How Long Does Temu Take to Ship? Understanding Temu Shipping Time
Temu, a new online marketplace, has taken an e-commerce industry by storm, reaching an impressive number of 130 million downloads as of July, 2023. Though being launched only in 2022, Temu has already become a huge competitor of such e-commerce giants as Amazon or Alibaba. And while the store claims insane popularity, some customers are worried whether incredibly low prices come together with short delivery time.
The question is valid, considering the lightning-speed deliveries by Amazon and similar marketplaces. So, how long does Temu take to ship and what factors impact Temu shipping time? Let’s try finding out.
Where does Temu ship from?
To understand why Temu delivery time may be longer than the average delivery time that you are used to, it’s important to consider the location of Temu’s suppliers and warehouses.
Temu is a Boston-based company but it’s owned by PDD Holdings, a Chinese e-commerce giant with several businesses under its belt. Hence, it comes as no surprise that Temu ships directly from suppliers in China, which obviously impacts Temu shipping time. And while the company has many warehouses in different locations, most goods come directly from manufacturers, which explains ridiculously low prices.
Note though that Temu does not work only with Chinese vendors. According to its official website, Temu has a broad network of international suppliers and manufacturers – and that’s one more factor to keep in mind when asking once again, “Why is my Temu order taking so long?”
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How long does Temu take to ship?
юAccording to the information on the official website, Temu takes between 6 and 20 days to ship a standard order. Note though that many shoppers claim they received their goods in about 14 days, which is quite fast, considering that Temu ships mostly from China.
TEMU shipping options
However, if you want to speed up Temu shipping times, you can choose the Express Shipping option. In this case, Temu will deliver your order within 4–9 days, but it will cost you $12.90, if your order is less than $129. If your order exceeds $129, the Express Shipping will be for free.
As for the price of the regular shipping, it’s mostly for free, but you need to double-check the information on Temu’s website – it’s usually stated on the product’s page.
Factors that impact Temu delivery time
Same as with any other e-commerce vendor, Temu shipping time depends on several factors. Below, we list the biggest ones:
Customer’s location
Due to better connectivity and availability of warehouses and carriers, it usually takes less time to ship to big cities in comparison to rural areas. Hence, if you live in a relatively small city, the delivery time might take a bit longer.
Also, consider the distance between the supplier and your location. If your order is shipped from a US warehouse, but you live in Europe, your delivery time will naturally be longer compared to the order for a US customer.
Carriers
Temu claims to work with a variety of carriers, including UPS, FedEx, USPS, and DHL. The shipping time of each carrier differs and therefore, Temu delivery time will depend on the carrier who will be responsible for your order.
Order processing
One more factor that impacts Temu shipping time is order processing. For customized or complex orders, it will take longer than for standard ones but unfortunately, you cannot know for sure how long exactly the processing will take.
External conditions
There are factors that neither a customer nor a vendor can’t control and weather is the biggest of them. In case of severe storms, for example, flights might get canceled and it will naturally prolong the delivery time.
Peak seasons
Peak seasons like Christmas or Black Friday are incredibly busy and many marketplaces recommend customers to order in advance, if they need their goods to be delivered in a specific period of time. Hence, if you make an order during a peak season, you will most probably have to wait a bit longer due to the overwhelming amount of orders in general.
How to track your Temu order
If you worry about the delivery time of your order or simply want to keep an eye on it, Temu offers an order tracking option, so you don’t ask “How long does it take for Temu to ship?” again and again. You can use it either on the website or in a mobile app – the latter is much more convenient, since it stores all your information and purchases in one place.
Getting back to the topic. To track your order, sign into your account and go to the “My Orders” section. There, click on the “Track” button of the selected order and you will be able to see the information regarding its estimated delivery time and shipping status.
Finally, you can also track your order via third-party tracking websites like Track123. The process will be the same: you go to the website, paste the tracking number in the specialized field and get the information on the order status.
Temu order statuses: what’s their meaning?
Now that we are clear with Temu shipping time and order tracking, let’s have a look at different statuses of your orders and how to interpret them:
- Processing: this status means that your order is being processed aka being prepared for the delivery.
- Preparing to Ship: your order is in the warehouse and is assembled with other packages that will be delivered to the same and/or nearby locations. Temu usually takes a few days to prepare the orders for shipping in order to send a bulk of orders to one location at once.
- Shipped: the order left the warehouse and was picked by the carrier. Thus, the order is in the state of being delivered.
- Delivered: the order was successfully delivered. Note that Temu notifies its customers about the mailbox delivery so you won’t miss it.
What about delayed orders?
Even though Temu strives to deliver all orders on time, sometimes the orders get delayed. There are numerous reasons for that: lengthy order processing, issues with carriers, or even order loss.
So what can you do in case your order gets delayed and you are tired of asking the “how long does Temu take to ship” question?
If you see that your order is delayed, you can contact customer service and inform them about the issue. From there, you have two options: either wait a bit for the order to finally arrive or to request a refund and return the parcel.
In case of the first option (where you decide to wait), Temu will issue $5 to your account for a Standard Shipping order and $13 for Express Shipping one.
But what to do if you see that your order is lost? In this case, you can once again contact customer service and request an order replacement without the need to pay again for it. Obviously, the replacement will take more time for the order to finally arrive.
And if you decide not to wait and to return your purchase instead, here is how you can do it.
How to refund or return an order on Temu?
You can return an item within 90 days since purchasing it, if its quality does not satisfy you. Temu offers refund and return for almost all items but some of them cannot be returned:
- Free gifts
- Worn or damaged clothing items
- Non-refundable goods (this information is stated on the product page).
If you decide to return your purchase, here is a step-by-step process:
Is Temu reliable?
In the light of numerous “how long does Temu take to ship?” questions, some people start wondering whether Temu is reliable at all. In short: yes, Temu is legit and reliable. Now, let’s dig a bit deeper.
Temu has transparent policies on shipping, return and refund and seems to really care for its customers. The majority of shoppers, according to the survey conducted by Choice, stated that they were satisfied with their Temu purchases and basically got what they paid for. As well, shoppers were pleased with quick delivery, straightforward return policies and overall quality of goods.
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Some people though were distracted or displeased with the amount of promotional content or emerging pop-ups and notifications. The thing is, Temu strives to create a sense of false urgency to promote immediate buying and to engage shoppers as much as possible. While for some people it’s fun to spin the wheel, spend free coupons, and hunt for discounts, others find such an overwhelming amount of content frustrating and even discouraging.
Another concern about Temu is security. The good news is: Temu is really secure, both the website and the app. Its links are PCI-certified and it supports the biggest credit cards as well as highly trusted payment providers (like PayPal). With this said, it’s as safe to shop on Temu as on any other e-commerce website.
Why are Temu prices so low?
Despite concerns about Temu shipping time, people seem to really enjoy its low pricing and interactive and engaging promo activities (i.e., spin the wheel and get a coupon or a discount). But what’s the secret behind Temu goods being so affordable?
As already said, Temu ships most of its products directly from suppliers, which explains low prices. In this way, there is no middleman between a buyer and a seller. However, you can’t expect outstanding quality of goods, especially if we talk about electronics. You will get decent products but that’s it. It’s also interesting that Temu does not have name-brand tech products on its website – and if it does, there are not too many. You can spot verified tech products by a blue checkmark, otherwise, it will most probably be a no-name brand. Still, even electronics from Temu works quite well. So if you urgently need a pair of headphones, Temu is a safe place to shop.
How long does Temu take to deliver? Summing up
Now, let’s sum up. How long does Temu take to ship? Just like any other e-commerce marketplace, Temu delivers its goods within the range of 6–20 days, or 4–9 with the Express Shipping option, while an average waiting time is approximately 2 weeks, as per the shoppers’ reviews.
It is important to remember though that, having most of its suppliers in China, Temu ships directly from them so obviously, the delivery time will be longer for international customers. Overall, if you want Temu shipping time to take as little as possible, try doing the following things:
- Make sure that you stated your location and address correctly: even the smallest mistake can result in significant delays;
- Try ordering in advance if you need your purchase to arrive at a specific time period;
- Do not hesitate to choose the Express Shipping option if you need a 100% guarantee of fast delivery.
In conclusion, we can say that Temu is a fun e-commerce store with an impressive variety of amusing goods that can be somewhat hard to find on US or European markets. Thus, you can definitely have a look at it but do not expect superior quality or immediate delivery. Shop for fun, track your orders, and don’t forget that you always have a return and refund option.