Making first purchase on Aliexpress.

[mrflibble]

Everything I've bought has used the internal escrow system.

Mmmh, were there any costs involved in that? I just checked it here, and it says it's free. But the paranoid me wonders if free actually means zero cost. I know a couple of instances where "free" meant "free, right up until this point in the transaction, then we require you to pay a small Gnome Underpants Fee to compensate for our Shit We Just Made Up Because We Want More Money".

The main reasons I can see for using escrow are you get the illusion of buyer protection, and more importantly, the seller doesn't see any credit card information.

[Stonent]

No cost to me.

[peter.mitchell]

I used the dispute function this week for the first time;
The item had not arrived within the specified timeframe, so i had asked the seller to check and resend if applicable, the seller had stated they had resent, item still not arrived after 30 more days, opened a dispute, stating goods not received and had asked seller to resend/check, case escalated after 3 days, today dispute was resolved and i was issued a full refund.

that makes less than 1% i have not received goods (which tbh, i don't think is the sellers fault but i still didn't get it so *shrugs*), and on that order I have gotten a full refund, not bad.

[amyk]

Just don't be too surprised when something unexpected arrives a few months later, and you finally figure out that you ordered it half a year ago... China has some very odd shipping procedures.

[TMM]

That's half the fun of ordering a steady stream of stuff via china post - when a package arrives you have no clue what it is until you open it

The customs declarations are usually hilariously generic too.

[peter.mitchell]

That's half the fun of ordering a steady stream of stuff via china post - when a package arrives you have no clue what it is until you open it

The customs declarations are usually hilariously generic too.

Since I live in a pretty sparsely populated area, I know everyone fairly well, including the postmaster, he asks me what i'm getting and i always respond "It's like christmas, it could be anything, but i'll be happy anyway". I experience the steady stream of random things too.

The customs declarations are usually vague, or generic yes, often "gift" or "adapter", recent arrivals, with declarations in brackets bluetooth module (adapter), spool of solder (gift), several xbox360 power supplies (accessory[they're a useful isolated 12v 10a psu]), some RF connectors and adapters(antenna adapter), capacitors (hobby parts), capacitors (capacitors), toroids (module), transformer (module), custom order smps (module), custom order class d amplifier (module), solder paste (gift), custom solder stencils (gift)

[Psi]

I've bought around 10-20 items from aliexpress, all in the sub $100 price range (only exception was my Hakko 888).

Out of all my aliexpress transactions only one had an issue, it never turned up.
I contacted the seller and requested a refund but they refused that and instead sent another unit which arrived fine.

oh, and one time i bought 20 usb cables and they sent me 40
(this was a different order, the missing item above never did turn up)

[Galenbo]

I can also tell you about how repair houses "quote" for repairs from first hand experience.
1) Visually check if item blown to bits or damaged beyond hope (note they almost never power up the item at this stage)
2) Google price of new item
3) Quote 60% of price of new item to repair.
4) If accepted begin diagnosis of the fault 

I have the same expieriences, but this time it was somehow different (As I wanted fast to maintain a relyable system, I sent the IMET unit for repair)

1) I got the repair price (it was about 500eur, 30% of a new unit)
2) I payed, 3 days later the unit was home.
3) I installed it, 5 min work, All worked well.

But what did they do? The whole system contains:

-the Motherboard witch has the transfo and voltage regulation and the connectors for the other boards.
-the Relay board, simple relays, leds and diodes.
-the radio module completely RF isolated unit.
-the logic board witch has the microcontrollers, buffers, converters, and so on. All codes are erased.

Well, they "replaced" the "logic board". So repair contains:

1) test the power supply on the motherboard
2) if this is ok, replace the logic board.
3) if it still doesn't work, replace the radio module.

I am totally satisfied as a machine user, I have a fast and relyable repair, no worries.
I am totally unsatisfied as an electronics hobbyist. What signal was wrong, what component was on the origin of it? How are these units tested? ...

[Stonent]

That's half the fun of ordering a steady stream of stuff via china post - when a package arrives you have no clue what it is until you open it

The customs declarations are usually hilariously generic too.

Mine nearly always say gift $1.00