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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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#1
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Aliexpress - good bad or indifferent?
Anyone had experience buying through Aliexpress ?
http://www.aliexpress.com/ Do they just act as an agent or actually take responsibility for their goods themselves? Any informed comments welcomed Andrew |
#2
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Aliexpress - good bad or indifferent?
Andrew Mawson wrote:
Anyone had experience buying through Aliexpress ? http://www.aliexpress.com/ Do they just act as an agent or actually take responsibility for their goods themselves? Used them a couple of times, once for me and once for work. It's like ebay - the seller sends the goods themselves, you open disputes with the seller. I never got to find out what the dispute resolution procedure is like as my seller did the right thing when I opened a dispute. But it was obvious the seller was under some pressure to resolve disputes. The standards of English can be an issue too (if you try to write clearly so your message makes sense through automatic translation it probably helps). One obvious caveat is the distance - my complaint was that they'd sent the wrong number of items, which meant them resending and waiting a while. In the end it turned out they'd sent the original dispatch as two envelopes and the second one arrived two weeks later. It also means sending stuff back is awkward. One nice thing is there is per-item feedback posted on the site, so you get that feedback which ebay just aggregates together on the seller's profile. That means it's easier to spot the 'bought it, broke within 5 mins' reviews which you wouldn't see on ebay, while the reviews aren't aggregated across all sellers like they are on Amazon (where you don't know who sold it, and often the review is for a completely different model). This is really handy for product details like 'it works on Linux, contains an ABC1234 chip inside'. So I think I'd happily use it again, though I understand the ways of being scammed less well than I do on ebay and I don't have a statistically valid sample as yet. Theo (also interested in Taobao shipping agents, a somewhat more complicated place) |
#3
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Aliexpress - good bad or indifferent?
On Sun, 15 Mar 2015 13:25:17 -0000, "Andrew Mawson"
wrote: Do they just act as an agent or actually take responsibility for their goods themselves? They act as a trading venue (a bit like eBay) providing a platform for sellers. I do not think they act as agent for the sellers but they do appear to have an adjudication process for items not received. |
#4
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Aliexpress - good bad or indifferent?
Andrew Mawson wrote:
Anyone had experience buying through Aliexpress ? http://www.aliexpress.com/ Do they just act as an agent or actually take responsibility for their goods themselves? I use them quite a lot and haven't had any problems. They hold your payment in escrow (don't know if it's *really* escrow but anyway) until you confirm that goods have been received. I've bought small items and things up to Android tablets etc. -- Chris Green · |
#5
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Aliexpress - good bad or indifferent?
On Sun, 15 Mar 2015 17:06:55 +0000, cl wrote:
Andrew Mawson wrote: Anyone had experience buying through Aliexpress ? http://www.aliexpress.com/ Do they just act as an agent or actually take responsibility for their goods themselves? I use them quite a lot and haven't had any problems. They hold your payment in escrow (don't know if it's *really* escrow but anyway) until you confirm that goods have been received. I've bought small items and things up to Android tablets etc. How easily is Customs handled? -- My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub wish to copy them they can pay me £30a message. Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org *lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor |
#6
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Aliexpress - good bad or indifferent?
On 15/03/15 17:41, Bob Eager wrote:
On Sun, 15 Mar 2015 17:06:55 +0000, cl wrote: Andrew Mawson wrote: Anyone had experience buying through Aliexpress ? http://www.aliexpress.com/ Do they just act as an agent or actually take responsibility for their goods themselves? I use them quite a lot and haven't had any problems. They hold your payment in escrow (don't know if it's *really* escrow but anyway) until you confirm that goods have been received. I've bought small items and things up to Android tablets etc. How easily is Customs handled? The usual - aka "it isn't". So your package goes through China Post and onwards to Royal Mail with the requisite green form stuck on the side. Whether it gets stopped for VAT is entirely random. |
#7
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Aliexpress - good bad or indifferent?
Bob Eager wrote:
On Sun, 15 Mar 2015 17:06:55 +0000, cl wrote: Andrew Mawson wrote: Anyone had experience buying through Aliexpress ? http://www.aliexpress.com/ Do they just act as an agent or actually take responsibility for their goods themselves? I use them quite a lot and haven't had any problems. They hold your payment in escrow (don't know if it's *really* escrow but anyway) until you confirm that goods have been received. I've bought small items and things up to Android tablets etc. How easily is Customs handled? I think the only item I have bought that attracted attention from customs was a pair of brake disks for my 'bike. They were delivered anyway and a retrospective demand for VAT arrived later. -- Chris Green · |
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