My name is Katelyn. This is my honest, unsolicited review of AliExpress. I placed several orders on their website with the intention of using them as one of my sources of products for my business. So, I decided to try AliExpress because of the ease of importing products via Oberlo into my store.
To be honest, I researched AliExpress prior to going to their site. There were some good reviews and a lot of unfavorable reviews. However, I went ahead and tried them because of Oberlo’s great reviews. My thought processes were that if Oberlo was involved with them then they would most likely be a safe bet.
Below is my experience with the AliExpress Marketplace.
Homepage
When I first landed on their website, a large array of product offerings with great prices and a countdown monitor for Flash Deals greeted me. They have a vast assortment of merchandise.
Account Sign Up
They have a straightforward signup process with free membership. There were no annoying questions to answer. You can even sign up using Facebook.
Browsing Through Categories
Because they have a vast assortment of merchandise, they have many categories. Their sorting option is extremely useful. After choosing my desired category, I sorted by the seller’s ratings and the number of existing orders. I picked up this tip from other reviews I found when I researched AliExpress. Doing this allowed me to increase my chances of not encountering untrustworthy sellers.
Checkout
After selecting my items to purchase, I added them to the cart and proceeded to Checkout.
They have several different payment options. PayPal is not one of them. Their Buyer Protection offers a full refund if an order is not received or as described.
I selected my shipment options and paid for my items. The website informed me my payment would be “verified” and this process takes place within 24 hours. An Order Confirmation email and a Payment Successfully made email was promptly sent to my email address.
Fulfillment of Orders
The sellers I chose promptly fulfilled my orders. I viewed the tracking number and tracked my shipments. One kind and professional seller contacted me to verify the shipping address.
Receipt of Orders
I received my orders within the timeframe stated in the listings. When my orders showed received in tracking, AliExpress sent me an email informing of receipt of my package and to confirm receipt of the package. Additionally, I received emails if the seller gave me feedback and to give the seller feedback.
AliExpress App
Their App is easy to use and has an eye-catching format. It is especially useful when tracking orders. Numerous alerts were sent informing me about coupons and sales. Sometimes, I received too many alerts in one day which became annoying.
Canceled Order Due to Security Reasons
Despite having several successful transactions with AliExpress, I had unsuccessful transactions with them.
When I received the dreaded email about my order closed due to security reasons, alarm bells rang. The email instructed me to provide documents to make sure my transaction is secure.
Here’s where it gets scary. They ask you to upload your social security card and picture id by clicking on My Appeal on their website.
Never in my history of purchasing online have any other company asked me for such personal information to place an order. And why would they need to? This sounds like a prime opportunity for someone to steal your identity.
What is interesting to me is that I placed other orders with the same card without any issues. This aggravation caused me to delete over 400 AliExpress items I had in my store. Also, I refunded my customers and informed them the items were no longer available.
Customer Service – Chat Now
Their Chat Now feature is simply irritating. When you want to chat with a real person, it is like chatting with a robot. I wasted so much time trying to get solutions to problems. All of the fake concern about getting a resolution to my issues were out the door. The frustration made me want to scream.
Dropshipping Aspirations with AliExpress
As I mentioned before, I deleted over 400 AliExpress items from my store. I refuse to do business with a company who makes it difficult for me to get an order successfully processed. There were no problems with my card. The problems existed with AliExpress payment system.
There were reviews I found where some provided their social security number and photo id and still had closed orders. You cannot run a successful business playing games with a company such as this.
There are many who uses them for dropshipping. Their orders go through without a hitch. Most of mine did at first. It is such a chance you take with using their website for your product sourcing.
Final Thoughts
I will never do business with AliExpress again. Disgust for them caused me to not leave any Seller Feedback because I wanted to leave feedback on AliExpress. It is regrettable not giving props to the good sellers. However, the website they sell on made them lose future sales from me. I deleted their app from my phone.
No business has perfect transactions with every customer. This is an impossible goal to achieve. Just like you cannot believe everything you read on the internet. However, I proceeded with caution and took a chance on AliExpress. Never again!
