And they serve a purpose. You’re marginally more likely to get something that isn’t broken if you have a reputable middleman. I’ve lost count of the things I’ve seen people order fram alibaba or some shit that show up just completely fucked.
(Since we're on our second gaming chair saga in the span of a single month and we're talking about ordering items from China and the merits of dropshippers/sellers placing markups for items I don't think its that off topic to be autistic about it)
Well yeah, AliBaba is really meant if you're ordering a
huge quantity of shit. AliExpress is the Amazon-like version of it (owned and run by the same people). AliExpress is also notable in that its very buyer-oriented. If you have a dispute with a seller they generally tell the seller to get fucked (because they can probably just walk into some rice paddy in China and recruit 100 new sellers) and issue refunds and shit pretty rapidly.
AliExpress does of course have a reputation of having shit/scams but there are very dedicated sellers on there too who would rather run a reputable store than rip people off for no reason. Depending on what you're buying sellers do often have excellent customer service (and I say that having purchased a significant amount from the site from many different sellers).
Whenever I've messaged a seller who is reputable and asked for information about a product or asked about shipping information I get a super polite and well written (as well written as can be expected from China) reply.
It's the same as any online marketplace, you have to be patient and find sellers with a good reputation rather than just seeking out the absolute cheapest items possible. I wouldn't exactly order medical diagnostic equipment from there, but if you're after certain things (like custom cables) its actually a great site.
AliExpress also has a pretty nifty feature where people can not only post reviews but also pictures of the items as they receive them. So often if you're ordering something that's expensive/bulky you'll see reviews from many people (for some reason there are many Russians because AliExpress is like Walmart for Russians or some shit) commenting on not only the product, but its packing and the quality of instructions included and the level of customer service.
When you search as well they give you the option of sorting by "Orders" (meaning you can pick the most-ordered item, which will likely be the best option):
If you go and look for very obscure stuff from sellers with no reputation (like those Chinese generic gaming consoles) then you will be at risk for not getting what you ordered.
Bonus content of Latvian man posting review + pictures of "mankini" they purchased:
(hmm maybe AliExpress needs its own community thread)
