Advice for an AliExpress virgin

[oldnick]

I’m aiming to build a cheap cheater largely sourced from AliExpress sellers.

Yesterday I started to gather parts into a cart and the pricing went haywire!

Things that were pennies were suddenly several pounds etc. (I’m in the UK if that makes a difference).

So, can someone explain how to get the best prices without getting banned by AliExpress?

So far I’ve come up with buying the most expensive item (axles) first to get the “welcome deal” , but what next?

Also, I’m planning on using PayPal, and I’m trying to use sellers with a decent number of good reviews, anything else to bear in mind?

Thanks in advance for making the loss of my cherry a satisfying experience…

 

[themountain]

They have. Special offer weeks...worth to wait

 

[Gula]

Shop around!!!. Once you hav an account, you can create a wishlist. Then if you hover over the item with your mouse/finger, it gives you a "similar items" popup. From there it will populate a new window with different prices, some with free shipping, some not. The difference in price can be significant!and
and wait for sales, like themountain said.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

My advice. Don't waste too much money building an AliExpress rig. I think there are better ways to get a rig. Are you doing this as a challenge or purely because of budget?

 

[ferp420]

get the app ive found that to be the most consistent pricing from advertised to puchase

 

[MAGNUMB]

Go slow and easy is the best advice i have.

 

[oldnick]

@JatoTheRipper Purely a budget issue as in I have very little budget

If there is an equally cheap way of building a rig I’m all ears!

 

[JatoTheRipper]

@JatoTheRipper Purely a budget issue as in I have very little budget

If there is an equally cheap way of building a rig I’m all ears!

Which chassis or vehicle do you plan on starting with?

What's your absolute budget limit?

 

[ferp420]

i like this one

Just found this amazing item on AliExpress. Check it out! $18.16 | 2 Pcs Carbon Fiber LCG Chassis Rails Cheater Rigs Frame Kit for 1/10 RC Crawler Lower Center of Gravity Upgrade VS Gspeed V3 TGH

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mreopMC

 

[Gula]

i like this one

Just found this amazing item on AliExpress. Check it out! $18.16 | 2 Pcs Carbon Fiber LCG Chassis Rails Cheater Rigs Frame Kit for 1/10 RC Crawler Lower Center of Gravity Upgrade VS Gspeed V3 TGH

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mreopMC

If i click the link it's $11.16 so the advertised prce is not always what it seems.

 

[ktse]

After getting hooked on buying mountain bike parts and RC parts on Aliexpress for about a year now I've come to a couple of conclusions:

1. There is a ton of products at varying degrees of quality. Do your research and look at reviews. I do not rely on the reviews on the platform since they are normally incoherent so I typically check on forums or social media to find out what people are saying.

2. Pricing varies quite a bit even for the exact same products at different stores; shop around. A lot of shops will put related items as part of the same product listing but purposely show the lowest price item to get your attention. Example: you might see a radio transmitter for $20, but it's actually the receiver for $20 and the radio itself is $100.

3. Take advantage of seasonal and weekly platform wide sales. In addition, also visit stores since most offer coupons if you purchase a minimum amount. These are not automatically added to your basket.

4. Customer service can be hit and miss with some stores. There's a lot of information that can get lost in translation so be mindful if you're purchasing something complex and may need help.

5. Shipping is not fast, be prepared to wait several weeks for some stores to ship. I usually get my orders in about 2 weeks in Canada but I've had a couple of items take more than two months.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

If i click the link it's $11.16 so the advertised prce is not always what it seems.

Prices tend to be cheaper when you log in, especially with the app. They have a mental pricing policy...

 

[ferp420]

If i click the link it's $11.16 so the advertised prce is not always what it seems.

like i sead its the most consistant lol i actually payed 16.95 but that was awhile ago

 

[jes4man]

I made many purchases and they finally made me create an account, so I do not get as many welcome deals as before. My advice is find the product you want, click on it and scroll down to suggested or related or whatever it is called and see if there are cheaper options. If you find what you want at great price buy it, don't let it sit in your cart.

 

[89Industries]

Be wary of counterfeit parts. This is where most counterfeit bike parts come from (Amazon, et al isn't innocent either). I imagine it's similarly risky for rc stuff.

At least with rc stuff your life isn't at risk as much. Imagine charging down a black diamond dh trail and your handlebars which happen to be counterfeit snap.

Though I prefer my house not to bourn down so I certainly buy batteries and charger stuff from known domestic sources.

But a counterfeit scale bumper isn't really going to hurt you or your family.

 

[Fallen]

Two counterfeit bumpers broke into my garage last night and severely beat a few of my name brand bumpers. They stabbed two of my name brand tires and painted over one of my custom bodies.

They also kidnapped a set of name brand sliders and threatened to come back for my family if I don't pay for "protection."

Don't take counterfeit bumpers lightly.

 

[Gula]

Two counterfeit bumpers broke into garage last night and severely beat a few of my name brand bumpers. They stabbed two of my name brand tires and painted over one of my custom bodies.

They also kidnapped a set of name brand sliders and threatened to come back for my family if I don't pay for "protection."

Don't take counterfeit bumpers lightly.

 

[bgredjeep]

I stopped buying from aliexpress in general after a seller tried to extort me for extra money on a servo I ordered.

Got an email a few days after I ordered offering expedited shipping for only $5 more. I wasn't in a hurry as the car I ordered for wasn't going to be ready for a month so I declined. Get another email shortly after that telling me that they charged the wrong price and if I didn't pay the extra $5 they would cancel the ordered. I told them not so politely to f off and a few days later they did in fact cancel the order.

They did not update the price on the item so I presume they kept running their scam. Now I avoid buying there if at all possible.

 

[JimrC]

I also stopped ordering from AliExpress because I only ever received about 50% of what I ordered and getting a refund wasn't too quickly done ... too many things apparently got lost in shipping. Not worth the hassle I found personally.

 

[ferp420]

ive had way more problems on ebay than alli X but they do happen

the old .99¢ flashlight instead of a $20 esc
only to get a reply like tracking says it was delivered have a good day then having to fight with ebay and make 5 phone calls only to wait 3 weeks for my money back

allie X isent much better but ive had pretty good luck with them ive only had 4 or 5 bad experiences were i had to fight to get my money back like when my order prossesd 3 times and they refused to cancel my order i ended up with 3 sets of drive shafts for free i only wanted 1 and dident have a problem paying for the 1 i ordered but hay they refunded the entire amount and sent 3 driveshafts and i canceled with in seconds of the order glitching