ELI5: why is temu so cheap

Temu is cheap because they cut out the middleman and make things in factories where it doesn't cost much to pay workers.

Imagine you want a toy car. Usually, the toy car goes through a lot of steps:

• A factory makes the car.
• A company buys the car from the factory.
• That company sells the car to a store.
• You buy the car from the store.

Temu is like going straight to the factory. They connect factories directly to you, the person who wants to buy things. This means:

• No extra companies taking a cut: Less money is added at each step, so the price stays lower.
• Factories in China: Many of the factories that make things for Temu are in China, where it's often cheaper to pay workers and make products. This is like having your lemonade stand in a place where lemons and sugar are very cheap!
• Shipping: Sometimes, they might make a little less money on each item to get you to buy more things. Think of it like a grocery store putting some things on sale to get you to come in and buy other stuff too.