What is the least shitty shit store? Never had a good experience with any of the shops such as, wish, aliexpress and the rest of em. But which one of them is considered the better one, or more likely to actually arrive with the correct item? Is etsy considered better than the rest? Are there any of these “low priced” stores that actually have some sort of guarantee to deliver what is purchased? Let me know your experiences and tips!
Aliexpress is basically amazon with longer shipping time in my experience. Each seller has their own store rating similar to ebay so as long as you exercise judgement ie. Dont buy from brand new stores with 0 feedback or things that are too good to be true and avoid certain things like batteries and storage media unless you know exactly what you’re buying you should be fine. I’ve bought a lot of stuff from there (mostly electronics) and haven’t had bad experiences
This has been my experience as well with Aliexpress. I know there’s a huge caveat emptor going on, but it’s like you said about batteries and storage, be careful unless you know exactly what you’re buying. Like a 64TB SSD for $15.99 proooobably not the real thing. But I have gotten a lot of SBCs, some stuffed animals, and cheap costume jewelry for my wife (who knows it’s cheap, but doesn’t care). Weirdest “quality” purchase? My “gold colored” tungsten wedding ring was $10, comfort fit, and in 6 years still looks like the real thing. But didn’t dent like my original wedding ring (which is why I needed a replacement, got smashed in a door accident). I’d never buy anything that I knew might cause a fire (like batteries) or possibly poison me (like pills).
Wish and Temu ripped me off in some of my first purchases. I was only out $30, and I know it was possible, so I just deleted my account and the apps.
AliExpress is not even close to Amazon except for the fact that it does a great job at providing a wide selection of Chinese products, but cheaper and with longer lead times.
What makes Amazon, Amazon, is its customer service. Without that, it’s like eBay. But even eBay has significantly better customer service than AliExpress.
Speaking as someone who has used AliExpress a lot, it’s pretty good, but only if you understand that all sales are final. Best cast scenario, the seller makes you pay for shipping which generally costs anywhere from 50% to 250% of your original purchase price.
Their customer service always defers to sellers in my experience, and even if they approve a return, what’s the point if you lose money by shipping it back?
I have had three Aliexpress orders go bad, and two of them I was refunded. One of them I was not, despite the fact their own shipping still showed it as on it’s way to New Jersey. They kept insisting I “pick it up at the local post office.” I pointed out Virginia was not near New Jersey. I was denied, but only out $8. As far as Amazon vs. Aliexpress, I will agree with you about Amazon customer service being better. But I have had “AliExpress shipping times” on some Amazon products, which led me to believe that the particular store was outside their local jurisdiction.
AliExpress is a rock solid platform. You just need to know official Chinese brand accounts there. It’s just like Amazon - you order random shit there, you get shit in the mailbox. You order from a reputable branded shop there and you get a high quality item.
https://sale.aliexpress.com/__pc/topbrand.htm
I’d say their official list is close to truth.
Find an official Chinese brand web site and they usually have a link to their shop on Ali. For example, you want to buy some eSun filament for your 3D printer. You go to their web site https://www.esun3d.com/pla-pro-product/ and BOOM! Ali link!
Sometimes they don’t have a link on their web site, so you search for a brand on Ali directly and search for a gold rated shop with loads of followers and a properly maintained product catalogue. Here’s an example https://m.aliexpress.com/store/5793617?trace=store2mobilestoreNew&spm=a2g0n.order_detail.order_detail_item.1.24a0f19cuwE2kw
AliExpress screwed me recently. A vendor sent me the wrong items. I mean, they weren’t even the same kind of items. I disputed it with the vendor and they said they’d sent the right things, so there.
I opened a case with AliExpress. They asked me for a whole lot of information, some of which didn’t make any sense, along with some pictures. I sent them everything. They sided with the vendor.
Fortunately, I had paid with PayPal. PayPal looked over the information from both sides and promptly refunded my money.
I don’t expect to be doing business with AliExpress again any time soon.
I have ordered so many things over the past 8 years on AliExpress and the only issues I had was shops not delivering the right amount. Disputing that was never an issue. I wonder why so many other people have serious issues with it.
How did you pay with PayPal on AliExpress? They haven’t supported it in years?
Just wanted to point out that Etsy isn’t really in the same category as the other shops you listed. Think handmade crafts and souvenir store compared to Walmart.
Edit: I’m apparently reminiscing on the Etsy of yesteryear. I guess it’s shit now.
Sure used to be that way but modern day Etsy is flooded with drop shippers selling AliExpress stuff
It’s such a shame really, because there are really cool independent sellers with some awesome handmade / hard to find vintage stuff, but they’re drowned out by drop shippers (who wouldn’t even be able to sell anything on there if people knew that same item was available through aliexpress without the 100x markup)
I’ve ordered everything from audio stuff to knives on aliexpress. Find a good reputable seller and you’re good. That’s pretty much the same for any platform like Ebay. Amazon has increasingly gotten worse. Now it’s either really big name brands or cheap chinese clones
Edit: check out Louis Rossman’s video buying electrical equipment from Amazon. If you buy the top rated results, you’ll probably fuck yourself over. One of the top products is a fuse that won’t blow like it’s supposed to, if you put this in your system, it will be catastrophic and life threatening.
Aliexpress also has fakes, but if you want to shop for brands that originate in China, you can find actually good quality products for very cheap. Like Ugreen, who makes nice phone/multi chargers, cables, powerbanks, or Sonoff for smart home stuff, or Anycubic for 3D resin printers.
Amazon is a shitshow, I can’t even find the original stuff. Wish is just a scam. Ebay is okay, but their shipping is not the best.
Amazon definitely has. Almost all the clothing is either brands I can’t afford or no name brands that are terrible quality. I have returned my last sweater. So freaken down with them. Go back to clothing shopping in a physical store like it is 1999.
