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I don't know much about this space, but does anyone else think there's a non-zero chance that PDD/Temu is a massive fraud of some kind?
by somedudetbh 2y ago
I don't know much about this space, but does anyone else think there's a non-zero chance that PDD/Temu is a massive fraud of some kind?
- insane_dreamer 2y agoI, for one, don’t trust it one bit.
- kylebenzle 2y agoYes, it was the same with FTX and in both cases it turns out it was probably the CEO being in bed with regulators.
- looppp 2y agoYou guys realize that Temu is backed by Pinduoduo, one of the largest e-commerce startups in China/theWorld right? At least you admit you don't know much about the space, though.
- dkarras 2y agohow does being backed by something big in China makes it less scammy?
- seanhunter 2y agoAre you saying that because they are backed by a big startup they can't be a fraud? China has a big problem with financial fraud of various kinds partly because of rapid growth and partly because of how regulation is shared between Beijing and the regions meaning some things fall between the cracks. https://www.ft.com/content/77f61cf0-5b9d-4ea8-854a-4f220039dcb7 https://www.ft.com/content/77f61cf0-5b9d-4ea8-854a-4f220039d... Some recent examples: Evergrande - one of the biggest property companies in China. Also, a fraud https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68603195 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68603195 Sino Forest - Massive. Listed on the Toronto stock exchange. A fraud https://moneyweek.com/economy/people/601220/great-frauds-in-history-allen-chan-of-sino-forest https://moneyweek.com/economy/people/601220/great-frauds-in-... Lantian Gerui - Fast-growing investment company, 100s of thousands of investors. A fraud. https://www.ft.com/content/605a7ca9-3f5f-47e6-ab5c-818b9a1bf0d5 https://www.ft.com/content/605a7ca9-3f5f-47e6-ab5c-818b9a1bf... Pinduoduo themselves have been accused of using improper accounting practices to hide losses and inflate revenues https://www.ft.com/content/314a56d0-e899-11e8-8a85-04b8afea6ea3 https://www.ft.com/content/314a56d0-e899-11e8-8a85-04b8afea6...
- resolutebat 2y agoEvergrande sold promises of houses, FTX and Lantian sold promises of huge investment gains. But if you buy something on Temu, it's actually delivered to you in a week. The worst case is that the unsustainable growth is propped by VC money, like the early days of Uber, but the consumer is still the one that's profiting here.
- seanhunter 2y agoNot sure the consumer is winning here. Eg the UK consumer advocacy organization "Which?" tested 3 electric heaters ordered on Temu and found all three unsafe[1]. The US bbb has them at a "C+" rating due to complaints about goods being ordered but not arriving etc[2] [1] https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/what-is-temu-and-is-it-safe-to-buy-from-a7BUb4k5fBFH https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/what-is-temu-and-is-it-... [2] https://www.bbb.org/us/ma/boston/profile/online-shopping/temucom-0021-553943 https://www.bbb.org/us/ma/boston/profile/online-shopping/tem...
- dawnerd 2y agoRight I think you should read up on it before assuming others don’t know. https://krebsonsecurity.com/2023/03/google-suspends-chinese-e-commerce-app-pinduoduo-over-malware/ https://krebsonsecurity.com/2023/03/google-suspends-chinese-...
- somedudetbh 2y agoWhat did you think I meant by "PDD/Temu"?
- ars 2y agoI personally think Temu is just a way to convince people to install their app, and the products are sold at a loss. I refuse the app and order only via website.
- nerdponx 2y agoThis wouldn't surprise me. Almost the entirety of Facebook/Meta and Google products are loss leaders for ad tech. Why not a shopping site?
- PradeetPatel 2y agoPotentially because it is owned by a Chinese firm. To my knowledge, China has a very diverse and relaxed law around data privacy.