Small update, I got an email from Aliexpress seeming to say that my dispute was approved by administrators - but when I go to look at it on the site, it still says it needs a response from *both* of us. So I just basically reiterated my same claim as before, and I hope the seller isn't tired of getting the same response three times, in all likelihood.
The seller responded by asking me, basically, if they could refund me (outside of the dispute? it was very unclear), and where they should Paypal the money to. As I am
pretty sure that this is against the guidelines of how disputes work, I told them it would be safer for us to proceed through the dispute process. Hopefully I just look like a bumbling noob, which I am.