Many of the manufacturers selling items on Temu also supply goods to Amazon

Temu mainly sells off-brand items, while Amazon offers brand names

A personal finance expert breaks down the key similarities between Temu and Amazon in a quick video so consumers can decide which is the better choice for their shopping needs.

Temu works with individual sellers who list and promote their products on the platform

Temu not only takes a roughly 5% to 15% commission rate, but also earns the money its sellers pay to advertise their products on the Temu platform.

Amazon launched a Temu competitor called Haul in 2024

On Amazon's Temu competitor, which it named "Haul," users can get extremely low-priced items shipped to them from—you guessed it—China.

Temu was losing an average of $30 per order as of 2024

Some business experts have made the argument that Temu is more focused on rapidly gaining market share and growing its customer base than achieving profitability.

Temu was born out of a Chinese company that, at the time, was called Pinduoduo

Today, the company is called PDD Holdings, and owns both Temu and its very similar sister app in China, Pinduoduo.

'Planet Money' explains how Temu became one of the most downloaded apps in the US

According to some estimates, as of 2024, Temu was shipping as many as a million packages a day into the US, and was among of the most downloaded iPhone apps in the country with around 50 million monthly active users.

Congressional investigations identified an 'extremely high risk' of forced labor in Temu’s supply chain

Specifically, the accusations include concerns regarding products from the Xinjiang region of China, where forced labor and slavery are common.

Temu was ordered to pay a $2M fine for alleged FTC violations

Specifically, Temu allegedly violated the INFORM Consumers Act of 2023 by failing to provide its customers with information and tools to help them avoid and report stolen, counterfeit, or unsafe goods.

Temu uses gamification techniques to encourage customers to shop on its app

Games include a spinning roulette wheel that offers coupon rewards, promises free delivery, and more. Some have said it’s tough to pull themselves out of the Temu ecosystem once they’re in it.

See a visualization of the most popular e-commerce companies in America

Amazon’s app sees more users than the next four most popular e-commerce apps (like Temu, Walmart, and others) combined.

Amazon expanded its business and diversified its offerings by acquiring companies

Amazon’s retail and cloud businesses have been key drivers of the company’s growth over the years, but they haven’t done all the work by themselves. Companies Amazon has acquired include the video doorbell maker Ring, the grocer Whole Foods, the streaming service Twitch, the shoe retailer Zappos, and the film studio MGM.

Trader Joe's isn't a public company, so it doesn't have to disclose its suppliers

However, when a product is recalled, the US FDA reveals the manufacturer. Business Insider dug into Trader Joe's recalled product history to figure out who is making its food. As it turns out, it's a multitude of suppliers, including big companies that make food for other grocers, such as PepsiCo's Naked Juice and Conagra.

Amazon has fulfillment centers all over the world

Amazon fulfillment centers are the large warehouses where products that customers have ordered are stored, packed, and shipped. In order to efficiently manage inventory and process millions of orders each day, the centers rely heavily on advanced technology and robotics.

Some found the Temu ‘Shop Like a Billionaire’ Super Bowl ads out of place in the Big Game

“It had no A-list celebrities or beloved cultural touchstones; not a single heartstring was tugged,” wrote one writer of the Temu ad that aired five times during the 2024 Super Bowl.

Dollar stores procure their merchandise in bulk to help cut costs

In order to keep prices cheap, dollar stores source this merchandise from a variety of places, including liquidation sales (an event that happens when retailers need to sell off inventory quickly), directly from distributors, foreign markets, and more.

Pop Mart is the company behind the viral Labubu toy craze

Labubus, the Chinese collectible toys, are being heralded as the next Beanie Babies. Pop Mart, the company behind the Labubus, is using a few psychological tools to keep the Labubu economy booming.

Claire's has filed for bankruptcy multiple times

Between competition from online retailers such as Shein and Temu, and too many physical stores for today's retail climate, Claire's has had a difficult time modernizing.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Trademarks are a form of consumer protection

Trademarks help brands distinguish their products from competitors, but they also give consumers clarity around the product they are buying and where it comes from. Distinguishable names help prevent consumer confusion and maintain a consumer's ability to choose their preferred product and brand.

Tariffs are typically paid by the importing company or organization to the US treasury

Tariffs levied on foreign countries are typically paid by the importer upon arrival of goods—for example, if Walmart imported a $100 pair of shoes, they would pay the US treasury an additional $15 under a 15% tariff rate. The degree to which these costs are passed onto consumers depends on real-world business agreements.

Explore the brands owned by Estée Lauder Companies

While Estée Lauder remains the flagship brand and namesake of the cosmetic conglomerate, the company owns more than 20 premier brands. Some of the brands—like Clinique and Origin—were created in-house, but others—like Tom Ford and Jo Malone—are a result of the company's acquisition strategy, which often targets companies with high-end retail products.

Tech giants like SpaceX and Meta are increasingly behaving like sovereign powers

Companies now make unilateral decisions once reserved for nation-states, such as controlling satellite internet access in active war zones and influencing global information flows. Lawmakers and the international order are struggling to keep up with technological developments, let alone regulate them.

WeWork’s competitors in the coworking space include Industrious and The Malin

WeWork’s story is colored by the times it just couldn’t make its numbers work. Its competitors in the coworking industry, such as Industrious and Convene, seem to be prioritizing slow and stable financial growth instead.

Over-the-counter markets are used to bypass traditional exchanges while trading

Commodities are regularly traded via OTC markets so that buyers and sellers can bypass central exchanges and negotiate terms more directly. Before the advent of formal exchanges, most assets were traded OTC.

A 'monopsony' is a market with a single buyer—rather than a single supplier

A monopsony is the demand-side equivalent of a monopoly, where a single buyer commands a market. In a monopsony, the buyer has an outsized influence over the price of a product or service because they control most or all of the sales in that market.

Thingiverse is a massive free library of 3D-printable designs

The site—which was launched in 2008 by 3D-printer manufacturer MakerBot—hosts more than 2 million user-generated design files to build everything from prosthetic hands to replacement dishwasher parts (or the "Golden Snitch" from "Harry Potter). The community behind it rapidly designed and shared files for face shields and ventilator components amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

In its famous catalog, Sears sold $600 DIY house kits from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in an estimated 100,000 'Sears and Roebuck homes.'

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Poison ivy is in the same family as mangoes, cashews, and pistachios—and they all produce oily urushiol in their raw, unprocessed state—but they are typically prepared in ways to avoid causing human discomfort.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.