Li Lu keeps buying Pinduoduo. Help me understand why.
u/iyankov96 ·
Reddit — r/ValueInvesting
· August 15, 2026 at 10:31
· ⬆ 15 pts
· 💬 32 comments
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AI Summary
Summary
Author questions Li Lu’s continued buying of PDD, acknowledging the stock looks cheap but arguing the e-commerce sector is too competitive and lacks a moat.
Cites Temu’s poor reputation, product quality mismatches, and new EU import duties as threats to PDD’s international growth.
Post is more speculative opinion than well-researched DD; it relies on anecdotal evidence rather than financial or competitive analysis.
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It obviously looks cheap at the moment but given how much competition there is in the sector, both within China and outside of it, I don't think there's much of a moat around the business.
Temu has a terrible reputation and I've seen many cases where a product differs substantially from what was advertised on their website.
Just look at some of these [**examples**](https://www.google.com/search?q=temu+couch+meme&sca_esv=113f45d49e2c0707&sxsrf=APpeQnvj7IuhhhYGCYkF4HFDMnqcckc6ZQ%3A1786789632669&source=hp&ei=AD-AauXmJYXg7_UPz_Ta8AM&iflsig=ABILxe8AAAAAaoBNEIyTnwBSsEEpq0DWBXzoy32QtFi7&udm=2&oq=te&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IgJ0ZSoCCAAyChAjGMkCGPAFGCcyChAjGMkCGPAFGCcyChAjGPAFGMkCGCcyChAAGIAEGIoFGEMyEBAuGIAEGIoFGEMYxwEY0QMyChAAGIAEGIoFGEMyExAuGIAEGIoFGEMYsQMYxwEY0QMyChAAGIAEGIoFGEMyEBAAGIAEGIoFGEMYsQMYgwEyDhAuGIAEGLEDGMcBGNEDSLwJUI4BWP0BcAF4AJABAJgBY6ABxwGqAQEyuAEByAEA-AEBmAIDoALVAagCCsICBxAjGOoCGCfCAg0QIxjwBRjJAhjqAhgnwgINECMYyQIY8AUY6gIYJ8ICBBAjGCfCAhYQLhiABBiKBRhDGLEDGIMBGMcBGNEDwgIREC4YgAQYsQMYgwEYxwEY0QOYAwfxBcLyKi1Vv2lykgcDMS4yoAfaG7IHAzAuMrgHzgHCBwUwLjIuMcgHCoAIAQ&sclient=gws-wiz).
Finally, the EU are making it harder to justify ordering from China. There's now a 3 euro import duty whereas previously there used to be no customs duty for packages under 150 euro.
What are your thoughts ? I personally don't see any competitive advantage. Yes, PDD earns their money from advertising and commissions but if people stop buying from Temu because of the site's poor reputation or because it's no longer cheap for foreigners then it doesn't really matter.