Aliexpress Bargains CHAT thread [See MOD note #1]

Thargor

Dumping a load of single use poundshop batteries into landfill because you couldn't be bothered using a power brick doesnt bother you?

eeguy

Thargor wrote: »

Dumping a load of single use poundshop batteries into landfill because you couldn't be bothered using a power brick doesnt bother you?

I had a similiar opinion and went with one of these: https://tinyurl.com/kysz26k

It charges 18650 batteries (which I also use in torches and other devices) and can also be used as a phone charger, if I ever need to use it.

If the poster above had done his research he'd find that AA batteries only last about 30-50 minutes at a 1A current draw, so you'll race through 4 to 6 for every phone charge.

Easier to keep a power bank charged than have to bother carting batteries around with you and swapping them out regularly.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?64660-Alkaline-Battery-Shoot-Out

masculinist

Thargor wrote: »

Dumping a load of single use poundshop batteries into landfill because you couldn't be bothered using a power brick doesnt bother you?

No. This is about convenience . To use my phone to its full potential I'd have to recharge one of those rechargeable devices a few times a day .

Getting stuff you don't need manufactured using sweatshop labour at much lower pollution standards and then flown across the world from China doesn't bother YOU ?

Thargor

masculinist wrote: »

No. This is about convenience . To use my phone to its full potential I'd have to recharge one of those rechargeable devices a few times a day .

Getting stuff you don't need manufactured using sweatshop labour at much lower pollution standards and then flown across the world from China doesn't bother YOU ?

This is really weird logic, that device you linked to will tear through a pack of poundshop batteries in a day so not only will you be carrying a pack of batteries around with you and constantly swapping them out, you'll also have to keep going into a poundshop buying more and then having to find a recycling bin for the dead batteries or else throwing them in any bin if you dont give a sh1t.

A decent lithium ion power pack of a similar size would recharge a phone 3-4 times before needing a charge and its reusable a thousand times so it would pay for itself when it weans you off your poundshop battery habit.

I dont understand your question at the end, I wouldn't do anything as wasteful and polluting for the sake of what doesn't even sound like convenience, do you imagine your batteries and charger were made in the West?

masculinist

Thargor wrote: »

I dont understand your question at the end,

Now thats the real issue. The joys of being lectured about environmentalism by a bunch of people who are already flying unnecessary items around the world at huge environmental cost which are already manufactured with scant regard or regulation for the local environment at the point of manufacture. It suits me even if it doesnt suit you. Let me draw your attention to the no chat rule of this thread. I'm going to respect those rules and move on from here. Thanks.

SachaJ

Yep. Another two arrived yesterday that were ordered on the 6th May.

Thargor

So nothing about the actual points in the post then just this enviromentalism strawman? Okay then...

Suckit

9 Parcels arrived today. I have no idea what they are, but i have only ordered 4 items in April, so i am assuming that the majority are from March.

Catching up with backlog?
(as suggested above).

Suckit

masculinist wrote: »

Thargor wrote: »

I dont understand your question at the end,

Now thats the real issue. The joys of being lectured about environmentalism by  a bunch of people who are already flying unnecessary items around the world at huge environmental cost which are already manufactured with scant regard or regulation for the local environment at the point of manufacture. It suits me even if it doesnt suit you. Let me draw your attention to the no chat rule of this thread. I'm going to respect those rules and move on from here. Thanks.

While i agree with your logic and the irony of the post about environmental awareness etc...

This is the chat thread, so... You can debate away to your hearts content (unless of course you could not be bothered, which most would probably agree with).

corkie

Suckit wrote: »

While i agree with your logic and the irony of the post about environmental awareness etc...

This is the chat thread, so... You can debate away to your hearts content (unless of course you cold not be bothered, which most would probably agree with).

Post's where moved from the other thread!

What I don't understand if the battery is so bad on his device, that he needs to recharge a few times per day. Then maybe he needs to invest in a newer phone!

eeguy

Yeah I can understand why people need to debate things but why do it in the NO CHAT thread when there is also a CHAT thread? Bloody annoying that people can't keep their opprobrium in the correct thread.

eeguy wrote: »

I had a similiar opinion and went with one of these: https://tinyurl.com/kysz26k

Your link ain't working mate. It could be because you decided to stick an ad referral thingy on the front of it. For the benefit of others this is what he was referring to.

Suckit

I believe that far more people would prefer the chat to be in the same thread, but there was so much bickering that the Gods above decided to make two threads. Where we can mention a bargain, but if you want to dispute it you must go to the other thread.
Stupid.
TBH, there is another valid argument that there should not even be an aliexpress bargain thread, as it is not as cheap as Taobao, and the prices are hard to figure out if one actually is a bargain.
Only the original products/manuacturers monitoring their prices could say for sure (quality vs price), and is repeated on nearly every other forum i can think of, but not here.

sunny2004

The issue was the constant discussion over postage

eeguy

I like it the way it is now.

I'm just interested in the deals, not the endless discussion about postage and dozens of 'when should I expect x to arrive' comments.

It made finding the actual deals very difficult.

Snake Plisken

Well I for one don't want to read on the bargain thread lads bickering over batteries or postage , the op posted a link trying to be helpful, subscribers to the thread can click on the link and decide weather it's worth a purchase or not!

Suckit

Tbh, i do not think it matters what the issue is. But a postage issue (slow if you do not pay for a faster service) is relevant to a bargain.
Without the postal service being mentioned or a price to use it, that may bring the overall price back up to as much as that from Ireland (or higher).
So to say (for example)

'€4.50 for a pair of headphones' without mentioning that it is 2-3 months delivery in the current climate, or €10.50 delivery within 3 weeks is relevant. Definitely worth mentioning.

Nesta99

Thanks to another thread I have my eyes opened to a new world of ways to banjax my bank balance with Aliexpress among other sites. Is there a do's and dont's section anywhere that I could be pointed to. The basics are grand i am sure like using other buyers reviews but being green (no pun intended considering some of the chat above) it would be great to get some advice from some more seasoned aliexpress customers. Apols mods if this has been done elsewhere, if not then I'd be happy to cut and paste advive etc in to this post and other could be pointed in this direction. Thanks in advance folks!
Nesta

Suckit

Yes, my post was deleted (I have issues with my tablet and cloudflare), long story short, there are a ton of places to look (especially sellers sites), but for a starter look at alixblog and a get a few tips, then move on from there.

The deals posted here are not usually as good as they can be, so it is definitely worth looking at. Maybe even look 'past' AE

Suckit

Apologies, i did not link. Try here (it is in English) https://alixblog.com/en/

Also have a look at their "how to" section, it will give you ideas where to look next. It is a good site to start, and can show you the easiest ways to use Taobao etc.. (Without using any of the not so good (crap) "use taobao in English" sites).

witnessmenow

Nesta99 wrote: »

Thanks to another thread I have my eyes opened to a new world of ways to banjax my bank balance with Aliexpress among other sites. Is there a do's and dont's section anywhere that I could be pointed to. The basics are grand i am sure like using other buyers reviews but being green (no pun intended considering some of the chat above) it would be great to get some advice from some more seasoned aliexpress customers. Apols mods if this has been done elsewhere, if not then I'd be happy to cut and paste advive etc in to this post and other could be pointed in this direction. Thanks in advance folks!
Nesta

My advice would be:

• Search for what you want and then sort by number or orders, should normally be the better sellers. Although moving down that list you often find things for a little cheaper.
• As mentioned tonnes, the free shipping is woefully inconsistent at the moment. I've had things delivered in less than 2 weeks and some things that took over 3 months.
• If an item has not arrived before the protection time is running out, either ask for more time off the seller or raise a dispute with aliexpress (that option is on the order page)
• If a seller messages you looking for payment outside of aliexpress dont do it.
• Shop around, aliexpress is not always the cheapest (although it mostly is in my opinion). Check ebay, banggood, gearbest and even make sure to check amazon.co.uk. This is especially true for physically bigger items. (e.g. a microphone stand was $13 off aliexpress or 8 pound on ebay.co.uk with free delivery to parcel motel, so slightly more expensive but got it in a week)

Suckit

Taobao all the time for the price.

Banggood for support and any issues (regardless of posts above) - I bought a 3D printer for €400 from them, short story, i emailed them, they fixed it (and many other items).
Gearbest - Best not to touch with a bargepole, they have robbed me of a lot of money and i can prove it, and they have consistently bad reviews except for the ones that they pay for (and the people that have not yet had an issue with them).
eBay is still very much linked to paypal, so if you have received faulty or items that are not what you expected going by the description, then it could swing either  way.
You can use all sorts of sites to check the value of getting items from China, and because they have no protection for copyright, you should also use many forums for getting more information.
Sealsmile, pandacheck are good examples for price comparison.
The copies or 'clones' as some people call them, are often as good. Many China factories have a back door, and many factories also sell to many suppliers without any branding (they brand it later.) There are also many European services that will give you better information, the Irish ones, unfortunately want to charge you quite a high amount to find out the information, but to be fair, they are targetted at businesses, and i believe the money goes back into helping the next business.

itsnotmyfault

Suckit wrote: »

Taobao all the time for the price.

I'd never heard of these before and don't mean to take the thread off topic but has anyone used http://www.buy2taobao.com/en/index.html and can vouch for them.They seem very cheap but I guess there are delivery charges that i'll only see once I register.

I've never heard of Taobao either. Googled them and the site is all in Chinese!!

corkie

Deleted User wrote: »

I've never heard of Taobao either. Googled them and the site is all in Chinese!!

Also googled them and found: - https://taobaofocus.com/

TaobaoFOCUS.com is a website dedicated to shopping on Taobao.com in English.

We help you buy all kinds of products offered at incredibly low price from China's biggest domestic online shopping website. We are your Taobao agent who can find, purchase, check and deliver the items from Taobao.com. Our offer includes sourcing, buying and international shipping from China.

Taobao shopping service: NO minimum order requirement, LOW service fee.

Haven't used it either!

slave1

Laptop battery ordered May 15th, delivered today!
Usual free shipping option

Oat23

corkie wrote: »

Also googled them and found: - https://taobaofocus.com/



Haven't used it either!

Taobao launched a global site a while ago (only available in Chinese though...makes sense) so you don't have to go through agents anymore for certain countries. I don't think UK/Ireland is on the list of countries you can ship to though unless it was added since I last checked.

Basically you buy a load of crap and it's all sent to a Taobao warehouse and added to your account. You can then combine the order and ship it to you.

Could you be arsed with the translating and potential problems that could crop up for the sake of a few euro though. Combining packages into one would raise the declared value as well.

Taobao is essentially China's Aliexpress. They are owned by Alibaba too.

Suckit

For those who have not heard of Taobao, search "how to buy from Taobao". To buy from them is not that difficult, although does seem to be at first.

Much of the information posted above is not quite accurate.

Taobaofocus mentioned above is one of the older ones, and are very good, but i would highly recommend searching the above term rather than using them (unless you do not mind the agents fees).
There are also a few more sites (That may or may not be allowed to mention here.) I will not name or link to.
Taobaofocus is good and easy to use (although, as mentioned, i still recommend searching how to use them to full effect).
I do not know what is allowed on these forums, i find them ridiculously strict, maybe they just pick the wrong mods.  If i type any hints, this post may be deleted, and as a result, would be of no help to anybody.

@Oat23 you are correct for much of it, but not for a lot of it. It is well worth looking into and the other sites.

Nesta99

Suckit wrote: »

For those who have not heard of Taobao, search "how to buy from Taobao". To buy from them is not that difficult, although does seem to be at first.

Much of the information posted above is not quite accurate.

Taobaofocus mentioned above is one of the older ones, and are very good, but i would highly recommend searching the above term rather than using them (unless you do not mind the agents fees).
There are also a few more sites (That may or may not be allowed to mention here.) I will not name or link to.
Taobaofocus is good and easy to use (although, as mentioned, i still recommend searching how to use them to full effect).
I do not know what is allowed on these forums, i find them ridiculously strict, maybe they just pick the wrong mods.  If i type any hints, this post may be deleted, and as a result, would be of no help to anybody.

@Oat23 you are correct for much of it, but not for a lot of it. It is well worth looking into and the other sites.

PM me Sukit - it would be much appreciated as believe it or not i am thinking of getting Christmas stuff sorted (very) early this year as I am travelling from September on to late November. Funnily enough I would be in Singapore, Hong Kong and China itself on the ramble around that part of the world.

matchthis

Is it ok to just put in card details when purchasing or is theree another method like PayPal. See similar question asked on page one, but no reply. Thanks in advance

loki7777

it's ok. Safe as paypal.