Temu offers a lot of dupes of more expensive tech products. But have you ever wondered how they measure up to their pricier counterparts? I certainly have, especially in this economy, so I placed a Temu order to check things out. 

I bought three products and spent a week testing them in place of some of my daily tech — $11 earbuds instead of my $250 Apple AirPods Pro 2, a $75 vacuum in place of my $570 Dyson V11 vacuum, and a $75 hairstyling tool instead of my $600 Dyson Airwrap. 

You can see my full review of how the dupes compare to the original tech here. I probably won't buy from Temu again, because there was such a range of results in the products I bought. But Temu has many competitors, including Amazon, Shein, Wish and AliExpress, that also offer budget alternatives for thousands of products, including tech, clothing and kitchen appliances. 

If you're shopping online, you need to be savvy, regardless of where you're ordering from. Make sure that dupe you're buying is a true budget alternative and not a knockoff that won't work as well and could undercut small businesses. (CNET has a ton of great recs for legitimate budget alternatives to more expensive products.)

Dupes are present on various marketplaces, including the one I use most often: Amazon. So I'll start being more careful when placing orders on that site. Here are some easy steps you can take if you're also trying to avoid buying knockoffs, or even counterfeits.

Look for the blue check mark on Temu

My favorite product of the three I bought on Temu and then tested was the only one that had a clear brand name written on the box: a $75 Orfeld vacuum. I was so happy with how it cleaned my apartment that I'd buy it again, even if I wasn't incorporating it into a story. If I were to ever buy from Temu again, I'd go for the name-brand products over the no-name ones.

An easy way to tell if something is brand name as you're scrolling through the thousands of items on Temu is to look for products with a blue check mark. So, if you do want to try placing a Temu order but you're overwhelmed by all the options, focusing on those blue check marks is a good way to whittle things down.

Check the reviews

Take a look at the reviews and be skeptical of a product if it's gotten a lot of bad ones. That's an indicator that the product likely isn't good and could be a knockoff or counterfeit. 

But also be wary if you see reviews sections that are wholly positive. If all you see are five-star reviews and shining feedback, that's a pretty good indicator that the reviews themselves could be fake. 

I get suspicious, too, if a product has very few or no reviews, and if there are no customer photos in the reviews section.

Be skeptical of long shipping times

Long shipping and delivery windows are a red flag as well. Brand-name products usually shouldn't take months, or even weeks, to arrive. Plus, who wants to wait that long anyway? I'm sure you're eager to get your order in-hand.

Look for the 'small business' label on Amazon

I wanted to learn more about the effect of knockoff products on the original creators. So I spoke with Juliette Fassett, who invented the Flippy soft tablet stand with her husband. Despite being patent protected, the Flippy was allegedly knocked off and sold through multiple large retailers across the US. 

Before learning about Fassett's story, if I were looking for a tablet stand, I might've bought the knockoff without even realizing I was supporting the product that was destroying her business. But if you look closely at the listings, there's a clue that one is the original product and one is a knockoff: The Flippy listing has a "small business" label, while the dupe, the Ontel Pillow Pad, doesn't. 

So if you're browsing on Amazon, look for this "small business" label and go for that listing instead of the version that's a little bit cheaper. 

Look for the Small Business tag on Amazon listings. Screenshot by CNET If a deal is too good to be true, it probably is

Speaking of pricing, when I'm on Amazon, I normally just go for whatever product is the least expensive in the product category I'm looking at. But after learning about Fassett's story, getting the cheaper product won't be my priority. Yes, the dupe will be less expensive, but it could also be a knockoff, and to me, saving the extra cash isn't worth hurting a small business. 

Trust your gut. If a deal is too good to be true, it probably is. You may save a few dollars, but you may also be buying a knockoff that directly undermines the small business that created the original product.