AliExpress is here for some time now. As you know, this shopping platform is enormous, and you can find almost anything on it.
And the best part about it - the prices. Usually, they are much lower than in average stores.
The downside of shopping on AliExpress is that you need to wait a bit longer, usually around two weeks to get a product delivered.
However, if that is not a big deal for you, then shopping on AliExpress can be fun and doing it properly, you could save some time and money.
Today, in this short guide we are going to discover how to choose proven seller and proven product.
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For the purpose of this guide, we'll use " Stole Coin Piggy Bank Panda".
Step #1 - Compare the Prices
Use search. Take your time and shop around. All you need to do is to copy/paste product name in the search bar and browse results.
If you get too many results, use the filter options. It's always a good idea to set "max price," but be realistic. If you set it too low, you won't get any results, and you might miss some good deals.
Another good method is to sort products by price, from lowest to highest:
Step #2 - Check for Free Shipping
Free shipping option could be a double-edged sword and you should be careful with this option.
Sometimes you will find a product with free shipping, but its price will be higher than some other product where you need to pay for shipping. Check this example:
The cost of the first product with free shipping is $16.13.
However, the second product cost only $3.51, and you will need to pay $6.63 for shipping.
And that leave us with:
$3.51 + $6.63 = $10.14 in total
So, we will save $6 if we decide to go with a smaller price and pay for shipping.
To conclude, don't check for a free shipping immediately. First, take a look around, sort product by price and calculate how much "free shipping" is actually free.
Step #3 - Check the Overall Seller Rating
You should focus only on two things here:
- How long the seller is active on AliExpress. In this case, he's been active since November 2015, and that is a good sign. Scammers get banned fast, so this is obviously trusted seller.
- Check positive feedback. In this case, we can see that this store has 97.9% positive feedback and that is more than enough. Usually, everything above 95% is excellent, especially if you are buying from a larger store.
Step #4 - Check Photos and Description
You don't need to focus too much on photos here because they are photoshopped and in the most cases don't show the product much better than it is in reality.
Instead, focus on:
- Product size. In most cases products are enlarged in photos, and you can't see what's the real size of the product. So, check for the dimensions and compare them with something around you. It's always a good idea to have a ruler or meter beside you. That will help you to get clear idea what are the real dimensions of the product.
- Material Type. On the product photos, everything looks shiny and high quality, but you want to check what is really going on. This is especially important when it comes to wardrobe, tools, electronics...
Step #5 - Check Customer Reviews
This is the most crucial part of product quality analysis.
You want to check what other people say about that product. This is the best way to be sure that the product is genuine and worth the purchase.
Here, you should focus on:
Delivery Time
Ideally, you would like to find reviews form your country and check if there were any complaints and what is delivery time for other customers. However, if there are no customers from your country, any feedback will give you useful insight what to expect.
Quality Feedback
This could be subjective from customer to customer, so be sure to read as many reviews as possible. If the majority don't like the quality of the product, maybe it's not a bad idea to skip that product.
However, if you see that people love it and it has overall positive feedback, you are good to go.
Product Pictures
Now, this is the place where you should look for the product images. You can expect to see how the product really looks like and what you can expect from it.
Turn on the filter for "With Pictures" and check them all.
Bonus Tip - Search for YouTube Reviews
YouTube is the second largest search engine and don't hesitate to use it. So, it's not a bad idea to make one more check before a final decision
Also, this could be easily the first step - check is there any video review about the desired product. If there is and it sucks, it will save you some time, and you can quickly move on to the next product.
It doesn't matter if there is not a review on your language. You should focus on product quality, and any video will give you useful insight.
Here is an example of YouTube review for Automatic Piggy Bank I chose as example product:
And for the end, you should keep in mind AliExpress customer support is excellent and even if your order doesn't come through, it's late, or you get broken or not as described item, don't hesitate to contact them.
Almost certainly you will get your money back, or they will send you another copy of desired product.
