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?

  • m-p{3}@lemmy.ca
    2·
    3 months ago

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

    • ChaoticNeutralCzechEnglish
      2·
      3 months ago

      It was advertised as “2 TB (64 GB Extended)” at a local clearance sale (not AliExpress), which was basically correct though I would prefer “64 GB but misprogrammed so everything can get corrupted at any time”. When buying it, I didn’t yet know if I could reprogram the chip but the low price was justified for the pretty aluminum case with a USB-C port and place for a custom PCB. I decided to buy it also to prevent another, less technical person from using it and losing their data. The store was getting rid of inventory for very cheap and would close soon so no more fake drives would be ordered.

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

        Ah fair enough, and nice that you good a deal for the small amount of trouble.