Is AliExpress Legit? Pros, Cons, & User Reviews

Have you ever fallen into the internet’s rabbit hole only to end up browsing AliExpress products?

Many people stay up at night checking out products and wondering: “Is AliExpress legit?”

As is the case with any online marketplace, there’s a huge possibility to come across unethical sellers over AliExpress.

This doesn’t mean it’s a scam of any kind. Instead, it indicates that you should be more careful with who to buy from.

In this article, you learn more about AliExpress, how it works, and what to care for when using their services.

What Is AliExpress?

AliExpress is a China-based online retail company owned by Alibaba Group. This massive Chinese company focuses on computing and e-commerce. Founded in 2010, it’s famous for selling products much cheaper than similar services.

The company started with only $60,000 in capital and a team of 18 individuals. Now, after more than ten years, it has over 100,000 employees.

AliExpress has over 150 million active customers worldwide. As a result, it contributes to more than 40% of market shares in the Chinese e-commerce space.

How Does AliExpress Work?

AliExpress works the same way as its similar counterparts, such as Amazon. It displays a variety of products from different suppliers all around the world for people to buy.

So, when shopping on ALiExpress, you buy merchandise from a Chinese manufacturer or seller.

To start using the service, you should create an AliExpress account using your email address, Facebook, Google, etc.

Once you fill up all the required data, you can start browsing the AliExpress website and search for products.

As for the buying process, it goes as most other shopping platforms. Through AliExpress, you can buy all kinds of goods, such as:

• Women’s and men’s clothing
• Phones, computers, and other electronics
• Health, hair, and beauty products
• Toys and baby products
• Tools and home improvement equipment
• Jewelry and accessories
• Sports equipment
• Furniture and home appliances
• Automobile and motorcycle parts

Common Questions To Understand

AliExpress offers tons of products at fairly cheap prices. That’s why millions of people love to buy from it.

Since most of the merchants on this website are wholesale manufacturers, you can save money by skipping the added retail costs.

Some people avoid shopping on AliExpress, fearing the products wouldn’t meet their expectations. So, we gathered some of the most common questions asked by AliExpress users for you to understand.

Q1: How to know if AliExpress has a good quality product?

A: With hundreds of stores on AliExpress offering the same items for sale, it’s essential to find a trustworthy seller.

That’s why you need to look for “top brand” labeled stores. It’s where the website itself checks for the store’s quality.

It’s also an indication of the high rating given by various buyers. Buying from such a store, you ensure delivering your order without any problems. Even if something goes wrong, you find a quick response from the seller.

Q2: Can you contact a seller on AliExpress?

A: Yes, you can contact the AliExpress seller for any modification to your order. Through your personal account, go to “My Orders” and press the “Contact Seller” button. This allows you to send a message asking to change the order, help with the sizing, change the address, etc.

Q3: Can anyone use AliExpress to order products?

A: All people around the world can buy from AliExpress except for Chinese citizens living in China. That’s because the website aims for international shipping. Chinese customers use another Alibaba subsidiary to shop, which is “Taobao.”

Q4: Can I get a refund for a product I didn’t receive?

A: If you don’t receive your order within the specified delivery time, you can apply for a full refund. All you need to do is go to “My Orders” and press “Open Dispute.”

Over there, you can find the refund button, and the money should return to your account.

Is AliExpress Legit?

Yes, AliExpress is a legit website that sells millions of products at a low price. It’s a subsidiary of one of the largest e-commerce companies, acting as a medium between the manufacturers and the customers.

While many reputable manufacturers sell their products on AliExpress, several suppliers offering low-quality products are there too. This doesn’t mean that the website isn’t legit. Yet, there are still some untrustworthy sellers misusing the service.

That’s why searching the store’s reputation and reading buyers’ reviews is the correct practice when looking to purchase a product. This ensures you’re buying from a legitimate manufacturer who delivers your order on time and at the best quality.

Here are four reasons why AliExpress is legit.

• The Parent Company Is Public on Stock Exchange: The parent company, Alibaba, is listed on the Hong Kong and New York Stock Exchange market as of 2014. It started with an initial public offering of $68 per share. So, it’s not a scam.
• It Offers a Buyer Protection Program: If anything goes wrong with the order, the buyer protection policies guarantee your money back. Extending for 90 days from shipping, you can get a full refund for not receiving the product or not being happy with it.
• It Has Strong Payment Security: The website uses top security to protect the buyer’s personal information. It’s just as secure to buy from AliExpress as Amazon or eBay.
• It Offers Great Business Opportunities: AliExpress offers an opportunity for starting a dropshipping business being among the best dropshipping suppliers. Another idea is researching the best products to sell on Amazon and sourcing them from AliExpress.

Is AliExpress Reliable?

Sometimes, being skeptical about certain shopping websites can save you from getting scammed. It’s always a good idea to be careful, but AliExpress is absolutely reliable.

The level of reliability depends on how close your country is to China. Most of the sellers are in China. So, the further your country is from there, the more likely your order to face some logistic issues.

In all cases, whatever problem you face, there’s always the buyer protection program to rely on.

Whether your order didn’t match the product description, arrived damaged, or hasn’t arrived at all, you can get a full refund.

Is AliExpress Safe?

The short answer to this question is: Yes. However, shopping on AliExpress isn’t risk-free, and there’s still a possibility of getting scammed. That’s why you need to know how to spot a fake deal.

In general, you should do the following:

• Avoid AliExpress products with prices that are too good to be true.
• Unless the brand name item is “Guaranteed Genuine,” it’s better to buy it from its authorized seller.
• Check the products review before buying (also read the low-starred reviews carefully even if the product has overall high reviews)
• Only purchase the items with the “money-back guarantee” and “Buyer Protection” badges.

What Are Users Saying About AliExpress?

Whatever any brand is marketing itself to be, what matters most are the users’ reviews. You get a comprehensive understanding of the risks associated with using a certain service.

As a result, you gain enough experience to help you the next time you use it.

Overall, it’s easy to notice the mixed reviews about shopping on AliExpress, with most being negative. However, you can tell that people with positive experiences only buy from sellers with high star ratings.

This emphasizes the importance of researching the store’s reliability. Here are three of the most AliExpress talked-about issues in the online reviews.

• Buyer’s Protection Policy: Many users claim that AliExpress’s buyer’s protection policy is a scam. While it’s not always true, many fraudulent sellers can find a way around it.
• Customer Service: Reviewers state that AliExpress’s customer service isn’t helpful. They say the service uses automated replies and doesn’t actually solve the issue.
• Delivery Time: A great number of reviews claim that orders never arrive while the status on the website changes to “delivered.”

What Google Reviewers Liked About AliExpress

AliExpress has a 3.1-star review on Google, with almost half of them giving the company a 5-star rating. The users with the highest-rated reviews liked AliExpress’s product versatility, ease of use, and quick delivery.

What ConsumerAffairs Liked About AliExpress

What Trustpilot Reviewers Liked About AliExpress

AliExpress has over 130,000 reviews on Trustpilot but scores only 2.7 out of 5 stars. The website states that 78% of users gave AliExpress a five-star review. A few of the most notable positive reviews like the company’s:

• Fast shipping time
• High-quality products (when ordering from official brand stores)
• Excellent customer service.

What Social Media Users Liked About AliExpress

AliExpress has 40M likes on Facebook, 8M followers on Instagram, and over 80,000 followers on Twitter. While the review tabs aren’t available on their social media accounts, there are equally as many angry customers as happy ones.

Why Are People Worried About Using AliExpress?

People always fear what they don’t know and prefer to buy from local platforms, such as Amazon.

After all, AliExpress’s low prices and distant location are strong reasons to second guess their products’ quality.

What they don’t know is that there are fraudulent sellers everywhere. According to the majority of AliExpress’s users, it’s just as trustworthy as other well-known websites.

Here are a few reasons why people can become worried about using AliExpress.

• Long Delivery Period: The website’s shipping times vary from one location to the other. It takes from 10 to 60 days for your order to arrive, which can be frustrating. That’s mostly because of the country’s customs clearance policies delaying the packages.
• Falsely Described Items: You can do extensive research about the product and still end up with something different from what you ordered. That’s the seller’s fault for listing faulty product details.
• Unreliable Tracking Info on Free Shipping: It can be days before you receive a tracking number for your AliExpress shipment. That’s because the order can sit at your country’s border for a long time for scanning and inspection.

What Google Reviewers Worried About

Many negative reviews on Google state that the refunded money never arrives. They also claim that the courier services aren’t cooperative and the fraudulent sellers always find a way around AliExpress’s policies.

What Trustpilot Reviewers Worried About

Over 15% of AliExpress’s reviews on Trustpilot have a one-star rating. Many people complain about the cost of returning the not-as-described products, especially when they’re heavy. Users also state that their orders never arrive.

What Social Media Users Worried About

Many comments on social media written by angry customers complain about many sellers on AliExpress being fraudulent.

A famous AliExpress scam is when the sellers take the money and don’t send the order. Some other sellers send counterfeit goods and scam customers into closing disputes before getting a refund.

AliExpress Quality & Guarantees

At AliExpress, they do their best to guarantee positive customer experiences. They make it clear when it comes to the seller’s reputation, showing trustworthy feedback.

Through the store’s feedback tab, you can check how long the seller has been on AliExpress. You also get to see the store’s reviews and customer feedback.

AliExpress offers a money-back guarantee as part of their buyer’s protection policy. On the website, you can contact the seller for possible issues and ask for a refund if you’re dissatisfied with the service.

The website promises you money back within 15 days. You also have the option to escalate a dispute if you don’t receive the money on time.

Does AliExpress Offer Customer Service?

Yes, AliExpress offers customer service to help customers with any issues they face. To contact website support, you should head to the help section. This opens a direct messaging channel with one of their customer support agents.

You can also find a lot of helpful information on their website’s customer support section at the bottom. Over there, you can browse different issues’ categories and find help tips for them.

Under the “Help” section, you also get to submit a complaint against a certain seller.

A huge number of buyers praise AliExpress’s customer service and their fast response.

However, many other customers complain about how ineffective contacting customer support is. That’s especially for solving problems related to the product’s shipping and quality.

What Customer Service Options Are Available?

AliExpress has a few customer service options to make it easy to contact them. You can reach out to their customer support through live chat, email support, and other social media platforms.

The company also offers an option to leave feedback or suggestions on how they can make their customer service better.

Frequently Asked Questions

Similar Gigs To Research

Whether you’re skeptical about using AliExpress or already have a negative experience with it, you can always find other options.

Online websites offering different services are increasing by the minute, making it harder to find out which one is trustworthy.

Here are three similar companies to check out.

• Is DHgate.com Legit?: This is another online wholesale marketplace based in China. Containing over 90% Chinese sellers, it’s the main competitor of AliExpress.
• Is Agoda Legit?: Agoda is a secure and reliable online travel booking platform with a long track success record.
• Is RedBubble Legit?: This type of online marketplace allows artists to sell their designs printed on different products, such as stickers, t-shirts, etc.

Wrapping Up

AliExpress is a part of the mother company Alibaba, and it’s built quite a reputation. Online customers’ reviews about AliExpress scare many potential buyers away.

Despite that, the website is completely trustworthy if you’re careful with choosing who to buy from.

Tell us what you think about AliExpress in the comments below and whether you have used it before. Share the article with your family and friends if you think it’s helpful.