Talk:Temu (marketplace)

Undisclosed paid tag

It certainly would appear that it is the case the article was created by an employee or a media company as the user that created it was perma blocked for doing just that. I have removed a WP:PUFFERY sentence and its reference as the news article it was linking appeared to be a fake site. The "news" site was full of typos, invalid formatting, had no "about us" info that I could find, and the domain was registered by google domains (which in its own right isnt that bad), and they have a free "lets encrypt" SSL cert. The source also doesn't meet the requirements of WP: Source and if you read the linked source, its obliviously an ad, which further backs up the Undisclosed paid tag. The article appears to be neutral now, and the linked sources seem to be reliable Dillard421♂♂ ^{(talk to me)} 17:06, 24 December 2022 (UTC)

Dillard, if "The article appears to be neutral now, and the linked sources seem to be reliable" was true in late December '22, is it also true now? If it is true now, why the need for the article to announce that an earlier version was the product of undeclared paid editing? -- Hoary (talk) 06:40, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

I guess i didn't specify, I was asking for additional verification Dillard421♂♂ ^{(talk to me)} 20:05, 17 March 2023 (UTC)

Request for more clean up and removing flag

Hi, regarding the homepage flag, while the page has recently been cut down to such an extent that there’s very little cleanup required, I did spot a couple of minor things that could also be fixed and should resolve all outstanding issues mentioned in the flag.

There are still two bad sources (Source #1 and Source #5) based on the rules in WP:PRIMARY because they both cite the Temu Contact Us page for information about the company being headquartered in Boston. I’ve found a news piece in the Jerusalem Post that has the same information and can replace the Contact Us page.

I am new to Wikipedia and was not involved in any previous edits on this page and do not know the identity of these editors. But I do work for Temu and I promise to follow all conflict of interest rules. With my public declaration of a conflict here and at the top of the page, and the corrected source, there’s no longer any need for the flag.

Here are the changes I suggest:

1. The first place with that bad source is in the Infobox, so here’s what the updated Location line in the Infobox would look like with the new source to replace it. (There’s no reason for the company’s exact street address to be listed in this article, so the street address should also be removed from the Infobox, as below):

| hq_location_country = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

2. The second place with that bad source is the first sentence in the History and business model section. Here’s what that sentence would look like with the new source:

Although owned by Pinduoduo Inc, Temu is operated in the United States by US-based WhaleCo Inc. Temu is headquartered in Boston.

3. According to the WP:TC, labels are meant to “are meant to be temporary notices that lead to an effort to fix the problem, not a permanent badge of shame.” According to the section above from December 24, 2022, “The article appears to be neutral now, and the linked sources seem to be reliable”.

As the sources will be even better with the Contact Us page replaced with a secondary source, there’s no need for the flag anymore.

4. In addition, the flag reference to “notability” does not account for sources not in the article and/or recently removed by other editors. In addition to the existing sources from CNBC and the Wall Street Journal which are already in the article, there are many feature stories about the app that can be used, including stories about Temu in [1](Wired), [2] (Entrepreneur Magazine), [3] (Business Insider), the [4] (MIT Technology Review), and the [5] (San Francisco Examiner). Citations should not have to be in the article to establish notability.

Thanks for your time. Snowy2000 (talk) 02:45, 7 February 2023 (UTC) Snowy2000 (talk) 02:45, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

References

Sources to show Notability

I saw that a Notability flag has been added to the top of this article. In addition to the existing sources from CNBC and the Wall Street Journal which are already in the article, there are also several additional sources that should be integrated into the article which should establish the Notability of the subject, including stories about Temu in [6](Wired), [7] (Entrepeneur Magazine), [8] (Business Insider), the [9] (MIT Technology Review), and the [10] (San Francisco Examiner). Since as I mentioned above I have a COI as a Temu employee, I will not directly edit this article myself without permission. But I do plan to propose request edits for new content to be added to this article based on these sources and others. Snowy2000 (talk) 17:27, 10 February 2023 (UTC)

It was Innisfree987 who applied the "notability" template; let's see what Innisfree987 says. -- Hoary (talk) 06:41, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

Hi @Hoary, thanks for giving me a chance to weigh in but this paid editor already pinged me (and dozens of other volunteers) soliciting work for their company; I had a brief look and the coverage seemed insufficiently sustained, hence the tag, but as I said to them on my talk page, that’s all the bandwidth I can offer for now. Appropriate neutral parties should feel free to make whatever changes they see fit without pinging me. Happy editing, Innisfree987 (talk) 08:06, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

Copy edit

I did a couple of passes and removed the ce needed banner as no longer true. I did remove the address from the info box, which I find a reasonable edit request. My interest is extremely limited and I am not going to get into the sourcing part of the request, which I leave to others. I have little knowledge of notability requirements for corporations anyway. No need to ping me about this article in future. Elinruby (talk) 01:10, 20 February 2023 (UTC)

Proposal for Temu Article Updates, February 2023

Hi,

I have a few updates to propose for this article to improve it. As I mentioned above I have a conflict of interest as a Temu employee, which is why I’m posting these suggestions here for an independent editor to review. Thanks for your interest and your assistance with this request.

1. The second sentence in the “History and business model” section (“labeled as headquartered”) is grammatically incorrect and missing a reliable source. Here’s a suggested replacement:

Temu is headquartered in Boston, and owned by U.S. based WhaleCo Inc., a subsidiary of PDD Holdings.

2. There is not much discussion about what the app actually does, despite many available sources. To rectify this, I propose adding two new sentences to the end of the first paragraph in the “History and business model” section (right after the sentence with the quotation from Wired):

The platform offers a wide variety of products including clothing, electronics, and home goods. Temu also offers discounts and gifts for playing games on the app.

3. There have been several articles written about Temu that describe what is new or innovative about it - helping to explain why it has been the most popular app in the U.S. for several months. I suggest adding a new paragraph to the end of the History and business model section that reports what reputable sources say.

Shira Ovide of the Washington Post said that the app is designed to make the experience of online shopping more fun by providing users with “whimsy”. Rob Walker of Fast Company described Temu’s app as a kind of “shopatainment”, where users are presented with a scroll of products and offers, similar to how TikTok presents videos.

4. There has also been some critical press about Temu, especially from Time Magazine. I propose to include it at the end of the History and business model section:

Time magazine reported in December 2022 that as a result of a program offering free goods for customer referrals, invitations to join the app had spread quickly on Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. Time also said in December 2022 that in the first few months of operation, there were 31 complaints to the Better Business Bureau about items arriving late or not at all; the company responded to every complaint, although not all had been resolved by the time the article appeared.

5. Temu expanded into Canada and the Canadian expansion was covered in multiple press outlets. I propose adding this sentence to the end of the second paragraph in the History and business model section:

In February 2023, Temu launched its app in Canada.

6. Temu’s received substantial press coverage about running multiple ads during the 2023 Super Bowl ads, including in the Washington Post, CNBC, Forbes, and Fortune. I propose the following sentence be added to the end of the second paragraph in the History and business model section (just after the new one proposed above):

An advertisement for Temu ran twice during Super Bowl LVII on February 12, 2023.In the week following the Super Bowl the rate of US downloads for the Temu app outpaced those of other apps from major US retailers like Target, Walmart and Amazon. There were about 24 million downloads of the app as of February 21, 2023.

Thank you for considering these additional proposals to improve this article. Snowy2000 (talk) 08:50, 24 February 2023 (UTC) Snowy2000 (talk) 08:50, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

I am revising Item 4 to reflect a recent update to the page. Please find the last sentence of the third paragraph in the History section, which reads:

Online reviews however indicated significant customer dissatisfaction,  including "fake/scammy listings, damaged and delayed deliveries, fake ads, incorrect orders and a lack of customer service".

First, the quote is incorrect – the word “fake” is never used in it. The statement is anecdotal, sensationalistic and from a blog source that’s not terribly reliable. WP: TechCrunch. More focused criticism (and support) from a much better source (Time magazine) is available. The quote is also framed on Wikipedia as “evergreen” language - as though such severe criticism will continue to be valid forever. That isn’t the intended meaning of the blogger. Criticism of Temu is appropriate under Wikipedia policy but should be neutral and as specific as possible. In addition, the press has offered lots of other anecdotal accounts of people who are very pleased with Temu. WP:Due suggests balancing of consumer reaction is in order. Therefore, I propose replacing that sentence with the following:

Time magazine reported in December 2022 that as a result of a program offering free goods for customer referrals, invitations to join the app had spread quickly on Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. Time also said in December 2022 that in the first few months of operation, there were 31 complaints to the Better Business Bureau about items arriving late or not at all; the company responded to every complaint, although not all had been resolved by the time the article appeared. Time also reported on several consumers who said they were satisfied with the products and service they had received from Temu In January 2023, a TechCrunch blogger reported that some online reviewers had also complained of goods arriving late or damaged and problems with customer service.

This version is better than the existing sentence about criticism in that it accurately describes the complaints and the company’s responses to them with specifics rather than vague allusions. It also provides context about how frequent these complaints were and when they were made, thus eliminating the “evergreen” character of the existing sentence. Snowy2000 (talk) 09:23, 5 March 2023 (UTC)

Do not make these edits yourself. For various reasons, these sources are not entirely reliable, and you have not summarized them neutrally. Grayfell (talk) 01:59, 8 March 2023 (UTC)

Before you left this comment, User:Prairie Astronomer reviewed and approved these changes in the next Talk page section at Talk:Temu (company)#Review comments. They also explicitly instructed me to make the edits on their behalf, otherwise I would not have done so. I think editors will find all the sources are reliable. I have reopened the request edit because you have reversed all the approved changes from Prairie Astronomer. Snowy2000 (talk) 02:23, 8 March 2023 (UTC)

Yes, I saw that and have answered below. These proposed edits were not appropriate. Since this request lacks consensus, I have again closed it pending further discussion. Grayfell (talk) 02:40, 8 March 2023 (UTC)

References

Review comments

I cannot review this subject, as I know nothing about the subject (I use a Nokia 2760). However, the proposed edits look neutral and can well improve the stub page. Some times COI rules are overly restrictive, and I'd encourage @Snowy2000: to commit the changes if he cannot find an acknowledgeable reviewer. ale (talk) 11:22, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

I am going to agree with ale. The citations are all correct. The suggested edits seem fine. If you don't get an official go ahead from someone knowledgeable, go ahead and make the changes. Prairie Astronomer ^{Contributions} 16:36, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

@PrairieAstronomer: Hi again, it’s been over a week and no one else has commented on this proposal. Do I have your explicit permission to implement changes now? I want to be very careful not to violate any COI policies.

Also, I would like to note that I’ve revised Item #4 in the proposal above because the page has since been updated This involves not only adding content but removing content too. Would you be willing to have look at the revision at the bottom of the proposal? Thanks! Snowy2000 (talk) 09:25, 5 March 2023 (UTC)

I would say go for it. Include all the citations you used, and add a message here on the talk page that you added those changes. Prairie Astronomer ^{Contributions} 15:32, 6 March 2023 (UTC)

What? These edits were almost nakedly promotional. Do not encourage paid editors to spam Wikipedia. Grayfell (talk) 02:00, 8 March 2023 (UTC)

Shira Ovide of the Washington Post said that the app is designed to make the experience of online shopping more fun by providing users with “whimsy”.[4] Rob Walker of Fast Company described Temu’s app as a kind of “shopatainment”, where users are presented with a scroll of products and offers, similar to how TikTok presents videos.[5]

Whimsy? Seriously? Wikipedia should not be a platform for this kind of cherry-picked vacuous nonsense.

In the week following the Super Bowl the rate of US downloads for the Temu app outpaced those of other apps from major US retailers like Target, Walmart and Amazon.[9][10]

This is insultingly obvious filler. Downloads of a new app for a new company that spent big on advertising "outpaced" established companies -because everybody who cares has already had years to download those other apps. This kind of shallow puffery harms the article, and Wikipedia. Grayfell (talk) 02:08, 8 March 2023 (UTC)

@Grayfell: In your haste, you've attributed a large quote to Wired which comes from TechCrunch. TechCrunch is a blog that is supposed to be used with caution. WP:TECHCRUNCH. Wired is a respected source that wouldn't make such broad generalizations based on one blogger's casual perusal of a few user generated comments on the app. Can you fix the error you just introduced? As to everything else, I will start discussions at a later time. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Snowy2000 (talk • contribs) 02:45, 8 March 2023 (UTC)

I have already fixed that error. The Time source, despite your summary to the contrary, also strongly supports Temu's poor reputation. Grayfell (talk) 02:46, 8 March 2023 (UTC)

Wrong address

Wrong address needs to be changed 67.61.231.229 (talk) 18:46, 7 April 2023 (UTC)

What is the correct address, and most importantly, what sources support it? Grachester (talk) 20:15, 24 May 2023 (UTC)

Misleading placement

This is by no means an American company. 162.196.254.96 (talk) 12:20, 25 May 2023 (UTC)

It was founded in the US by former employees of Amazon, Alibaba, Twitter, and Uber, and is HQ'd in Boston. Its parent company is Chinese.

So yes and no. Tamar Weinberg (talk) 03:18, 2 June 2023 (UTC)

Some people just dislike this China-America alliance, aren't they? Temu is literally just an American company registered in Boston as shown in governmental records that later collaborated with PDD. AnnieYW (talk) 02:13, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

"Chinese-based" would imply that Chinese is a location...and that is now wrong

PDD Holdings is now based in Dublin, though it is Chinese owned.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/04/chinas-pdd-holdings-parent-of-temu-moves-headquarters-to-ireland.html Tamar Weinberg (talk) 03:11, 2 June 2023 (UTC)

Yeah, and Yandex is "Netherlands based" – it's registered to a virtual address at Schiphol Airport.

We need to develop policies on describing the nationality of companies who use only virtual presence for their HQs. — kashmīrī ^TALK 08:04, 2 June 2023 (UTC)

By the way, the Dublin address contains a small 1st floor office able to house just a handful of people.[11] It's certainly not a real corporate headquarters. — kashmīrī ^TALK 19:12, 4 June 2023 (UTC)

Government reaction [sic]

When will our wikipedia authors and editors stop disgracing themselves and finally start to put the deontologically required 'alleged' in front of what are all unsubstantiated -if not already debunked- allegations from the US government? Sensi (talk) 18:39, 5 July 2023 (UTC)

Read WP:ALLEGED. — kashmīrī ^TALK 18:45, 5 July 2023 (UTC)

Boston?

The insertion that the company is now Boston-based is tenuous at best, based on coverage here. I think we need to tread lightly here. --ZimZalaBim ^talk 01:57, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

I am just an American student who looks up news and uses Temu. Facts are facts, hey; I just added governmental records from official Boston administrative records, which you clearly wanted to hide or delete. If you want to use "registered in Boston", that's fine with me.

You can't just deny a government record or interpret in your own ways. Your action seems funny to me. AnnieYW (talk) 02:07, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

Temu is literally just an American company with some former Google and Uber employees and registered in Boston as shown in City of Boston governmental records that later did business with PDD Holdings.

If you want to stop American companies from collaborating or doing business with Chinese companies, I suggest you run for the dictator of America. AnnieYW (talk) 02:31, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

Countries

In the Temu settings, you have the option to select from the following countries. So some countries seem to be missing in the list of the article:

- Australia - Austria - Belgium - Bulgaria - Canada - Chile - Croatia - Cyprus - Czech Republic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Germany - Greece - Hungary - Ireland - Israel - Italy - Japan - Latvia - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Malaysia - Mexico - Netherlands - New Zealand - Norway - Philippines - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Saudi Arabia - Slovakia - Slovenia - South Korea - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - United Arab Emirates - United Kingdom - United States Daniel Maak (talk) 07:26, 15 September 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: WRIT 340 for Engineers - Fall 2023 - 668386

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 21 August 2023 and 1 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Icleung, Nicolezhang0331, Steven7sum, Shisteve (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by 1namesake1 (talk) 00:51, 24 October 2023 (UTC)

Temu Super Bowl Racist Ad With No News Articles

just look at this 👇

https://twitter.com/TweettopVillage/status/1756843245164753216 Hugorowan2 (talk) 17:07, 10 April 2024 (UTC)

We can't use people's tweets as a source and it is not for us to do our own original research and declare it racist. What we can do is keep an eye open for Reliable Sources commenting on it and, if there is enough coverage to make this a notable aspect of Temu's existence then we can cover it. I can't see anything in Google News about it at the moment but when I was looking for that I did find this which is... um... yeah... not great:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67272541 DanielRigal (talk) 17:39, 10 April 2024 (UTC)

ok that might be true, but why would they do this? Temu needs to get their “big game” up. Hugorowan2 (talk) 23:35, 12 April 2024 (UTC)