I Keep Affiliate Links Pretty Rare Here, But I'm Doing This One

"Cheap Chinese Junk Haters" can just move along. I learned this morning that Temu has an affiliate program. Yes, that is an affiliate link. If you use it, I get a little piece of the action (which I can withdraw to PayPal or just use to buy stuff at Temu).

PROS OF TEMU

• Low, low prices. Any time I'm looking for something specific, I compare what I find on Temu to what I find on Amazon, at Walmart, etc. I generally stick to small ticket stuff -- I think the most expensive thing I've purchased via Temu has been $30 or less -- but I often find equivalent items for about half the price. And the quality is usually similar (if you buy at Amazon or Walmart, it's likely just as Chinese as anything you'll find on Temu).
• Free shipping under certain conditions. If you're ordering direct from Temu, the minimum for free shipping is usually $20; for "local warehouse" buys (meaning the stuff is already in the US), $30 and it all has to be from the same "local warehouse" seller. But on the "local warehouse" stuff, the shipping is usually $2.99 if you don't want to spend that minimum.
• Order cancellations are easy if the items haven't yet been shipped. The screen warns that your refund may take a couple of days, but I've never seen it take more than a couple of minutes (I've canceled a grand total of two orders, once because I noticed I had put the wrong thing in my cart and then ordered it, once because a couple of minutes after my order, someone told me "we already got one of those").
• If you leave reviews,  negative language apparently triggers an immediate "refund or replace" offer. I've only had that happen once or twice and have never taken the offer because the negatives were little things (e.g. a motorcycle bag made of thinner cloth than I expected).

CONS OF TEMU

• There's none of this "same day / next day" delivery like you'll get with Amazon Prime or Walmart+. The non-"local warehouse" stuff is coming from China and there's a 5-10 day estimated wait time. The "local warehouse" stuff used to arrive really fast, but now seems to take about that long as well. So don't order anything you're in a hurry to get. BUT! there's an "arrives by" date when you place the order, and if it doesn't get there by that date, you get $5 credit to your Temu account.
• It's easy to get hooked into small item impulse purchases. There are a lot of cheap gadgets, gizmos, doodads, etc. available for a couple of bucks. I know someone who falls for that a lot. I quickly developed the habit of only visiting Temu when I'm looking for something specific; if I find and order that thing, and it doesn't hit the $20 free shipping minimum, then I'll look at other stuff and order enough to get free shipping.

So there you have it. That's my pitch for Temu. If you go for it, thanks and you're welcome.