The online trading platform Temu is faced with further allegations.
On Wednesday, the Trade Association of Germany (HDE) announced that it had submitted a complaint against Temu at the Federal Cartel Office for “behavior contrary to antitrust law”. This is “on numerous documents and test purchase results,” explained the industry organization.
“The allegations are based on the fact that Temu deprives the business partners who sell goods through the platform,” explained the HDE in a message. For example, the e-commerce company “not only states that the prices of the individual dealers may be a maximum of 85 percent of the price that the dealers can charge for a comparable product on other sales platforms”, but also “also reserve the right to decide on the amount of the final sales prices”.
The association also stated that Temu “also violated further European and national regulations and laws” in many ways. The company thus gives itself unfair competitive advantages, emphasized HDE President Alexander von Preen. “Anyone who offers and sells goods in this country must also adhere to our rules and laws,” he said in a statement. “The domestic trading companies invest a lot of money in compliance with environmental and consumer protection requirements and finance the community with their tax payments. In contrast, Chinese platforms such as Temu sell were massive on our market without adhering to the applicable regulations.”