Jason B.

Ive had some better luck lately with aliexpress, well kind of. Im now using a partner site called techdirect.nz
Its an aliexpress portal but they only list products from 5 star rated trusted sellers.
Its way more reliable. Ive bought tons of stuff. Mostly ebike parts and foldable electric bikes which i then sell to locals in New Zealand for a nice bit of extra cash.
The electric bikes and phones and everything sold through the techdirect.nz portal just seems to flow better.
So yeah im now quite happy as long as I only choose products through techdirect first:)
Once you click "order now" button it takes you through to aliexpress and you pay the same price you always pay, but with techdirect they update their products daily so you always get the best price and dont have to search through tons and tons of pages from lots of different sellers. Everything is arranged better in the products section. All the sellers are reliable and pretty quick with communication.
Its like aliexpress but better!
They dont have clothes at this stage, but the range of products is increasing every month. For now its mostly tech, gadgets, solar, ebikes and consumer electronics, plus quarts singing bowls and a few other interesting things :)

Update: ive had some better luck lately with aliexpress, well kind of. Im now using a partner site called techdirect.nz
Its an aliexpress portal but they only list products from 5 star rated trusted sellers.
Its way more reliable. Ive bought tons of stuff. Mostly ebike parts and foldable electric bikes which i then sell to locals in New Zealand for a nice bit of extra cash.
The electric bikes and phones and everything sold through the techdirect.nz portal just seems to flow better.
So yeah im now quite happy as long as I only choose products through techdirect first:)
My old review is below this.
Aliexpress isnt great. Sure some will say hey you just have to be careful and check the credentials of the sellers and the feedback. But that doesnt work. Its not accurate. As others have said people who are ripped off can get blackmailed into giving 5 star ratings (for a full refund instead of a partial refund). Also sellers can edit the feedback! Yes thats right.
For example, this quote from one seller says it all
"Buyer Notice
If you have any problems, Pls feel free to let us know, We dont accept any negative feedback before communicate with us. Also Pls check the infomations on the link before you make order. Thank you very much! Skype: chopin-lee-1 Whatsapp:*******9012"

So yes when they say "We dont accept any negative feedback before communicate with us" that means that they can stop publishing of negative feedback.
How do I know this? Because I posted negative feedback on a phone that was never shipped to me (and they lied about it). I was given a fake tracking number and they led me on for 5 frigging weeks. Instead of just admitting they didnt have stock, they kept lying saying oh yes we have it in stock, please wait a bit longer.
I never swore and I was always polite, even with my feedback i was polite, but my feedback was never published!
I have bought some good products on aliexpress. I know how to find good products. But its the sellers and service that is the problem. Im tired of been lied to about shipping, about stock. About reasons for things. In the last 6 months ive had about a 50% success rate with getting stock to my door. Thats really crap. Some people will buy from aliexpress and get an ok service for a while. But sooner or later you will get burned.
Aliexpress is ok if you have all the time in the world. If you are trying to run a business then look elsewhere. Drop shipping or buying and selling just doesnt work with aliexpress. Its just too unreliable.
Im now buying from lightinthebox. Their reviews are good and their service is good because youa re not dealing with tons of different sellers and scammers. Just one company and they do have real stock. They are not just resellers. Plus their shipping and processing times are short. Aliexpress processing times for some sellers can be up to a month! Can you imagine a month to process your order? And the condescending replies if you complain. OH dont worry, we will send out real soon. You dont need worry we are good seller you can trust us."
Um, so that reply was to my questions about what had happened to my order. They didnt answer any of my questions?! Just say oh dont worry. Thats the kind of responses you get.
Also peopel say hey its not aliexpresses fault. Its the sellers. But thats not true. Ive heard that some of the best reliable sellers get their accounts closed on aliexpress for no reason and without explanations. So it seems what is happening is that aliexpress is accepting bribes from compeditors. So it is deleting accounts for those good sellers in favor of corrupt sellers.
So aliexpress is actually doing illegal trading by favoring certain sellers. Allowing fake feedback and editing of feedback.
Im done with aliexpress. I can get all the same products from lightinthebox faster and easier for the same price. Its a no brainer for me.