What is AliExpress?

AliExpress, a leading Chinese e-commerce website under Alibaba, is dedicated to serving international buyers who want to purchase affordable goods directly from Chinese wholesale manufacturers. With over 150 million buyers from more than 200 countries and regions, AliExpress has become a global e-commerce giant, often referred to as China's Amazon. It's a B2C platform that brings together numerous international sellers. Its biggest advantage is that you can find almost anything you need here, from home goods to fashion apparel, electronics, and much more. AliExpress primarily targets smaller buyers, with average item prices in popular categories such as fashion apparel and electronics ranging from $10 to $50. Shipping times can vary from 10 to 45 days, depending on the shipping method and destination country.

Is AliExpress legit and safe? 

AliExpress is a legitimate online marketplace owned by Alibaba Group, a leading global e-commerce company. It serves as a platform that allows buyers to connect with sellers (mostly located in China) to purchase a wide variety of products, including electronics, fashion apparel, and home goods. So yes! AliExpress is generally a safe online shopping platform, but like any other online shopping platform, despite its legality and compliance, the service quality of different sellers varies. Because the platform includes numerous sellers, not all of them can achieve a high standard of quality and reputation. Furthermore, because it's merely a platform for third-party sellers, AliExpress cannot be held responsible for the quality of products or shipping. Therefore, buyers must exercise caution and carefully review the seller's ratings and customer feedback to assess their credibility.
To ensure a safe shopping experience, AliExpress has implemented several safeguards to help users shop more effectively and minimize the risk of potential problems:

Buyer Protection

AliExpress offers a Buyer Protection program covering most items on the platform. The protection period is 15 days, calculated from the date the buyer confirms receipt of the item. To use Buyer Protection, you need to file a dispute within 15 days, selecting the reason for the refund and attaching emails, screenshots, videos, or other supporting documentation to illustrate the issue. If your Buyer Protection application is approved, you will receive a refund within 1-10 days via the original payment method or your AliExpress Rewards account.

You will receive a full refund if any of the following occur:

In some cases, buyer protection may not apply, such as:

AliExpress encourages buyers to negotiate solutions directly with sellers, but if negotiations fail, AliExpress will intervene and provide mediation services. However, please note that during the buyer protection period, please do not privately negotiate returns or exchanges with sellers; all communication must be conducted on the platform.

Payment Processing

AliExpress handles all payments made through its platform. In this process, AliExpress strictly adheres to its privacy policy; buyer payment information and bank card details will not be shared with suppliers (legally or illegally) unless the buyer directly provides payment information to the supplier. As a further security measure, AliExpress uses a third-party escrow system to temporarily hold buyer payments until the buyer confirms receipt of goods.
AliExpress offers a variety of payment methods and also has its own secure payment service, AliPay, similar to platforms like PayPal and Venmo. If you want to use Alipay to shop on AliExpress, you can top up your AliPay account with a debit card. Many merchants in China also accept AliPay for offline shopping, making it a very convenient option if you live in or frequently travel to China.

Seller Ratings and Reviews

AliExpress encourages customers to rate and leave reviews when shopping on the platform. Checking these ratings and reviews can help you avoid being scammed or buying substandard products. Some reviewers even include photos of the products they received, giving you a better understanding of their condition.
Before purchasing, carefully review the seller's ratings and customer reviews. Pay attention to the number of reviews and overall feedback, as sellers with high ratings and many positive reviews are generally more trustworthy. Be wary of sellers with few reviews or an unusually large number of negative reviews. This step helps ensure you are dealing with reputable sellers who typically offer quality products and good service.

What types of scams are there on AliExpress?

• Fake order scams

It refers to sellers sending packages without the recipient's consent, often containing substandard or counterfeit goods. The main purpose of fake orders is to generate inflated positive reviews and high ratings. Scammers create fake buyer accounts, using data breaches and other fraudulent methods to obtain real names and addresses, then send goods to these individuals, creating fake transactions on AliExpress. After the packages arrive, the sellers posing as buyers write reviews on the platform, artificially boosting their seller ratings. New sellers often use these scams to boost their AliExpress ratings and attract more customers. If you receive unsolicited items, please report them immediately to help other customers avoid being scammed.

• Fake sellers and counterfeit products 

It refers to creating fake seller accounts on AliExpress to sell counterfeit products. These products may appear legitimate at first glance, but in reality, they are incomplete or made of inferior materials. To avoid buying such products, consumers should carefully check each seller's profile before purchasing. Fake seller profiles typically include unrealistically low prices, vague descriptions, high return rates, and few or no actual product photos, instead using digitally manipulated or obviously AI-generated images. In addition, be wary of brand new accounts with no reviews or a large number of generic five-star ratings. These are often signs of fake sellers offering counterfeit products. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) even added AliExpress to its "Notorious Markets List" in 2021 for alleged involvement in or assistance with large-scale trademark and copyright infringement.

• Exaggerated Product Information

Some product images on AliExpress are often edited, cropped, or taken from flattering angles to make the product appear larger or better than it actually is. Therefore, before purchasing, you need to read the full product specifications, including dimensions, materials, and packaging contents, and compare them with similar-sized items around you. Alternatively, you can check other users' review photos to better understand the product you will receive.

• Fake Refund Scams

Some unscrupulous AliExpress sellers use refund scams to steal your money without shipping the goods. You order items on AliExpress, but the items you receive are either of extremely poor quality or nonexistent. When you request a refund, the seller will offer to process it through PayPal or another third-party platform. The seller will then pay you via PayPal and close the dispute on AliExpress. After the dispute is closed, they will apply for a refund from PayPal, thus keeping the money for themselves and leaving you with no recourse.

How to avoid scams on AliExpress?

• Check Reviews and Seller Profiles

The platform allows users to leave reviews for sellers. These ratings and reviews, in turn, can help other users find quality products or avoid being scammed. Therefore, always check verified buyer reviews before purchasing. These reviews will tell you about the product's true quality, shipping speed, and customer service. Don't easily trust vague or overly positive reviews. Also, check the seller's profile—high ratings, consistently positive reviews, and the AliExpress Choice tag are all signs of a reliable seller.

• Avoid buying branded goods

If you see brand-new, well-known brand products, such as Apple, Dyson, or Supreme, being sold on AliExpress for significantly lower prices than the original price, they are often counterfeit. These popular brands are prime targets for counterfeiters, especially on major e-commerce platforms. Instead, you're better off choosing unbranded or generic products, particularly electronics, clothing, and cosmetics.

• Avoid buying excessively low-priced items

While AliExpress typically offers highly competitive prices, significant discounts compared to market prices, or prices that are too low, may indicate potential issues with the product's authenticity or quality. Therefore, compare prices of similar items on other platforms before purchasing to assess whether the deal is reasonable.

• Use secure payment methods

When shopping on AliExpress, it is recommended to use a credit card or Alipay instead of a direct bank transfer. These payment methods offer extra protection in case of problems such as lost or damaged goods. Credit cards usually cover fraud, while Alipay offers a buyer protection plan, making it easier to recover funds in case of disputes.

Conclusion

After reading the above, you should have a relatively complete and accurate understanding of AliExpress. Yes, AliExpress is a legitimate shopping platform that provides certain shopping guarantees for buyers. However, because AliExpress gathers a large number of merchants, some merchants may inevitably sell counterfeit or substandard products or engage in activities that harm the interests of sellers. Therefore, sellers still need to carefully review the products they purchase to ensure that they are of high quality and legitimate.
AliExpress's popularity is largely due to its affordable prices, primarily because most of its products are sourced from China. If you'd like to source from China but are concerned about complex logistics and communication issues, please contact ChinaDivision. As a professional cross-border logistics fulfillment service provider, they possess vast high-quality sourcing resources and can offer you professional product procurement advice. To streamline the one-stop sourcing process and ensure rapid product launch, after local sourcing is completed, if you require professional logistics services, please continue to follow up to enjoy 30 days of free warehousing and product transportation services.

FAQs

1、Why is AliExpress so Cheap?
AliExpress is known for its extremely low prices, primarily because many sellers on the platform are manufacturers or wholesalers located in China. By selling products directly from the source, these sellers eliminate intermediaries such as distributors or retail chains, significantly reducing the cost of bringing products to market. At the same time, lower labor and raw material costs in China allow manufacturers and wholesalers to produce goods more economically, and these cost savings are passed on to consumers.

2、What are the cons of AliExpress?
AliExpress has issues such as long shipping times, inconsistent product quality, and low seller credibility. Customer service response times may be slow, and return policies tend to favor sellers. Additionally, import duties may apply. If you're planning to purchase products in bulk from AliExpress, you'll need a more professional, localized service provider that integrates procurement and logistics. Partnering with them will save you a lot of trouble!

Reference:

1、2021 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy
https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/IssueAreas/IP/2021%20Notorious%20Markets%20List.pdf