Author Topic: buying keycaps off aliexpress?  (Read 5500 times)

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Offline germpy

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buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« on: Mon, 17 January 2022, 14:54:03 »
hello all!
i was planning to buy some gmk ripoff keycaps on aliexpress, and i was thinking, well. aliexpress isn't exactly known for top quality items in general. is it a decent place to buy semi-cheap but goodish caps? the original set i was looking for was gmk zen pond.
thank you!

Offline MIGHTY CHICKEN

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 17 January 2022, 15:05:25 »
Yeah its an ok place for buying stuff


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Offline butre

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 17 January 2022, 16:41:25 »
the bootleg gmks on aliexpress are decent enough.  just know they take ages to get to you

Offline ideus

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 17 January 2022, 16:58:44 »
I bought a couple of sets and everything went very well, the packaging was pretty good, and the keycaps were awesome.

Offline hussar_name

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 17 January 2022, 17:51:00 »
I bought a couple of sets and everything went very well, the packaging was pretty good, and the keycaps were awesome.

Please a link?

Offline Jimbodiah

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #5 on: Mon, 17 January 2022, 20:44:41 »
I bought three sets on there now, all as advertised.

Offline HungerMechanic

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #6 on: Mon, 17 January 2022, 23:46:57 »
AliExpress is generally a pretty reliable Amazon-like distribution system.

It's the individual sellers you have to watch closely.

Some storefronts are pretty reputable, like KBDFans. KPRepublic's AliExpress storefront has been pretty reliable to me, but others have had issues. There's lots of specialized keycap stores, as well.

You can get various grades of keycaps from different manufacturers. The GMK clone sets are among the most dubious, however. I have one, and it was a great bargain, and the keycaps are great. But the spacebar was bent. I had to use one from a TADA68 instead.

Those GMK clone sets just aren't built to the highest standard. I'm talking about the no-name PBT ones like G-MKY and such. Some manufacturers are more consistent and higher-end. AKKO makes clones of some GMK keycap sets, and their keycaps are said to be straight. But their legends are ... not great.

ePBT has a line of ABS keycaps, but they are bad. R3 interference. So don't buy them. The actual EnjoyPBT PBT sets are often quite good, though. Check-in the GB pages to find out how their molds are doing before getting in on a group buy.

Domikey got into Cherry-profile ABS [or maybe it was PBT or both] recently. They made okay-ish SA clones, and should probably be able to handle Cherry-profile sets 'inspired' by GMK. [Some of their sets are original.] I would take a serious look at Domikey. Also, Akko [but bad legends].

They just had a big winter sale, could get at least 10% off on keycaps. Don't know when the next one is.

Offline MIGHTY CHICKEN

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 18 January 2022, 01:02:45 »
For clone caps
I recommend shenpo for cherry pbt
or aifei for abs, both are great options
aifei makes the dshots with a lot of spacebars and uniform renders, shenpo makes mostly beige and bow dyesub pbt, namely his xerox 6001

There are some lesser-known ones that are also great, mostly sugarcube which has amazing dyesub and can be distinguished usually by an r1 novelty with a 3d cube.

Offline ideus

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #8 on: Mon, 24 January 2022, 06:31:03 »
I bought a couple of sets and everything went very well, the packaging was pretty good, and the keycaps were awesome.

Please a link?


I got mine from KPRepuplic, one at Ali, and one directly from its web page.

Offline F eq ma

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #9 on: Mon, 24 January 2022, 20:53:41 »
I bought a few sets from https://shop.tai-hao.com/.  I think I found them through aliexpress.   Decent quality and quick delivery at least a year ago.

Offline VaporKeebs

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #10 on: Tue, 22 February 2022, 19:17:24 »
Oh lord. Lets please please please not turn GeekHack into a clone support group like r/mk now is.

If you missed a GB then take the L and look for anew set.

If you dont want to spend GMK prices then hit up KBDfans or Drop for some great prices. KBDfans has some great pbt sets for $50 and Drop has some for under $40.

Offline Fraaaan

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #11 on: Wed, 23 February 2022, 04:42:51 »
Oh lord. Lets please please please not turn GeekHack into a clone support group like r/mk now is.

If you missed a GB then take the L and look for anew set.

If you dont want to spend GMK prices then hit up KBDfans or Drop for some great prices. KBDfans has some great pbt sets for $50 and Drop has some for under $40.

TFW supporting clones is bad but supporting Drop and KBDfans is encouraged.

Offline VaporKeebs

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #12 on: Sun, 06 March 2022, 20:09:47 »
Quote
TFW supporting clones is bad but supporting Drop and KBDfans is encouraged.

Drop sells authentic GMK as well great priced sets that aren't clones. Drop Happy Planet to name one. Only $36, fits most kits, comes with fun novelties, and not a cloned set.

KBDfans have their own sets that are both priced great and not clones of other sets. Simple Grey are my current favorite set and only $49 from KBDF.

What's wrong with supporting either Drop or KBDF?

Offline MIGHTY CHICKEN

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #13 on: Sun, 06 March 2022, 20:50:30 »
Drop and kbdfans will both send you a b stock or a board that doesn’t have a USB port milled out and offer a 5 dollar coupon


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Offline VaporKeebs

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #14 on: Sun, 06 March 2022, 23:24:10 »
Ive only ever had great customer service from both.

Not that Im saying my experience means they cant mess up.

With Drop I had a spacebar not want to stay on the stab and they had me send the kit back and sent me a new kit no questions asked.

With KBDfans I had a set come with no up arrow and 2 down arrows. They sent me an up arrow no questions asked.

Offline DeStove

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #15 on: Wed, 09 March 2022, 21:38:25 »
If you want knockoffs from aliexpress I suggest the seller named yongqiu. He even has a youtube channel named yongqiu hang where he showcases some of his keycaps sets. He also has a website for faster shipping than aliexpress. I personally never bought from him but was tempted. His sets seem decent, but some are really off like the epbt dreamscape knock off.

Offline Caspid

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #16 on: Wed, 09 March 2022, 23:48:19 »
Real Eagles (maybe the same as switheskeys and half a dozen other companies?) and yongqiu seem decent, from the reviews and pictures people have posted. I've been thinking about ordering a set myself because they're available (unlike the original sets), PBT, have better compatibility, aren't $200, and don't take a year or more to ship.

Offline YayItsKate

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #17 on: Fri, 15 April 2022, 19:23:51 »
I've gotten some decent sets off of aliexpress. As long as you make sure it has solid reviews and seller scores I think you're set.

Offline ThreadyKeycaps

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #18 on: Sat, 16 April 2022, 00:29:56 »
I did buy a keycap set from Aliexpress, but that was because I think (based on my research) that the keycap set is a simple plain keycap set which the design was not copied from some sad designed elsewhere. The keycap is great and I love the quality.

Honestly, keycap sets are darn expensive. It can be very tempting to get clones but I havent been able to get the clones myself because I feel really sad for the designers. I am an artisan keycap maker and I will be really troubled and sad if some big manufacturers start cloning my stuff and selling at a low price.

Offline granola bar enthusiast

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Re: buying keycaps off aliexpress?
« Reply #19 on: Sat, 23 April 2022, 11:18:05 »
i have experienced aliexpres to have better quality keycaps and more transparent sellers than on websites like Amazon. Besides the fact they are clones I would say it's up there as a great place to buy clone keycaps