This post is to discuss two alternatives to Aliexpress. [edit, new post made to discuss proxy shippers]
I recently had a couple of very bad experiences with Aliexpress that led to my account being suspended.
I filed a total of 1 complaint, and had one other dispute with a seller.
In both cases I received goods in black trash bags with zero padding.
Case 1, DOA. Seller was very iffy and also fought tooth and nail to avoid a refund, resulting in a lot of wasted time and me offering to take partial refund because I wanted the whole thing done over with. In the end I was the loser, accepting partial refund when I should have gone for full refund. Even though I uploaded a video and Seller agreed the basic fact within 24 hours that he had sent me DOA, everything took over a month before money was put back into credit card, so you guys really need to think if you want to file a dispute on Aliexpress. It was a $200 item so this was totally not cool for my peace of mind.
Case 2, not officially filed. I received 3 broken keycaps, seller offered $1 refund because the rest of the set was usable. Then I discovered they had sold me ABS as PBT keycaps, pointed out the change in terms which took place after my purchase date, they agreed and gave a full refund without Aliexpress being involved. But they asked me to 'file a return for personal reasons' which in retrospect was a trick.
After that I lost my Ali account with no means of appeal and no proper explanation. I have a grand total of ZERO other disputes or refunds.
After my experience I realize that the first seller wasn't being iffy. Aliexpress sellers NEVER want to give you refund through their system because it is recorded as a strike against them. They always insist in paypal refund, and even are willing to pay the fees, and it isn't something sleazy. If you insist on going through Ali, which I did because I thought it was safer, you will be screwed because it is a strike against you.
The sellers always want you to take responsibility for the problem, so they want you to say 'return for personal reasons'. I probably lost my account because of 1 dispute and 1 return for personal reasons taking place within the same month.
Now onto my main topic.
Since I have no ali account now, I have to think about the accounts that I used to use. I have bought many times from Banggood.com and JD.com and this post is intended to stimulate discussion of these aliexpress alternatives. I also hope to hear from others who can share their experiences and direct me to use other ali alternatives.
First off: Banggood and JD have the huge disadvantage of not offering such enormous variety.
Banggood has prices on par with Ali, but less choice. However, they ship from their own warehouses, so you don't have to worry that you are dealing with some iffy seller. They have US and EU warehouses as well as (of course) China warehouses, and a variety of shipping options. It's not like Ali where everything you buy has to be subject to free but slow shipping.
I haven't used Banggood in a while thanks to Ali's choices. The biggest single reason is keycaps. Ali and Taobao have way more keycap variety. It was through Ali that I discovered Chinese companies are making SA profile even. But Banggood is pretty responsible with shipping. Because they are not a small store out of a universe of stores, they have professional teams and keep on stock a variety of package sizes to package properly. Not excessive like Amazon, but definitely with what I consider a correct amount of packing depending on the item shipped. You won't get gigantic packages full of air as per Amazon, and you don't get black trash bags like Aliexpress.
I don't just have zero complaints about Banggood. I have always been happy. All purchases exceeded expectations. These guys own their own stuff to sell, so they have to use some brains and think before they offer something in their shops, otherwise they'll take a loss for stocking these things in their inventory. Descriptions are not exactly good English, but have improved since a few years ago. I feel they describe to the best of their abilities, and it is professional enough that you don't have to read through miles of semi-relevant text. You can expect clear product descriptions from these guys.
It's not like some aliexpress sellers who don't actually know English, so they cut and paste entire descriptions from other aliexpress sellers who seem to be selling similar goods, then decide to play it safe and cut and paste entire descriptions from other aliexpress sellers, resulting in ads which seem to describe 3 different items.
Even Banggood's spams are relevant. For that reason I used to look at their spams, until I realized it was financially not in my advantage.
The only thing that is bad about Banggood, once again, is their lack of variety.
I feel that if you know exactly what you want to buy, always go with Banggood. They are not likely to make a mistake with their own descriptions. If you're not sure, then use Ali to browse.
If price difference is small, like 5%, always take Banggood because of their superior packaging. Do you really want to skimp on that 5% and wind up with a broken item in the mail after which Ali suspends your account for filing complaint?
JD.com
Now I want to talk about JD. I haven't used them in just over a year, and they've changed. Now they have a foreign division Joybuy.com that offers English.
I totally don't like their variety. They have a category called Men's Fleece Jackets, and recently they didn't even have anything to put in that category!
Looking at the items per category, you often see 1 or 2 choices only. For anybody used to a constellation of choices, JD sucks.
But why do I want to mention JD? Because I have actually used their buyer protection before, and I like it very much.
When they sent me something DOA, I complained, and guess what? They put me in touch with tech support! They have (at least, as of end 2015 they had) tech support!
Moreover, this tech support actually knows English, sounds intelligent, and was able to offer cogent suggestions on resolving a USB port conflict issue!
It took several backs and forths, but my experience was no different from getting tech support from Western Digital or Norton. It isn't a brain dead guy with a technician diploma from a fifth rate Chinese polytechnic. It isn't a distant subsidiary or some outside contracted firm to answer technical questions via intermediataries.
It's a real pro who solved my issue in a courteous and professional manner and turned an angry buyer into a fully satisfied buyer!
I honestly don't buy enough from JD thanks to their meagre product variety. But this experience has created buyer goodwill from me.
Buy your trash from Ali. Anything that you really won't miss if they send you the wrong product or something smashed in the mail. Aliexpress buyer protection is offered in bad faith and their chat line manned by robots who talk nonsense.
Buy the better or more expensive stuff from Banggood. They will make sure the product is described properly, and they will pack properly, and you have shipping options.
Buy from JD if it's something expensive and might conceivably require tech support.
