AliExpress

Use a CREDIT CARD with PURCHASE PROTECTION.
Buy ONLY ONE item at a time (if you buy more than one and have a problem, their wonky system makes it difficult to address; also, should an item go lost and in the rare event that one is not refunded as A.E.'s dispute process is also a little wonky at times, you can get the money back through your credit.

A.E. Has a chat robot you HAVE to use to then get a real person which may help a dispute along. This is the only direct way I've found to interact with A.E. Although others exist on-site (that don't work).

Complaints: 30 day shipping times, tough return shipping policy.
Example: I ordered a $40 product, received the wrong item, $20 to return (shipping). Seller offered a refund $20 so I kept an item I didn't want.

If you really want to save money beware & stay away from Aliexpress a. K. a. Alibaba's fraudulent online scamming business site & partners. Doesn't get any worse than this $#@! Stay away. You're taking a huge chance with your money! The FBI should investigate Aliexpress a. K. a. Alibaba. I placed an ordered about a year ago online & Aliexpress a. K. a. Alibaba confirmed they received my payment & I still haven't receive my order from them and they refuse to refund my money! No transparency! NO ACCOUNTABILITY! No direct contact information! Don't expect to speak to anyone at all! The FBI & the IRS should investigate Aliexpress a. K. a. Alibaba & all of their partners.

Aliexpress is a lottery. If you bought a quality product then you are lucky and you saved money. But if you bought a defective product then you lost money. For example, I bought a smartphone for $ 600 from this phone did not work. I wrote to the seller and technical support Aliexpress. And I had to send the smartphone back to China, and so the return of the goods to the seller at my expense. That is, I paid $ 70 for returning a smartphone with a defect back to the store. I think in this case, the seller must pay shipping costs, or Aliexpress, but clearly not the buyer. I'm very disappointed. Aliexpress need to change the return policy. Shipping costs for returning defective items must be paid by the seller.

I like this website for the product prices as I can buy the product with a good discount and it's more worthly than buying the same item in local shop. But of course AliExpress has its own disadvantages, for exaple shipping time, but I'm ready to wait if the price is really low and the quality of the product is high/ at least not bad :)

Reasons never to buy from Ali Express.

1) You will never get a refund for a defective item although they will give you hope for a long time

2) You will not be allowed to leave feedback for an item which you have disputed. Therefore do not rely on the feedback you do see for items on their website as it is rigged.

3) As of 2018, with GST and Customs Duty and Postal Charges being imposed on even small value items, be prepared to pay around 50% of the item cost to the postman on delivery with GST being the major chunk of it.

4) It takes about a month to receive the item.

Its better to buy from Amazon / Flipkart, even if you have to pay more, as the feedback you see for items reviewed is not rigged and you will returns for defective items.

I purchased a cycling jersey. I used the included sizing chart. What arrived was labeled as the size in the chart, however, the actual jersey was not even close. I sent a request for refund and included the picture they requested which included the size label. They declined the refund because they said it did not include the size label. When I tried to appeal the decision the link took me to a dead end. Obviously they don't care about repeat business.

I ordered several clematis rootings from China through Aliexpress. Not one plant survived after a very lengthy transportation period. Not only that, the package was identified as TOYS, a deceitful misnomer for PLANTS. Two other orders of flower bulbs (calla and amaryllis) from China never arrived after 60 days, being detained at Customs. The owner kept writing in a ludicrous manner, "Don't worry. The plants are in transit." I received that message more than once even after I expressed my dissatisfaction with the guaranteed service. The AliExpress Case Management Team was equally vague and slow. The company offered an unacceptable 1/3 refund. I reported them to the Florida Attorney General.

I won't order from them again. I did not receive the merchandise.
The site indicated that it arrived, but I did not get it. Filed a
Dispute, but still didn't get merchandise and no refund.
It took a long time to ship the items too.

I was ripped off! At AliExpress
I thought I bought original Toyota parts as advertised in original packaging! Only to find out that they were counterfeit items that would damage my Toyota vehicle according to my Toyota dealership

I advise all customers not buy in aliexpress, even say in their web site that their is refund/return, I experienced their bad service, the seller will not give your money back and the aliexpress will not help you at all

I placed an order in January as a guest without an account. I received a confirmation email of my order and later confirmed shipping. However, none of the provided links would work because I placed the order as a guest. Tracking did not work, contacting the seller did not work, and filing a dispute did not work. Customer service is very friendly but useless, as they only take your time and do not provide any help. This was my first and last order.