TLDR Tech / Marketing
How Temu Hacked US customs to sell you $4 T-Shirts
Temu built a major pricing advantage by using the de minimis rule to avoid import duties on packages under $800. It shipped individual orders from China at $2 to $4 per package instead of paying 15% to 25% in duties and $15 to $20 in logistics costs. Volume scaled from about 250k daily shipments in 2022 to about 600k in 2023, which made up over 30% of US de minimis imports. It anticipated rule changes and shifted to US warehouses in 2025, which reduced delivery times to 3 to 7 days while absorbing duty costs. The company drove growth through gamification features that led users to make unplanned purchases and supported low prices through subsidies and high marketing spend.
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