General > General Technical Chat
Reliability of the Chinese websites like alibaba amd aliexpress
RoGeorge:
So far I bought many times from AliExpress. Very reliable shop, with good protection for buyers. Quality of the products, on the other hand, varies widely from one seller to another, and from one order to another.
Before ordering, you need to read the negative reviews first, those with 1,2 or 3 stars mostly, and see what could go wrong. 4 and 5 stars might be fake reviews. Avoid sellers with low ratings or low sells volumes.
- You'll get what you pay for. Don't expect to get diamonds when you pay pennies.
- Don't buy very expensive brand name items, those might be fake.
- Be very careful at the description and the photos of a product, and consider the worst specifications first.
- The quality may vary widely for consecutive orders even when they are from the same seller. One order might be perfect quality products, next order might be crap. It's kind of a lottery.
For hobby level electronics, to me AliExpress was always a good deal. For something reliable, production level, I'll stay away from AliExpress.
I wanted a rude username:
--- Quote from: amspire on September 29, 2019, 04:43:55 am ---In your case concerning a board with half the flash memory, I can understand your frustration.
--- End quote ---
You're right, I didn't react to the situation with a level head. Should've done what blueskull suggested. We learn ...
blueskull's comment also explains why buyers weren't leaving negative feedback. When I checked carefully afterwards, some other buyers had mentioned the discrepancy, but still gave the transaction a thumbs up. Now it's clear why. This form of corruption means you can't trust seller ratings.
The sellers are unrepentant though. They would say essentially, "you got a good price, what did you expect?" And some buyers' comments suggest they were accepting this, which is astonishing.
Using Chinese language sites is like eavesdropping on some fantasy civilisation, 95% familiar and 5% orthogonal.
amspire:
--- Quote from: HaywoodJablowme on September 29, 2019, 09:17:41 am ---
--- Quote from: amspire on September 29, 2019, 04:43:55 am ---In your case concerning a board with half the flash memory, I can understand your frustration.
--- End quote ---
You're right, I didn't react to the situation with a level head. Should've done what blueskull suggested. We learn ...
--- End quote ---
It happened to me years ago when I ended up with a bunch of Arduino boards with the AtMega168 chip. I ended up replacing all the microcontrollers with the '328 chips myself.
I am more careful now. If a price seems suspiciously low, I often go for the more realistically priced item.
james_s:
--- Quote from: HaywoodJablowme on September 29, 2019, 03:28:07 am ---AliExpress are pretty good with refunds. They generally have more scams than eBay, e.g. several times I've ordered two or three units of an item and received only one. They make you jump through a few more hoops than eBay, but they tend to side with the buyer.
Taobao though, is a wretched hive of scum and villainy. For example, sellers routinely list STM32 blue pills with STM32F103C6T6 chips blacktopped and remarked as STM32F103C8T6s (and of course all the specs are of the C8T6). Taobao will refund you ... if you get an official stamped certificate declaring that they're counterfeit.
It's an unwelcome insight into the double standards that Chinese apply to each other.
--- End quote ---
I suppose you could try to turn the tables and fake an official stamped certificate for the fake parts.
all_repair:
--- Quote from: HaywoodJablowme on September 29, 2019, 09:17:41 am ---
--- Quote from: amspire on September 29, 2019, 04:43:55 am ---In your case concerning a board with half the flash memory, I can understand your frustration.
--- End quote ---
You're right, I didn't react to the situation with a level head. Should've done what blueskull suggested. We learn ...
blueskull's comment also explains why buyers weren't leaving negative feedback. When I checked carefully afterwards, some other buyers had mentioned the discrepancy, but still gave the transaction a thumbs up. Now it's clear why. This form of corruption means you can't trust seller ratings.
The sellers are unrepentant though. They would say essentially, "you got a good price, what did you expect?" And some buyers' comments suggest they were accepting this, which is astonishing.
Using Chinese language sites is like eavesdropping on some fantasy civilisation, 95% familiar and 5% orthogonal.
--- End quote ---
Electronics components have the most problems. It is difficult to police, and difficult to arbitrate. It require deep technical knowledge. My suggestion to you is stick with non Chinese distributor, or go with some more reputable Chinese sellers that shall charge you at least 5 time the China street price. They also need to cover their risk. But if you want to enjoy the benefits of China Street price, which can be easily 1/10 or 1/20 of E14 price, then there shall be some things to learn. For hobbyists, the lesson is not worth it.
E14 or RS have some value to add. As one learns more, they have lesser and lesser value.
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