[oliwarner]

Retail has obvious expenses. The trade-off is instant purchase and customer service. And yes, another layer of profit extraction.

> Temu doesn't pay VAT and/or other taxes etc

Many of their orders are below the threshold for import duties. Some come with "gift" declarations which shift the VAT and duty thresholds. Direct sales skirt the tax laws. Again, I'd be shocked if all the tax they collect was declared and paid. The EU would have no way to verify.