Ordering from AliExpress

sanova76

Hi, 

Has anyone ordered from AliExpress before?  I saw most of their items are exactly the same sold on Amazon/Ebay and half the price.  But with the custom duty/VAT etc it might end up the same anyway?  Not to mention it'll be slow shipping and in case any problems, will the process be easy?

Thanks.

San

ciderboy2009

I regularly buy from them.  When you place an order they automatically add on any required duty as long as your order is under (from memory) £135.

I would not buy anything from them that was over around £50 - you need to be ready to consider the money lost if things go wrong.

Also, I would not buy anything branded from them as it would probably be faked.  The same goes for any form of storage (memory cards, usb sticks, hard disks etc).

Basically, take any claims made about the products with a pinch of salt.  LED torches are a classic here - they claim that they will be brighter than the sun (spoiler: they're not)

I've had delivery be as quick as 4 days and as slow as 4 weeks.

On the whole though, I've been pleased with what I've got from them.  My best purchase probably being a 4,000 piece Nanoblocks set for £20 which would have cost £100 from eBay.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

If the order is under £135 Ali will add the VAT so there shouldn't be any customs issues. 

Shipping is obviously longer than from the UK but the odd bits I've ordered from Ali have arrived within a reasonable time. 

The main issue is when there's a problem as returning to China won't be economical. They offer some kind of protection guarantee but you'd have to read through to see what's covered:

https://sale.aliexpress.com/__pc/buyerprotection-seller_guaranteed.htm

Perhaps worth the mods moving the thread to the eBay board, if @soolin is passing I think she knows how to get that actioned  

ch3shirecat4

I have ordered off Aliexpress many times, i would usually only order the products that have had some orders as it tells you and usually it makes me more inclined to order from that seller if it has had reviews. But yes Aliexpress is good to order from I love it you can get stuff cheap and some things even only take a couple days to arrive so its not bad at all!

stinky_daddy

I have also ordered from Ali previously, but at the prices they offer at (you have to be careful and read the small print as some sellers only offer a minimum quantity of 1,000) and you are able to accept that financial loss if worst comes to worse (nothing bad has ever happened to me when ordering from there, touch wood) then go for it, but I would echo the poster above and stay away from branded goods and computer storage (e.g. memory sticks) as you never know how they will function unfortunately!!!! 

HTH

s_d

soolin

stinky_daddy said:

I have also ordered from Ali previously, but at the prices they offer at (you have to be careful and read the small print as some sellers only offer a minimum quantity of 1,000) and you are able to accept that financial loss if worst comes to worse (nothing bad has ever happened to me when ordering from there, touch wood) then go for it, but I would echo the poster above and stay away from branded goods and computer storage (e.g. memory sticks) as you never know how they will function unfortunately!!!! 

HTH

s_d

Alibaba tend to do the wholesale lots , Aliexpress tend to concentrate on smaller amounts and most of their items are sold singly but often with discounts for buying more. 

sanova76

Thanks for the replies.  There are some small kitchen/bathroom stuffs I'm interested in.

HillStreetBlues

Bought something the other week.
Tracking stated it arrived and it hadn't, checked tracking No and different address.
Refund within 24 hours.