Using Alibaba or Ali Express?

zsha

Has anybody used either of the above? Have you had good or bad experiences?? How do you pick good sellers, and I also see escrow is used, is this the same as paypal??
Thanks any info would be appreciated

jimmii

Escrow isn't a payment service its where an intermediary holds the money until the goods are received Alipay would be their most similar product to Paypal. Alibaba is for large wholesale orders whereas Aliexpress is for smaller quantities but some sellers do sell in bulk there too. Aliexpress is easier to use as its more immediate. I have used both and never had problems the one or two times sellers haven't sent things Alibaba have refunded me straight away and the seller has quickly disappeared off the site.

zsha

That's super thanks v much, did you use that alipay option to purchase things or what is best option to pay for things you think

nanook5

As the Above poster has said, Aliexpress is great. I have had at least 30 bulk orders and all have been smooth.A few items may have been left out in some orders but the seller always sent me the left out items in my next order .

Just today I had a problem with one of my orders which I purchased in May.I bought 400 pcs of an item . The seller only sent me 200pcs by accident .I only noticed today :eek: and contacted the seller immediately by trademanager (Which is just great,it's like facebook chat ) and they are now sending me the 200pcs sometime this week free of charge DHL shipping .So that package will be here at the start of next week.It's not like they were trying to scam me either,I bought 2 x 200pcs so I put it down to human error.

I would recommend buying off of a seller with at least 10 feedback.The majority of sellers on Aliexpress are genuine so you needn't worry too much.There is buyer protection on Aliexpress so that's another reassurance .

I have always paid by Escrow and have never had a problem.Never tried Alipay but I assume it's perfectly safe

zsha

Thanks going try buy a watch see how it goes!!! Have you ever gotten caught for customs esp when buying In bulk??

nanook5

zsha wrote: »

Thanks going try buy a watch see how it goes!!! Have you ever gotten caught for customs esp when buying In bulk??

OH YES! My packages always seem to get stopped and delayed .I always buy off of sellers that offer free postage and the customs don't accept this

Customs value the package based on "Customs value" Which is the cost of the item plus the cost of shipping to the country of origin with a 30% discount (I think that's it )and then apply VAT @ 23% on this value and so I've gotten caught a good few times because they need to evaluate the shipping cost(I guess) . Had to pay 50% of the original item value(f*cking joke) just a few weeks ago because free shipping was on my invoice.They said that the shipping cost something like €200 and that's basically what I paid in full including shipping for the items :pac:

Anyway now I'm getting my suppliers to put the cost of shipping on the invoice.Hopefully this package next week goes through smoothly.

If it's under $25 on the invoice you shouldn't get stopped realistically

Make sure you get it shipped by DHL/Fedex/UPS as if it's China post/Hong Knog post it might take 2 months to get to you

zsha

Yeah I've just found that out thanks....you learn so much from this site! Its great.Thanks for your help
When ye say ye pay by escrow, is that with your credit card and the company holds the money in escrow until item is delivered? Or is it a different type of payment?

nanook5

Yes Escrow is with your credit card . Payment is held until you have confirmed through the aliexpress website that you have received your correct order in described condition .

zsha

You're super thanks a million

nanook5

zsha wrote: »

You're super thanks a million

No problem

jimmii

I just pay by card it charges in Euro too which is handy for customs. They will charge you VAT and a fee if the value of the package is >€22 in general customs are pretty quick at getting things through in decent time as long as you reply to their email then you will normally have it the next day. I would be wary of ordering anything too fragile things seem to get a right battering as they make there way over!

zsha

If u get item delivered by post is it still stopped for vat all the time??? From reading around all companies ie dhl/FedEx/ems/ups all seem to get paid the vat at the door before handing over the goods??
Also if I was getting an order delivered from China to my parcel motel, how does that work? Is it possible to do that even