Ali Express

[screenman]

I won't use Aliexpress or Temu for several reasons. The main one being the prices are so low a workforce somewhere is being exploited. Then at these prices quality, returns possibilities, security, sustainability etc. all have to be questionable.

There's always a reason for things being cheap.

I use Temu for some of my specialist tools, after all that is where the British companies that sell them but then from, and then resell them for ten times what I pay. I just paid £9.75 for a pair of bibbed long cycling bottoms with an excellent pad in, I am guessing if I bought them from a UK supplier they would have been five times the price and from the same source.

 

[PaulSB]

I use Temu for some of my specialist tools, after all that is where the British companies that sell them but then from, and then resell them for ten times what I pay. I just paid £9.75 for a pair of bibbed long cycling bottoms with an excellent pad in, I am guessing if I bought them from a UK supplier they would have been five times the price and from the same source.

It's all a matter of personal choice. My last pair of bib longs came from Lusso and I paid £85. A lot more than you. However the quality is superb, I know Jake, the young man who owns and runs the business, I've been inside their Manchester factory where everything is made by hand. When I ripped up the bib longs in a fall on diesel Lusso repaired them free of charge. They also repaired a gilet, for £15, which was damaged in the same fall. Over £220 worth of kit saved for £15. I'm not criticising other people's choices at all. Temu and Aliexpress just scream cheap, cheap, cheap and it leaves me with questions and doubts over the whole proposition.

In my RTA with the tractor my favourite Lusso jersey was written off. Lusso provided me with a brand new replacement jersey. They didn't have one in stock and made it especially so my buddies could give it to me on my 70th birthday. For me no amount of money saved buying from China can replace this sort of service and the warm feeling it gives me.

I stress I'm not criticising others choices but I believe it's easy to know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

 

[Drago]

That's true, although how many non Chinese companies go above and beyond to that level? I'd warrant few, but they'd still take UK levels of payment.

 

[PaulSB]

That's true, although how many non Chinese companies go above and beyond to that level? I'd warrant few, but they'd still take UK levels of payment.

I quite agree but they are there if one seeks them out. Once I discovered Lusso I stuck with them and it pays off.

Slightly different but the same principle. I know my LBS charges top dollar for parts. I really don't mind. Recently the owner took out the rear hub, bottom bracket cleaned, greased, new bearings etc. as we tried to track down a mystery clicking. Still clicks so they've lent me a wheel to eliminate my wheel as the source. No charge.

I use their car park for football parking. Saves me £250 per season. Three weeks ago I left the car lights on. The LBS owner spotted this, texted me at the game. When I got back to the car park he was waiting, gave me the keys to the company van and I drove it home. Next day he called a local mechanic to come down with heavy duty leads to jump start my car.

Loyalty and supporting local business pays dividends.

 

[wafter]

I do understand your point and it's hard to argue with in some respects except I don't buy "similar" products from UK suppliers. I scrolled the landing page, nothing on there I need or intend to buy. I wouldn't trust the quality of any item from this company.

That's fair enough; tbh the only stuff I'd ever buy directly from China would be cheap stuff I know is available over here at inflated cost.

I think I've only ever bought two items from Ali Express - one was a bit kit for the laughably non-standard tamper proof screws on my old Ofo (that wasn't available anywhere else), the other a cheap Mp3 player which ironically has so far lasted longer than its two more expensive, UK-sourced / Chinese made predecessors - a functionally-inferior Sandisk-branded item and one sold under a UK-based name (Oakcastle IIRC); whose after-sales when it died was abysmal.

I'm on the fence with buying some suit covers since again, they'll be the same cheap plastic crap whether I pay a fiver each on ebay or a quid each on Ali Express.

Other than that I agree; I'd never buy anything safety crticial / of unknown or unrecognised branding off there - often this sort of stuff sourced over here is crap enough while the Chinese have a rep for churning out proper crap if not kept in check.

 

[derrick]

I've scrolled through the landing page and can't see a single brand I recognise. What I do see is a moto-cross helmet for £4.40. I see cycle helmets claiming to conform to EU standard EN1078 for less than a tenner. That alone is enough to tell me I shouldn't buy a single product off this website. There's a strong chance it will be both illegal and unsafe. If someone wants to put their head in one of those that's OK with me. I'll stick to my £125 Kask, the one that didn't disintegrate when a tractor hit me at 35mph.

My preference is to buy brands I know or have a background I can research and if that makes the rich richer so be it.

I think Hunt wheels are rebranded chinese .

 

[derrick]

I buy from Aliexpress fairly regularly but I've had the occasional issue and found Aliexpress to be completely dishonest and unprofessional and no customer service but have made use of paypal's buyer protection mainly to sort it out. There is of course no long term guarantee with aliexpress items and so I wouldn't make major purchases there. I guess the most I've spent on one item is perhaps £80.

Sounds like a lot of british companies are the same.

 

[derrick]

Have bought a lot of wood lathe tools from aliexpress, cannot fault the quality and price, a good third of the price off the british rebranded stuff.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I've never used either AliExpress or Temu. Not on principle or anything. Just never felt the need.

Anyway, here's a thread about building a bike with components from AliExpress
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/a-shiny-thing-i-built-look-upon-my-works-ye-mighty.279489/

It's worth reading to the end, when we find out how the components fared in use.

 

[Boopop]

I got my Wheeltop EDS TX wireless groupset from AliExpress. It works well after some teething issues configuring it. I wouldn't use AliExpress or Temu for counterfeit/poor quality alternatives of what I can buy from a UK distributor however.

 

[ColinJ]

What is the situation with import duties and/or VAT with goods bought from either company?

 

[Vlad the Impala]

Can't speak for Temu, but I assume it works the same as Ali. On Ali, the price shown is excluding VAT (or, presumably, sales tax in other territories). When you check out for a UK sale, it adds 20% VAT, so Ali collects on behalf of HMRC.

Import duty starts at £135. I can't post links as a newbie here, but it's easy to look up. I've bought quite a bit from Ali, but nothing in excess of the £135 limit. It's up to Ali to make the value declaration for duties - I'm not sure if they do it accurately or not.

 

[Vlad the Impala]

And I meant to add to my post above, which is awaiting moderation, if import duties fall due, you pay to the delivery company before goods are released to you. Ali tend to use either Royal Mail or Evri.

 

[sevenfourate]

I buy a bit of Chinese tat from Aliexpress, it’s a bit hit and miss, but I am secretly addicted to it.

Some of it’s not tat though as I’m sure you know ! The reverse Engineering skills of some of those Ingenius Herbert’s is quite frankly mind-blowing for the price. I’ve had a few bits of tat. I’ve also had many bits that have looked way better than you could reasonably expect, worked and continue to work faultlessly after long periods of time. A bit of Googling to search reviews / sort the wheat from the chaff often pays dividends…..

 

[screenman]

It's all a matter of personal choice. My last pair of bib longs came from Lusso and I paid £85. A lot more than you. However the quality is superb, I know Jake, the young man who owns and runs the business, I've been inside their Manchester factory where everything is made by hand. When I ripped up the bib longs in a fall on diesel Lusso repaired them free of charge. They also repaired a gilet, for £15, which was damaged in the same fall. Over £220 worth of kit saved for £15. I'm not criticising other people's choices at all. Temu and Aliexpress just scream cheap, cheap, cheap and it leaves me with questions and doubts over the whole proposition.

In my RTA with the tractor my favourite Lusso jersey was written off. Lusso provided me with a brand new replacement jersey. They didn't have one in stock and made it especially so my buddies could give it to me on my 70th birthday. For me no amount of money saved buying from China can replace this sort of service and the warm feeling it gives me.

I stress I'm not criticising others choices but I believe it's easy to know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

I do own British made as well, Impsport being one Lusso and Rapha being others.