AliExpress Reviews – Is It Legit And What You Must Know Before You Buy
AliExpress is one of the largest ecommerce marketplaces in the world and extremely popular among businesses and consumers alike. For small business owners, AliExpress dropshipping has become a cheap and easy way to start selling online.
Meanwhile, consumers all over the world can purchase inexpensive merchandise from China that can’t be found anywhere else. But despite its popularity, nearly 12% of AliExpress reviews are 2 stars or less. In fact, AliExpress has developed a bad reputation over the years for selling worthless junk.
This post will provide you with the facts behind the poor AliExpress reviews and whether AliExpress is safe to buy from.
What Is AliExpress?
AliExpress is an ecommerce marketplace offering a wide range of products that can be purchased from anywhere in the world. Most AliExpress sellers are from Asia and as a result, you can buy merchandise at very low prices. Because AliExpress is a business to consumer marketplace, you will not find any factories on the platform. Instead, most sellers on AliExpress
are either trading companies or small business owners offering pre-made products for immediate shipment.
As a result, if you are looking to sell your own private label products under your own brand, then buying from Alibaba is a much better option. However, if you want to start a dropshipping business, AliExpress is a popular way to find dropshipping suppliers online.
Is AliExpress Legit?
AliExpress is a legit company and a reliable marketplace to buy from. While some of the sellers on the platform offer poor quality merchandise, AliExpress does a great job of providing a safe purchasing environment.
For example, AliExpress will provide you with a full refund if your product doesn’t arrive on time or if it is not as described.
A comprehensive buyer protection program is included on all purchases made on AliExpress and you are covered no matter what.
Here’s how buyer protection works.
- If you are unsatisfied with your product, you must first contact AliExpress to report the problem.
- If the seller is not willing to rectify the situation, you can open a dispute.
- If the seller does not respond to the dispute, AliExpress will refund your purchase in full.
Once AliExpress settles the dispute, you will receive your money back within 2 weeks.
Basically, the AliExpress buyer protection program protects you from getting shipped junk and prevents outright fraud. As a result, AliExpress is 100% legit and safe to buy from.
The Truth About AliExpress Reviews
Because AliExpress acts as a middleman and does NOT sell any of their own products, all 1-2 star AliExpress reviews should be taken with a grain of salt.
Anyone in the world can sell on AliExpress and there are over 10 million sellers on the platform. On large marketplaces like AliExpress, there are bound to be good sellers and bad sellers and it’s impossible for AliExpress to police every listing.
However, AliExpress has put many measures in place to fight scams and fraud. Buying or dropshipping from AliExpress isn’t risky as long you are careful and understand how to distinguish the good sellers from the bad.
Below are the most common AliExpress reviews that you’ll find on the Internet and how you can avoid being a victim of fraud.
How Long Does AliExpress Typically Take For Delivery
Most products on AliExpress will take between 14-60 days for delivery. However, the exact shipping time depends on the shipping method used.
When ordering from AliExpress, you might be tempted to choose Cainao Global Economy because it’s often the cheapest shipping service. However, it’s also the most unreliable.
Cainao Global Economy is Alibaba’s own shipping carrier that was launched in 2018. It’s inexpensive but horribly slow and the savings aren’t worth it.
Instead, you should use AliExpress standard shipping which is delivered by airmail to the end destination. If you have the budget, DHL and UPS are the most reliable carriers to use for AliExpress purchases.
How To Spot Fake Reviews On AliExpress.
The easiest way to spot fake reviews on AliExpress is to look for broken English or language that a native speaker would never use. In addition, if a seller has more than 100 reviews and they are all 5 stars, many of the reviews are likely fake.
For example, the following review is obviously fake and likely written by the seller.
Are The Negative AliExpress Reviews Legit?
As with everything on the Internet, you should take all AliExpress reviews with a grain of salt. AliExpress is a multi billion dollar company which could not have become successful by ripping off its customers.
If you follow the proper guidelines and precautions, buying from AliExpress is extremely safe and reliable.
Below is a summary of the action steps you must take to make sure you never get scammed.
- To prevent getting sold counterfeit goods, only work with sellers that have a solid track record of 500 orders or more with an average rating of 4.5 stars or higher.
- To prevent getting shipped poor quality goods, be extremely skeptical of deals that sound too good to be true.
- To prevent excessively long shipping times, never use Cainao Global Economy. Instead, choose AliExpress standard delivery or UPS, DHL or FedEx.
- To protect yourself from fraud, always pay directly on the AliExpress website. If you are not happy with your merchandise, file a dispute immediately before the buyer protection window expires.
Conclusion
All in all, the story of Alibaba and AliExpress shows a real example of how a small start-up company relies on the power of the Internet to make it grow, bit by bit in the world economy.