Aliexpress - Any regular users?

[seadog]

Placed my first order with Aliexpress yesterday, Luckeasy items, got all weather mats with the high sides, a frunk mat and lower trunk mat all for under £67 delivered, will likely have customs to pay but hoping it will be under £90 all in. The waiting game begins....

I now have around £50 of "select coupons", are these any use, how do you redeem them.

Feel I'm fairly tech friendly but I find the app quite confusing to use to be honest.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

I've bought stuff from Aliexpress a few times. My experience has been that it's less user-friendly than other online outlets, stuff often takes a long time to arrive (typically 3 to 6 weeks) and you sometimes get hit with import duty, VAT and a handling fee, depending on the courier and random chance.

Sending stuff back isn't an option, as the heavily subsidised postage is one-way, it only applies to stuff coming from China to the UK. I got caught out once buying some replacement UV-C tubes that were less than half the price of the same tubes here. The snag was that about two thirds of them were duff, so overall they ended up costing more. I bought some mats from there and they were fine, comparing them to more expensive ones from Amazon they appear to be absolutely identical.

For stuff that isn't too expensive, and which you are prepared to take a risk on, Aliexpress is fine, IMHO, but I'd not want to buy something pricey from there, only to find that it was duff when it arrived.

 

[Medved_77]

I've bought a load of stuff via Luckeasy and I've been really pleased with the quality and I've always found postage to be quick compared to other outlets in China.

Of course, they can't please every customer and individual experiences will differ but of the 5 shipments I've had from them they arrived between 7-28 days.

I've never had to pay import fees however that is pot luck.

I think you'll find the vouchers need to be spent in certain stores, on certain items and you'll need to spend a minimum amount for them to be valid.

 

[seadog]

Decided to take a chance as Amazon sellers seem to be well over £100 for the floor mats alone. Due to the size of the items it's going to be uneconomical to return to China so will have to hope for the best, if there are no import fees that would be a bonus The vouchers and coins etc are a bit confusing, think I'll wait to see how this purchase goes before ordering anything else.

Main worry just now is that LHD mats arrive although it did state RHD in the photo.

 

[KaiM]

I've had mixed experiences with Aliexpress where some have arrived fine and I think one seller attempted to scam me on one item but I'm getting my money back from Aliexpress dispute resolution.

I actually found an all weather boot mat same price from a UK seller on eBay vs Aliexpress in the end for that item.

 

[Derek_J]

I have used Aliexpress a lot over the last few years. The delivery time depends a lot on which carrier the vendor uses. When you place an order you can choose from a list of delivery methods with estimated times. Not surprisingly the cheapest carriers tend to quote the longest times, but in my experience few take more than three or four weeks. I ordered Model 3 console covers from LuckEasy recently and they came within two weeks.

Bulky and heavy items can cost a lot more for delivery. For larger items you can buy often buy the same thing from eBay with UK stock cheaper.

I have never had to pay import duties for an Aliexpress order. Dividing up the order into separate shipments may help avoid duties, since I believe Customs and Excise do not bother for cheaper shipments.

As for sending defective items back, that of course is out of the question. However AliExpress offer a really good satisfaction guarantee. If an item does not arrive, or is defective, or not as described contact the vendor first. They will invariably either replace, or refund you. If they do not give a refund a complaint to Aliexpress will get you your refund.

 

[Sparkeur]

As most people say, it's a bit hit or miss. Guarantees are pretty much worthless (as I found out to my cost with an electric bike) for stuff that comes direct from China. Some companies however, have European warehouses for smaller goods like phones etc so that sometimes reduces the risk and price.

 

[zayn]

stopped using Aliexpress, Alibaba, DGHGate since covid. Can get most items direct from Amazon, ebay UK sellers now without extra wait or premium prices

 

[rotor2k]

Buying retail from AliExpress has always seemed wrong to me. There are no protections for things like lead-based paint or other toxic materials that buying from a UK seller would protect you against. And it just seems so wrong to pay 20p for something that has to be packaged and shipped halfway around the world, which as mentioned is surely heavily subsidised to artificially appear cheap but at significant cost to the environment. Much better and more efficient for someone in the UK to buy in bulk, get it shipped in bulk, and then setup operation here, with the corresponding checks and appropriate liability, plus customer service. But I guess that would cost more, so... :shrug:?

 

[LongRanger]

Used it for one order, won’t bother again. Complete shambles and cheap crap products. Should have been more realistic and faced reality that when you pay peanuts, you get cheap junk.

Better off ordering from Abstract Ocean, at least they stand behind their products even if it does cost significantly more money.

 

[94jdh]

Placed my first order with Aliexpress yesterday, Luckeasy items, got all weather mats with the high sides, a frunk mat and lower trunk mat all for under £67 delivered, will likely have customs to pay but hoping it will be under £90 all in. The waiting game begins....

I now have around £50 of "select coupons", are these any use, how do you redeem them.

Feel I'm fairly tech friendly but I find the app quite confusing to use to be honest.

Most of the Matte carbon products to match the M3P rear spoiler were from Luckeasy and the quality and service were very good in my experience.