Purchasing stuff from Aliexpress

[NovelNerd]

I've never bought anything there, but I'm considering it. Those of you that have how was your experience with it?

[MLPWhitney]

I've never bought anything there, but I'm considering it. Those of you that have how was your experience with it?

Hi Maddie!

I have bought jewelry from Aliexpress, and my experience is hit or miss. Some of the pieces have been pretty, and some look way nicer in the pic and the material in person is a lot cheaper. However, the prices were cheap and my expectations were level set. A necklace arrived broken and i filed a case and took pics, and about 2 weeks later, I was reimbursed.

I can't speak to other types of items, but i hope that helps! It seems like an Asian merchant center, like an eBay, but all BINs!

[Violet CLM]

Pretty much everything I've gotten from there (all ponies) has turned out just fine, though it always takes a long time to arrive. The only exception was a lot of random blind bags for fifty cents each, which got cancelled and refunded... but that was because AliExpress itself shut the seller down, deciding they were a scam.

[Tulips]

My one and only experience buying from there was so bad that I've vowed to never use the site again.

The seller was unable to send me my complete purchase (items sold as a set but individually packaged), they offered me a partial refund (Imo unfair since you cannot buy the single items, I would have had to buy another entire set) and wouldn't send me the missing item even though they had hundreds in stock and it was their mistake.

When I opened a case the customer support team fed me lies and outright ignored me for weeks until I accepted the partial refund out of frustration. I had trouble using their customer support online chat each time I had to chase them up. I could find the 'chatbot' support but had to jump through hoops to speak to an actual person, who then parroted the same useless lies about how my case would be resolved in a couple of days... Two more weeks of silence and inaction on their part I'd be chasing it up again and told the same bs.

I've heard of plenty of people using it fine. My experience just shows that the real mark of a business is how they respond to an unsatisfied customer.
Unfortunately a lot of the things available on Aliexpress are only available there.

I hope others give you more positive feedback and you feel comfortable with your decision either way.

[Loona]

I've bought from AliExpress several times, several kinds of things (figures, clothes, jewelry, nail art&DIY supplies), and I also think it's a great hit and miss (delivery time-wise too: I had stuff arrive within a week, but also in more than 2 months). many things were just as pictured, or even better than expected, but I also had plenty of issues.

most issues were either very bad QC or smashed boxes&broken parts due to improper packaging. one seller sends the stuff in a thick, sturdy cardboard box, the other just in a padded envelope, or even just in a plastic envelope. basically a bag. both free shipping I've never tried to ask about this prior to buying, next time the product's box also matters I definitely will.

the main problem with AliExpress for me is that the rules seem to be less binding and the instituion less strict, so if there is an issue, the site itself does not really go out of its way (like eBay often does) to help you, you have to settle things with the seller. who are often less helpful, because of the less strict rules. they can decline disputes or counteroffer them with ridiculous partial refund amounts (like... 10% refund for a broken item, because you still have the item, "just" can't use it ). of course you can go and dispute again, but it can become an endless battle.
another major issue to worry about in case of a dispute: communication with the sellers can be hella difficult (and - there probably is a way to get around this, but - you can only write 512 characters in the initial dispute message). in my experience, the knowledge of English of the sellers on AliExpress is quite bad, much worse than most Chinese eBay sellers I exchanged messages with.

all in all, I'd say (and this is also what I do) before using AliExpress always do an eBay search and make sure the thing you are looking for is not available there for the same price or a little more (as Tulips said, unfortunately they often aren't ). eBay's policies are much more strict and are much more buyer-friendly, which sucks if you are a seller, but as a buyer you are much more likely to come out of an issue happier there than on AliExpress.
and I must also add that I had much less issues with China eBay sellers in general. probably because the more strict policies crowd out or discourage many of the issue-worthy goods and sellers there.

[Snapdragon]

Sorry to interrupt, but since there's a post about Aliexpress only a couple posts from the top, I thought it might be pointless to make another one. (But I can create my own thread if the mods prefer!) 

Does anyone here have experience with the "dispute" system in Aliexpress? I bought 6 items from a seller, and after 3 months of protracted "I'll send you the rest of them!", I only ended up with 3. :/ Now I've filed a dispute, and the seller told me that I should put this:

visitors can't see pics , please register or login
 

... which would seem to imply that I would be assuming blame for the transaction falling through, and not the seller. :eyeroll: They also said they would offer me a refund for 2 of the missing sets - instead of the 3 that never showed up.

I filed a dispute with the correct information (stating that I wanted a refund for the 3 missing sets and my dispute was filed because of the missing items, not because of buyer's remorse), and the seller sent me another message, telling me I should "fix" the dispute like they had said the first time. Ugh!!

Am I out of luck, do I need to make nice with the seller and accept the weak refund? Or will the dispute system protect me as a buyer, like eBay does? :/

[Ringlets]

Good question Snapdragon. Unfortunately I don't know the answer as to whether you stand much of being protected as on ebay... possibly not looking at others experiences...   I would have done the same thing as you though and told the truth about why you filed a claim in the first place. That seller..UGH!   I would not accept their partial refund unless its absolutely the final chance you have of recovering any money, but still stay polite with them while you stick to your real reasons for the claim and try and get some buyer protection/a full refund on the missing items

[Loona]

I think you were right not to do as the seller said and rather fill out the dispute with the correct information.
however, as far as my experience goes, there's no such strong protection as there is on eBay.
you do not have to accept the weak refund offered, but the seller will always have the possibility to counteroffer (within 5 days. if they fail to do so, the system automatically decides in your favour). if I were you I'd reject their offer and re-enter the amount of the 3 missing items, re-emphasizing that you are missing 3 and would like a refund for all of them (of course. Like it was your fault they weren't included in the package... the nerve some sellers have but don't tell this to them, stay polite but firm ). they will still have the possibility to counteroffer, but in such a case I'd honestly just keep going on and re-rejecting. I had to do something similar once (when my item arrived broken due to very insufficient packaging), and after my third rejection the seller no longer replied, and after 5 days the system automatically approved my refund request.

hope you get your money back!


(edited to correct typos )

[Snapdragon]

I think you were right not to do as the seller said and rather fill out the dispute with the correct information.
however, as far as my experience goes, there's no such strong protection as there is on eBay.
you do not have to accept the weak refund offered, but the seller will always have the possibility to counteroffer (within 5 days. if they fail to do so, the system automatically decides in your favour). if I were you I'd reject their offer and re-enter the amount of the 3 missing items, re-emphasizing that you are missing 3 and would like a refund for all of them (of course. Like it was your fault they weren't included in the package... the nerve some sellers have but don't tell this to them, stay polite but firm ). they will still have the possibility to counteroffer, but in such a case I'd honestly just keep going on and re-rejecting. I had to do something similar once (when my item arrived broken due to very insufficient packaging), and after my third rejection the seller no longer replied, and after 5 days the system automatically approved my refund request.

hope you get your money back!


(edited to correct typos )

That's comforting! The seller didn't send a counteroffer, they just messaged me and told me to change it. I haven't responded because, frankly, I didn't want to bother unless I knew exactly what I was going to say! I feel that I've bent over backwards for them at this point, seeing as I ordered my item months ago and I gave them time to ship a replacement, instead of just asking for a refund then!

Thanks for the advice, Loona and Ringlets!! It is greatly appreciated!

[Ringlets]

you're welcome hun   and thank you for adding your experience Loona - that's really helpful

[Loona]

you're both welcome!

I hope everything goes well Snapdragon, and you get the fair part of your money back! as long as you see the timer ticking back waiting for the seller's action, and not yours, you should be fine. do let us know how it went in the end!

[Snapdragon]

Well, okay, I'm freaking out a little bit now, LOL!

According to the item page, my "Buyer's protection" runs out in 4 hours?! But my dispute is still open for another 4 days! What does that mean?! Does it mean I'm up a creek without a paddle if the seller decides to stop disputing with me?! Should I just escalate?! Instead I asked for a 10-day extension of my buyer's protection, but IDK if the seller will see it in time, or even care... or does the dispute process automatically extend the buyer protection!?

I'm mostly just wondering if I should 'escalate' my dispute right now before my buyer protection is gone! I wish Aliexpress was as easy to figure out as eBay!

Oh, and update; the seller "responded" to my dispute with a suggested refund of $0 and a note saying "please update the dispute using the graphic I showed you." :eyeroll: So I responded back that I'm not comfortable with that option, and that I'd prefer a refund of all three missing sets, instead of two! But we'll see how it goes! I guess this will be a crash-course in learning how Aliexpress works!

[rosierjay]

i've been on aliexpress for a while now. I'm a a3 level member.... 
but i've bought a variety of stuff and only had one cancelled by aliexpress, one where they didn't want to fix the problem, and one where the quality was so bad i threw it away.
it really all depends on the seller.

some seller i would buy from again, and others i have blocked messages from.
you're welcome to send me a link of the things you're looking at and i can see if i have any experience with the seller.

[Snapdragon]

i've been on aliexpress for a while now. I'm a a3 level member.... 
but i've bought a variety of stuff and only had one cancelled by aliexpress, one where they didn't want to fix the problem, and one where the quality was so bad i threw it away.
it really all depends on the seller.

some seller i would buy from again, and others i have blocked messages from.
you're welcome to send me a link of the things you're looking at and i can see if i have any experience with the seller.

Thank you hon! I will send you a link if you like. I'd love some advice on how this site works, it seems like fun! What's an a3 level? I've only made two purchases so far, and one of them already got messed up, LOL!

I decided to escalate the dispute after all - I'm not 100% sure how Aliexpress' dispute system works, and the whole 'you have 4 hours until your buyer protection ends' kinda freaked me out! I hope I don't seem like a scammer to the seller, but I can't really afford to risk money to prove it.

[Ringlets]

Thanks for offering your help Rosier
Snapdragon I think you did the right thing. If I got that message - and had that reaction again from the seller- I'd have escalated the dispute as well . It doesn't  make you look like a scammer.