Temu has been taking Europe by storm for months with prices that, let’s be honest, defy all normal market logic. And in Switzerland, it has already started to raise eyebrows at a political level.
The Swiss Parliament is raising a number of quite serious concerns. On the one hand, there is the issue of transparency in pricing and commercial practices: constant discounts, artificial urgency of the “only 3 left” variety, and a very aggressive strategy to drive consumption. This is nothing new to anyone who has opened the app, but when it comes to consumer protection, it ceases to be a mere annoyance.
On the other hand, there is the more sensitive issue: production conditions and unfair competition. Swiss and European companies have long been complaining that platforms such as Temu are able to sell at impossibly low prices because they operate to standards that would never pass muster here. Put simply: if you compete by different rules, you’re not just competing – you’re sweeping the board.
And then there’s the classic Swiss issue: taxation and regulation. Many of these products arrive in small parcels, often below certain thresholds, which makes customs checks and VAT collection difficult. The result: a competitive advantage over local retailers who do comply with every last detail.
This doesn’t mean that Temu will be banned tomorrow. But it does mean that we’re at the stage where Switzerland is starting to do what it does best: regulate when things get out of hand. And usually, when the Swiss Parliament starts to look into something closely, it’s because the issue has grown to such an extent that it can no longer be ignored.
The moral of the story: very low prices always come at a cost. Sometimes it’s not the buyer who pays for it... but someone does.
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