This spring, the popular shopping apps Temu and Shein were walloped by new Trump administration tariffs and its gutting of the companies’ widely used delivery method from China. Temu and Shein’s American sales dried up as shoppers were hit with higher prices and baffling import bills.
“R.I.P. Temu, it was nice while it lasted,” a Reddit post declared seven months ago. “Temu and Shein Might Just Be Screwed,” a New York magazine column blared in May.
But as the holiday shopping season kicks off on Black Friday, Temu and Shein have defied predictions of doom. While the companies’ U.S. sales are lower than they were last year, both sales and shopper interest appear to be recovering, according to market research firms.
The resilience of Temu and Shein shows their enduring selling points: shopping that feels like a treasure hunt, dizzying product variety and, most of all, low prices.
“People would rather pay less,” said Juozas Kaziukenas, an independent e-commerce analyst. “Is it really a big revelation?”
This is a glimpse at how and why shoppers have started to come back to Temu and Shein. Even if you never buy from those apps, the ripple effects they created have changed shopping in America for good.
The Trump double whammy
Temu and Shein originated in China and most of their products came from there, too. (Temu is based in Boston but owned by a Chinese e-commerce giant. Shein is based in Singapore now.)
First in April, the Trump administration announced punishing tariffs on products coming from China. Weeks later, it eliminated a delivery method perfected by Temu and Shein to import Chinese goods while avoiding the tariffs that applied to Amazon, Walmart and other big sellers of Chinese-made products.
Shoppers on Temu and Shein noticed immediately. The companies announced higher prices. They yanked advertising, which many retailers rely on to lure shoppers. Temu also overhauled its business to ship far fewer orders directly from China, making it more like conventional online stores.
In 2024, Shein’s average product price was roughly $8 and Temu’s was $14, which was typically much lower than similar products on Amazon, according to the market research firm Euromonitor International.
Kaziukenas said that Trump administration tariff changes almost certainly pushed up Temu and Shein prices, though it’s hard to know by how much. He said they’re likely still cheaper than Amazon.
In a statement, Temu said its goal is making “everyday goods more affordable for families by cutting unnecessary costs in the supply chain.” Amazon and Shein didn’t reply to requests for comment. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
Still, Shein and Temu were spared the worst when the Trump administration backed away from the highest tariffs announced in April on Chinese imports. Brian Lau, a forecasting analyst for eMarketer, said that the market research firm expects Americans to do a growing chunk of their online shopping on Temu and Shein.
We can’t resist Temu and Shein
Alliance Entertainment offers a glimpse at the roller coaster year for Temu and Shein shoppers. Sales of the company’s products on Temu including DVDs, CDs and Funko figurines took a hit earlier this year as the app’s prices rose and its advertising cratered.
Sales have now perked back up and bargain hunters are on Temu in droves, said Tim Hinsley, Alliance’s senior vice president of retail sales. “It’s not back to where it was at the height, but it’s still very strong,” Hinsley said. “Everybody is looking to save a few bucks.”
Similar to what Hinsley noted, Temu’s sales in the United States cratered this spring and are much improved but still lower than they were at this point in 2024, according to weekly sales data from Bloomberg Second Measure, which tracks debit and credit card transactions.
Shein’s sales in the United States started to increase this summer but in recent months have largely been lower than the same point in 2024, the Bloomberg Second Measure data shows.
The number of monthly visits to Shein and Temu dipped earlier this year but are increasing now, according to a separate analysis by the market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.
Kaziukenas said that many shopping experts misjudged why the apps exploded in popularity for the past few years. It wasn’t only because they had price advantages from avoiding the typical tariffs on Chinese goods.
The apps also perfected an approach to working directly with Chinese manufacturers, which helped keep their prices low. Shein won over young women in multiple countries with its rapidly changing, on-trend fashion promoted by social media influencers.
The tactics have now been widely copied, including by Amazon. Kaziukenas said there’s staying power for Temu and Shein’s pioneering method of working closely with Chinese manufacturers to save money for cost-conscious shoppers.
“This demand is massive and there’s no reason for it to disappear,” he said.
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