Is Aliexpress trustworthy?

[nathanalmighty]

I've been trying to find a MSI MAG B550M MORTAR WIFI for under 200 dollars, and it just seems to be impossible in terms of most of the trustworthy sites (Amazon, Newegg, EBay, B&H) however I've found better deals on Aliexpress, however, I've never purchased anything from Aliexpress and I have no idea if it is a trustworthy place to buy electronics or not. Any experiences from you guys that could help me? Much appreciated.

[Roswell]

While there are some deals to be had there, it’s a dice roll on many fronts. Hell, even if you do manage to luck out with a good seller and product, you still have virtually no semblance of a warranty due to the shipping costs involved.

[SorryBella]

16 minutes ago, nathanalmighty said:

owever I've found better deals on Aliexpress

At best youll be destroyed by aliex shitty handling of shipping time and cost in duty fees and shipping as well, and at worst youll get utterly taken for a ride by the seller. Dont shop for deals on aliexpress if youre in NA and EU, shop for actually good shops and parts youd have hard time to find anyway in places like ebay.

[nathanalmighty]

6 minutes ago, SorryClaire said:

if youre in NA and EU, shop for actually good shops and parts youd have hard time to find anyway in places like ebay.

All the other parts on ebay are 200+ with like 90 dollars for shipping, and for the ones that are below 200 are accounts with less than 10 reviews, which isn't trustworthy either.

[Biohazard777]

40 minutes ago, nathanalmighty said:

I've been trying to find a MSI MAG B550M MORTAR WIFI for under 200 dollars, and it just seems to be impossible in terms of most of the trustworthy sites (Amazon, Newegg, EBay, B&H) however I've found better deals on Aliexpress, however, I've never purchased anything from Aliexpress and I have no idea if it is a trustworthy place to buy electronics or not. Any experiences from you guys that could help me? Much appreciated.

I rarely buy PC components from AE. In total, I ordered 2 mobos and just 1 CPU (CPUs are usually easy to buy locally).

If you receive wrong/defective item AE dispute will resolve it in your favor almost always even without making you send the defective item back (as long as you back up your claims with solid evidence).
Had it happen to me with that 1 CPU I ordered, plugged it, got post, and after 15 minutes of Prime95 it just went dead (it was an older Bulldozer CPU, wasn't expecting much out of it but I also didn't expect it to die heh). I recorded the unboxing (showing that the CPU wasn't mangled in shipping) and I recorded the stress test, when I opened the dispute I just attached the (speed-up) videos, the seller offered me to send the CPU back and once it reaches them they would send me a replacement, I declined the offer and asked for a full refund without sending back anything. AE stepped in the next day, ruled in my favor and I got my money back within a few days.
In AE I have trust, in sellers... eh not so much.

You have 15 days after you confirm receipt to open a dispute, everything beyond that you are left at the seller's mercy (and they usually don't give a flying f**k). So pretty much no warranty.

 

If you are buying phone cases, small electronic components, microcontrollers, and various other cheap items I say go for it.
For example, I can buy ESP32 Devkit V1 for 4-5$ on AE with free shipping, and if I was to buy it locally it would cost 15$...
The only downside is that you will wait, sometimes it takes 3 weeks, sometimes it takes 3 months and very rarely it doesn't arrive at all (though I always get a refund when that happens).
 

17 minutes ago, nathanalmighty said:

All the other parts on ebay are 200+ with like 90 dollars for shipping, and for the ones that are below 200 are accounts with less than 10 reviews, which isn't trustworthy either.

I wouldn't recommend ordering a mobo if you don't have to from AE...
AM4 B550 isn't that old, plenty of alternatives if MAG B550M MORTAR WIFI isn't available.
If you do end up ordering a mobo from AE, I suggest recording like I did (both unboxing and testing).

[SupaKomputa]

AE trustworthiness is the same as other marketplace, all depend on the sellers.

Most of US ebay sellers (from china) are probably the same people.

Don't shop at AE from north america, long shipment and virtually no warranty as return shipping probably cost more than the item.

 

my suggestion is getting similar model from other brand, with US warranty.

[LogicalDrm]

Interesting that it isn't available in US. The lowest price I see it on our markets is €164, from medicore seller and €207 from premium store.

[Poinkachu]

14 hours ago, nathanalmighty said:

I've been trying to find a MSI MAG B550M MORTAR WIFI for under 200 dollars, and it just seems to be impossible in terms of most of the trustworthy sites (Amazon, Newegg, EBay, B&H) however I've found better deals on Aliexpress, however, I've never purchased anything from Aliexpress and I have no idea if it is a trustworthy place to buy electronics or not. Any experiences from you guys that could help me? Much appreciated.

For stuffs like that, I advise not to buy from AE. Unless you are okay with somewhat gambling your money away.

 

Even if it's more expensive at local store near you, at the very least you know where to find them, which means it will be easier if you need them for something about your purchase.