AliExpress scamminess? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Connecteur
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 12:56:40 am
content: Lately, I've been hearing from friends about all the scams that are happening on AliExpress. Mis-shipping, non-shipping, issuing phony order numbers etc. I went there looking to look at wireless earbuds, and I see scores of them priced in the sub-five dollar range. Something is obviously wrong there, and I wouldn't want to buy from AliExpress until they cleaned up their act, like Ebay had to do years ago.Anyone else had problems?

author: ataradov
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 02:29:28 am
content: Never. I've only had positive experiences with AliExpress. But I generally don't buy stuff that is too good to be true. But if something is available from many sellers and it is a prevailing price, then it is probably a real deal. Just don't expect great quality from it, you get what you pay for.

author: aix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 12:19:01 pm
content: I buy from AliExpress a lot. I'd say around 1-2% of my orders run into any sort of issues (excluding poor packaging, which happens a little bit more frequently than I'd like). I've never had an issue that could not be resolved either directly with the seller or by escalating to AliExpress. Both are rare and I've not had a single writeoff.I do pay a lot of attention to whom I'm buying from, but do not shy away from new (to me) suppliers if they look reputable.That said, quality can indeed be hard to judge from afar but it does tend to correlate with price.

author: capacitor_explosion
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 12:48:39 pm
content: I have a lot of purchases from aliexpress .Non of them were scams . My tactic is always buy logical purchases and not "its like they are giving it away for free" and always on my number 1 list , buy the most popular choice among the other products .

author: jfiresto
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 01:17:04 pm
content: From a couple weeks ago:China Manufacturing Risks are Sky-High Right Now. Act Accordingly

author: bingo600
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 01:31:54 pm
content: I have not have more issues on Ali vs *bay ... Actually less i think.That said i'm still waiting on stuff ordered late feb 2020, never had that long delivery time before. Must be Corona related.If i make a dispute due to package not arriving, i get a refund wo. problems.For the last year or so i have chosen Alimail as shipping, costs a bit more but i get the package within approx 3 weeks.Order while it lasts ... AFAIK EU is ending (2021) the "low limit" where customs doesn't have to be involved ($11 in DK) , for all NON EU shipments.That means +23$ in VAT handling (to DK mail) + 25% vat ... for even a 1$ usb cable , where the vat would 0.25$ to the State./Bingo

author: Connecteur
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 03:08:28 pm
content: I did some considerable research on which brand of lithium 18650 cells to buy, and PKCell was the best result. I researched the sellers and ordered a quantity of them at a good price. When they arrived, they were obviously fakes, weighing much less than a regular cell, and delivering a fraction of the capacity.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 04:27:21 pm
content: Quote from: ataradov on June 05, 2020, 02:29:28 amMy experiences totally mirror this.

author: bateau020
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 08:42:55 pm
content: Quote from: bingo600 on June 05, 2020, 01:31:54 pmSeehttps://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/vat/modernising-vat-cross-border-ecommerce_enandhttps://www.webretailer.com/b/european-ecommerce-vat/#The_2021_VAT_ecommerce_packageIt will be July 2021. AFAIK 2 options will be available for those that play by the rules and do not use the "no commercial value" trick.The limit seems to be 22 EUR now, as reported by various places. My experience tells me that a lot of parcels with higher a value got through without problems, so it remains to be seen how this will turn out.

author: uer166
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 09:28:53 pm
content: Quote from: Connecteur on June 05, 2020, 03:08:28 pmI'm about to order a few hundred PKCell 18650s. What seller did you buy from, was it the official PKCell store?

author: ebclr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 10:05:24 pm
content: " scams that are happening on AliExpress. Mis-shipping, non-shipping, issuing phony order numbers etc."Don't worry Aliexpress is safe is always on the buyer's side, The side on risk there is always on the seller, only extremely fools buyers are scammed, the system protects the buyer. The most you will lose is time on your money until a refund comes. I made 1280 orders have very few issues, ( including the ones on the David Calibrator scam ), but all problems are refunded, all things that didn't work was replaced or returned.The only thing does not expect nothing branded to be original, will be " similar copies" with some exceptions, Even the so-called fake ic's is not a huge problem, must will work, and will fail only if you really need the boundaries of the specs.It's reasonable that you know what are you paying for, Don't expect milagres

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2020, 10:33:06 pm
content: I had no serious issues with alix for years. But lately I've seen a few highly rated sellers give me fake tracking numbers and lie about shipping items out. There was another thread where this was discussed recently, I think due to logistics issues shipping rates shot way up, so if they ship the part they will lose money or know its going to take too long to arrive. Normally you'd just cancel the order as a seller, but in this case they are playing games for some reason..Ali is refunding easily for now, but we will see. The issue is I have to wait for delivery time to run out before disputing. Its possible to contact CS and report it that way, if you want to spend the time.I've completely moved to taobao where none of these logistics issues exist (shipping within china is crazy fast). Oddly some popular stuff is actually cheaper on Alix.This seems to only be a problem for Canada and maybe a few others, as I can see sellers are still shipping items to various countries after my item was purchased.

author: ebclr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2020, 12:05:44 am
content: Taobao is much better and risker than aliexpress, But is more centered on the internal China market only, very few vendors ship internationally or have a way to receive your money or even speak anything that is not Chinese. You can buy from sure with the help of a China agent ( will charge you a commission on that ) but in this way all the risks are on you.I would resume Aliexpress more expensive, more filtered, more export centered,Taobao extremely cheap, very wide options, very agile, you will find anything from original 1st quality gods to stolen or refurbish things, Chinese sense of acceptable quality is quite lower than westerns sense. But you need some help from someone on china side, You can't handle that if you are not ChineseWe also must consider that we are in " COVID " mode none of the logistics are working as usual

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2020, 12:18:03 am
content: The only real problem with Aliexpress was with Dave's calibrator scam as well. Everything else arrived quite well.I don't order that much, though.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2020, 12:18:18 am
content: AliExpress stores/vendors were barely tolerable. About 1/3 of my purchases have been ripoffs. Goods are defective, parcels never arrive, and the usual runaround where you can't communicate with anyone because it's copy-pasta gibberish. Fake tracking numbers, or partial like "hand over to airline". Items under $5? are not covered by Buyer Protection so you will never see those parcels. This is about the seller's lack of integrity.It's much worse now with the pandemic, if you can believe it.Now, sellers are procrastinating shipping so you can order, then weeks later still have no shipping notice. Latest is I'm getting "shipment cancelled by seller", weeks after the order.AliExpress website software really needs improvement and some might say it's designed to rip you off.There's no way to request a seller combine shipping without first paying and getting an order number.Sorting by price does not include shipping costs, and the game is jack up the price but say "free shipping".Mysteriously, dates get pushed back (i.e. when an order will be closed).It will give status as "Awaiting Item Receipt" but a mouse click it changes to "Shipment cancelled by seller".Buyers can leave feedback about you, but sellers cannot view this information, welcome to the "black list".Everyday, searching for the same part will give results excluding some stores or adding others. But going to the store you can find the part, so why did it get dropped from search results given to you days before?Everyday, the item picture that you ordered gets changed. So now it's the older cheaper version of what they baited you with.It's really frustrating and I think I'm done with the bullshit. You just waste months waiting for nothing and projects die waiting or from crappy parts.Right now shipping logistics have collapsed from china and they can't be forthright about any of it.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2020, 12:41:20 am
content: Quote from: ebclr on June 06, 2020, 12:05:44 amDefinitetly only ship within china, and yeah communication is very difficult. But most sellers accept CC now. Refurbished stuff is actually nice to see, if they are honest about it.Its funny to see sellers offer "domestic" and "imported" part option, and the price difference is very small, 10-20%. So for me its not worth purchasing.I am OK with logistics issues, its the pretending to ship part that is annoying.Quote from: floobydust on June 06, 2020, 12:18:18 amDidn't know the <$5 thing, good reason not to spend less than $5 IMO. But I have disputed $2 items on $10 orders, so at least that is possible.QuoteWhen you add items to your cart, the shipping costs will combine. If they don't support that option, then I buy from someone else.Sometimes you will need to choose another shipping method before it combines the costs.Never ever ever use free shipping option to Canada, unless its via china post or some other "proper" shipping method.

author: ebclr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2020, 01:46:40 am
content: Where is this USD 5 protection limit written I didn't found?

author: ebclr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2020, 01:53:06 am
content: " There's no way to request a seller combine shipping without first paying and getting an order number."It's possible, just order and asks for the seller to adjust before payment, I already did that several times, But this must be agreed in advance throughout the chat with the sellerAlso, Alexpress combine the shipment for you from several different sellers and gave you free shipping. But just for items marked as " Free shipping over US$30"

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2020, 03:06:45 am
content: For the last couple years or so I changed to using Banggood and stopped using Aliexpress.

author: bitwelder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2020, 12:45:34 pm
content: On the subject of the shady/unsafe business with AliExpress, how's the safety of the banking transactions with AE,e.g. has been any cases of credit card numbers going into wrong hands, with the result of otherwise unexplained charges, etc. ?Just asking as AliExpress notoriously doesn't accept Paypal payments, so buyers have to 'expose' their wallets a little more.

author: HobGoblyn
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 06, 2020, 12:48:00 pm
content: I used Ali Express for the first time on 15th MayOrdered 5 different things.2 arrived on 27th May4 days ago I got an email about the 3rd now being in the country, it was delivered the following day.Still waiting for the other two but not concerned, it's only been 22 days, I was expecting 4 to 6 weeks

author: ataradov
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2020, 05:43:53 pm
content: Quote from: bitwelder on June 06, 2020, 12:45:34 pmIndividual sellers never see your payment details, and I personally trust AliExpress more than I trust some western companies to keep my information safe.I've never had any issues with them, nor have I heard of anyone having any issues. And a lot of people shop on AliExpress, so you would definitely hear about that, which would be the end of them.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2020, 11:47:17 pm
content: RedditFAQ's on AliExpress 101has loads of advice on dealing with the site.

author: ebclr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2020, 08:09:25 pm
content: " e.g. has been any cases of credit card numbers going into wrong hands, with the result of otherwise unexplained charges, etc. ?Just asking as AliExpress notoriously doesn't accept Paypal payments, so buyers have to 'expose' their wallets a little more."I made more than a thousand orders I never have one issue of this kind.It's possible to pay even without credit card, with bank account only ( this for some countries only).I write down my credit card on Aliexpress without any fear

author: ralphrmartin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 08, 2020, 06:58:41 pm
content: I've got the opposite problem. I ordered some leads back in March, and as they had not arrived in May, filed a claim and got my money back. They actually turned up today - I suppose transportation is seriously disrupted by covid, and its hardly the seller's fault. I now have to figure out how I can reopen my order to give the seller his money.

author: Connecteur
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 08, 2020, 07:57:40 pm
content: Quote from: ralphrmartin on June 08, 2020, 06:58:41 pmSame thing happened to me, more or less. But in my case they didn't want the money, only a good review.

author: fixy88
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2020, 10:28:05 pm
content: Quote from: ralphrmartin on June 08, 2020, 06:58:41 pmI've had this happen where it turned up eventually after a refund - what the seller and I arranged was to buy the item again but not actually ship it.

author: ralphrmartin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2020, 06:40:39 pm
content: Happened to me 3 times so far (all for low cost items). One said "keep it as a gift", one I sent money to personally, and the other one showed me a dummy item to purchase for the same price.

author: Connecteur
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2020, 07:55:51 pm
content: If near-misses are any indication, my experience tells me that dealing with Ali-Express is a risky proposition.

author: ralphrmartin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2020, 04:46:02 pm
content: I guess one recurring problem is mis-description.Sometimes it's quite deliberate - there's a blatant spec war (e.g. battery capacity, magnification of lenses, light output of torches, etc.) - then it pays to figure out what a sensible rating is for the item, and avoid anything which has an implausibly high rating. The sellers rely on the average customer never testing the rating. Sometimes even the quantity supplied is wrongly described, which is not too hard to spot...Sometimes it is just bad translation - e.g. I was looking for an air duster to blow dust off. Lots of things described as dusters or even blowers actually suck rather than blow. I suspect there is no deliberate attempt to mislead here, just poor grasp of English, copying other people's descriptions, etc. Again, check carefully what you are getting (e.g. use Google image search etc to find the item for sale elsewhere, see if a better description is given).The other thing, as others have said, is be realistic with quality expected vis-a-vis the price - it may be somewhat lower than the EU or US, but you are not going to get e.g. precision manufactured tools at pound shop prices. The advantage is greatest for light, low cost items that are very cheap to post, and in the UK, if the total is under £18, attract no import duty.So, with the usual buyer beware, and making sure you know what to expect, I've been generally satisfied. When things did not work out (failed to arrive, arrive broken because of poor packaging, or not up to spec), either the seller has fixed things up or refunded me, or in extremis, AliExpress has given me a refund.The main downside is having to wait up to a couple of months (and longer with covid) for delivery.

author: HobGoblyn
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 07, 2020, 11:24:26 am
content: Quote from: HobGoblyn on June 06, 2020, 12:48:00 pmThird item arrived fineToday my fourth item arrived.A couple of days ago I got an email saying my 5th item had been dispatched.So while it might take a while, so far everything with them has been fine and items exactly as described.

author: MarkR42
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2020, 11:30:14 am
content: I've never had the sellers outright scam me.I ordered 5pcs of a dev board once, and only 4 arrived, but I wasn't too bothered because they were cheap and I didn't really need all 5.

author: MarkMLl
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2020, 09:23:36 am
content: Quote from: Connecteur on June 05, 2020, 03:08:28 pmI've got a chunky Chinese torch which looks like it should take 4x 18650s... but half the space is taken up by a nicely-cut piece of basalt.There are some things that I'd never buy from anywhere that can't issue me a proper certificate of conformity, and batteries are one of them.The Chinese manufacturers can be naive, quite simply not appreciating the importance of making stuff properly and testing it. But if you want to be maliciously ripped off, try dealing with the Indian "reproduction scientific instrument" manufacturers.MarkMLl

author: dreamcat4
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2020, 06:05:03 pm
content: I am guessing that for the case of li-ion batteries specifically, it might make a sense to try to order direct from the manufacturer. But you would probably have to put in a much larger order, several hundred USD's worth.For other items - yeah the shipping speed has been varying substantially between items. BTW you can often select 1 of 2-3 different budget air freight method. And the cheapest shipping options definitely don't have proper tracking. Which then makes it a lot harder to know if that package has been held up or been lost. YMMV.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 10, 2020, 12:43:02 pm
content: I mostly use the “AliExpress standard shipping”. It has some kind of tracking, IIRC.

author: MarkMLl
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 10, 2020, 02:39:23 pm
content: Quote from: dreamcat4 on July 09, 2020, 06:05:03 pmGet 'em from RS or Farnell (not CPC), or AllBatteries if they're anywhere as good as they used to be, and request a Certificate of Conformity.No traceability == no order.MarkMLl

author: chegueva01
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 10, 2020, 04:47:03 pm
content: I'v been buying off ali from 2013 and i have never had any issues , just the typical order not arrived but i always get my money back through a dispute.I'v read on reddit though , the scams happen through messages , when a buyer doesn't receive an item and opens a dispute , some sellers talk the buyer out of keeping the dispute and promise them to give back money or send another item if they cancel order , some stupid people ( sorry) do that and kaboom money gone , seller will never reply again.So be vigilant and never trust what sellers say.

author: aix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 10, 2020, 04:54:27 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on July 10, 2020, 12:43:02 pmI'm under the impression that "AliExpress standard shipping" orders are fulfilled by Ali. This would mean more consistency around shipping methods, tracking & timelines compared to other shipping methods. This has certainly been my experience.I have no insight into how Ali operates, but I'm guessing if orders are indeed fulfilled by them from their warehouses, there are fewer opportunities for a dishonest or unreliable seller to play games with the buyer. (This is speculation on my part.)I personally buy from Ali a lot, and have had a vanishingly small number of issues.

author: Connecteur
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2020, 06:56:04 pm
content: Cheap and shoddy imported goods is an old and familiar refrain. There was once a time when such an accusation was leveled at Japan. Going back far enough, in the 19th century, Europeans were complaining about "cheap and shoddy" goods being made in America.

author: cliffyk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2020, 10:54:18 pm
content: Not specifically an AliExpress, ebay or Amazon issue, however i have given up ordering anything that has an estimated delivery time of more than two weeks. The instances i have been screwed over have all involved things with 4 to 6 week quoted deliveries...