Team-BHP - Buying from AliExpress

I recently bought a pair of 3 keychains for my car , all of them which resembled the original ones. Quality definitely not up to the mark in the 2 keychains which got delivered. The colours of the //M badging are way off (purple instead of blue). But not something to complain considering how little I paid for them.

I bought quite a lot of things from Ali express and quite a number of people from our team also buys a lot from Ali express, mainly IOT and electronic stuffs. Normally no costing more than 4-5k (most of the orders costing less than 1k). I can say 80% of them gets delivered here in Bangalore and items work as described. Never happened that something did not work, but 20% gets lost in transit. However buyer protection is very good in Ali express they refund whole amount if not delivered, no questions asked (so far). Only negative, you have to wait for at least a month and mostly two months to get a thing (when bought with reasonable shipping cost) which makes it a deal breaker many times.

However, Indian e-commerce sites are catching up good, apart from Amazon.in, we got Robu.in, 2 days delivery and good return/refund policy. So now a days though it is costlier in Indian sites, if the item I am looking for available here normally I do not look into Ali express anymore.

I have placed more than a 100 orders from Aliexpress. The only 2 downsides are the extremely long delivery times and some items being lost in transit. The upside is that I have received a refund of all the item that I have not received. Though most low value items do not attract a customs duty, I have paid customs at the post office for higher value items. Like some of the bhpians have mentioned before, I generally shop for items with a rating of at least 4.6.

Accessories for my cars and guitar have mostly been quite good but I would not recommend buying critical mechanical components from Aliexpress as the quality may be suspect. Dashcams, steering covers, door guards, etc can be easily purchased at very low costs and they have served me quite well.

To all the experienced buyers - what is the mode of payment you have been using and the safest mode of payment for purchases? I think that's more a cause for concern for first time buyers than the quality of products itself.

I have bought a fair number of items from AliExpress. Mostly low-priced items: Electronics accessories and cables, lots of toys and action figures. I've paid for them via Credit Card, despite long wait times I've never had misplaced orders. The quality has been satisfactory for the price paid. The shipping mode has been regular China Post which has been reliable as well.

The only time I've faced a delay is when I purchased my most expensive item - A 70mai Dashcam from Gearbest. I had to wait nearly 6 months for it because it was held up for customs clearance.

I have also bought many things from AliExpress and the experience has generally been positive. Most items have reached on time, and I have received refunds for the items that did not show up. One minor annoyance is that some sellers move the status of the item to shipped instead of cancelling or extending the processing time. Then, AE makes us wait for 10 days before raising a dispute (even when we have proof from the seller, admitting that they haven't sent the item).

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedmunster (Post 4714786)

I have placed more than a 100 orders from Aliexpress. The only 2 downsides are the extremely long delivery times and some items being lost in transit

+1 to everything you said.

So far I have ordered no. of small value electronic components for DIY projects. The price differential vs. indian vendors is unbelievable! I have a rule of thumb ceiling of 1K rupees for items I order there. The product experience has been 100% vs. expectation so far. The delivery experience however is an altogether different story. The longest wait time for one my orders was 73 days! It gets very hard to plan projects with uncertain lead time for required components. So if you are in a hurry to fix or make something then may be look elsewhere.

I have been buying stuff from Aliexpress for some time. Mostly got tools for DIY and toys for the kids. I bought LED light for my motorcycle as I couldn't find something similar in the local market (local mechanics advising against LED). There is slight flicker at low RPM but that is liveable. Otherwise the light has performed better than expectations.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32805341710.html

Toys didn't last that long. However, they were unique and were good till the time they worked.

I placed an order for turn signals and a tail light for my motorcycle in December 2019, still in transit.

One day I placed about 10 orders for small ticket items on Aliexpress. Only 50% of these arrived. For the remainder, I had to raise dispute and ask for refund which went preety smooth

Another website which I used was Bangood for buying a dashcam. Unfortunately the dashcam didnt work as intended. Bangood guys were cool enough to give a full refund and I got to keep the dashcam too

As government has now started adding custom duty even on gift items of lower value(news published last week (source), I think ali-express may now lose its charm and we all need to be careful for all our online future purchase from outside India.

Quote:

Cracking down on Chinese e-commerce companies that try to evade customs duty and taxes, the Indian government has removed the provision of duty-free ‘gifts and samples’ from abroad valued at under Rs 5,000

I would say that I am a seasoned shopper from Aliexpress. I bought my first item, a leather key cover for my Jazz way back in 2014. I have placed over 100 orders since with an 80% delivery rate, and a 100% refund rate ( minus a few rupees in view of INR to USD conversion differences) for the lost or defective products. The priciest item I have bought is 5k worth of bluedio headphones. However, I have been tempted to make more expensive buys recently but the internet pages stating customs is whipping a leash on these websites, has put me on hold.

Go ahead with your purchases. They are friendly and intelligent sellers when it comes to asking them questions about the products. Aliexpress protects your money for lost orders or disputes raised for partial or full refunds for defective or incorrect products.

I am thankful that we have access to Aliexpress.
I have made multiple purchases including higher value ones like 3D Projector.

My Camry's front bonnet lift support struts died its natural death (I read that lifetime for this is about 10 years) and have been trying to source replacement. I was told by the service center that replacement would (1) cost nearly 11000 + tax + labor (2) take 15 days since it had to be imported. Other sourcing options like second hand parts yards did not help. Then noticed there are options on Aliexpress, I bought this:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3299...6e184c4daRXgRK
for $18.38 and free shipping. Was delivered on the 33th day. I changed the struts 'DIY' and am happy with the results.

Have also recently bought a car dashboard carpet for $14.04 + free shipping.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3293...6e184c4daRXgRK
wasnt available online on the Indian shopping portals, or offline where I checked. Delivery time 36 days.

I've been buying for very long time now. While most are untracked shipments, i have lost less than 2% of them. Off late, i see GATI as one of logistics option and they deliver within a week ! Quality of products and response of sellers are very much rating driven, no heartaches so far as i avoid expensive purchases and limit to knick knacks alone.

I've bought more than dozen items from Aliexpress over the past 2 years.

Mostly car accessories and small knick knacks. The most memorable purchase has been a dash cover for my Honda City which has eliminated reflections and gives it a nice look.

I always use Aliexpress Standard shipping and delivery times is between 2 to 3 weeks with final delivery by India Post. Have never lost a shipment or have had to pay extra duties; ship to New Delhi.