AliExpress can offer great deals, but it’s also very easy to get scammed, receive a cheap knock-off, or even end up with nothing at all. The search engine isn’t very helpful, often mixing reputable merchants with sketchy ones and real products with junk.

So far, I’ve found the AliUp extension, which seems fairly helpful. I wish there were third-party websites with independent reviews, but I haven’t found anything truly helpful or comprehensive yet.

So, what are your tips for buying on AliExpress or similar platforms?

  • sping@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    1·
    12 days ago

    Avoid categories where a lot of items have fake specs (storage devices, LED bulbs, anything that claims a runtime on a Li-Ion battery)

    I’d say be aware rather than avoid. E.g I bought a $10 camping lantern that claimed 2.5 times its true capacity, but it still runs for hours and is a great, well designed, if flimsy, product for the price.

    • ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.orgEnglish
      0·
      12 days ago

      Well, depends on how much you’re OK with some problems. I knowingly bought a “2 TB (64 GB Extended)” flash drive, tested its sectors and reprogrammed it to 32-in-64-GB for wear leveling and bad sector avoidance because it was still a cheap 32GB USB drive. I made sure to label it for “non-critical use” such as movies.

      As for camping lanterns, ones charged from mains might have a nasty habit of shocking their users. (The YouTube channel contains a huge number of cheap Chinese charger teardowns and most don’t meet safety criteria. Usually, there is just 1 or 2 layers of thin tape between mains and the output you can touch.)

      • m-p{3}@lemmy.ca
        1·
        12 days ago

        You can even have that flash drive for free if you claim it wasn’t sold as advertised!