Opinions of AliExpress,Amazon,eBay: 7 tips to avoid being cheated
It is not always easy to stay safe while shopping online. For every legitimate and reputable site, hundreds want to take their money and run through the hills, so that they are never seen or heard again.
You want to stay safe, it is important to research the site you are shopping at. How do you protect the buyers? Is it easy to avoid frauds and scams? How does the site handle disputes and reimbursements?
Today, we will immerse ourselves in the world of AliExpress and we will answer some of those questions. You may also find that while you are a smart shopper, there are many reasons to buy your technology in Chinese sites such as AliExpress.
What is it AliExpress?
AliExpress it is part of Group Alibaba. The group is one company China electronic commerce It offers a variety of retail services to businesses and consumers around the world. In April 2016, it beat Walmart to become the largest retailer in the world.
Alibaba launched the subdivision AliExpress in 2010. It is an online company that mainly sells Chinese products. It works more like eBay than Amazon: it is a host platform that allows third-party companies to sell their products. It does not sell products by itself.
The site is the most popular e-commerce site in Russia and is also widely used throughout Latin America.
buyer protection
Buying online carries inherent risks. Unlike shopping at a physical store, you can not see the item before buying it.
This eliminates a significant part of the purchase process. You can not feel a product to test the quality of construction or verify an electronic element to make sure that all functions work as described.
If you are buying a well-known brand, you can read reviews online or even go shopping to solve the problem.
But in the case of AliExpress, where many of the cheap Chinese products are not available in stores, you are alone. Normally, you will make your decision based solely on the description and some photos. It is vital, therefore, that the site has a strong buyer protection policy.
Luckily, it does.
The company offers two important guarantees:
A full refund if you do not receive your order: if the item is not displayed, or even if it does not arrive within the timescale specified by the seller, you can request a full refund.
A full or partial refund if the item is not as described: yes Your purchase differs significantly from what you expected, you have two options. You can return the item for a full refund or retain the item and receive a partial refund.
Resolving disputes
Unfortunately, as with others sites electronic commerce, getting a refund for a missing, defective or incorrect item is not as simple as clicking the "Refund" button. There is a complete dispute process that you need to work on.
In AliExpress, the dispute process involves three steps:
First, you should contact the seller and raise your problem directly with them. If you are raising a dispute before the order is completed, or more than 15 days after completion, this is the only option open to you.
If you are still in the pre-completion stage and the vendor refuses to cooperate, you must wait until the order closes and raise the problem to AliExpress. Unfortunately, if it is beyond the 15-day mark and the seller refuses to cooperate, it runs out of options.
Second, if you are within the 15-day period and you are not happy with the seller's response, you can open a dispute ticket. This makes the process formal.
Third, if you are not satisfied with the formal discussions, you can raise the problem to AliExpress. Then he will act as a mediator between you and the seller to reach a resolution.
Find a reputable seller
The easiest way to avoid using rebate and dispute channels is to find a trusted seller. If thousands of satisfied customers have used the seller in the past, they are much less likely to have problems.
The comments page
The most obvious way to verify a seller is to look at their history. On any seller's page, click on the Comments tab to get a complete breakdown.
Each seller has a percentage of positive votes and a comment score. The comment score is the sum of all the scores, converted into points. Four- and five-star ratings are worth one point, three stars are worth zero, and one- and two-star ratings score a point.
Further down on the page, you can see the star classifications subdivided into Article as Described, Communication and Shipping Speed. For each subcategory, you can see if the seller in question is above or below the site average.
Finally, at the bottom of the page, you will see a historical review of your scores along with the buyer's comments.
Seller Guarantees
Sellers can also offer buyers specific guarantees. As a general rule, the more guarantees you provide, the more confidence you will have in your purchase.
Sellers offer guarantees per item. The fact that they offer many guarantees about a product does not mean that the same guarantees are repeated throughout its catalog. Be sure to do a thorough investigation before committing.
There are four different guarantees that sellers can offer:
Give on time: the Seller agrees to provide a full refund if your purchase does not arrive before the agreed time.
Returns and refunds: the Seller agrees to offer a full refund if the product is not as described
Domestic returns: the seller has a warehouse in his country. You can send returns without having to worry about shipping costs or tariffs.
Genuine guaranteed: yes You are buying a high-cost electronic item, this is one that you should consider. It means that the item has been verified as genuine by AliExpress.
To see what warranties are provided for an individual item, check the Buyer Protection information in the Quick Information section of the product page, or click on the Seller's Warranty tab below the product image.
Be a smart buyer to avoid fraud
No matter how secure the site is, you should always assume some responsibility for your own actions.
AliExpress It offers some useful tips to make sure you avoid fraudulent sales. Most of them are common sense, but even so, it is prudent to recapitulate some of them:
If the price is too good to be true, it probably is. Sorry, but you will not get the last iPhone for $ 10. You are probably buying an iPhone keychain in your place. Check the fine print.
Never send money to a seller's bank account. If a seller wants you to send money directly to them instead of doing it through AliExpress, do not continue. Send money out of AliExpress means that the site will not cover it under the buyer protection policies.
Do not confirm the delivery before receiving the order. Never say that you have received an article before it is in your possession and you have reviewed it thoroughly to detect problems.
AliExpress It is safe
Chinese products often have an unfair reputation for being cheap and of low quality. Is not true. Many of the products in AliExpress They are well made and available for a fraction of the cost of what you would pay for an equivalent item in stores in North America or Europe.
If you are a smart shopper, using the site is no more dangerous than buying something on Amazon or eBay.
