Amazon Wars: Attack of the Counterfeits‍

Amazon Wars: Attack of the Counterfeits

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^{‍Is a Star Wars reference to Temu’s attack on Amazon too much? Maybe? However, let's look at the plot of “Clones Wars.” Set ten years after “The Phantom Menace,” A separatist movement encompassing hundreds of new territories and powerful corporate alliances poses new threats to the galaxy that even the Jedi cannot see coming.} 

^{Amazon hit its stride a decade ago, passing Microsoft in terms of employees in 2013, according to Geekwire, October 2013. Since then, in 2018, Amazon has become a part of the Trillion-Dollar Club, the “Galactic Republic” of e-commerce.} 

^{Fast forward ten years and look at what Temu has accomplished this year since its launch in September 2022.  The Chinese company Pinduoduo, Darth Sidious of my story, the old Sith lord playing both parties like a puppeteer, explodes onto the scene with their US Boston Massachusetts company WhaleCo, Inc doing business as Temu.} 

^{Since then, unless you live under a rock and never get on any social media, you can’t help but come across Temu’s bold, low, priced items mashed with the comical acting of a manager supposably stopping her CEO from destroying the merchandise. They are fun, lighthearted and promote sweet deals for $3 t-shirts and $15 dresses.} 

^{Recently Temu has been advertising an extremely cheap Nintendo Switch for $7, which is quite the deal according to TikToker beowulftiktok.}

^{“The only place you can find it is in this weird flash sale section. Temu’s goal here is not to get you a good deal but to get as many people to download the app as possible. Because, as it turns out, they only sell 10 of these $7 Switches every day at 10 p.m. EST and they sell out instantly,” said Beowulfttiktok.} 

^{Temu is not trying to get you the best deal but getting as many people as possible to download the app. This tactic isn’t unlike Amazon when Amazon first became popular. If that doesn’t sound Like Senator Palpatine manipulating Queen Amidala to invoke a Vote of No Confidence in Chancellor Valorum, I’m not sure of a more accurate parable.} 

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^‍Amazon Storefront Cloning 

‍_{Currently, Temu is the number one free app in both the Apple and Play Store. With their tagline “Shop Like a Billionaire.” My question is, are you shopping like a billionaire, or are they shopping for your attention?} 

_{Selling on e-commerce platforms goes beyond posting pictures and a price. Sellers invest in high-quality photos and experiment with product descriptions, storefront design, and other strategies to improve search rankings and reach customers.}

_{One of my wife's best friends, we will call her Ellie for privacy reasons for her and the company she works for. Ellie is a graphic designer, and Temu cloned their Halloween lineup selling the U.S based companies' products under a Chinese Temu Seller name. With Halloween right around the corner, this is a nightmare for any size company. The pictures, copywriting, and keywords were copied from their various e-commerce sites and used on Temu’s Holloween products—Ellie and her company aren’t the only ones dealing with this behavior from Temu sellers.} 

_{Like Amazon, Temu uses third-party sellers to list products and fulfill shipping for their customers. Unlike Amazon, Temu is skipping the middle man and selling direct from the manufacturing to the customer, which enables Temu to sell products for significantly lower prices.} 

_{The problem is that Temu needs to vet the manufacturers/sellers as Amazon did with its established Counterfeit Crimes Unit in 2020. Temu just isn’t there yet.} 

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_{In an article by WIRED written by Tracy Wen Liu, who reports on China and its relationships with the US, she stated that Fitbeast, an exercise equipment brand, and Hicober-branded hair towels sued Temu sellers for copyright and trademark infringement in May. Wham-O Holding, owner of the trademark “Frisbee,” is considering legal action but is afraid it may cost too much to stop Temu.} 

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Temu: A Vote of No Confidence

‍_{I’m an Amazon Guy and have been for more than a decade. My wife downloaded and spent several hundred dollars on Temu, to my everlasting dismay. The items arrived in 6-9 days, as promised by Temu. Nearly all the “free” things came damaged. She tempted me, trying to get me to download the Temu app to get her more free stuff, as Temu uses a tiered free share code with friends function to get you to purchase more and download the app, but like I said, I’m an Amazon guy. My company wrote the book to help Take Back Your Brand from Counterfeits and Clones. To help brands reclaim their brand from the Jungle of Amazon. Temu is an entirely different Naboo.} 

_{After seeing firsthand the packaging style Temu used for my wife's purchases, they got a Vote of No Confidence from me. The items came in one large shipping bag, not a box, and they were not individually wrapped for long, harsh travel like Amazon or Walmart does with almost everything they ship. After a quick Google search, it looks like my wife's experience is not the only one, with hundreds of Temu users complaining they didn’t ever get their packages or the products didn’t come as described.  Unsurprisingly, the Better Business Bureau gives the company 2.55/5 stars at this time.}  

_{Temu does have a purchase protection program and allows for items that do not arrive, arrive damaged or are not as described to be refunded. However, the refund may not match the purchase price of the things since sales taxes, shipping, and using coupons and credits are taken into account. Exchanges are not allowed at this time.} 

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It’s A Trap: Intellectual Property Rights 

‍_{The Jedi might have been in the dark about Palpatine, but the U.S Customs and Border Protection is not. In 2022 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) seized 20,812 shipments containing goods that violated Intellectual Property Rights, which equates to nearly 25 million counterfeit goods, with an estimated MSRP valued at $2.98 billion. Unfortunately, the People’s Republic of China made up 60 percent of the total MSRP for all seizures in 2022. Is Temu going to be a part of those numbers for 2023?} 

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_{According to the U.S.- China Economic Security Review Commission USCC.gov Issue Brief April 2023, has opened an investigation and, in their brief, found the following: “Temu has invested heavily in social media marketing, purchasing 8,900 ads across Meta platforms in January 2023 alone”. Temu spent $14 million on the “Big Game” LVII, causing a 45 percent surge in downloads in March 2023. “Additionally, in April 2023, CNN reported that multiple cybersecurity teams found sophisticated malware on Pinduoduo’s mobile app for Google Android devices. The malware enabled the Pinduoduo app to bypass user security permissions and access private messages, change settings, view data from other apps, and prevent uninstallation.”}

_{At the same time, the app has been reinstated in the Google Store, which is a little problematic.} 

_{The commission didn’t say they found Temu’s app or website unsafe. Still, they did say the “lack of affiliation with established brands has brought concerns of the product quality as well as accusations of copywriting infringement.”}  

_{Temu appears to be targeting less know brands and smaller companies. How long will the trillion-dollar company Amazon tolerate Temu’s infringements, and when will they take action on behalf of their sellers and brands? Have the clone wars started? Will we be given a “New Hope,” or must we watch this play out in “Revenge of the Sith?”}