With the fast rise of Temu, you may be wondering: could Temu replace AliExpress for dropshipping?
Or is it even possible to dropship from Temu?
The quick answer is that dropshipping from Temu is possible. However, we don't recommend Temu dropshipping for most people due to its limitations.
AliExpress is still an easier option, thanks to its wide product selection and integrations with ecommerce platforms.
But don't disregard Temu yet—it can be helpful in many areas, such as product research!
If this topic interests you, keep on reading as we dive deeper into the topic.
Overview: Temu vs. AliExpress for Dropshipping
For a quick answer on the main differences between Temu and AliExpress for dropshipping, take a look at the following table:
| Temu | AliExpress | ||
| Pros | Cons | Pros | Cons |
| Cheap product prices | Can't use the product images | 500+ million products | Lacking quality control |
| Trendy products | The products come in branded packaging | Publicly supports dropshipping | Unreliable shipping |
| Extensive product catalog | The return and refund process is complicated | Good ecommerce platform integrations | Customer support is lacking |
| Free shipping | Lacking ecommerce platform integrations | Product discovery tools available | The return and refund process may involve costs |
| Solid customer support | Slow refund process | ||
| Good return policy | It doesn't officially support dropshipping |
For most dropshippers, we recommend AliExpress over Temu.
The main reasons are that Temu packages are branded, and the platform is not designed for dropshipping. Conversely, AliExpress publicly supports dropshipping, has a dedicated dropshipping center, and offers a large selection of products.
With that said, here is a summary of when each platform may be ideal for you.
Temu is the right platform for you if:
- You want to find and sell trendy products.
- You need faster shipping than what AliExpress offers.
- You don't mind Temu's branded packages.
- You simply want to find winning products for your dropshipping store.
AliExpress is the right platform for you if:
- You want to choose from millions of different products.
- You want to compare different similar products together.
- You require a solution that has robust third-party integrations with your ecommerce platform.
- You're ready to compete against other dropshippers using AliExpress for dropshipping.
- You want to take advantage of product discovery tools to find winning products.
What is Temu?
Temu is an online selling platform best known for its affordable, trendy products in a wide range of categories.
It was launched just in 2022 by PDD Holdings, a Chinese ecommerce giant that also owns the popular Pinduoduo app.
After its launch, Temu has been increasingly gaining popularity and hasn't shown much signs of slowing down:
Pros of Temu
- Cheap product prices. Temu’s vast supplier network and large budget help keep prices low.
- Extensive product catalog. While not as large as AliExpress, Temu still offers a wide range of products.
- Trendy products. Temu is known for having trendy products, which can be helpful in the process of finding winning products.
- Free shipping. Standard shipping is free on all orders, with express shipping free on orders over $129.
- Good return policy. You can return products within 90 days, which is better than AliExpress offers.
- Solid customer support. Temu offers 24/7 customer support through its live chat.
Cons of Temu
- Lacking a dropshipping program. Temu doesn't officially support dropshipping, and there are no programs available for it.
- Lacking integrations. While few third-party integrations are available for Temu, it is nowhere near what AliExpress has.
- Branded packages. All Temu orders come with their own branding, which can be a problem for dropshippers.
- Image restrictions. Unlike AliExpress, you can’t use supplier images from Temu on your website or marketing.
- Slow shipping. Although Temu’s shipping is more reliable than AliExpress, it’s still slow. Standard shipping takes 6 to 22 days, and express shipping takes 4 to 11 days but comes at a higher cost.
- Slow refund process. While the return policy is generous, refunds can take seven to 30 days after the product is returned.
What is AliExpress?
AliExpress is one of the most well-known online retail marketplaces owned by the Alibaba Group.
Like Temu, it has a strong seller base in China, and suppliers can list their products there.
AliExpress is known for its extensive product catalog, which includes over 500 million products.
It was launched in 2010, so it is considerably older than Temu.
However, with competitors like Temu emerging, the platform’s growth in popularity has flattened out in recent years:
Pros of AliExpress
- A wide range of products. AliExpress has over 500 million products in its catalog.
- Variety of product categories. AliExpress products are divided into hundreds of different product categories.
- Cheap prices. Like Temu, AliExpress offers low prices for its products.
- Available dropshipping program. AliExpress publicly supports dropshipping and has a Dropshipping Center that assists in finding winning products.
- Good third-party integrations. AliExpress can be integrated with third-party tools like DSers and AliScraper for automated dropshipping.
- Third-party product discovery tools. Various third-party product discovery tools are available to help you find winning products.
Cons of AliExpress
- Unreliable shipping. Standard shipping on AliExpress takes 15 to 30 days but is often inconsistent.
- Non-existent customer support. AliExpress offers minimal customer support, leaving you to handle most issues on your own.
- Inconsistent product quality. AliExpress doesn't have a strict vetting program for its suppliers, which means that the quality of the products varies.
- Difficult returns. The return process on AliExpress is challenging due to the cost of returning items internationally and communication with sellers.
Temu vs. AliExpress: How are their business models different?
As outlined in Temu's policy, the platform doesn’t officially support dropshipping.
This is what they mention about it:
It is still possible to ship products from Temu suppliers to your customers, but there is one notable issue, which we'll discuss in the next section.
You can also order products from Temu and fulfill orders from your own warehouse or home, but that technically isn’t dropshipping.
In contrast, AliExpress openly supports dropshipping. A clear example of this is the AliExpress Dropshipping Center, which we’ll dive into shortly.
Winner: AliExpress
Temu vs. AliExpress: What are their dropshipping features?
Temu’s dropshipping features are almost nonexistent, as the platform isn’t designed for this model.
However, a few third-party apps in the Shopify App Store, like Dropshipman, do offer integrations with Temu, allowing you to import products.
On the other hand, AliExpress provides a wide range of dropshipping features.
Platforms like Auto DS, Spocket, DSers, and Zendrop offer tools for automating the AliExpress dropshipping process.
Plus, you've also got AliExpress product discovery tools.
Also, as mentioned in the previous section, the AliExpress Dropshipping Center is a tool created by AliExpress that helps to find and analyze potential winning products.
For more information about it, read our AliExpress Dropshipping Center guide.
Winner: AliExpress
Temu vs. AliExpress: Which one offers more products?
While Temu doesn't publicly disclose how many products it has, it is estimated to be around a million.
Temu is known for its trendy products, which are spread across different categories.
You also have the 'Best Sellers' section, where you can find some of the best-selling products.
Even though AliExpress offers similar bestseller categories, we have to give credit to Temu for making the page clean and easy to navigate.
You can also filter the best sellers by time period and product category:
As with AliExpress, over 500 million products are available, which is much more than Temu offers.
The products are divided into even more categories:
AliExpress helps dropshippers find good products by having categories like 'Ships from the US' and 'SuperDeals.'
These categories aren't specifically made to find winning products but can be used well for that purpose.
To conclude, AliExpress offers a much wider selection of products across more. However, while Temu offers fewer products, they tend to be more trend-focused.
AliExpress also offers product discovery tools to help you filter through its vast inventory and find winning ones.
Winner: AliExpress
Temu vs. AliExpress: Which one offers lower prices?
Both Temu and AliExpress are known for their affordable product prices.
Let's do a quick analysis to see which of the two wins.
We found this ice maker in Temu’s Best Sellers list, priced at $50.49 with free shipping.
The same product on AliExpress was listed at $90.99, which is significantly more.
The product also has a welcome deal; without it, the price would be $166.65.
The ice maker on Temu was also on sale, but almost all of their products are on sale 24/7, so we can't consider it.
This doesn't mean that all product prices are lower on Temu. Many products, such as this men's cross necklace, are cheaper on AliExpress:
The same product costs $3.14 on Temu, and both platforms offer free shipping for the product.
To conclude, some products are cheaper on Temu, and others on AliExpress.
Temu’s prices tend to be more affordable for Best Sellers, but if you search for specific products across both platforms, the prices are often similar.
Winner: Draw
Temu vs. AliExpress: Which one is more user-friendly?
When it comes to platform user-friendliness and the interface, both platforms are quite intuitive to use.
Temu offers a simple and sleek interface where finding new products and scrolling between the categories is easy.
This is what the Temu home page looks like:
As you can see, they showcase some of the best-selling products and different categories with big sales.
AliExpress' homepage is similar to Temu's:
The product pages of both platforms are also quite similar, including information about the product, customer reviews, shipping information, etc.
The order processing pages of both platforms are essentially the same, and you can also manage returns and refunds from these pages.
Winner: Draw
Temu vs. AliExpress: Which offers the best suppliers?
When comparing the suppliers of Temu and AliExpress, the main takeaway is that Temu vets them more carefully.
This is reflected in the number of products each platform offers.
AliExpress probably has 500 times more products than Temu, which arguably means their quality control is worse.
Both platforms publicly showcase customer reviews, which makes it easy to see how good a specific supplier is.
They also feature seller profiles that provide an overview of supplier quality, including a rating section for all the products they offer.
This is what it looks like on Temu:
AliExpress goes a step further with even more detailed supplier data.
When it comes to contacting suppliers, AliExpress makes the process simpler.
You can simply go to the supplier page and click the 'Contact Now' button.
On Temu, you need to copy the product's item ID and paste it into the support chat or use the 'Message' option on the seller’s page.
However, the first point of contact is Temu's virtual chatbot, so you can't contact the Temu suppliers unless you have a serious problem.
To conclude, Temu vets its suppliers more carefully, but contacting suppliers is easier with AliExpress.
Winner: Draw
Temu vs. AliExpress: Who has a better shipping policy?
Both Temu and AliExpress offer quite long shipping times, but Temu has a slight advantage.
Temu uses two shipping methods:
- Standard Shipping. 6 to 20 days free delivery on all orders
- Express Shipping. 4 to 11-day delivery (costs $12.90 per order, and it's free on orders over $129).
If your shipping gets delayed, you get a free $5 credit as compensation.
Temu also has an interesting section called 'Local Warehouse' that lists sellers that have products stocked in local warehouses.
On the other hand, AliExpress is often known for its unreliable shipping.
AliExpress shipping time is normally 15 to 30 days, but it may take longer if suppliers have delays or other unforeseen circumstances.
AliExpress does have different ways to find suppliers with fast shipping times, but this doesn't work for all products.
Depending on the product and size, AliExpress shipping can be free or cost a small amount (usually under 5 USD).
You can also go with premium shipping on AliExpress, but the prices are often quite high.
Here is one example from one product:
Winner: Temu
Temu vs. AliExpress: Who has a better return policy?
When it comes to return policies, Temu has a slight edge over AliExpress.
Let's go through both of their return policies.
AliExpress:
- Some products qualify for the 'Free Return' policy, which allows you to return items within 15 days of receiving the order.
- For items qualifying for the 'Free Return' policy, shipping is free for the return, but it is limited to specific countries and sellers.
- If the 'Free Return' policy does not cover the item, the buyer is responsible for shipping costs.
- AliExpress offers 'Buyer Protection,' which includes a full refund if the item doesn't arrive or is significantly different from the description.
- Refunds are issued after the seller confirms receipt and condition of the item.
Temu:
- You can return items within 90 days of purchase.
- Once a return request is initiated, items must be sent back within 14 days to be eligible for a refund.
- The first return for each order is free, while additional returns will incur a $7.99 shipping fee.
- If your order arrives late, Temu compensates with a $5 credit for standard shipping or $13 for express shipping.
Most AliExpress products do not have a free return option, so returning products can be expensive (unless you qualify for the 'Buyer Protection').
Temu's return process is more streamlined, although receiving money can take a long time.
Winner: Temu
Temu vs. AliExpress: Who has better customer support?
When it comes to customer support, Temu has an edge over AliExpress. Temu offers 24/7 live chat and email support.
Temu also has a chatbot on its website that gives quick answers to questions.
With AliExpress, customers often have to rely on a chatbot. The chatbot can direct you to human help, but you will quickly realize that they also can't often help.
AliExpress customer support might direct you right to the supplier, but you are not guaranteed a response from there either.
Winner: Temu
Summary
Before we go, we've created a quick summary of this article for you so you can easily remember it:
- AliExpress is a better option for dropshipping than Temu. AliExpress publicly supports dropshipping, whereas Temu doesn't.
- AliExpress Dropshipping Center and third-party product discovery tools help with product research. Temu doesn't offer product research tools.
- AliExpress offers more products in more categories than Temu. Temu has fewer products, but they're more trendy.
- Temu has better customer support, and it is available 24/7 for all customers. With AliExpress, you often have to deal with a chatbot for your problems.
- Both AliExpress and Temu are easy to navigate. Both platforms help users find winning products through categories like 'Best Sellers.'
- Temu often has more reliable shipping than AliExpress. Temu offers free shipping, whereas some AliExpress products have paid shipping.
- Temu's return policy is more favorable for buyers. AliExpress return policy may incur additional fees.
Compare other platforms
Not sure yet if Temu or AliExpress is the right fit for you? Check out our other supplier comparison articles below:
- DSers vs. Spocket
- Syncee vs. Spocket
- Spocket vs. Modalyst
- DSers vs. AliDropship
- Alibaba vs. AliExpress
- Oberlo vs. AliDropship
- CJdropshipping vs. SaleHoo
Final verdict
So, what's our final take on which one is better, Temu or AliExpress, for dropshipping?
The answer is definitely AliExpress!
Temu doesn't officially support dropshipping, and it doesn't have any of the dropshipping tools AliExpress offers. Third-party integrations are also lacking with Temu.
With AliExpress, there are product discovery tools that can be especially beneficial for people who are new to dropshipping.
If you want to get started with AliExpress dropshipping, read our guide on it!
Good luck with your dropshipping journey!
Want to learn more about dropshipping?
Ready to move your dropshipping store to the next level? Check out the articles below:
- 14 Best DSers Alternatives in 2024 (Find the Right App)
- How to Find Dropshipping Suppliers on AliExpress? (2024)
- How Do You Do Dropshipping With Multiple Suppliers in 2024?
Plus, don’t forget to check out our in-depth guide on how to start dropshipping here!
