whats the deal with Aliexpress?

[Tony Starks]

I've been looking at a few things like tripods and other bits and bobs and Aliexpress always pops up.

Is it just the place where people by the cheap tat to sell on ebay or is it a legit online shop selling cheap to expensive stuff?

I'm tempted to buy a cheap pano mount to try as decent ones are hundreds of dollars and its alot of money if I dont like it.

And is it as bad as Ebay for scams?

Cheers

Alex

[shielsy]

I've bought a few thngs from the site. It is often the manafacturers and distributers selling the goods which is why the prices are low. It also has an eBay style feedback for each seller to gve you more confidence. Only thing that is a bit st is the shipping time... the sellers are nearly always based in China and unless you are buying something expensive (i.e. a mobile phone) then it will be shipped via the cheapest service which generally means you are looking anywhere from 2-6 weeks.

[Tony Starks]

Thats good to know thanks, the shipping time isnt an issue as local NZ sellers seem to work on similar times here so I'm used to that.

How communication with the chinese sellers? Ive purchased from Chinese manufacturer s before and once you work out the literal translations its not too bad.

[spants]

I use aliexpress alot for my little electronics projects. Shipping (even free) has been from 6 days - 30 days (usually 14 days).
I have had 2 lost-in-post which was refunded without problem.

It is own by Alibaba group - a billion dollar company - who keep the funds in escrow until you are happy.

When buying, understand that some items may not be the highest quality. When buying mains equipment it is best to have an electrician check it out as CE and FCC labels can just be printed.....

Highly recommended otherwise

[mike80]

Just had a look at some camera bags. One which averages about £160 on Amazon is £60 on there.

What's the catch?

[steveo3002]

ive used it a fair bit , always got what i ordered

dont expect anything advertised as high end desinger gear to be genuine though

[Gareth79]

I use it a lot, maybe 50 orders total, and only had problems with a couple. Missing items were refunded instantly by the seller, one annoying one was a cutting strip for a vinyl cutter didn't have self-adhesive tape on the back, which I would expect to come with something like that, Aliexpress found in the seller's favour because the listing didn't say it was included.

There is no catch, but as mentioned budget 7-30 days shipping time, assume that the quality is "cheap" and you won't be disappointed. Do look at the photos very carefully because they are usually pretty accurate and you can spot the quality of finish etc. Top tip: sort by "orders" to find the popular stuff and reliable sellers.

As an example, I got this torch a few weeks ago and it's really decent for the price:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mini-Flashlight-ZOO...
- a 3D printer I got a couple of months ago:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/6-Material-size-210...
- a nice 5X phone case:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1X-S-Line-Soft-Gel-...

It's also good for USB device bits and bobs, adapters, eg. a Wifi adapter with antenna:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Ralink-Mini-PC-wifi...

[steveo3002]

you would have to return it so hardly worth it , plus they supposedly have a high failiure rate out of the box

[Gareth79]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

A few years ago I got a JiaYu G3 phone direct from China, I think it was off Aliexpress. If it's a big (Chinese) brand then it's likely ok, but it's probably worth flashing it with a new ROM image from a trusted source as soon as you get it, check the forums such as XDA Developers.

Warranty? Don't rely on getting any help.

[Nickyboy]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Not normally, Chinese sellers usually put a very low value and i've not as yet been charged any duty.

With regards items you find on the likes of Amazon may appear a lot cheaper but they're likely be rejects or made with the same plans etc but in a different factory with cheaper materials and no quality control.

[Truffles]

Gareth79 said:

A few years ago I got a JiaYu G3 phone direct from China, I think it was off Aliexpress. If it's a big (Chinese) brand then it's likely ok, but it's probably worth flashing it with a new ROM image from a trusted source as soon as you get it, check the forums such as XDA Developers.

Warranty? Don't rely on getting any help.

Don't all Chinese-sold mobile phones have State monitoring software installed?

[skeggysteve]

After reading the 'Frivolous' thread on here I bought one of those credit card knife things from Aliexpress.

It is very good, engineering guy at work said it wouldn't have cost them any more to add a few extra bits to it but when I told him the price he went straight to the website to check it out!

It did take about 4 weeks to arrive but for 59p including delivery what to do you want!

They keep sending me emails and some of the stuff is very tempting.

[ChemicalChaos]

Truffles said:

Gareth79 said:

A few years ago I got a JiaYu G3 phone direct from China, I think it was off Aliexpress. If it's a big (Chinese) brand then it's likely ok, but it's probably worth flashing it with a new ROM image from a trusted source as soon as you get it, check the forums such as XDA Developers.

Warranty? Don't rely on getting any help.

Don't all Chinese-sold mobile phones have State monitoring software installed?

Not sure on that, but they are generally hilariously bad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piubvIL_IGE


On a related note - I'm after some tyres for a trailer, and wondering if its worth getting some really cheap ones from Ali, or if they'll explode the first time I put them on a loaded trailer....

[ChemicalChaos]

ChemicalChaos said:

On a related note - I'm after some tyres for a trailer, and wondering if its worth getting some really cheap ones from Ali, or if they'll explode the first time I put them on a loaded trailer....

Or... maybe not

First search results:

"Excellent abrasion resistance slippery car tyres 205/55 r16

US $62.00 / piece
Shipping:
US $169.35 / lot via DHL"

[mike80]

Nickyboy said:

Not normally, Chinese sellers usually put a very low value and i've not as yet been charged any duty.

With regards items you find on the likes of Amazon may appear a lot cheaper but they're likely be rejects or made with the same plans etc but in a different factory with cheaper materials and no quality control.

So possibly not a good idea to buy 100 of these cheap camera bags and sell them for somewhere between the UK RRP and Aliexpress price then...?

[Sump]

ChemicalChaos said:

Truffles said:

Gareth79 said:

A few years ago I got a JiaYu G3 phone direct from China, I think it was off Aliexpress. If it's a big (Chinese) brand then it's likely ok, but it's probably worth flashing it with a new ROM image from a trusted source as soon as you get it, check the forums such as XDA Developers.

Warranty? Don't rely on getting any help.

Don't all Chinese-sold mobile phones have State monitoring software installed?

Not sure on that, but they are generally hilariously bad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piubvIL_IGE


On a related note - I'm after some tyres for a trailer, and wondering if its worth getting some really cheap ones from Ali, or if they'll explode the first time I put them on a loaded trailer....

Or hilariously good and shows up the mark up the likes of Samsung and co make.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocbm-PX_158

If I recall their turnover is over $10 Billion.

China has some excellent new generation companies going on at the moment who don't want ****.

[imagineifyeswill]

Ive never bought anything from them myself but my wife has bought a lot of cake decorating equipment from them at about 20% of the price in the Uk and says it is just the same quality and possibly the same manufacture. A few years ago I wanted the Sonim Land Rover branded mobile phone selling here for £380 at the time, my wife bought it direct from China where its made, genuine item for £53.

[steveo3002]

mike80 said:

So possibly not a good idea to buy 100 of these cheap camera bags and sell them for somewhere between the UK RRP and Aliexpress price then...?

get a sample and check it out , ive bought in bulk and resold them for £££ but make double sure theres none on ebay for less than what you want to sell for

[slowx]

Alibaba
Taobao
Aliexpress
Alipay - sort of like paypal

Pretty much the same thing just different name.

There really is no catch, you risk it, meaning you get what you paid for or you get more than what you paid for.

You can think of most things you want to buy and most of the time they will have it, I've ordered food on Taobao, crazy.

Also, kickstarter sometimes have things that needs to be made by factories in China, these items will most likely end up on one of the Alibaba sub division before kickstarter will start shipping to their backers.

Perfect example is the Magnetic USB phone charging cable, look at Kickstarter, now look at this link(but in chinese...) http://world.taobao.com/search/search.htm?_ksTS=14...

The guy using Kickstarter to fund his project had his idea taken, made and sold long before his backers got their magnetic cable.

I've been using a mag cable for 6 months, different design, but that design were also stolen and sold under the Wsken name.

The Ali group really do have some deals, you just have to risk it, sometimes you get rubbish sent, sometimes you get the real deal.

I spend too much with the Ali group, I really need to stop, lol