AliExpress users - what's been your best purchase?

Cornucopia

I'm thinking of ordering some bulk electronic components.

e.g.

1 Red LED - Maplin price 69p
500 Red LEDs - AliExpress price £2.85 including shipping from China

That makes Maplin 121 times more expensive.

I wonder about the quality at that price, but that's just another dimension to the process.

martindow

Kernow666 wrote: »

I buy material for my mum fat-quarters are about 80% cheaper than UK based sites for the same quality , also buttons you can get 100 delivered for under £1

I've just had to Google it - I was wondering what your mum's fat-quarters were!

forgotmyname

pulliptears wrote: »

Also found it useful for little things like phone chargers and adaptors. I tend to head for Ali now before eBay.

Not mains powered ones i hope, the quality of those are usually awful. A fire risk at least. In words of one youtuber "DEATHDAPTERS".

MSE_Jenny

Thanks all - very useful tips. Sillygoose, those knives look amazing.

In case you've not seen it, I like this site where someone picks what they think is currently good on Ali. Giant inflatable pretzel anyone? https://thieve.co/

paddyrg

Aliexpress can be surprisingly expensive, considering the goods are cheap and postage cheaper. Best used for specialist things you can't get conveniently in the UK. My best such purchases have been custom seethrough holographic security stickers, but some 'deals' still work out more than even some UK sellers.

theonlywayisup

forgotmyname wrote: »

Not mains powered ones i hope, the quality of those are usually awful. A fire risk at least. In words of one youtuber "DEATHDAPTERS".

Unfortunately because a lot of 'branded' items may be made in China, people think they can buy the same items themselves at a fraction. They don't think about the safety on imports and kitemark/product testing/ce certification.

I am a wholesale importer and I wouldn't touch most electrical items from Ali purely because they don't conform.

forgotmyname

Exactly that, it may look nice but ive seen too many crappy electrical items from china, some would make you think twice before plugging anything in.

I got a free mains battery charger (18650) with an LED torch, The wires were ultra thin, the back of the metal strips in the sliders were rusty. I did plug in in through an inverter and an RCD at arms length and it managed 2 batteries before it went pop.

Stripped the wires and mains out and used the holder with a TP4056 and USB charging cable. Much safer.

People forget that health and safety over there is rather lacking.

charley539

Big-time aliexpress fan. I saw some of you mention sunglasses, I've been toying with the idea of buying them, but am slightly worried about the uv protection, or have i got it wrong?

Cornucopia

All UK-sold Sun Glasses have to have a minimum standard of UV protection by law - even the ones from poundshops. On that basis, I'm not sure I see the point of self-imports.

I just received an AliExpress order today: An Arduino-clone Microcontroller starter kit. Excellent VFM at £15 including about 150 other parts from individual components up to interface boards. All present and correct, AFAICT, and only took about 2 weeks to arrive.

A_Phoenix_of_Tangerine

sillygoose wrote: »

My wife has a huge collection of office dresses from Ali, costing in the £10 to £15 range, good quality and fit mostly from the same seller (this seller is amazingly consistent with sizes across garments)

Who is the seller for the £15 office dresses, please, if you wouldn't mind sharing? Also, are they 'normal' UK sizes or petite Chinese sizes? Many thanks!