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Author Topic: Buying off Aliexpress, China - How do I pay? (I'm from UK)  (Read 1468 times)

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Offline glitterball

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 :freak: Has anyone from the UK bought off AliExpress? How did you pay?

I like doing fabric crafts and I have found some nice wooden cutting-dies for $24 + $8 p&p on AliExpress.

Thing is, I do not know how to pay!   :freak:

I joined up to get an AliExpress account. I then went to the item page; I was about to click BUY NOW, but cannot see any Paypal logos, and thus am wary about what method of payment I should use. I am confused - there is mention of all payments being processed through something called AliPay - do I need to sign up to this? Looking at how to do that, it seems to indicate that I need a China-based bank account? Huh? Looks complicated...  :help:

The vendor lists all sorts of payment options, including VISA but not paypal; does this mean I can just use my VISA card as-is (just like a regular on-line card payment) or do I STILL have to register the VISA card with AliPay first?

Any VISA users out there made a successful transaction? How did you do it?

Just like Ebay, I check to make sure the seller is legit:
the shop has been running for over 3 years and the seller rating is over 98%.
Am I allowed to provide a link to the page?
MODS, please remove it if not allowed - I will pop it between a spoiler for now

Any help or tips or stories from previous successful purchases very welcome!   :thumb:

(moved to trader support - DF)
« Last Edit: May 31, 2017, 12:51:39 PM by dragonfly »
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Offline Galactica

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Re: Buying off Aliexpress, China - How do I pay? (I'm from UK)
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2017, 11:26:45 AM »
For AliExpress I just pay with a regular ole credit card these days.

I've bought hundreds of things. The shipping is incredibly slow, but the sellers are in my experience, very honest.

KEEP IN MIND however that when you are selecting a particular item (say a blue pony) from a lot of four ponies-  it is a perfectly fair and acceptable practice on AliExpress and Taobao if they run out of one- to substitute with something else. So Message the seller if that is important to you- before they ship, letting them know that you would like no substitutions please :D


Offline glitterball

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Re: Buying off Aliexpress, China - How do I pay? (I'm from UK)
« Reply #2 on: May 31, 2017, 11:43:47 AM »
Thank you, Galactica, for your advice  :thumb: - it's good to know I can use a regular card instead of signing my life away subscribing to yet another online payment mechanism!  :lol:
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Offline dragonfly

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Re: Buying off Aliexpress, China - How do I pay? (I'm from UK)
« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2017, 12:57:30 PM »
I use credit card with Alipay.

Alipay is just their payment processing system. I think it automatically signs you up when you register for Aliexpress, same company. I buy tons of stuff off of Aliexpress and haven't had any credit card security issues with Alipay. I don't buy anything that I may be likely to want a refund on because dealing with sellers on that can be a pain and no way am I paying $60 to ship a $15 item back to China with tracking. I have had Aliexpress arbitration (like a Paypal claim) side with me most times on the few occasions I've filed a case.

Aliexpress is part of Alibababa which is a huge conglomerate. Like eBay at Etsy it is a marketplace for individual sellers, you aren't buying directly through Aliexpress. They are the conduit, not the merchant.

Communicating with the sellers is KEY to avoid problems like Galactica said! They are usually very friendly and accommodating. Some speak English well but most use online translators so I try to keep messages short and to the point and polite.

I try to stick to items with epacket shipping, even if I have to pay a coupe dollars extra, and those packages arrive anywhere from one to three weeks. Chinapost and Singapore post (and "seller's shipping method") have poor tracking and can take 2-3 months to reach the USA.

Offline glitterball

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Re: Buying off Aliexpress, China - How do I pay? (I'm from UK)
« Reply #4 on: May 31, 2017, 04:46:43 PM »
Thank you, Dragonfly!  :thumb:
I am now feeling a bit more confident about dipping my toe in!  :biggrin:

***UPDATE***
ooh I just did my first-ever purchase!
It went straight to online Visa/MasterCard payment section, which was straight-forward. Email of payment confirmation received.

Now I just need to wait 24hrs for some kind of "verified payment" notification + for the seller to start shipping my craft die.

I opted for the faster (EMS?) postage so hope my goodies arrive in good time!   :lol:
« Last Edit: June 05, 2017, 12:00:37 PM by glitterball »
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Offline Taffeta

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Re: Buying off Aliexpress, China - How do I pay? (I'm from UK)
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2017, 08:57:20 AM »


I opted for the faster (EMS?) postage so hope my goodies arrive in good time!   :lol:

If Chinese EMS is anything like Japanese EMS it might be sooner than you think. I had parcels I sent home from Kyoto arrive with my family here in the UK within 48 hours of sending them on 3 separate occasions. China is bigger and has more to process so that seems unlikely, but with any luck it will not be as long as the six to eight weeks that some sellers offer on ebay.
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Offline Galactica

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Re: Buying off Aliexpress, China - How do I pay? (I'm from UK)
« Reply #6 on: July 07, 2017, 11:33:40 AM »
I buy so much junk on there I always opt for the free shipping (slow)

But it has never taken 2-3 months- usually 3-4 weeks.  Sometimes a little slower, sometimes a little faster.

EMS is much faster but way more expensive.

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Re: Buying off Aliexpress, China - How do I pay? (I'm from UK)
« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2017, 11:57:15 AM »
Late update -

my die cutters arrived in about 10 days - yay! (not as fast as yours, Taffeta!).  :frolic:

Galactica, I also ordered more bits! But using the slower method - they arrived within 2 to 3 weeks so not as bad as the 60 days that aliexpress made allowance for.

I was very bold and designed my very own custom die to my own drawing (of a unicorn) and was soooo excited.... and then it arrived - OMG - I was on cloud-9! It's perfect and cuts felt and glitter fabric just how I want!

I have just ordered yet another set of dies to my own custom drawing -
one is for a 3-D crown/coronet, (for kid parties really)
the other.... FLUTTER WINGS!  :happy: because I find cutting plastic with scissors so tedious  :lol:

They have already been processed and the wait begins for our postie to bring my parcel....  :frolic:
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