AliExpress can offer great deals, but it’s also very easy to get scammed, receive a cheap knock-off, or even end up with nothing at all. The search engine isn’t very helpful, often mixing reputable merchants with sketchy ones and real products with junk.
So far, I’ve found the AliUp extension, which seems fairly helpful. I wish there were third-party websites with independent reviews, but I haven’t found anything truly helpful or comprehensive yet.
So, what are your tips for buying on AliExpress or similar platforms?
I try look for higher sold numbers and review amount. Than looking for the sellers rating and also numbers.
A lot of brands have official AliExpress shops which you can reach via their website.
On the other side, get yourself a limit you’re comfortable to “lose” and buy expensive stuff locally.
The sort option by “orders” is good for this. Far from infallible but still useful.
There’s plenty of official stores on Ali and a rule of thumb is to stay away from “no name” products and products that are obvious copies of other brands.
Sometimes, counterfeits or unknown brands are so similar to the real deal that it barely matters. I’d say that basic electronics (alarm clocks, kitchen scales, calculators, SD security cams) or even RAM is fine. With appropriate expectations, parts like video or USB cables, hubs etc., small home improvement items (hooks, screws) are fine too. Avoid categories where a lot of items have fake specs (storage devices, LED bulbs, anything that claims a runtime on a Li-Ion battery). Power electronics (especially if using mains or non-tiny Li-Ion batteries) can be downright dangerous. For novelty items and electronics modules, it’s usually easy to find text or video reviews on other websites because they’re easy to uniquely describe. Remember to consider ways in which the product can be utter crap despite high reviews citing good first impressions; it also helps to have practical knowledge of testing the properties of the items and fixing common issues.
Avoid categories where a lot of items have fake specs (storage devices, LED bulbs, anything that claims a runtime on a Li-Ion battery)
I’d say be aware rather than avoid. E.g I bought a $10 camping lantern that claimed 2.5 times its true capacity, but it still runs for hours and is a great, well designed, if flimsy, product for the price.
The few times I’ve used AliExpress I’ve had expectations met in terms of product quality, exceeded in terms of customer support and disappointed in terms of promised delivery speed.
I don’t get the sense most people are any different.
Been a heavy (1k+ items) alibaba and aliexpress buyer for about a decade. I think I have only been scammed as in not receiving the item or receiving a different item a couple of times and never had an issue with ali returning my money from escrow.
To the issue of item quality I have a couple of takeaways. First, number of orders are listed for each item, I usually stick to items with at least a dozen + sales. There is a way to sort by number of orders. The second would be the is it to good to be true rule. You can definitely get good, sometime amazing deals on ali but for example, if on amazon you are seeing a 20,000 mah battery packs going for $50 on amazon and then you see it for $10 on aliexpress, good chance you will get a 5,000mah battery labeled as 20,000mah. For a 10$ pair of kicks, they’ll show up but are likely going to be pretty low quality. Finally would be name brand goods, these are likely going to be either counterfit or greymarket (like where the legit factory just runs the production line a bit longer). Quality will vary greatly from trash to indistinguishable from the original.
One final thought is sellers are usually pretty accommodating in my experience because they are looking to win those bulk orders. Ask them for more details, pics, etc. For some things like clothes, they may have different qualities they can sell.
What have you bought to make it to 1k items? How do they all fit in your home?
Never buy from a seller with no feedback or sales.
