# Aliexpress



## robbiethinking (Nov 23, 2017)

Hi

Has anyone any experience of buying stuff from Aliexpress? Is it as popular in Mexico as it is in other parts of the world?

If so, what's the interaction with customs like? Is it easygoing or do they routinely pounce on things sent from non USA?Canadian sources?

Thanks in advance.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

robbiethinking said:


> Hi
> 
> Has anyone any experience of buying stuff from Aliexpress? Is it as popular in Mexico as it is in other parts of the world?
> 
> ...


Never heard of Aliexpress? What is it?


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## robbiethinking (Nov 23, 2017)

Isla Verde said:


> Never heard of Aliexpress? What is it?


Have to chuckle! Sorry. But that kind of answers things straight away!

Aliexpress (part of the Alibaba conglomerate) is the world's biggest online market place, although I've had my suspicions for a long time that it's made little impression in the USA.

Interestingly, in the current top 5 of such online sellers, the top two are Chinese and unknown outside of China, then followed by Amazon and Ebay (in 3rd and 4th place), with another obscure Chinese name in 5th place - and all 3 of the Chinese leaders are part of the Alibaba Group

Alibaba/Aliexpress gets through one Trillion U.S. dollars worldwide annually, considerably bigger than Ebay or Amazon international sales.

_"The top three most visited E-Commerce websites worldwide are AliExpress.com Amazon.com, and Ebay.com, and . When comparing gross merchandise volumes (GMV), Alibaba ranked the highest with more than half a trillion U.S. dollars GMV generated on its retail marketplaces in 2015, followed by Amazon with its estimated GMV more than three times smaller than that of Alibaba."_ (Extract from a trade paper in 2015.)

I use Aliexpress continually (I'm currently living in Thailand, and used it when I was in Europe, too).

So I was wondering if any expats reading this have had experience of Using Aliexpress to buy things from their Mexican base.


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

robbiethinking said:


> Have to chuckle! Sorry. But that kind of answers things straight away!
> 
> Aliexpress (part of the Alibaba conglomerate) is the world's biggest online market place, although I've had my suspicions for a long time that it's made little impression in the USA.


 I've heard of Alibaba, and it's huge, but always thought of it as a wholesale peddler of goods, not retail. If you want to purchase 10,000 plastic doodads and sell them in your store or online they're available amazingly cheap, allowing for a big retail markup. I'm sure many a small entrepreneur has made some serious money doing so.


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## robbiethinking (Nov 23, 2017)

perropedorro said:


> I've heard of Alibaba, and it's huge, but always thought of it as a wholesale peddler of goods, not retail. If you want to purchase 10,000 plastic doodads and sell them in your store or online they're available amazingly cheap, allowing for a big retail markup. I'm sure many a small entrepreneur has made some serious money doing so.


I think that's why Alixpress sprung up - think of it as a parallel to Amazon but with a more oblique range of items, plus free postage around the globe.(Indeed, a great many of the items on Amazon are sourced from Alibaba/Aliexpress.) Take a wander about for 10 minutes here! AliExpress.com - Online Shopping for Popular Electronics, Fashion, Home & Garden, Toys & Sports, Automobiles and More.


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## Rammstein (Jun 18, 2016)

I have bought many things from AliExpress over the last 2 or 3 years. Shipping can take up to 2 months and a couple of times I have had to get refunds because the items never arrived. As for customs problems, never had any and I have never had to pay duty on anything I bought from them.


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## robbiethinking (Nov 23, 2017)

Rammstein said:


> I have bought many things from AliExpress over the last 2 or 3 years. Shipping can take up to 2 months and a couple of times I have had to get refunds because the items never arrived. As for customs problems, never had any and I have never had to pay duty on anything I bought from them.


Excellent news! I don't mind waiting a longer time (shipping to Thailand usually takes around 3 weeks) as long as I have an idea that stuff will get through.

(When I first stared using Aliexpress in Thailand, about 15 or so years ago) the customs people used to regularly open parcels just out of sheer curiosity. I'm happy that the Mexican guys are more laid-back about things!)


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

robbiethinking said:


> Excellent news! I don't mind waiting a longer time (shipping to Thailand usually takes around 3 weeks) as long as I have an idea that stuff will get through.
> 
> (When I first stared using Aliexpress in Thailand, about 15 or so years ago) the customs people used to regularly open parcels just out of sheer curiosity. I'm happy that the Mexican guys are more laid-back about things!)


Sometimes shipments can take a couple of months, or longer, to arrive from the States, so be prepared to wait for a long time if you order from Aliexpress.

Mexican customs people are not necessarily "laid-back about things" - it all depends on their mood!


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

I bought a number of women’s blouses through Aliexpress on a couple of occasions in the past two years, and I had no problem. The amount I paid when I made the purchase was all I had to pay. Looking back through my records, I think they took about a month to arrive.


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