When Alibaba Group decided to launch its new global wholesale platform AliExpress.com, many e-commerce experts in China shed doubts on the big move Alibaba was going to take. However, since AliExpress made its official debut in April 2010, all doubts have gradually gone. Today, as a giant in the arena of small wholesale business, AliExpress speaks another huge success of Alibaba.
AliExpress.com & Alibaba.com
Over the past decade since its inception in 1999, Alibaba.com has established an unbeatably big name on the global market of wholesale trade and almost all merchants know well about Alibaba.com. Comparatively, AliExpress.com may be still a little bit strange to some businesses. If you are looking for orders in small quantities with fast shipment and secure protection, you are encouraged to learn more about AliExpress, right from here.
As the brand name indicates, AliExpress is composed of “Ali + Express”. Yes, from the very beginning, AliExpress is intended to be Alibaba’s express channel for wholesale transactions. We know, Alibaba.com charges membership fees on suppliers and mainly provides information service between sellers and buyers. Different from Alibaba.com, AliExpress.com does not charge any fees on registered members (either suppliers or buyers) and inspects the whole transaction process between the two transaction parties. It’s a wholesale platform targeting small and medium-sized suppliers and buyers. There minimum orders as low as 1 item are accepted and express delivery, in some cases, fast and free shipping is offered. In addition, a vast array of item categories can be found on AliExpress—it truly is a one-stop-shop for small wholesale orders.
AliExpress Escrow
AliExpress uses the Escrow service to provide complete protection on each transaction. Under the protection, buyers don’t need to worry that what they order will never arrive or what they purchase is not as described. Let’s make it simple enough: AliExpress only releases payment to the seller when the buyer is happy with the order received. Learn more about AliExpress Escrow >>
AliExpress Credibility
On the internet, we may occasionally find a few unhappy customers complaining about “AliExpress scam”. Just think about what a successful image Alibaba has built in the world, you would instantly realize that a reputed international company like Alibaba can’t in any possible rip its customers off. Some buyers may have some unpleasant experience with some individual sellers and fail to resort to AliExpress for a solution. That’s how most “AliExpress scam” complaints come out.
Here we would remind you that though AliExpress conducts a very strict policy to verify each supplier before authorizing their membership qualifications, not all suppliers are in practice qualified enough and some of them may be even dishonest. To avoid being scammed by such suppliers, you need to check the credibility of the supplier who offers items that interest you, in terms of feedback scores and ratings, supplier level and other details listed on the product detail page. If by any chance you are unhappy with the transaction, do remember to ask AliExpress for help in time.
AliExpress Shipping
On each product detail page, you can find all the shipping carriers available for the item under the “Shipping & Packing” tab. Each shipping company is listed there with detailed information including shipping cost, discount and delivery time. AliExpress provides a variety of shipping companies for buyers to choose from based on their preferences. For express delivery, the China wholesale platform offers EMS (China Post), UPS, DHL, FedEx, TNT, SF and more; for postal service, Air Mail (China Post) is available. However, not all these shipping methods are available on all items. It may also depend on whether the seller uses them to ship out orders. So just check the “Shipping & Packing” section as mentioned earlier.
AliExpress Payment
Currently, AliExpress accepts PayPal, Moneybookers, Visa, MasterCard and bank transfer. Some select debit cards are also accepted, including Maestro, Solo, Carte Bleue, PostePay, CartaSi, 4B and Euro6000. Meanwhile, AliExpress is adding more payment options. For details, click here >>
AliExpress Coupons
Discounts and special offers are frequently launched on AliExpress.com, but coupons are rarely issued to all buyers, though from time to time AliExpress may send some coupons to its select customers. On the homepage of AliExpress.com, you can see a “Promotional Products” page and an “All Promotions” page, where items on sale are all showcased there. To get the latest AliExpress coupons, you can see our updates on our AliExpress & Coupons page.
As a conclusion, I should say, I myself have full confidence in AliExpress and believe it is the best China wholesale platform for small and medium-size transactions. By using AliExpress, buyers can enjoy secure and pleasant shopping with minimum costs and get quality items. Isn’t it exactly what most buyers are seeking for?
I think when you start to accept the fact that you should not expect all the products on Aliexpress by USA quality standard- They are from China! So stop buying those cloths with complicated designs or fabric. Just buy jeans and simple designed shirts, that’s it. And for electronics, just buy well-known Chinese brands, like Huawei, Xiaomi. Any brands that you’ve never heard, just forget it.
Stop expecting too much, then you will see, all the Chinese e-commerce platforms like Wish, Shein, Gearbest and so on, are the same situation,
From my experience, aliexpress has worst customer protection ever.
I ordered a product and it arrived damaged. I started refund process and I wanted to get partial refund. Instead, the decision to send the goods back was made without my consent. I wrote to customer service at least 5 times and made and appeal, but it did not help. Every time I was promised that my appeal to change the decision will be considered, but every next time the conversation with customer care started from the beginning, i.e. that the decision is already made.
In summary, the worst dispute experience ever. The customer care simply does not work. No chance to get some feedback. No change that you will be listened. If you have dispute on aliexpress, you are in trouble.
Worst dispute process and customer service ever.
I ordered a tea set and it arrived damaged. I started refund process and I wanted to get partial refund. Instead, the decision to send the goods back was made without my consent. I wrote to customer service at least 5 times and made and appeal, but it did not help. Every time I was promised that my appeal to change the decision will be considered, but every next time the conversation with customer care started from the beginning, i.e. that the decision is already made.
In summary, the worst dispute experience ever. The customer care simply does not work. No chance to get some feedback. No change that you will be listened. If you have dispute on aliexpress, you are in trouble.
I ordered an inexpensive cell phone for overseas traveling use. The phone came with wrong specs and wrong color, but even worse, it couldn’t be charged, or powered on. Aliexpress refused to ship a replacement for it. Their dispute process is a joke. They found my dispute invalid. So I opened a dispute with my credit card company, after I presented a diagnosis from a local cell phone repair store, I won the dispute and got the full refund from my credit card company.
My advice: don’t do business with this company.
AliExpress is offering $4 AUD discount voucher for new registration. I registered my self & placed an order. The system allowed me to use the discount coupon. After 2 weeks my order was auto-cancelled & no notification from them at all. It’s been around 2 months since then that I have been chasing them……haven’t received a refund yet…..also now they are not responding to online queries……NEVER TRUST THE CHINESE…….I will not use AliExpress again & am also spreading my experience to as much people as possible so that others do not get cheated by this cheat organization.
I had many experiences where the purchases don’t reach and the sellers con you, abysmal customer service, no to speak of.
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I need an answer. I put a dispute and never got an answer..order #: 91715161823239, I been in my inbox since 5/19/18 and no reply. ripoff!
I opened a dispute on 5/19/18 and nobody either from the sexy beach store, nor Ali express, ever even bothered to even respond! I’m a frequent shopper and thought to give Ali Express a try. First order for some flip flops was great without a glitch. That’s why I started trusting them and placed my 2nd order: 91715161823239. Tracking # 94001108953430995390 19 Big mistake, it was broken up in 3 packages, only received 1 and it’s not even close to how it’s described. It states material is solid, however is completely see through, I cannot do anything with that bikini, it is NOTHING how it’s described. Very cheaply made with the worst stitching I have seen. Again I’m a frequent shopper and know what I’m talking about. I wish I haven’t placed my 2nd order. They are not very smart either, cause now they lost a good customer, who could be a lifetime customer. I rather stick with Trendsgal and even SammyDress is better than Ali Express. HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE. They flat out ignore my inquiries. I even attached pics. My next step will be Federal Trade Commision to save others from this rip off company, who don’t even bother to at least reply to their customers. I suppose to get a message from Kira an with the sexy beach store and then Ali Express since they brag about their buyer protection, which is one big lie, just to get customers to buy from then. This is a breach and very desceptive.How can they be in business and allow to sell on the internet. Maybe I need to do some research and also report them to the internet Fraud division.
Lately I’ve experienced many of my orders through aliexpress sent with China registered mail to my address in Germany have NOT arrived!
The shipping company and seller may given the wrong address, delivered to wrong recipients, stolen or missing or even still in the German Customs, the shipping company just marked them as “successful delivery”!
As aliexpress Platinum Member I received unfair judgement after disputing my orders & feel disadvantaged with losing my money so very often for NOT receiving my orders. Because your Case Management Team do NOT/ can NOT read properly or don’t understand how shipping and Online Shopping should work. I doubt that Aliexpress people have business knowledge or have knowledge in Customer Service!!!
Online shopping should be easy, customers ordered and paid online then paid items should be delivered to the customer and end of story, Everyone is happy!
But Aliexpress expected that Customers should waste their times & nerves finding whereabout their packages & even when they dispute them, Customers are the ones who should provide stupid “valid proof of NOT receiving their packages” and after wasting their times and nerves at the end Aliexpress is taking sides of the sellers!!!
What kind of system is that???
At the end, Aliexpress customers being cheated from their money, their times & nerves! What a joke!!!
I’ve ENOUGH of waiting 3 months for my orders then finding out that I don’t receive them then I’ve to bear losing my money of losing the packages!
No thank you! I rather order stuff in Amazon or other online shopping sites even I have to pay double the price but I’m sure that my order will be delivered within 1 week, I can return my order within 4 weeks without paying return mail & it’s the job of the sellers to make sure I receive my order without inconvenient the customers
Horrible! Seller can provide fake tracking no item received and no refund. Zero buyer protection!
Aliexpress: TAKE YOUR CUSTOMER’S DISPUTES AND COMPLAINTS SERIOUSLY AND DON’T CHEAT ON YOUR CUSTOMERS!!!
IF YOU DON’T CARE, THEN I WILL NOT BUY ANYTHING ANYMORE FROM ALIEXPRESS, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR LOYAL CUSTOMER AND I WILL SPEND MY THOUSANDS OF EUROS ELSEWHERE AND OF COURSE I WILL SHARE MY BAD EXPERIENCES WITH ALIEXPRESS ONLINE AND WILL NEVER RECOMMEND ALIEXPRESS TO ANYONE!!!
BE SERIOUS IN DOING YOUR BUSINESS!!!
I have purchased inexpensive items from Ali express a number of times. I bought a bird feeder, a costume jewelry bracelet, and some cell phone covers. All cheap stuff. Shipping was free. The bird feeder came in a week, to my surprise, but it was poorly packaged and could have broken had the delivery service not been careful!
The cellphone covers came in about 6 months, never thought I would see them but I wasn’t in a hurry to get them.
My bracelet came in 4 months and I love it, it’s not a high end expensive item and I was willing to wait.
My advice is: CHECK the sellers rating, JUST LIKE EBAY. DONT buy high priced items and NEVER EVER BUY CLOTHES.
I ran away as fast as I could after reading the reviews on the Aliexpress Scams. Work to hard for my money!
AliExpress has some very good quality products available at wholesale prices. I’ve been very happy with what I’ve received from them.
The cons are snail mail shipping, inconsistencies in quality among sellers, Asian sizing and not knowing 100% if what you are getting is what was described.
One seller sent me a slightly different handbag than the one I ordered and I negotiated a 50% discount. I was very happy with that outcome.
I did an AliExpress haul and review of 8 products (handbags & clothes). These are my honest opinions of the products and company.
Check out video at monicasmoda.com
Thank you for the reviews. I’m sorry you all were cheated and ripped off but they warn me not to do business with aliexpress.
Again, thank you all.
Chris
Stay away iLife vacuum cleaner
I made an order for iLife vacuum cleaner and when the seller send with different carrier from different warehouse, I needed to pay extra feeds, they didn’t refund me after a 60days waiting of them to negotiate with the seller.
87341708888997
Aliexpress is untrustworthy. Stay away. They are placing their customers’ security in jeopardy.
I wonder whether their cheap prices are a trick to steal people’s identity?
In my opinion the buyer protection does not work outside China. Even if the item is incorrect or defective the refund is predicated on you paying tracked shipping of the returned item. Ebay and Amazon make seller pay return shipping on bad items. They ship to you cheap bulk and subsidized but In most cases the cost of tracked return shipping of a single item is more than the cost of the item. It appears many sellers know this and when you do a dispute they just ignore you and wait until the required tracking number return sent time out and they get your money. The seller could send you a rock and you are out of luck! (Unless you ordered a rock) Unfortunately this is the truth on how this really works and AliExpress is losing and will continue to lose good buyers and good will toward AliExpress when they eventually experience and realize this.
I bought Order #85580659034066 from Aliexpress, an electric hot air gun. I specified 120V/60Hz US plug. Seller sent Australian plug, 220v/50hz. I paid $37.32 CA for this product. I took pictures of the wrongly sent product, noting the label and incorrect plug. Seller admitted that they no longer sold the US plug product. But they had not changed the website. I requested FULL REFUND WITHOUT RETURN since the return cost would be more than the product cost. They refused. In the end, after the DISPUTE WAS FINISHED, they now say that they will only refund $7.46 CA!!!
Since I am an A4 rated member, having bought thousands of items from Aliexpress, but almost all of these were small and inexpensive items. I have had to file DISPUTES BEFORE for lost items that did not arrive. However, this is a TOTAL SCAM AND RIP OFF, not only from the Seller but from Aliexpress Dispute department itself!!! I will never deal with them again!!!
I asked them whether not paying the $37.32 CA refund and losing me as a customer was worth it. They did not respond
DO NOT BUY FROM ALIEXPRESS!
Terrible experience. Dealt with a seller (BDIEN Bike Store) who is a liar and thief. I ordered large pants, but I was sent a pair that were a similar to a small child size pants. I couldn’t even fit my legs in. I sent the seller proof that he had the wrong sizes for US large. What he called “large” was in actuality a “small”. The seller was rude and had no customer service skill.
So keep these 2 things in mind:
1. When you buy on Aliexpress be prepared for rude sellers, no customer service,
2. If you aren’t satisfied with your order expect and no refunds. If you want to return any items from the USA, the sellers do not provide free return shipping. To ship to China it will cost at a minimum $35 – $50 for small items, so it isn’t’ worth it for items less than $50.00. Aliexpress knows this and that is why they offer a “money back refund when the items are returned”. They know most people in the US aren’t going to return the item because it is too expensive.
DO NOT BUY FROM ALIEXPRESS!
Be careful to buy on Aliexpress, they have NOT buy protection!!!
I ordered on May a guitar to Guitar of China Store, until now (end of August) any item was shipped. I contacted the seller many time and Aliexpress by chat for a refund, but nothing happened.
The seller tell just balls and aliexpress just promise but nothing was done to protect me that i have paid 350$. The shame is that I can’t open dispute because the order is automatically marked as “finished” although Guitar of China Store never shipped the guitar.
REMEMBER these before order on aliexpress: you can be fraud easily and the buyer protection NOT EXIST you just lose your money!!!
I hope this will help to new buyer of AliExpress :
I do not have any option to give negative rating else I would have given -5 to AliExpress. They are super fraud in online business. Initially they will try to gain your confidence and later on along with their seller they will snatch your money. When you open AliExpress page, the very first link on the page (when you see little carefully) is “Bayer Protection”. Its just their slogan of marketing…show caret and loot the genuine buyer. They have two option full or partial refund. They never do any of these. In fact there is no “Buyer Protection” at all from AliExpress. I bought one NEW LG V10 mobile (the seller is Beyond Tech, Carina Li) and the cost of mobile is $305. Seller sent used and NOT WORKING mobile. It is very simple scenario of online buying. I sent many messages to seller but they did not respond so I raised dispute and next day I got response from seller Carina Li. With lots of communication she got agree that I will return the mobile I received and she will to send new mobile. Once I returned that mobile, its been 6 months and I never got either new mobile or my money back. As I created dispute so AliExpress decision came in sellers favor (in fact just decision nothing like why they are taking this decision) and ZERO refund to me. Their customer support and their dispute team seat in corner and take what ever decision they want to make. No question to seller why they sent used and not working mobile. In entire case seller wrote “I did not receive mobile”. That is all and decision is went in their favor.
Once you do buying with big money, this is their usual traits. I got to know from couple of source that they frequently do such fraud but I did not believe them and here is the result. This is the sequence they follow : they will send old item, you will complain and return, they will never receive that item back, you will raise dispute, and finally whatever you explain through messages to AliExpress the decision goes in favor of seller. You will finally waste your money and time. This is how they protect seller and their commission, NOT the buyer protection. I am open to share all the details and communication that happened between seller, AliExpress and me (just send message to me) to who so ever interested. Folks just protect your self from such fraud by AliExpress and Seller. The worse part of this is their Customer Support and they are always in half sleep. What you ask, and what they understand just god knows. Well, its a lesson learned. Moved back to our USA based online seller and giving little extra money to protect my money, toll free number to reach them if there is any problem with delivered item, great customer support and peace of mind with reliable guarantee and warranty. -Bill
Next update as of Aug21, 2017 : I raised an appeal and AliExpress site says “Appeal has been raised, please wait for 2-5 working days”. Now its more than 20 days are over and nothing had happened. AliExpress appeal is meaning less.
Be careful – Aliexpress seems cheap and wel managed but reality is different.
Quality is often poor, deliveries are not conform description and then you think they have a performant dispute service…. Keep on dreaming – the dispute service doesn’t care about the voice of the customer even if you provide the correct proof of a non quality delivery….
So in the end you have paid money for a non conform delivery and NULL support from AliExpress
I would call that a rip-off