Aliexpress is basically amazon with longer shipping time in my experience. Each seller has their own store rating similar to ebay so as long as you exercise judgement ie. Dont buy from brand new stores with 0 feedback or things that are too good to be true and avoid certain things like batteries and storage media unless you know exactly what you're buying you should be fine. I've bought a lot of stuff from there (mostly electronics) and haven't had bad experiences
this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2024
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This has been my experience as well with Aliexpress. I know there's a huge caveat emptor going on, but it's like you said about batteries and storage, be careful unless you know exactly what you’re buying. Like a 64TB SSD for $15.99 proooobably not the real thing. But I have gotten a lot of SBCs, some stuffed animals, and cheap costume jewelry for my wife (who knows it's cheap, but doesn't care). Weirdest "quality" purchase? My "gold colored" tungsten wedding ring was $10, comfort fit, and in 6 years still looks like the real thing. But didn't dent like my original wedding ring (which is why I needed a replacement, got smashed in a door accident). I'd never buy anything that I knew might cause a fire (like batteries) or possibly poison me (like pills).
Wish and Temu ripped me off in some of my first purchases. I was only out $30, and I know it was possible, so I just deleted my account and the apps.
AliExpress is not even close to Amazon except for the fact that it does a great job at providing a wide selection of Chinese products, but cheaper and with longer lead times.
What makes Amazon, Amazon, is its customer service. Without that, it's like eBay. But even eBay has significantly better customer service than AliExpress.
Speaking as someone who has used AliExpress a lot, it's pretty good, but only if you understand that all sales are final. Best cast scenario, the seller makes you pay for shipping which generally costs anywhere from 50% to 250% of your original purchase price.
Their customer service always defers to sellers in my experience, and even if they approve a return, what's the point if you lose money by shipping it back?
I have had three Aliexpress orders go bad, and two of them I was refunded. One of them I was not, despite the fact their own shipping still showed it as on it's way to New Jersey. They kept insisting I "pick it up at the local post office." I pointed out Virginia was not near New Jersey. I was denied, but only out $8. As far as Amazon vs. Aliexpress, I will agree with you about Amazon customer service being better. But I have had "AliExpress shipping times" on some Amazon products, which led me to believe that the particular store was outside their local jurisdiction.
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AliExpress is a rock solid platform. You just need to know official Chinese brand accounts there. It's just like Amazon - you order random shit there, you get shit in the mailbox. You order from a reputable branded shop there and you get a high quality item.
Is there a newbie guide to reputable brands on AE?
https://sale.aliexpress.com/__pc/topbrand.htm
I'd say their official list is close to truth.
Looks good. Never knew that existed, but I've only ever bought pcbs off AliExpress so far.
Find an official Chinese brand web site and they usually have a link to their shop on Ali. For example, you want to buy some eSun filament for your 3D printer. You go to their web site https://www.esun3d.com/pla-pro-product/ and BOOM! Ali link!
Sometimes they don't have a link on their web site, so you search for a brand on Ali directly and search for a gold rated shop with loads of followers and a properly maintained product catalogue. Here's an example https://m.aliexpress.com/store/5793617?trace=store2mobilestoreNew&spm=a2g0n.order_detail.order_detail_item.1.24a0f19cuwE2kw
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AliExpress screwed me recently. A vendor sent me the wrong items. I mean, they weren't even the same kind of items. I disputed it with the vendor and they said they'd sent the right things, so there.
I opened a case with AliExpress. They asked me for a whole lot of information, some of which didn't make any sense, along with some pictures. I sent them everything. They sided with the vendor.
Fortunately, I had paid with PayPal. PayPal looked over the information from both sides and promptly refunded my money.
I don't expect to be doing business with AliExpress again any time soon.
I have ordered so many things over the past 8 years on AliExpress and the only issues I had was shops not delivering the right amount. Disputing that was never an issue. I wonder why so many other people have serious issues with it.
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How did you pay with PayPal on AliExpress? They haven't supported it in years?
I think some vendors support it and some don't.
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Ordering from AliExpress is a risk but factoring in the times you get screwed over it's usually still worth it over buying 1.5 times the price to get it from Amazon (and possibly still get screwed by Amazon).
PayPal for the win btw
Just wanted to point out that Etsy isn't really in the same category as the other shops you listed. Think handmade crafts and souvenir store compared to Walmart.
Edit: I'm apparently reminiscing on the Etsy of yesteryear. I guess it's shit now.
Sure used to be that way but modern day Etsy is flooded with drop shippers selling AliExpress stuff
It’s such a shame really, because there are really cool independent sellers with some awesome handmade / hard to find vintage stuff, but they’re drowned out by drop shippers (who wouldn’t even be able to sell anything on there if people knew that same item was available through aliexpress without the 100x markup)
It’s egregious too. They all pretend it’s handmade crafts… that AliExpress happens to have exact copies of for a tenth of the price.
Really? Damn, that sucks. Edited my comment.
Yea just to pile on here, the bulk of Etsy is people simply repackaging items at a higher price. It's a total shit show now.
I've ordered everything from audio stuff to knives on aliexpress. Find a good reputable seller and you're good. That's pretty much the same for any platform like Ebay. Amazon has increasingly gotten worse. Now it's either really big name brands or cheap chinese clones
Edit: check out Louis Rossman's video buying electrical equipment from Amazon. If you buy the top rated results, you'll probably fuck yourself over. One of the top products is a fuse that won't blow like it's supposed to, if you put this in your system, it will be catastrophic and life threatening.
Every name brand clothing item I've ordered on Amazon has been fake
Aliexpress also has fakes, but if you want to shop for brands that originate in China, you can find actually good quality products for very cheap. Like Ugreen, who makes nice phone/multi chargers, cables, powerbanks, or Sonoff for smart home stuff, or Anycubic for 3D resin printers.
Amazon is a shitshow, I can't even find the original stuff. Wish is just a scam. Ebay is okay, but their shipping is not the best.
I've had some bad sellers on AliExpress, but support tends to be quite good. They don't take any bullshit from scam sellers.
Amazon definitely has. Almost all the clothing is either brands I can't afford or no name brands that are terrible quality. I have returned my last sweater. So freaken down with them. Go back to clothing shopping in a physical store like it is 1999.
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I bought some stuff from Ali express. Mixed results. Bought a video adapter for my wife's car so an aftermarket radio could use the factory backup cam. Worked great. Bought a 'billet' camshaft for a Suzuki. Was obvious it was cast, because they didn't bother to align the two halves together they were off 1/8". Left a bad review about it, they deleted the entire part listing, then re-posted it to hide my review, then blocked me as a customer.
Support from AliExpress is quite good. They don't take any bullshit from their sellers and often refund at least a partial amount of your purchase.
I think I got 30% back once because the wrong color was delivered.
The biggest issue is that they tend to fake delivery time by switching around old tracking numbers. If you want something quick, I really wouldn't recommend it.
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I've bought a lot of electronic components from AliExpress and 99% of the time I got exactly what I ordered. It just takes a long time.
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My success rate with Aliexpress has been only slightly worse than with Amazon. I've gotten screwed over on a few lost shipments, but never had a problem getting a refund. Shipping times are much longer though, considering where it's coming from. But often I'll get items much faster than their estimates, so it's not completely terrible. And you can always look at the shipping options to see if a few dollars more can get it to you faster or with a better carrier. As for quality, I find it's not much different from Amazon since half the stuff there was made in China and just sits in a warehouse in North America.
Don't bother with Wish or Temu, which is just Wish with warehouses in North America.
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Ali got a nice escrow payment system, when you and the selling party disagree about delivery or quality, you get your money back most of the time.
Did have some issues with deliveries in the past, but always got them resolved or refunded.
No experience with the other platforms, but have done hundreds of purchases using AliExpress, from a few euros to hundred+
Yeah I have got tons of stuff from there, only time it didn't work out was:
5€ watches, they are just as crappy as you'd imagine 😁
Once an item didn't show up, and seller needed a video/photo so I just filmed my empty hand. Didn't get refunded.
But that's about it.
Ofc, there are obvious scammy stuff, so check out size etc and if it's too good to be true, well then it's probably not true.
If it looks too good and has no reviews avoid it like the plague. I never understood why they need video or photo proof of an item not arriving. How do you take a photo of something you do not have???
AliExpress would be my recommendation except that their parent company continues to do business with Russia despite the sanctions.
I agree. Plus they actually refund you. I use them to buy phone cases, parts and other things. Edit: if you find the official store, I reccomend Kodak USB sticks
Temu is the current loss leader. You have to be careful as there are some items more expense than the Amazon or Aliexpress options, but many are 1/2-2/3 of the Amazon price with free shipping. Most items are 7-10 days shipping, but Amazon (to a rural address) is barely a couple days better with prime and about on par without.
Shipping has pretty much killed Aliexpress for me. I’m not willing to buy anything expensive as it’s effectively impossible to return and most sellers have an Amazon sellers account that is the same price or less once intl shipping is added.
The problem with Temu is all your data goes to , less reputable third parties.
I have never had so many scam calls, texts and emails in my life!
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Honestly, if you consider amazon on the same level of shit as the ones mentioned especially with it being overrun by cheap knockoffs and chinese brands, they probably have the widest and most reliable delivery network. The return/exchange is also very easy as long as the product is shipped by them.
Seconded. Amazon has been a cheap shitty online shop for the better part of a decade now but they‘re still the best cheap shitty shop. Especially if you shop in central Europe. I‘ve tried many available competitors to avoid them completely but the direct competition is just so damn abysmal. You can complain about Amazon a lot as it has many problems, but any complaint against them is a general complaint against online shopping as a whole and they‘re becoming worse because everyone else is just so bad. At least Amazon refunds the garbage sellers send me no questions asked. That has always been a huge pain with other crappy shops.
Limmared.nu is a small radio supply shop in Limmared that have great ratings and works well.
Apotea.se is an excellent online pharmacy, with quick delivery times.
Inet.se is an excellent computer store, they have physical locations in Stockholm and Gothemburg.
AliExpress has never failed me. I bought some Nintendo DS reproduction carts and they work flawlessly.
Ali isnt even a shit site.
The sellers are what you have to look out for.
It's basically Amazon but more obvious amd with less protection for the buyer.
I’ve gotten stuff from Wish and Temu that is fine. Flashlights, tweezers, microfiber cloths, $10 wireless earbuds. I even ordered several pairs of shorts from Temu that were $8 to $10. They aren’t very durable but they function and look fine.
I ignore 100% of the gamification shit, I very much doubt you can get much that is free or a better deal…when it comes down to it they sell cheap shit for a small profit margin and that’s it. Spinning the wheel and inviting friends and having a shiny app is all just a fancy skin for the exact same stuff as on Ali, Wish, and eBay.
I've had good experience with aliexpress. Nearing 1000 products purchased.
Also mostly using AliExpress, sometimes Ebay. AliExpress has good shops; check the other stuff they sell and the reviews to get an idea. Official company stores are great, but there are also fake company stores. And customer service on those rare occasions when it's just that bad, sucks.
I got a decent CPAP machine for cheap on Wish, but otherwise the stuff just seems flimsier and more expensive.
Im not a regular shopper or anything, but I've had good experience with AliExpress so far.
With any of them, make sure you read the descriptions fully and check reviews. Also, go through the purchase options. Sometimes you run into situations where you think you are ordering a pair of something and it'll only be the right or left one.
I've ordered a bunch from wish and AliExpress. Gotten plenty of good products from both and really only got burned once in wish.
I've bought a few things of AliExpress. Haven't had any issues with them. As long as you do your research and know what you're ordering, it seems pretty reliable.
Amazon, but only marginally.
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