Isabelle D.

I had a very bad opinion of Aliexpress (based on the reviews read here on SiteJabber) until a friend of mine ordered from them. Everything went really well for her, so I ended up giving them a chance too.
My thoughts: Aliexpress is the absolute most professionnal Chinese website I have ever bought from. It is very complete, just what you'd expect from any respectable company.
Other than that, it is just like Ebay, you have to pick your seller (and item) carefully. Never buy an item that has no reviews, and check sizes/dimensions/item description carefully! It's even better when the reviews of other buyers contain pictures of he actual item they received, that way you can judge whether the item meets your expectations or not. It's a shame Aliexpress doesn't force all buyers to post pictures of the actual items they are selling. Most of the sellers all show the same pictures of the original item, and that's why you have to be so careful: what you see isn't always what you get! Most of the time, you get a replica of the original item on the picture. Make sure the seller has very high reputation too (the closer to 100%, the better, I wouldn't buy from a seller that has a reputation under 96%). And never ever buy an item that you need quickly/for a given date, you're bound to be disappointed. Shipping through China Post takes FOREVER. The first item I ordered from them took 6 long weeks to get to me, it was nerve wrecking, really. But in the end the item got to me and the quality was really good for the price! Overall, I would buy from Aliexpress again, but not any item, not regularly, and not from any seller!

Okay, so my overall rating stands for my opinion of their practices... I ordered the free trial for diapers, cleaning products and vitamins from Honest.com because... heck, free samples! I was only charged 5$ for shipping. But as I clicked the final "Order Trial" button, my eye caught a glimpse of the fine prints, which I am copy-pasting here: "*With your Discovery Kit, you'll be enrolled as a member of The Honest Company. You have 7 days following receipt of your Discovery Kit to cancel your membership at any time, for any reason. We will remind you about your membership options. If you choose to not cancel, you'll be charged $79.95/month for the Diapers & Wipes Bundle, $35.95/month for the Essentials Bundle, or $35.95/month for your Health & Wellness Bundle (plus shipping & handling)." Too late, I had pressed the button o_o I would never have ordered the free trial had I noticed the fine prints before! I made sure to cancel my account as soon as I received the package (the only way to do this is by phone, you can't close your account any other way!), and they were very polite and respected their part of the deal, so everything is well that ends well for me... But the fact that they are enrolling members this way is making me cringe. I find it slightly disloyal.

I placed my first order on NailPolishCanada.com for hair care products on a Friday night. Next Thursday, the products were delivered to my door! They had a free shipping promotion, it worked great. I will order from them again.

These guys are not serious. Back in 2007, I bought a one year subscription (4 issues) to a comic anthology. I got one issue right away, and then nothing. A few years passed and I remembered about my subscription, realizing that I had never got what I had paid for. I asked them for a refund. They replied that they were still working on the comic anthology and that I would get my issues sooner or later, but I could get a store credit if I didn't want to wait for the next issues. I decided to wait and see whether I was going to get the other issues I had paid for... That was in 2009. By November 2012 I still hadn't received any more issues. I wrote to customer service again and claimed my stored credit, it took them several weeks to reply to my email. They asked me to pick any 3 books from their store, which I did, and they would send them to me. I had to remind them about my selection, but I finaly recieved the books in February 2013. I don't know if they just ignore unpleasant emails willingly, but I did have to send the same emails twice and make sure to follow my complaint closely, I get the feeling they hoped I would get tired of sending emails and quit.

I can't help but think there are other people like me out there who bought a subscription and never got what they paid for. DramaQueen didn't do anthing about it, they were not proactive at all, they just took my money and hoped I wouldn't remember about the subscription I bought back in 2007. In fact, the subscription is still available from the website, so I guess even today people could buy it and they would never get anything but the first issue.

Even though this incident is making me pretty angry, I cannot say I would never buy from them ever again. They do ship the books ordered and they arrive quickly, brand new and in perfect condition.

Just don't buy a subscription from them.

The best online buying experience I ever had. I ordered on December 25th, received my item on the 28th! And I picked free shipping too, which to them really means they're shipping the usual way (UPS + tracking number) without charging the customer, not "crappy ground mail shipping". Awesome!

I have been trying to buy one particular item that I would only find on Chinese websites... Of all the Chinese websites I tried buying it from, Madlime.com was the most reliable. Seriously, they are organized and they provide fast feedback (automated confirmation emails), just the way you would expect from any North American company. I really appreciated their in-site Order History, where I was able to follow my order's processing.

The items offered on Madlime.com are not the cheapest I've seen, but I've come to realize that customer service is not free per say... I suppose we customers have to pay for service and professionalism, so items are priced in consequence. Prices are still very reasonable. Shipping is not free, but it is very affordable. They also provide a tracking number with every shipment (which is not optional) for an extra 2 USD$. It makes MadLime.com more trustworthy than any other Chinese website that do not provide tracking numbers in my opinion.

However, I noticed Chinese websites tend to pick a moto for what they are worst at, and this website makes no exception with "always fast shipping". My item was shipped 1 whole week after I payed for it (after I sent them a couple emails asking when my item was going to be shipped. I never got a reply for those emails, I get the feeling they made sure to ship my item "quickly" as a reply). I picked regular air mail for shipping method, and Hong Kong post took its sweet time. MadLime.com had estimated shipping time to my country to 12-20 days... It has been over 20 days already, and my item just left Hong Kong today, finally. I ordered in November, thought I was way ahead of time and that I was going to get my item before Christmas for sure... "Always fast shipping"... if you pay for express shipping, maybe!

Anyhow, in case you couldn't tell, I haven't received my item yet. I did not order electronics nor clothing so I'm not all that worried about the quality of my item, I'm confident it will be as I expect. I was very impressed with the professionalism of MadLime.com and I was 100% happy until it got to the shipping. MadLime.com also makes sure to claim that they will not be held responsible (no refunds!) for any lost items, so you have to follow your item closely (tracking number).

I cannot say I highly recommend MadLime.com, but of all the Chinese websites I tried, this one was the most professional. Do give it its chance, but follow your order closely and don't expect "always fast shipping"!

Edit: I received my item today. I'm very pleased with it! It was well packaged and exactly as described. I will probably give Madlime.com another chance and get kids clothing from them.

Bought 2 pencil sharpeners from LugBuy.com. Items and shipping both were ridiculously inexpensive. Seemed like a bargain. Payed using Paypal. I was slightly taken aback when I noticed I was sending money to an individual rather than to the LugBuy company... but paypal being paypal, I still felt safe. Kind of. Next thing I know: LugBuy asks me for more money because they had estimated the shipping fee wrong (new shipping fee was 10x over the original shipping fee!) AND someone from China--Lugbuy.com is a Chinese website--attempted to log into my email account. Utterly disgusted by the fraudulent email log in attempt, I cancelled my order. 4 days after I ask them to cancel my order, they finally confirm they "can" (as opposed to "will"!) refund within 24-72 hour... Got a refund 8 days later. Their customer service is very slow, but at least they did refund without a big hassle. Still, I absolutely do NOT recommend this site.