I’ve been up late a few nights this week, spending more money than I should on things that I don’t need. When I awake in the morning, I wonder what I got up to last night. My online banking tells me I spent $63.16, and I’m thinking to myself what did I even buy?
It’s time for an intervention.
Forget about gateway drugs, this is straight to the hard stuff. Temu is like the crack cocaine of online shopping.
**Flashback to the night before**
I was sitting on my phone, watching YouTube, when an ad popped up for Temu. It was not my intention to sit on my phone and mindlessly scroll for 3 hours and buy random things that I didn’t need. Just as, there would not be any addict out there, whether it be drugs, alcohol, shopping, work… (you name it), who intended to become addicted to whatever their vice is. For the most part, it’s unconscious. That’s how addictions work.
Yet, there I was, watching YouTube, when an ad popped up for Temu. The algorithms knew that I’d been looking to buy a black top for an upcoming hen’s weekend. Here’s what you’ve been looking for, and only $9.39. Temu lured me in. “That’s a steal!” I think to myself, as I click the ad link.
I’ve taken a hit.
Spin to win pops up. Oh wow, I just won $10 off my purchase.
Here we go again!
I’ll have to add a few more things to the cart, so I can check out and collect my prize. This is clearly a hustle to make me spend more money. But I’m thinking “My top is basically free now!”
It’s got me. I’m mindlessly scrolling, and it just keeps refreshing as it learns my preferences.
Oh, she likes chickens. Up pops a cute top with chickens on it. Added to cart.
How about a tiny lion mane for her cat? It pops up, and “Of course, I want to turn my cat into a tiny lion! Who wouldn’t!? That’s so cute!” Another item added.
An eyemask for sleeping, that looks like frog eyes? “Umm, yes, please”. Added.
Before I know it, I’ve got a cart full of random crap that I definitely do not NEED, but the items are so cheap, and are so cute and random, that I now WANT them, so I can justify checking out and buying the lot! The other thing is, somehow I’ve gone through a ‘Temu Time-Portal’ that has landed me 3 hours into the future and now I just need to get the hell off of my phone and go to sleep! If I exit now, and don’t buy anything at all, I’ve just completely wasted this precious time of my life and have nothing to show for it!
I’ve been on Temu twice this week. It’s probably – scrap that – it’s precisely the reason why I haven’t yet written this post for the week!
The second time, I was on there was for household goods. I resisted the urge to buy more random crap for myself. That doesn’t mean I didn’t add another 15 random items to my cart ‘for another day’. I decided we needed couch slip-on covers for our outdoor couch. I could have bought them from another website (dealer), but no, I came back to Temu again. The pop-up ads had worked again. That escalated into an hour-long ordeal of measuring, and then buying cushion covers for every cushion in the house, again because, it’s just so cheap!
Moral of the story. Temu is some straight-up shopping addiction. The crack cocaine version. Avoid it at all costs. Or be very wary of it, or before you know it, you’ll be strung out, wondering where the hell your life and all your money went, surrounded by cute crap you didn’t need, and needing to get a second job to pay for your groceries for the week.
Who else has fallen for the Temu trap? Tell me what random crap you’ve bought?
Cheers,
Mumof3WR
As well Temu keeps enticing you as you try and check out ,( just like the chocolates at the supermarket checkout! ) with cute photos of things you might have missed (and yes I did resist and there will be no chicken croc animals for the little ranga😟)