Temu Class Action Lawsuit: Are Temu's Discounts and Strikethrough Prices Real?
You open Temu to buy a phone case, a set of kitchen gadgets, a jacket for your kid, whatever. Almost every listing looks like a steal: a higher price with a line through it, a bright orange badge shouting "-70%" or "-85%," and often a clock counting down, a "limited-time" label, or a note about how many other shoppers already bought. It feels like you have to grab it now.
So here is the question worth asking: was that discount real?
If the crossed-out price was never a price anyone actually paid—and the "limited-time" deal is available every day—then you didn't save anything. You paid the everyday price while being told you got a bargain. Under California and federal law, that can be illegal.
Warren Terzian LLP is investigating a potential class action over how Temu advertises its discounts. This post explains how Temu presents its prices, what Temu's own fine print has said those prices mean, what regulators and other consumers have alleged, what the law requires, and what you can do if you've shopped on Temu.
What is Temu, and how does it advertise "discounts"?
Temu launched in the United States in September 2022. It is operated by WhaleCo Inc., a Boston-based company owned by PDD Holdings, the Chinese-founded company that also runs the Pinduoduo shopping platform in China. Temu is a marketplace: the products come from first-party and third-party merchants, many based in China, and Temu grew at extraordinary speed by promising rock-bottom prices and telling shoppers to "shop like a billionaire."
The discount framing is everywhere. According to court filings describing Temu's website and app, a typical listing shows the "sale" price in large type, a higher struck-through reference price beside it, and a percentage-off figure in a colored box. One 2024 complaint described a children's clothing listing that showed a $63.99 crossed-out price next to an $8.99 sale price—an implied 85% discount—surrounded by labels like "Lowest price in 30 days" and "Exclusive Offer" and a running count of how many had sold. Other court filings and regulators have described countdown timers, "limited-time" deals, low-stock warnings, and spin-the-wheel games that unlock coupons.
What does Temu say the crossed-out price actually is?
This is where it gets interesting. According to a 2024 class action complaint that quoted Temu's own disclosures, the strikethrough price was explained only in a pop-up hidden behind a small, faint "?" icon next to the price—and not on every listing. That pop-up said the crossed-out figure could be any of three things: the manufacturer's suggested retail price, a price supplied by Temu's "merchandise partners" (that is, the sellers), or a price other retailers had offered at or above in the past 90 days. It then added that the price "may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price."
Separately, the same complaint quoted Temu's terms of use telling shoppers not to rely on the strike-through price when deciding whether to buy, and to do their own price comparison instead.
Read that again. The number Temu displays in a way that looks like a regular price—the number that generates the "-85%" badge—is, by Temu's own account, possibly a manufacturer's list price, possibly a figure the seller supplied, and possibly not the prevailing price for the item anywhere. A reasonable shopper doesn't see the "?" icon, doesn't read the terms of use, and doesn't understand "-85%" to mean "85% off a number the seller made up."
(We have not independently verified the current text of Temu's disclosures, which may have changed since 2024. What Temu displays today is part of what we are investigating.)
Why that can be illegal in California
A discount makes a specific promise: the price has been genuinely reduced from a real, higher price that people actually paid not long ago. When the higher price is fabricated, inflated, or is a "list price" nobody charges, that promise is false. California has several laws aimed at exactly this. (For the full breakdown, see our guide to fake sales and fake discounts under California law.)
California's former-price statute, Business and Professions Code section 17501, says no price may be advertised as a "former price" unless it was the prevailing market price within the three months immediately before the advertisement—or the ad clearly, exactly, and conspicuously states the date that former price actually applied.
The Consumers Legal Remedies Act specifically prohibits "[m]aking false or misleading statements of fact concerning reasons for, existence of, or amounts of, price reductions." Civil Code section 1770(a)(13).
The False Advertising Law (Business and Professions Code section 17500) and the Unfair Competition Law(section 17200) prohibit untrue or misleading advertising and unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business practices—which reaches a "sale" that never ends.
At the federal level, the FTC's Guides Against Deceptive Pricing say a former price is a legitimate basis for comparison only if it was the actual, bona fide price at which the item was openly offered to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period. And on manufacturer's list prices specifically, the Guides say that advertising a reduction from a list or suggested retail price "may mislead the consumer" to the extent that list price doesn't correspond to prices at which a substantial number of sales are actually made.
That last point matters for Temu in particular. If a strikethrough price is a manufacturer's "suggested" price, or a number the seller supplied, that doesn't make the discount legal. The question is whether anyone actually sells the item at that price in meaningful volume. If the answer is no, the "discount" is the everyday price wearing a costume.
The same goes for urgency. A countdown timer or "limited-time" label tells you the deal is about to disappear. If the same price is available after the clock hits zero—and the next day, and the next—the deadline was a sales tactic, not a fact.
Regulators and consumers have already raised these concerns
None of this is theoretical. Temu's discount practices have drawn scrutiny from government enforcers on two continents.
Nebraska. In June 2025, Nebraska's Attorney General sued Temu and its parent company, alleging a range of consumer protection violations. Among them: Temu's "made-up 'market price' that makes the real price look great by fake comparison." The state is seeking refunds for Nebraska consumers and penalties.
Texas. In February 2026, the Texas Attorney General sued Temu under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The petition alleges that Temu engages in deceptive false-reference pricing—representing that a product is on sale at a steep discount when the discounted price is actually the product's regular market price—and asks the court to bar Temu from "misrepresenting the price of an item."
European Union. In November 2024, the European Commission and the EU's network of national consumer authorities formally notified Temu of practices they consider to breach EU consumer law. The list included "fake discounts" (giving the false impression that products are discounted when they are not) and "pressure selling" (using false claims about limited supplies or false purchase deadlines to push consumers to buy).
Poland. In January 2026, Poland's consumer protection authority fined Temu's European operating company nearly 6 million zloty over how it presented price reductions, including failing to reliably show the legally required lowest price from the prior 30 days.
Consumers have sued too. Two proposed class actions filed in California federal courts in 2024—one in Northern California, one in San Diego—alleged the same thing: that Temu's strikethrough prices and percentage-off badges advertise discounts that don't exist, and that its countdown timers create fake urgency. Both cases were ordered into private arbitration under Temu's terms of use before any court reached the merits. So no court has yet decided whether Temu's discount pricing is legal.
Temu has denied wrongdoing in response to at least some of these actions. These are allegations, and nothing has been proven. But when attorneys general in two states, consumer authorities across Europe, and multiple private plaintiffs independently describe the same practice, it is a practice worth examining closely.
How can you tell if your Temu "deal" was real?
None of these signs alone proves a violation, but together they are the pattern the law is designed to catch:
Was the item always "on sale"? Check it again in a week, then a month. If the crossed-out price never becomes the actual price, the "discount" may be fictitious.
Does the "-XX%" match anything real? Search for the same item elsewhere. If nobody sells it anywhere near the crossed-out price, that number may be a list price no one charges—or a seller's invention.
Did the countdown timer matter? Come back after it expires. If the deal is still there, the deadline was fake.
Did you notice the "?" icon? If you didn't, you're not alone. That is the point.
Did the discount push you to buy? If a big percentage-off badge or a ticking clock is why you clicked "buy," or why you bought more than you planned, the pricing worked on you exactly as designed.
What are your rights if you overpaid?
California law treats being misled by a fake discount as a real injury—even if the product works fine. In Hinojos v. Kohl's Corp., 718 F.3d 1098 (9th Cir. 2013), the Ninth Circuit held that a shopper who buys based on false price information, and who would not have made the purchase but for the misrepresentation, has suffered an economic injury and can sue under California's Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, and Consumers Legal Remedies Act. You don't have to show the product was defective. Being tricked into paying more than you would have—or into buying at all—is the harm.
Depending on the facts, remedies can include getting money back, a court order stopping the practice, and, if the case succeeds, attorneys' fees paid by the defendant rather than by you. And because a pricing practice like this runs across an entire platform and affects everyone who bought while it was displayed, these claims are a natural fit for a class action, where one case can seek relief for many buyers at once.
None of this is a promise about any particular outcome. Every case turns on its own facts.
We are investigating Temu's pricing
Warren Terzian LLP is investigating whether Temu's strikethrough prices, percentage-off badges, "limited-time" deals, and countdown timers mislead California shoppers under California and federal law—including whether the crossed-out reference prices reflect prices these products were actually sold at.
If you bought anything from Temu—through the app or temu.com—and want to explore whether you can recover money, complete the form on our Temu class action investigation page:
→ Tell us about your Temu purchases
There is no cost to have your purchases reviewed, and reaching out doesn't obligate you to anything.
A few things that help:
Keep your Temu order history. Your past orders, with the prices you paid, are in your Temu account. Screenshots of those orders are useful.
Screenshot the product pages for anything you bought, if you still can—showing the crossed-out price, the percentage-off badge, and any countdown clock or "limited-time" label.
Note whether you were in California when you made the purchase.
These are matters we are investigating. Nothing has been proven, and every case depends on its own facts.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a Temu class action lawsuit?
There have been several lawsuits against Temu, including state attorney general actions and consumer class actions over data privacy, marketing emails, and pricing. Two 2024 class actions over Temu's strikethrough prices were sent to arbitration before any ruling on the merits. Warren Terzian LLP is now investigating a new class action over Temu's discount advertising. We are not aware of any court-approved settlement or claim form for Temu shoppers relating to discount pricing—be cautious of websites claiming otherwise.
What does Temu's crossed-out price mean?
According to Temu's own disclosure as quoted in a 2024 court filing, the strikethrough price may be the manufacturer's suggested retail price, a price provided by Temu's sellers, or a price offered by other retailers in the past 90 days—and it may not reflect the product's prevailing market price. Temu's terms of use reportedly told shoppers not to rely on it.
Are Temu's discounts real?
That is the question our investigation is examining. A discount is only real if the higher price was a genuine price people actually paid recently. Regulators in Nebraska, Texas, the European Union, and Poland have alleged or found problems with how Temu presents its discounts. Nothing has been proven in a U.S. court.
Is it illegal to advertise a fake discount in California?
It can be. California's former-price statute requires an advertised former price to have been the prevailing market price within the prior three months (or to state when it applied), and the Consumers Legal Remedies Act prohibits false or misleading statements about the existence or amount of a price reduction. Read more in our guide to fake sales under California law.
Do I have to live in California?
The laws discussed here are California laws, so California shoppers are the focus of this investigation. If you bought from Temu while in California, we want to hear from you.
What should I save?
Your Temu order history (screenshots are fine), any screenshots of product pages showing crossed-out prices, percentage-off badges, or countdown timers, and your order confirmation emails.
Does it cost anything to have my purchases reviewed?
No. Having your purchases reviewed is free and confidential. Cases like this are typically handled on a contingency basis, so you would not pay attorneys' fees out of pocket. None of this is a promise about any particular outcome.