outside the EU, import charges are shown at checkout and cover customs duties, taxes and fees, and "You will not be required to make any additional payment after checkout." A freight forwarder that Temu appoints as your representative pays the duties and taxes for you.
That is a real service and it matters more than it used to. The EU removed its EUR 150 customs duty relief in July, so the parcels that used to arrive clean now carry a duty line.
In the United States, the terms say the opposite. Prices exclude customs duties and sales tax, which are charged separately, and you "may act as the importer of record" with Temu appointing a broker to act as your direct representative.
Same company, one Atlantic apart, two different answers. Neither set of terms mentions the rule changes by name, which is true of all seven platforms on this page and not a criticism reserved for Temu.
What you pay with instead of money
Now the part the score reflects and the marketing does not.
Shopping on Temu means countdown timers, spinning wheels, quantities that are always nearly gone and prices struck through against a reference nobody can verify. We are describing what is on the screen rather than guessing at anybody's intent, and what is on the screen is built to shorten the gap between seeing a thing and buying it.
That is what pulls the experience score down, and it is where Temu loses most clearly to SHEIN and AliExpress, both of which also beat it on selection and on trust. If a shopping page that behaves like a slot machine bothers you, no return policy fixes it.
There is also no published seller verification of any kind. AliExpress at least shows you seller ratings and store history, Alibaba has suppliers inspected by named third parties. Temu shows you a product.
Who should buy it
Buy from Temu for household goods, tools, clothing and the sort of thing where the risk of a bad order matters more than the item itself. Ninety days and a free first return means a wrong order is an annoyance rather than a loss.
Buy from Temu in the EU specifically if you do not want to deal with customs, because it is one of only two platforms here that settles the import bill for you.
The two reasons not to. You need a specific part or component, where AliExpress has a catalogue this cannot touch. Or the interface makes you feel manipulated, in which case you are right and there are six other options on this page.
Return terms, import charge terms and delivery scope on this page were read from the vendor return policy and the EU and US terms of use on . We placed no orders and publish no delivery times.
