I Exposed Temu's Darkest Secret.

[@SwaggieSteve]

I always assume at least 50% of reviews are fake. I just use reviews to look for complaints that more than one person made.

[@fistfulofboomstick83]

Yup

[@TheCommanderTaco]

I always try to take a grain of salt and look in-between lol. Will see what the top reviews are saying they love about the product. Then skim through the 1 star reviews to get past the complaints that have nothing to do with the product ( usually. Stuff like arrived broken or package was damaged etc) and see what the complaints are there. Try to see what the middle ground is and maybe sprinkle some 2-4 star reviews for better clarity.

[@Ok-kf8xg]

And also looking for bad stuff helps you decide if you want to deal with that or not. There is just no reason to not read complaints, very insightful.

[@CoiledDracca]

The go to is for complaints. But even those are often unreliable as they could be placed by competitors or just a terrible customer.

[@matthewjbauer1990]

I usually tell my mom, who religiously studies reviews, to scrutinize reviews and only believe the ones that make sense. I too look at reviews mainly for negatives but then again, the negative reviews can be just as fake and misleading as the fake positive reviews. You gotta know how to spot a legitimate review. I'll be honest that some reviews I can't tell if they're real or fake.

[@randysmith7094]

These USB drive and SD card storage capacity scams have been going on for so long. It's insane how they're as common as ever.

[@TheGeekiestGuy]

If anything, they're more prevalent now. I thought they would have died down a bit. 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@TheCommanderTaco]

Yeah when the professional brought up how markets like Temu are the wild west I felt myself disagreeing a bit because of how prevalent drop shipping has become. Told the story numerous times on other comments, but I remember a friend was part of a Facebook community and a person so excitedly posted about how they got a 512 GB Micro SD Switch card for cheap compared to the retail which they then saw as being a ripoff. Getting caught up in the hype my friend also bought one and sent me a link. Right as I was about to click buy ( also getting caught up in the hype lol) I noticed the seller was your typical long arrangement of random letters lol. Never did find out how much the actual capacity was and all the reviews that were listed either complaint it was an obvious fake or that it worked for them, so they don't know what people were complaining about. This was listed on Walmart's website.

[@Diego-bz3mc]

10:32: Clothing tip: generally all blazers have real pockets, even when they are sewn shut, you just have to unsow them (they are sewn in order to keep the shape of the jacket and to keep dust away from them).

[@toolset2012]

I think the key to temp reviews are the pictures I don't buy if there aren't multiple picture reviews

[@ano1919]

The rules of Temu tech: 1. Do not buy anthing that plugs into a wall socket. 2. Do not buy anything that connects to another electronical device you own. 3. This only leaves: Stuff with batteries. Only use while you are actively looking at it. Remove battery any other time. Any additions?

[@troy2478]

When reading reviews, I start with one star and see if they are all complaining about the same thing. That is a red flag. If they are just on off complaints I ignore them. Then I move up to 2,3 then 4. I never read the 5 star reviews. That process has worked pretty well for me.

[@Keepskatin]

Wise man

[@apparentlynot1stLeonchubbs]

​@@KeepskatinI use a fairly similar practice in my travels as well..also with pretty good results. I also take my adventure outside to the real world and Google up some reddit reviews (if they exist) and try my luck with KZbin for a few vids. I think we're on a limited time for these methods though.. AI is gonna have our ways cooked 🙃

[@Alakablam]

8:18 yeah I'm sorry but that's deffo user error, those bird whistles have been around since at least the 80's, sold at any joke/novelty store.

[@commanderkal-el6237]

"I won a fishing tournament." Holds fishing rod upside down. LOL! Never change Austin, never change

[@HyperSonic1999orJTH]

I think the actual darkest secret is that the majority of labour used to make and ship these products are forced.

[@Ok-kf8xg]

same can be said for some raw materials for the parts/components our cellphones use

[@DarkysLPs]

The Bird whistle thing was sold on street festivals over here in Germany ever since I was a little kid back in the 90's

[@hill2hell]

I guess that "Gerber" pocket knife was from temu too. 🤣 It's refreshing to see some decent mystery tech with some hidden gems again.

[@nelsing1978]

When i shop for items on sites like Temu i always go with the old saying "If it seems to good to be true it probably is." along with looking the items up on youtube.

[@MrDreyven]

If you go there looking to save 80% you are going to get scammed and your unrealistic expectations are at fault. You can get great stuff there but you have to go there expecting more in line with 30% savings.

[@flappitty]

I go with this mentality when buying anything from anywhere

[@NeoTanner]

"Naughty Dog has come a really long way." - Austin "From ripping off Mario Kart?" - Ken Sir, they ripped off Diddy Kong Racing mainly.

[@robleavold84]

Austin brought that fit for he’s everyday use as he’s one of the only people that hat works with Geeklock Holmes with he’s little wi-fi detector solving mysteries and righting wrongs.

[@LightslicerGP]

13:32 please stop using this sound effect i keep thinking my earbuds (buds3pro) are running out of battery 😭

[@stevenlu0ng]

Sellers on Temu will sell an item and then “close the listing” and reopen the listing as another product later so that it “maintains” the number of reviews.

[@timweydert3490]

That professor's research is just helping the scammers craft more believable fake reviews. Anyone who's using the internet regularly can spot a fake review without needing a degree in marketing. And I am a marketing professional. And also, lady, every US based online shop that's not generating $1B in revenue annually, is full of these obviously bought reviews.

[@asliceofthegoodpie]

Watching Austin bust on Temu while getting Temu adds 😂

[@letsgetphysicalmedia6679]

Sees photo of Austin circa 1998 . Immediately starts shopping for headstones.

[@wettuga2762]

NEVER buy anything without checking the PERSONALIZED LONG reviews, preferably with pictures. If there's no such reviews... DO. NOT. BUY.

[@Keepskatin]

Interesting, i usually do,but intersting you know. Attention to detail.

[@robertwendal5894]

Temu is AliExpress stuff marked up, I don't understand why people don't just shop on Ali.

[@DoctorKaw]

Oh no, my 25 tb drive for 2 $ is not real? Who would have taught

[@ItzSlushie]

Being a knife dude seeing Matt pry with a knife hurt my soul

[@----.__]

Totally, there are far better tools to use as a pry bar, like vernier calipers.

[@YohonKalic]

locked my keys in my truck, got in the back to pry the old rear sliding glass door open, and it snapped my knife. I walked home in shame.

[@brandongoede5907]

Same man. Same

[@spellfireforge]

I get sent free stuff from Amazon marketplace sellers and get paid to leave reviews pretty often. Usually it’s stuff I couldn’t care less about but sometimes I get some really cool stuff. I do draw the line at absolute crap though.

[@spellfireforge]

@ Not sure what that has to do with my comment but it’s good to know about that tool! To be clear, my reviews aren’t fake. I’m not being paid to just post reviews on junk. They just reach out and say “hey do you want to review this?” and if I’m interested it I order it. They pay for the item and if I decide to leave a review, sometimes they pay extra. Especially if I record a video to go with it. The review is real, and while I might fudge a 4 star into a 5, I wouldn’t review something positively if I thought it was junk. Your app has nothing to do with what I do.

[@WikdJester93]

You can absolutely leave individual reviews on one product. If you leave a bad review, they hide it, and I have had Temu issue refunds before based on my bad reviews.

[@Olliinn]

Have to give Temu that, refunds arre much easier than aliexpress where you wait a week for the scam seller to offer a partial refund for an item never shipped to you.

[@supermarrio]

I like this. Thanks for putting this info out in a fun a digestible way with zero condescension. Your tone and presentation are great. I'm gonna reccomend my brother show this vid and your channel to my 10 year old nephew. Identifying fakes and scams will become more and more important as time progresses. Keep up the good work 💪

[@chanchan05]

Fake reviews are so prevalent that I tend to look at the 1-3 star reviews more than the 4-5 star ones.

[@TheZoenGaming]

As someone who regularly buys on eBay, I tend to rate sellers by saying, "Fast shipper, item as described, great seller", or, "scam seller, sent something not pictured/fake product". When you are leaving a dozen reviews at a time, you learn to be brief.

[@Nightmaredeathdealer]

As a retro handheld enthusiast, I am offended you called that an anbernic lol

[@lordquenntillieusiii9250]

100% although to be fair that is kinda what they are going for with that r36s is about as close to Anbernic's naming convention as you can get so people less knowledgeable in the topic could easily be fooled

[@GaOutlawVinyl]

I know I’m late to it but I discovered Temu about a month ago. So far I’ve only had 2 bad experiences out of about 20-30 purchases. One was a mini soldiering iron that didn’t work. The other was an item that had been ripped out of the package. I received the envelope in one of those USPS bags that says this wasn’t our fault. But at least on that one I got a $5 credit for being late along with a full refund for being super late.

[@Lovell93]

The bird whistle could be legit and you just don’t know how to use it. I have a similar product that is inserted in the mouth the same way to use as a turkey call. I use this when I go hunting and it works incredibly well!

[@Bloodreign137]

A cardinal rule of the knife community was broken here and the consequences were immediately shown lmao Knives are NOT pry bars!

[@AM562]

When I’m looking at products, I usually base it on the most negative products and what they have to say because so many reviews can be faked and it’s better to avoid a good product than to buy a bad one depending on the extent

[@kendiggy]

The console was the R36S, not sure actual manufacturer, but you got a clone. It's sad because the legit one is inky a few dollars more. The problem with the clone is it users weaker hardware, and onjy uses emuelec, instead of the normal arkOS that runs really well on it. The r36s has a big following online, and has a lot of bang for the buck. Even the clones are good machines for the $36 you spent.

[@PHOENIX2001]

its true, i always get bombarded with job opportunities to "fluff up reviews" for random products. I never followed through because I am a avid online shopper

[@OscarShulman]

“It is smoking on the inside” “EXCELLENT!” 😂😆🤣

[@LeeFall]

The events/promotions are a scam I spent over £420 during an event, over many purchases. The offer was to get £150 credit back if you hit X coins.... you never hit enough coins and the coins you receive each order decrease, So you always run out of time and never get enough points/coins etc. Total scam

[@LeeFall]

P.S NEVER download the app as it will harass/edge you again and again to spend more money... Also privacy reasons.

[@LeeFall]

"We've dispatched these items" "WTF, open app" "Buy this, this, this and you can have this light bulb for free." 10 minutes later "We've dispatched your full tool set" "WTF, open app" "Buy this, this, this and you can have this tool set for free." 10 minutes later "We've dispatched your Ferrari 458 Scu..." "WTF BRO, open app" "Buy this, this, this and you can have this Ferrari 458 Scuderia Keychain for free."

[@LeeFall]

R36S advert.

[@brokentoothstudio4929]

That was James Rolfe from CINEMASSACRE LOL

[@qT_p13]

Havent watched an Avgn vid in a long time come to think about it

[@batt1719]

"This video sheds light on the issue of fake online reviews, which can mislead consumers and distort the market. It's crucial to be aware of these deceptive practices and always verify the authenticity of reviews before making a purchase. Great job exposing this, Austin! - Written by Copilot."

[@watercannonscollaboration2281]

19:13 As someone who’s in Amazon Vine, that sums it up pretty well. However, it’s really demoralizing when my genuine efforts feel accusatory just because of bad actors writing fake reviews

[@tech-Rock-Robert]

When buying from Temu you just got to have common sense when buying stuff. $20 Drive you got to know its fake. So when you buy from Temu just know some stuff might be legit or scam so just use common sense a hope you got a deal and not scammed.

[@extreamaussieguy2968]

Fake reviews have been a thing well before the internet. Just look at all the "As Seen On TV" items, where they get "Random People" to review and rave about how good something is when it really is average or crap.

[@tcdahn7]

I thought it was how fentanyl gets smuggled into the US through Temu.

[@bryanobrien2726]

The Gerber knife has a limited lifetime warranty and you can start a claim from their site .

[@dfytie1]

Him holding the fishing rod upside down was driving me insane

[@ganesang5537]

7:37 Proceeds to blow raspberries with a bird whistle 😂

[@CalmoDS99]

Be sure to check out the negative reviews as well. No product is perfect, and while it’s important to understand why a product is worth buying, it’s just as crucial to be aware of any potential drawbacks.

[@UltraklystronMusic]

Also, if you give something a 3 star or lower on Temu, they offer to do a return/refund instead. Then they make you send photos and video if the item is more than than like 30-ish bucks USD. After getting an audio interface with the left and right headphone channels swapped, i decided to just keep it but leave a big one star review instead (then fix it with a couple of adapters chained to swap the channels back.

[@kaytronika]

Given the amount of positive temu comments on this video, i suspect it's not just their website reviews that are fake.

[@Dusty_B]

Man’s bought so many sussy items he questions if his pocket is real

[@----.__]

I won't even buy sticky tape from sites like Temu. As the old saying goes; expensive is cheapest in the long run.

[@RoseNightwalker]

I've never used Temu. I never trusted it from the start as the ads were the first exposure I got of it so I'm not surprised the reviews are fake

[@sunnyscott4876]

It's called a Deerstalker hat.

[@jckaz91]

Here's my question.... I get temu ads all the time and it's always "offering free shit" if you do certain things. Do you actually get these free things? They offer like drones and expensive stuff like that.

[@OreoThePanda]

So typically the way it works is you might get the item for free but what you have to do is basically get X amount of people to sign up with a link, and those people also spend X amount of dollars, then you would get the drone for free, but of course and I'm sure if you're here you don't need to be told this its free with the asterisk of paying for shipping so you may get a free drone, that is of dubious quality, after you get 5 friends to sign up and order things, you still have to pay usually higher costs of shipping, they're plenty of items that are .99 or 2.00 on these websites but then you go to check out and the shipping is like 4.00-5.00 and the item is usually something that may seem expensive but normally only costs a few bucks to manufacture so by the time you've paid for shipping you've paid more then the item is worth. So they do send out stuff for free but there is always a catch with it

[@shawnwolf8423]

"You saw the hat. You didn't click away, so..." 😂

[@unknownpawner1994]

This fake review problem is also prevalent in Southeast Asian online shops like Lazada and Shopee

[@jdizzforyou]

You missed the 2nd biggest thing about Temu reviews.... try and leave a well thought out negative review on an item. If they don't offer you a refund essentially not to post a review then, well, I'm actually special & mama was right. She's a pathological liar so there's also that 😂

[@BreezyDefrag]

I often look at the least rated reviews, after all someone often usually going out of their way to review negatively and those actually seem the most legit reviews.

[@kpearson626]

I had temu on my android phone. Had my device controlled by someone who kept trying to open my bank apps and kept closing settings when I tried to turn on airplane mode. I had to take out my SIM card and unplug my WiFi router to lose the internet connection. I reset my phone and won’t ever install temu again.

[@kpearson626]

Didn’t happen until I put my card details in the app and purchased a couple things.

[@CertifiedMVP]

naah u trippin

[@Keepskatin]

odd i never had that happen, i bought $400 worth of items from Temu,

[@Ok-kf8xg]

idk what the f*** you did, but I doubt it was a Temu thing. You must have had something in there breached before Temu. If that were true them I am surprised to see Temu still in the Apple/Google Play Store

[@Kevin-zd5bi]

Austin got caught up in the Honey scam nonsense and wanted to pretend he can expose scams too. It's kinda cute.

[@Luzgar]

Don't buy garbage you don't need on those awful websites.

[@RetroBoxRoom]

It seems to me that the AI had a glance at my little video about modding the R36S. I sign off with "Happy Gaming!". LOL

[@cerellitv2978]

The only thing worse than TEMU is people drop shipping TEMU junk and selling it for 100x the price. I do kinda get why TEMU uses pre-set answers I expect that these are the same ones translated for every language they support which makes it much easier to analyse this type of data. The batch rating makes no sense though, that seems to be bad for TEMU as a platform nor is it useful for the seller.

[@Alextherock9]

@Austin, there is very more importan aspect you forgot to mention in your video. Some materials are not allowed to be used because they might damage your health, like using lead paint or somehting like that. Those Temu aliexpress store might sell products that use those banned materials without you even knowing. It could even be a fire hazard because some electronic might not be good or safe. yeah it's cheap. but what happens if your cheap product burns your house down or god forbid kills your spouses.

[@LordHonkInc]

That bird call looks like it would work, but I only say that because I make my own from balloons and craft foam. Production cost for them is definitely

[@littlekitten-93]

wow I haven't used TEMU in ages. It did not used to do this. It used to actively make sure you reviewed each one individually and kept sending pop ups if you didn't review the items. idk when that changed

[@digitaLm0nk]

You can't leave a bad review it defaults to a refund

[@sarahscrichfield5303]

Don't even worry about your Gerber, man. They have a great warranty and all you have to do is go to a Leatherman store for an exchange. I know from experience ;)

[@erickelly8704]

With all this tariff craziness going on I’m backing away from Chinese shopping for awhile

[@DrBadHabits]

Exposed Temu like I'm exposed right now on the toilet watching this video

[@CompactVibes]

I’m 99% sure this guy is cooperating with temu , it’s a win win relationship . Free ads for KZbin content .

[@TheCoolDave]

OK, that spy thing, the one that beeped. I got one in a deal for almost for free (like $0.99) so I said screw it. I tested it, it saw my wi-fi behind the wall, the camera we have to watch the living room, when it was off, nothing but, when you turned it on it went crazy. I can see in a studio where it would give many fake notices but, in my tests, it worked fairly well. In a hotel room, checking things around the room, it might actually work but, hard to tell.

[@ethanWELAN]

With Austins inability to use his tongue, I am quite amazed that he was able to find someone to marry him...😂😂😂

[@grahamwilliamson5306]

The thing with temu is you have to hamper your expectations of alot of stuff and just not buy anything that is absolutely too good to be true. But for tiny nik naks and some basic household items there's a lot of decent stuff to be had

[@theisaacpigg27_32]

7:20 I like how weird he's getting about when it's literally just the standard way a bunch of calls are made. Turkey calls can come in just a bigger version of that. There's nothing weird going on here at all except for them making it weird

[@Bluestar1079]

Austin: today we're going to look at possible temu scams. KZbin: first commercial... I like it wow...

[@DrowsyDanny98]

Although Temu is exposed, this comment is also exposed for everyone to see.

[@zeroo.]

what does this even mean

[@Limestyxni]

Mid

[@DrowsyDanny98]

You may report this as spam.

[@ShockingPikachu]

Can you please not expose yoyrself

[@Catinagalaxy]

Why do we have the same KZbin taste, I see you everywhere 😊

[@oiToxic]

5:44 Got me there Austin 😂

[@Cool_man_18]

I have the same knife 6:19

[@nostalgicumbry3279]

8:08 you done opened the chamber of secrets XD

[@DreamsageRap]

Just turned off 1.75 speed for this video because Austin usually talks fast and in the beginning he sounds drunk 😂

[@KevinAugustt]

This channel does more marketing for temu than anyone else

[@hasslehoffs]

i did not expect that gerber knife to snap

[@d.r.1402]

With the CPA now defunded, its gonna get much worse out there.

[@reniervandermerwe]

Can't even catch half a Magikarp with that rod

[@EdHadder]

Great Video Austin 👍🏻

[@my2commonsense476]

I'm in my 60s and we use to have those bird whistles when I was a kid.

[@AndrewButters1]

Gerber has a lifetime warranty. Just send it in and they will replace the blade. 🤙🏼

[@Hoodlum045]

GERBER HAVE A LIFETIME WARRANTY! return the knife to place of purchase and get a new one. Wenger 10rs. leatherman 25yrs. Gerber lifetime! Trust me I’ve used this twice!

[@autobotjazz1972]

I check all reviews on a product good and bad as sometimes just good reviews can be fake bad ones can be as well or for silly reasons . I also tend to disregard reviews that seem to praise the product too much and discount any from someone who got it for free.

[@Plentiy]

If I can't trust Temu who can I even trust anymore

[@justjohn2067]

i never read reviews on temu.. i just trust my guts on it

[@tystick22]

Holding the reel upside down 😂

[@sufferedlearnedchanged]

11:45 bruh... 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@tonyrivera6575]

It's to a point now where it would be best practice to do some good online research for what ever item you intend to purchase from any online seller.

[@maskedman1337]

...or the Amazon sellers that follow up with emails listing items for which they give you an Amazon gift card after you order the product and leave a 5* review.

[@Energyswordsunday]

these videos feed my addiction

[@OsPasteisdeNataOriginal]

You mean... to trust on you, like on the honey scam? Nunu, thanks. 🤣

[@LodanSD]

That knife break was User Error! Simple Physics would tell you as much!

[@Ranger7Studios]

I usually start with the 3 star reviews. Those tend to be more realistic.