Szymon R.

I have made several purchases from AliExpress without issue however 1 item received was both not as advertised and faulty, I raised a dispute for this item where the seller tried to scam me for return parcel to China and I outsmarted him.

Pay by credit card

Do NOT return item before return shipping has been paid by the seller (Offline, this cannot be done at Aliexpress so must happen by e. G Paypal, but ensure payment is by "Personal Payment" so it cannot be charged back once you have shipped item to China).

Despite Aliexpress saying you must only send item back when return shipping is paid, their dispute system forces you to send item back or seller will receive full payment, so if seller avoids sending shipping payment and avoids communicating with you for 9 days, he gets paid.

Simple solution:
Issue a chargeback on the Aliexpress payment with your CC Company.

Then ask the seller to send payment by Paypal "Personal Payment" ONLY so he cannot Chargeback and leave the return shipping to you.