Refund Without Return: How We Scored Two FREE Temu Hauls

Based on our experience, not only are returns to Temu easy, but they’re free too.

Our experience of Temu’s returns:

Returns to Temu are easy, you don’t need a printer for the returns label and often there’s no need to actually return the item(s) to get your money back.
While the first return is free, subsequent returns from the same order might attract a fee.
All up, our returns were processed and refunded within four days.
If you have instant buyer’s remorse, Temu provides quick refunds, but there’s a delay if your order’s already packed.

Read on to find out how we rated Temu’s returns service, process time for returns and refunds and how we scored free stuff.

Temu’s Returns: A Breakdown

To assess Temu’s returns, we focused on six factors: return policy, price, process, speed and method of refund, plus communication.

Overall score: 4.3/5

Temu boasts a hassle-free returns process with often no need for actual returns, but occasional fees slightly mar the experience.

Temu’s Return Policy

Bought something on Temu that didn’t hit the mark? The store doesn’t offer exchanges and its official return policy states that you’ve got 90 days from purchase to return for a refund. Although you won’t get your money back on:

Clothes that are worn, washed or damaged.
Items labeled “non-refundable.”
Any freebies.

In our experience Temu is more laid-back with returns than its rules suggest — In our experience however, **Temu is more laid-back with returns than you’d expect from these rules**.

We ordered three hauls from Temu and received a full refund for everything—despite only actually returning one full haul plus one individual item from another.

We go into way more detail on our hauls here, and on our refunds here, if you want more detail.

But you read right, we got the full $49.92 we spent on kitchen gadgets and $16.91 for a laptop phone mount refunded to us without having to return them.

We received refunds without returns from Temu

We received refunds without returns for two reasons. Temu refunded our kitchen goods after we let it know they’d arrived in a damaged mail bag, which Temu’s chatbot was apologetic about.

For the phone mount in our tech haul, Temu said there was “no need to return,” we assume because it was under $12.

Our refund was for the value of what we actually paid for the goods, minus the Wethrift discount code we used.

We didn’t even need to print out a return label for our parcel, we were sent a photo of one which the post office could scan and print for us, which was free—great for customers who don’t have access to a printer.

You don't need a printer to return to Temu — **If your post office charges you a printing fee, Temu will refund it**, you just have to make a request via its customer service and provide a receipt.

Temu Return Costs

Our returns to Temu were free, aligning with its official policy that states the “first return from every Temu order within 90 days is free.”

However, if you need to return more items from the same order within that timeframe, a $6 (AU$9) shipping fee is deducted from your refund.

Given how easy returns are and the fact they’re free, we think it’s worth returning stuff to Temu and getting your money back if you’re unhappy with it.

Temu Return Process

Temu’s return process is easy, in that it’s all done through the app via the “Your Orders” portal.

Here’s how to return a purchase to Temu:

In the App click on “You” then open “Your orders”, on desktop open “Orders & Account” (top right)
Select the order you want to return
Click Return/Refund
Select your return items
Select your “Reason for return” from the drop down menu
Choose your return and refund methods
Review the return instructions and mail the package to Temu
Temu receives and inspects the package
You get your refund

It’s all very easy and straightforward, although step 6 can get laborious. Temu has a list of “Reason for return” that varies per category, we found the list for clothes particularly long, for example.

Some general “Reasons for return” on Temu include:

Item defective or doesn’t work
Better price available
Inaccurate website description
Item arrived too late
Product damaged, but shipping box OK
Product and shipping box both damaged
Didn’t approve purchase
No longer needed
Missing or broken parts
Bought by mistake
Wrong item was sent

Returns remain quick and easy if you select an uncomplicated reason like “No longer needed”, but if you have an issue with quality, it starts to become time consuming. As we found with returning our clothes haul.

We found that if you return clothes to Temu for reasons because you’ve changed your mind or “Fabric/material not as expected”, the system accepts that reason with no further action needed.

Returning to Temu requires specifying a reason for each item

However, if want to report the item’s “Poor Condition/Presentation”, you have to provide photos that show why you’re unhappy about it or the system won’t accept your return request.

The error pop up stopped us from proceeding with our return, forcing us to provide a raft of details for why we wanted to return an item for “Poor Condition/Presentation” reasons.

**We kept our return simple** by selecting “Fabric/material not as expected” and “Too large/long” because honestly, who has time to be taking pics and filling out essays about the quality of products from a low-price site like Temu?

Other “Reasons to return” in addition to “Poor condition/Presentation” in Temu’s clothes category that require photo or video evidence include:

Product damaged, but shipping box OK

Product and shipping box both damaged

Defective item

Temu Return and Refund Speed

Temu’s return processing times vary. We got instant refunds for items not requiring returns, while mailed-back returns took two days to reach Temu’s warehouse and the refund to be processed, then an additional two days. for us to receive the refund.

Altogether from mailing back our return to a refund hitting our account was four days.

Temu’s official line on return process times says that it processes refunds within 3 working days of receiving a return. Refunds can take 5-14 business days to appear in the original payment account, although sometimes up to 30 days.

Choosing Temu credits speeds up the refund and advanced refunds are possible based on a customer’s shopping history.

Temu’s Refund Method

Temu’s return and refund process is not only efficient but also flexible. Customers can either get a traditional refund or choose Temu credits.

**Choosing Temu credits for your refund offers quicker processing**, you just have to be confident you’ll shop there again for it to be worth it.

Temu’s Communication Throughout Return Process

Temu’s communication during the return phase was notably more subdued than their post-order outreach.

We got the standard emails: a confirmation of our refund request, an alert when our return reached Temu’s warehouse and a final refund confirmation.

Compared to their post-order approach—where we were bombarded with daily emails pushing offers and nudging us to shop again—emails during the return process was refreshingly low-key.

More to Know

Cancellations and Change of Mind

While Temu offers 90-day free returns, what about instant order regrets? Can you cancel swiftly and expect a refund? The store doesn’t go into much detail on this on the site, the policy is, if your order has been packed, you can’t cancel it.

We decided to put this to the test by placing a small order and canceling it 10 minutes later.

The result? An almost-instant refund.

Curious about how far we could push it, we ordered again, then attempted to cancel 24 hours later. We didn’t get an instant refund that time as our order had already been packed.