Gaurav Rathore
His write-ups blend creativity, personal experience, and tailored technical advice, meeting reader needs effectively.
Do you get a kick out of online shopping and unboxing your dream stuff? If yes, then you are probably aware of AliExpress, the Amazon of China. But is AliExpress legit?
AliExpress is a Chinese shopping site where you can find almost anything and everything but at relatively cheaper rates. However, because of those low prices, scams have become pretty common here.
So, if you have plans to buy stuff from here, make sure to go through this blog and find out if it’s really as safe as people claim.
AliExpress is an online marketplace based in China where you can buy and sell things at cheaper rates. You can think of it as any other online shopping site like Temu, Etsy, or even TikTok Shop. Here, you can find anything from clothing to house goods, makeup, accessories, and many other products.
This retail service was launched back in 2010 and is owned by the Alibaba Group, a popular Chinese multinational company.
It is the second-largest e-commerce platform in the world. People call it the “Amazon of China” because of its similar popularity among Chinese netizens.
If you are familiar with online marketplaces, it might be easy to understand how AliExpress works.
So, AliExpress doesn’t have its inventory of products; it just connects the third-party sellers (Chinese ones) to the buyers (global consumers). Those sellers manage their products and ship directly to the customers, and that’s why you often get stuff at a cheaper rate.
After connecting you to the sellers, it takes care of the shipping arrangement and payment gateways to make sure you can make safe transactions.
So, the question is, Is AliExpress legit?
Yes, AliExpress is a legitimate marketplace with millions of users from different countries. However, just like any other shopping app, you need to be careful while using it since there are some risks.
When I went on Trustpilot to read the reviews, I found it had a poor rating of 2.7/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Though 71% of those ratings claimed that the site is trustworthy, the rest have been heavily disappointed with their purchase.
On Scamadviser, it has a Trust Score of 100/100, meaning that the site is legit and safe to use.
However, AliExpress is on the United States Trade Representative’s list of companies that sell fake and duped products. It’s not even accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
I know these two reviews are contradictory, so I recommend you be careful when making any purchases on the site.
The safety of AliExpress is ambiguous. Even though the site is generally safe to shop from, it’s not 100% harmless. There are many things you must watch out for, like delivery scams, payment fraud, etc.
To explain why it’s safe, I must go over the security measures AliExpress uses.
Like any other shopping site, AliExpress has a buyer protection act that claims to protect from various scams. If you don’t get your order within 75 days of ordering, you can file a claim for the site to give you a refund.
Other than that, if the product you receive is counterfeit, faulty, or damaged, you can file a dispute and ask for a partial or full refund, replacement, or voucher. If you and the seller can’t come to a conclusion, AliExpress might have to step in.
There are basically two ways to make payment on the app: one is by bank card and the other is through Alipay, a payment service offered by Alibaba.
The site personally looks over your transactions, so no third party can access your financial information and sell it to other agencies.
If you are planning to buy things from AliExpress because they’re cheap, you must take note of the risks that come along with it.
Buying stuff is more like betting. If you are lucky, you might get good products, but if the opposite, you are going to get some faulty and low-quality products that are only going to last you a day at most.
Since there are many third-party sellers on the site, you have no way to verify whether they are genuine. Most of them don’t even have a review or rating to begin with, which makes shopping with them feel more like a gamble.
Similar to apps like Shein and Temu, AliExpress has also received backlash for many reasons. The recent one is when it was accused of selling illegal online products and was later targeted by many countries for the same.
The customer support on AliExpress is mostly from China. So, when you need to reach out to the agents for your complaints, you are often given no solution due to the language barrier.
Earlier I mentioned that it has many risks, and one of the most common but dangerous is the scams. Here, I’ve jotted down some of the common AliExpress scams people usually come across.
Many users are often curious why stuff at AliExpress is so cheap. There are several reasons behind that.
Since AliExpress can be pretty risky, I suggest you use some safety tips while using the app.
I think it’s basic to check out the seller reviews on apps like AliExpress. So, make sure the seller you are choosing has good reviews and has over 100 completed orders.
Apart from the review, you must also pay special attention to the product description and read the size, dimensions, and images carefully so you can file a claim if you receive a faulty product.
Though it’s not necessary, you must always look out for the store offering free returns and refunds. It can save you a lot of trouble if the product turns out to be damaged.
If you are seeing a product at a very low price compared to what is available in the market, stay away! Those prices are bait created by the sellers just to scam you.
If you come across any store selling products from popular brands, like Ralph Lauren, Chanel, etc., be wary since those are mostly dupes or just pure knockoffs.
Make sure to use bank cards for making payments on AliExpress as it’s safer. If your product doesn’t deliver as promised, you can file a dispute with your credit or debit card company. Or just use the official payment gateway offered by the app.
Since AliExpress can be pretty risky, start by buying small and inexpensive things so you don’t feel too much regret if you end up losing your money on a useless or faulty product.
The clothes here follow the Chinese size, which is small compared to what people in America and Europe wear. So, when you are buying clothes here, make sure to choose 1 size bigger.
If you have any issues with your purchases, reach out to the AliExpress help center. You can just type in your query in the search bar or contact the agent if you are unable to find a suitable solution to your problems.
No, AliExpress is not generally safe for kids to use! It is only intended for adults, and to use the site or app, the users must be at least 18 years old.
The safety and quality of products are not even guaranteed here. Moreover, there is no strict checking for the products that are sold here, and hence the stuff here is more likely to have some dangerous chemicals that could harm the kids.
So, before your kids make any wrong purchases that harm them, make sure they are away from the app. However, if your children are hell-bent on using the app, make sure they are under your supervision.
If your child provides their personal information to AliExpress without your permission, you can contact DataProtection.AE@aliexpress.com and ask to remove the said info.
If you have doubts that your kid might be using such apps behind your back, you can install parental control apps like mSpy, Bark, etc., to ensure 24/7 monitoring.
So, what you need to remember is that AliExpress is a legitimate and safe shopping site that comes with its own set of risks. That’s why you need to be careful while exploring the site or making payments.
For more security, go through the safety tips I’ve listed above.
If you have a kid wanting to use the app, make sure to supervise them or just set up parental controls on their device.
Yes, it’s generally safe to buy from AliExpress, though make sure to be careful of the frequent scams.
Yes, you can trust AliExpress since it’s a legitimate shopping app.
AliExpress has been pretty popular for delivering fake products, constant scams, and misleading customers through various tricks.
It takes around 15-60 days for AliExpress to deliver, though it might also depend on what you have ordered and where you are ordering it from.
