Careful of AliExpress' 11.11 Singles Day Sale!

rawm on 05/11/2016 - 11:16

As some of you would know, I'm a strong advocate for buying from AliExpress. They are often the cheapest online for 95% of items, and for the 120+ items ive purchased, I've had to submit disputes for maybe 3-4 items. AliExpress are going to overtake eBay in 5 years IMO.

But to those people wanting to take advantage of the 11.11 sales, please be aware that many items' price have been inflated and then 'discounted' to only save you a fraction from prices present 1 month ago. I save the links to many products and give them a title that relates to their AU price, then re-check every so often.

Take a look at these examples

eg this watch https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-2014-Skmei-Brand-Young-M… was $13.64 one month ago. The price has been inflated to $22.70 and will be discounted to $13.17.

These glasses https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-Vintage-Wayfarer-Sunglas… were $1.91, and have been inflated to $3.71 but with 11.11 price of $1.86

This wall sticker has been around $2.02 for a good 3 months: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Star-Wars-Wall-Decal-Quotes-… but has been inflated to $3.67 and then discounted to $1.91 on 11.11 day.

There are many others.

Buyer beware - Unless you really need the item, the prices are likely to trail downwards after the sale back to more reasonable levels.

This is part of Singles' Day Sales for 2016.
General Discussion Singles Day

Related Stores

AliExpress
AliExpress
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Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 05/11/2016 - 11:23
    +9

    you the real mvp

  • dasher86 on 05/11/2016 - 11:33
    +1

    Same thing happening in taobao

  • Baebs on 05/11/2016 - 11:49
    +1

    Thanks.

  • Clear on 05/11/2016 - 12:09

    Chances are another seller will have them cheaper ;)

  • eatwell365 on 05/11/2016 - 12:21

    Many UK, US and AUS websites are good on sale. Sorry but others are yet to earn any of my trust.

    • rawm on 05/11/2016 - 13:25
      +2

      AliExpress are 'trustworthy' with service/transaction/private information but as with any other seller (eBay, other online retailers etc) the buyer must be sure they NEED the product when a sale is on. Don't get sucked in!

  • safrane on 05/11/2016 - 15:08

    I noticed the same thing, they've stopped their regular discounts which means everything on Aliexpress right now is being sold at inflated prices.

    If you want something on Aliexpress, wait until 11.11

  • Chickenleg on 05/11/2016 - 17:30
    +1

    During last year's sale I complained on their official Facebook page and they deleted my post haha

    • rawm on 05/11/2016 - 18:51

      fb Sensorship!

  • JSQUARED on 05/11/2016 - 19:35
    +7

    Track pricing history here
    http://www.chnprice.com/

    • ceebee on 11/11/2016 - 20:46

      Wow thanks for that link.

  • worrierwan on 05/11/2016 - 20:17

    is 11. 11 day just a day where some shops on aliexpress have a sale on some of the items?

    • scrimshaw on 06/11/2016 - 18:44
      +1

      Yes, it's called singles day, it's the one day where bachelor's celebrate about being single and lonely to spite the ones who are in a relationship.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singles%27_Day

      It is being used, or should I say, exploited, by merchants who slowly increase the price and then mark them down again on that day to give the impression of a huge %tage discount, when in fact it's not that much cheaper than it normally is at every other periods of the year.

  • [Deactivated] on 06/11/2016 - 02:17
    -2

    good work mate, at stating the obvious.

  • 7hours 44min ago on 06/11/2016 - 13:26

    Price compare with eBay, gearbest, everbuying, banggood. I've been tracking the Xiaomi router 3 for weeks leading up to the sale and going to save 40% unless they jack up in the next week.

    • 7hours 44min ago on 08/11/2016 - 19:37
      +1

      Cancel that, jacking and dodgy listings mean it's barely a 5% saving now.

  • shmoney on 06/11/2016 - 19:43
    +3

    Found this Chrome extension on Reddit, it shows you the price history of the item you're currently browsing on Aliexpress (pops up on the bottom left of your Chrome browser). Most of the items I've checked have had their prices raised but one item I'm particularly keen on purchasing seems to actually be on sale.

    Edit: Just saw JSQUARED link the website that created this.

  • crazyLad on 06/11/2016 - 21:57

    120+ items ive purchased, I've had to submit disputes for maybe 3-4 items

    Surprised you have rated Aliexpress so highly.

    My first purchase, just recently, I ordered a straw hat, and not only did it arrive late for Halloween (used express postage)
    the condition of it was terrible. All bent up and visible tears.

    Messaging the seller has been a pain too as not only do they speak broken english,
    but they assume that the permanently damaged item can be bent back into place.
    The alternative is they will refund me a measly 3usd as compensation.

    • rawm on 07/11/2016 - 07:54

      AliExpress is a great option to buy online. You need to gain more experience with the UI (Yes, it's not great and you'll need to learn how to use the message function etc when you come across a problem) but IMO the prices are often cheaper than that of eBay and you are able to directly contact the seller when wanting to purchase bulk amounts at a discounted rate.

      Don't be put off by one bad experience. As soon as your product arrives, have a good look at it and if any problems with quality - take photos and submit a dispute.

      • crazyLad on 07/11/2016 - 23:48

        Just curious, who does submitting a dispute involve (Aliexpress cust. service?)
        and what outcome does it usually lead to?

        Whole time I've been trying to deal with this situation by messaging the seller.

        • rawm on 08/11/2016 - 09:22

          By submitting a dispute you alert the seller who has a small window of time to reply to your dispute and come up with a remedy; have an idea of what you want out of the dispute - 50% refund, total refund etc. If you don't come to agreement within the time period, AliExpress are notified and then you deal with them.

          http://activities.aliexpress.com/adcms/help-aliexpress-com/D…

  • newboz on 10/11/2016 - 04:42

    I was looking for an adapter to incorporate Gopro 5 for a gimbal. It costs $25, but the shipping cost is $21, what the heck is that??????

  • [Deactivated] on 10/11/2016 - 13:54

    AliExpress are going to overtake eBay in 5 years IMO.

    AliBaba (which owns AliEx) is bigger then eBay and Amazon together

    • rawm on 10/11/2016 - 16:26
      -1

      Yes, i understand this; I was more commenting on eBay vs AliExpress penetration and market share in AUS than their financial size. 'Bigger' in China/Asia for sure, but globally not there yet IMO.

  • mansunz on 10/11/2017 - 18:02
    +1

    Thanks for the confirmation. I was trying to price a 3d printing parts BOM and thought i was dreaming that some prices have been greatly inflated.

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