From ‘lightning deals’ to ‘super deals’ and ‘bulk saver hubs’, shoppers who visit the websites of Chinese retail giants AliExpress, Temu or Shein this week are bombarded with flashing banners advertising Black Friday.
The Chinese discount behemoths are promising alluring sales of up to 88 per cent and exciting deals for bargain hunters.
But these huge discounts are not always what they seem. A Money Mail investigation can reveal that shoppers using these websites could end up out of pocket compared with shopping elsewhere.
The last Friday of November is traditionally the day when shops cut prices to encourage us to start spending for Christmas.
The idea is that traders sell enough products to get back into the ‘black’ – rather than be in the ‘red’ losing money ahead of the festive shopping rush.
Yet we have discovered that instead of slashing prices, some online traders could be exploiting the heavily marketed event by cynically ramping up charges ahead of the day – so when prices drop on Black Friday they are actually selling at their original price.
The truth behind the ‘deals’
Valued at £120billion, Temu (pronounced Tee-moo) has become an online shopping favourite, with an estimated 15 million shoppers using its website in Britain since arriving in the UK last year. That is almost five times the number of shoppers at John Lewis.
AliExpress is valued at a staggering £127billion and hired David Beckham as its ‘global ambassador’ earlier this year to help improve its image for the British market.
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Temu was founded just three years ago and is valued at £120billion, but it has faced criticism for some of its business practices
Temu listed this jacket for £21.43 at one point as part of its Black Friday sales – but a price tracking website reveals it was being sold at the same price one month ago, without a discount
The two shopping behemoths have become popular for the thousands of goods they sell at rock-bottom prices that are so low they seem impossible.
The items for sale on their websites have had a frenzy of price drops in the run up to Black Friday. Or so it would appear at first glance.
Money Mail has analysed the prices of best-selling products on Temu this week and discovered some alarming pricing tricks that may be catching out shoppers.
At the top of its best-selling page, a men’s navy Norway-Style Jacket is offered in a ‘lightning deal’ on Temu for £21.43. This is advertised as an enticing 53 per cent off its £45.98 RRP.
However, a price tracking website called Thunt.ai, that shows how the price of products have fluctuated in the past 30 days, reveals that the jacket is being sold at the same price it was one month ago, long before the sale began. The price was hiked by 41 per cent to £30.23 on November 7. The price has since fluctuated every few days but currently sits at its pre-sale value. Yet it is advertised as being at 53 per cent discount.
But in some cases, items have been found to cost more than they did this time last month. For example, a car dash cam with dual lens and night vision, was on Monday advertised by Temu at £10.64 at a 56 per cent discount. However, according to Thunt.ai, the same dash cam was for sale on Temu for £8.64 on October 24 and the price has gradually increased over the past 30 days.
In another instance, a best-selling pair of ‘winter plush’ slippers were on Monday being sold at £5.74 – a whopping 82 per cent discount according to the website. Yet the same slippers cost even less (£5.07) one month ago.
Aside from the frequent price changes, shoppers may also find that they can nab better deals elsewhere, for example at British supermarkets or on Amazon.
Temu claims this tub of hot chocolate has a RRP of £16.99 – however the same product on Amazon has an RRP of just £9.25
Similarly the ‘RRP’ of this e-scooter is shown as £399, but the same p[roduct on Amazon retails for £179.99 at full price
For example, you can buy a one kilogram tub of Cadbury Hot Chocolate on Temu for £7.89 – which it promotes as 53 per cent off the RRP of £16.99. However, this same tub is £7.49 on Amazon – and it also give a much lower RRP of £9.25. The discount store Costco also sells the 1kg tub for £7.49.
It is unclear what method Temu uses to identify the retail price of items.
Temu boasts 62 per cent off the price of a Seemar S3 motor scooter – charging £148.59 instead of a ‘recommended retail price’ of £399, on Monday. This same scooter was for sale on Amazon for a full price of £179.99 – without any hint you might be paying less than the manufacturer’s suggested retail price or getting any kind of discount.
Shared shopper experience
Angry shoppers who have spotted the questionable pricing techniques have taken to social media to share their experiences. One person who used Temu earlier this month wrote on social media website Reddit: ‘Am I the only one who has noticed how prices keep rising as Black Friday approaches? All the items I ordered two to three weeks ago are now much more expensive. The worst example is an indoor thermometer… from €3.77 [£3.32] to €6.11 [£5.38]. This is a 62.07 per cent increase for the same best-selling item.’
Another shopper claimed ‘the Temu algorithm gives everyone different deals’, with Black Friday being used as a marketing tool, ramping up prices in the days before to drop them again to make it look like you are bagging a bargain.
Another wrote: ‘Prices are slowly going up before Black Friday. When the magic date comes, they reduce these items to original asking prices.’
Retail analyst Neil Saunders, of GlobalData US, says: ‘Although it is illegal in some jurisdictions, some retailers will put up a price before Black Friday so they can make a discount seem deeper and more compelling. Amazon now allows shoppers to look at the price history of items so they can see movements, but Chinese marketplaces like Temu and Shein do not provide such extensive detail.’
Guidance from The Chartered Trading Standards states that pricing practices must be fair and not misleading. It says when considering whether a price reduction is genuine you should try to figure out how long the product was on sale at the higher price compared with the lower price and how recently the higher price was offered. However, this information about past prices is not available on Temu listings.
If in doubt over whether a price offers good value for money, try to shop around to see if you can find the same or similar item elsewhere for cheaper
Self-confessed Temu addict Lucy Clark, 29, a director at Manchester-based technology consultancy Dream Agility, has also noticed rising prices. She says: ‘Traders such as Temu change prices on a daily basis so there is no way of keeping tracks on prices – and the confusion could act like a smokescreen. As many items are already cheap it’s easy to miss price hikes.’
She adds: ‘It is not just Temu. I’ve found AliExpress and Chinese online clothes shop Shein also seem to take advantage of Black Friday fever. Prices for clothing on Shein can magically inflate when you put them in the basket. I saw a £27.49 tracksuit on Shein advertised for £12.52 – with the boast of “54 per cent off! Add to cart”. When put into the basket the price leaped to £15.81.
‘You should not be lured in by Black Friday offers unless you know what the normal price really is.’
It is much easier to track the historical prices of items at other online websites, such as Amazon. Price tracking site Camel Camel Camel provides price drop alerts and price history charts for products sold by Amazon.
Chinese online retailers are also using ‘gamification tricks’ alongside price manipulation to attract customers. This refers to a phenomenon of using elements of gaming and games, such as point scoring or introducing rules of play, as a marketing technique to encourage engagement from shoppers.
Saunders says: ‘Temu is as addictive as sugar – making shopping seem fun with gamification tricks, such as offering mystery rewards on purchases. It is easy to get you hooked when items are offered at ridiculously low prices. Chinese websites continually change prices – and discounts on offer – to keep you coming back for more.’
He adds: ‘The idea is for you to get a dopamine hit from shopping on these websites. Just like sugar, it is okay in moderation. But it can become addictive because people get a thrill from thinking they are saving money on super-cheap goods – rather than spending their money.’
Doctor Janina Steinmetz, a professor in marketing at Bayes Business School in London, says: ‘Black Friday creates time pressure for consumers because the deals are naturally going to be time-limited – and time-pressure makes people respond in more impulsive ways, because they are less likely to think carefully about their actions.’
She adds: ‘That can mean buying something you don’t actually need – or buying something because it looks like a great deal but upon closer inspection it might not be.’
Dr Steinmetz’s advice is to move away from your screen – and simply put on the kettle. She says: ‘With Black Friday consumers might feel they are missing out if they do not shop. All the hype pays off for stores and companies that sell goods – but consumers should take a quiet moment, make tea, and write a shopping list of what they actually want and need.’
AliExpress uses former Only Way is Essex star Gemma Collins on its front page with ‘Up to 80 per cent off’ beside a Black Friday logo and a countdown clock, while Temu has a ‘Black Friday’ promotional strip alongside items. Shein has a headline ‘Up to 60 per cent off Black Friday’.
If in doubt over whether a price offers good value for money, try to shop around to see if you can find the same or similar item elsewhere for cheaper.
Question the quality
Even if you do pay less than full price for an item via a Chinese online retailer you may still discover you are getting poor value for money.
Money Mail has previously done its own research by buying sales items from AliExpress. We concluded you get what you pay for when shopping at the online retail giant. For example, a £3.21 ‘i8 Pro Max’ smartwatch or an £8.21 ‘military grade titanium steel shell health monitoring’ ring might both look good from a distance but, unlike the real things, they failed to work when tested.
Shoppers have also reported their share of malfunctions. One claimed that a £20 handheld vacuum cleaner purchased on Temu exploded, while another said they were ‘disgusted’ when they discovered that a 59p ‘plastic’ tooth necklace from the site was made from dogs’ teeth and coated in resin. Similarly, another shopper revealed that a £8.99 croissant-shaped lamp from Temu was in fact a real croissant covered in resin and proved only good for attracting ants.
Clark says: ‘In one of my most recent purchases I got a 60cm spirit level from Temu for £4.11. It was unable to tell me when it was on a level surface. Cut-price items like these do not turn out to be a bargain if they fail to work.’
Most online marketplaces don’t verify the products that are for sale on their platforms, for example by running safety checks, and Temu is no different. When Which? tested electric heaters last year, all three bought from Temu sellers were found to be electrically unsafe and can’t be sold legally in the UK. Temu told Which? that the safety of its customers was its highest priority.
Separately, the British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA) tested five toys from Temu and found three posed a risk of choking or suffocation. Only one toy was compliant with UK safety standards.
Be wary of the returns policy
If you are not happy with your purchase, you may be able to benefit from the retailer’s returns policy. For example, AliExpress offers a ‘free returns’ policy ‘within 90 days’. Temu says you can return your products within 90 days of purchase for a refund, although you may have less time if returning certain electronic goods or large electrical appliances. Shein says it will accept returns within 30 days of receipt for most items in new condition.
However, because they are foreign websites, you are not automatically protected by British trading rules, such as the Consumer Rights Act if goods fail to arrive or are faulty.
Under UK Global Tariff rules, you must also still pay taxes on the imports, such as 20 per cent VAT. AliExpress adds VAT at the checkout to avoid lengthy postage holdups that can sometimes occur at customs. But because it sends products directly from China, rather than via UK warehouses, it exploits a tax loophole to keep prices low.
Any goods worth less than £135 can arrive tax-free, a rule designed to make it easier for friends and family to send gifts to each other. But because nearly all AliExpress and Temu purchases are well under £135, the companies – but also shoppers – aren’t charged the duty. In contrast, British shops importing goods have to pay duties of 12 per cent on top of VAT, passed to customers.
Temu and AliExpress were contacted for comment.
Shein said: ‘We’re glad to offer competitive prices, not just around Black Friday, and we always ensure that discounts are transparent and in accordance with all regulations, including ensuring that discounts are compared against prices that were actually charged for the required duration under UK pricing rules.’ It added: ‘We are committed to fostering a safe and fair work environment for all of our suppliers’ employees.’
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