--- title: "Temu's monthly active users fell 18% in October, before Europe's full €5 per-item toll hits PDD" description: "Temu's user base has shrunk every month since June, and October was the last month before Europe's €2-per-item handling fee applied, which makes the 18% drop a lower bound on the toll. The bill lands on PDD Holdings, whose net income fell 12% last quarter and which reports around November 24." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Applications" published: 2026-11-11T15:13:27.710Z modified: 2026-11-11T15:13:27.710Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/temu-s-monthly-active-users-fell-18-in-october-before-europe-s-full-5-per-item-toll-hits-pdd language: en keywords: "E-commerce, China, Regulation, Tariffs, Consumer Apps" --- # Temu's monthly active users fell 18% in October, before Europe's full €5 per-item toll hits PDD > Temu's user base has shrunk every month since June, and October was the last month before Europe's €2-per-item handling fee applied, which makes the 18% drop a lower bound on the toll. The bill lands on PDD Holdings, whose net income fell 12% last quarter and which reports around November 24. [Temu](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/temu), the discount shopping app its parent [PDD Holdings](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/pdd-holdings) launched in 2022, has been losing users since June, and October was the last month before Europe's parcel toll applied in full [1]. [Sensor Tower's count of the platform's monthly active users fell 18%](https://kr-asia.com/chinas-temu-jd-com-revamp-business-models-amid-tariff-headwinds) year on year in October; rival Shein's users have declined since July [1]. A 38-year-old shopper in Frankfurt told Nikkei she had stopped buying on Temu, expecting prices to rise [1]. ## The toll arrived in two halves Europe charges [a €3 customs duty per item](https://www.waredock.com/magazine/shein-temu-eu-warehouses/) on parcels worth up to €150, since July 1, 2026, plus a €2 handling fee per item since November 1 [2]. October's reading sits between those dates: it predates the second fee, so 18% understates the toll, and the slide began in June, before the first duty, so the toll is not the platform's only problem [2]. Where the levy bites, the flows are blunt: small parcels from Asia into Estonia fell about 70% in the first two weeks of July, and Shein said its European sales fell around 14% in the second quarter [2]. Denmark showed the bite first ([The Inference](https://theinference.org/article/denmark-is-the-first-eu-proof-the-parcel-duty-bites-temu-slides-to-10th), November 2) [2]. ## Australia is the control case [Roy Morgan's panel for the 12 months to June 2026](https://retailasia.com/news/australian-shoppers-shift-towards-amazon-temu-and-shein) shows Temu adding 371,000 Australian shoppers, to 5.1 million, while [eBay](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/ebay) lost 389,000 and fell to 5.9 million; [Amazon](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/amazon) added 728,000 and Shein 433,000 [3]. No EU fee applies there. Where Europe's toll does not reach, Temu still takes eBay's shoppers. *Chart: **Where no EU parcel toll applies, Temu still adds shoppers** Bar chart of the change in Australian shoppers over the year to June 2026: Amazon up 728 thousand, Shein up 433 thousand, Temu up 371 thousand, eBay down 389 thousand, Kogan.com down 58 thousand* *Change in shoppers over the 12 months to June 2026, thousands of people; Roy Morgan single-source survey via Retail Asia. [3]* ## The pivot is the damage Temu's answer is to stop shipping parcels and import pallets. It said in early 2025 it would eventually process up to 80% of European sales through local warehouses [2], it now recruits local merchants in about 40 countries [1], and Shein put another €500 million into its Polish hub on November 4 [2]. Bulk stock clears customs once per shipment and leaves as domestic parcels [2], which removes the per-item toll and, with it, the price gap Temu was built on. PDD is funding the switch: [second-quarter revenue rose 8% to RMB112.4 billion while net income fell 12% to RMB27.2 billion](https://investor.pddholdings.com/news-releases/news-release-details/pdd-holdings-announces-second-quarter-2026-unaudited-financial/) [4], and co-chairman Zhao Jiazhen has [called the company's new brand push slower than expected](https://www.tikr.com/blog/europe-wants-e6-billion-from-cheap-parcels-temus-owner-pdd-trades-at-7x-earnings) [5]. *Chart: **PDD's sales keep rising while profit lags its 2024 peak** Line chart of PDD Holdings quarterly revenue and net income in US dollar billions from Q3 2023 to Q2 2026; revenue climbs from about 9.4 to 16.5 while net income swings between 1.8 and 4.4* *Quarterly, US$ billions, per PDD Holdings' SEC filings, converted at each period's reporting rate; the second quarter of 2026 ended June 30. [4][8]* ## The cash floor [Morgan Stanley](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/morgan-stanley) [cut PDD to Equal-Weight from Overweight on November 9](https://www.investing.com/news/analyst-ratings/morgan-stanley-downgrades-pinduoduo-stock-rating-on-cash-return-concerns-93CH-5010666), target $90 from $129, and now discounts the net cash by 70% because no shareholder-return plan exists [6][7]. PDD holds about $66 billion more cash than debt, some 56% of its market value, pays no dividend, and [trades near $83, about seven times forward earnings](https://theinference.org/article/pdd-holdings-trades-at-8-9-times-earnings-as-france-britain-and-seven-us-states-move-on-temu) [5][7]. ## What the November 24 print decides PDD reports third-quarter results around November 24 [5]. Its releases do not separate Temu, so Sensor Tower's count is the only public Temu series [1][4]. Watch transaction services, up 13% year on year last quarter [4], then November's user count, the first with the full €5 toll in the price. ## Takeaway Temu's 18% October user decline predates the full €5-per-item EU charge, so the true toll on PDD is still ahead of the November 24 earnings print. ## Sources 1. [KrAsia (republishing Nikkei Asia), "China's Temu, JD.com revamp business models amid tariff headwinds", 11 November 2026](https://kr-asia.com/chinas-temu-jd-com-revamp-business-models-amid-tariff-headwinds) 2. [Waredock Magazine, "Shein and Temu Move Stock to EU Warehouses", November 2026](https://www.waredock.com/magazine/shein-temu-eu-warehouses/) 3. [Retail Asia, "Australian shoppers shift towards Amazon, Temu, and Shein", 11 November 2026](https://retailasia.com/news/australian-shoppers-shift-towards-amazon-temu-and-shein) 4. [PDD Holdings investor relations, "PDD Holdings Announces Second Quarter 2026 Unaudited Financial Results", 24 August 2026](https://investor.pddholdings.com/news-releases/news-release-details/pdd-holdings-announces-second-quarter-2026-unaudited-financial/) 5. [TIKR, "Europe Wants €6 Billion From Cheap Parcels. Temu's Owner PDD Trades at 7x Earnings", 8 November 2026](https://www.tikr.com/blog/europe-wants-e6-billion-from-cheap-parcels-temus-owner-pdd-trades-at-7x-earnings) 6. [QuiverQuant, "PDD Holdings Slides as Fresh Downgrade Adds to Profitability and Regulatory Concerns", 9 November 2026](https://www.quiverquant.com/news/PDD+Holdings+Slides+as+Fresh+Downgrade+Adds+to+Profitability+and+Regulatory+Concerns) 7. [Investing.com, "Morgan Stanley downgrades Pinduoduo stock rating on cash return concerns", 9 November 2026](https://www.investing.com/news/analyst-ratings/morgan-stanley-downgrades-pinduoduo-stock-rating-on-cash-return-concerns-93CH-5010666) 8. [PDD Holdings quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 11 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001737806) --- Temu's monthly active users fell 18% in October, before Europe's full €5 per-item toll hits PDD — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/temu-s-monthly-active-users-fell-18-in-october-before-europe-s-full-5-per-item-toll-hits-pdd