Thought I'd open up a discussion of good value items people have purchased from AliExpress (or were pleasantly surprised by the level of quality).
Keep it breezy! Positive comments/experiences only please =)
Eg. a few of mine are:
Yep Darkflash is basically a sub-brand of Aigo. I haven't used their fans yet, what do you think of them?
Well… not really sure how to benchmark them so can't tell you the CFM. Stuck two of them in Meshify C as intake fans and set silent fan curve, and they don't make much sound at all. They are just 3-pin (no PWM) and they also have a oldschool molex connector (cut them off with scissors)
Have been using them for about a year now.
Quiet is good but molex doesn't sound so good. How about the RGB sync? Straight forward?
Router bits. Lob yourself into a Bunnings or a specialist tool shop (Total Tools, Sydney Tools) and check out the various prices for router bits. Typically upwards of $25, mostly around $30. Aliexpress - less than $5. Quality seems on par but even if they weren't they're so cheap who cares.
Leather belts. Pop into your local jeans retailer or Myer & check out how much genuine leather belts are. Then compare same on Aliexpress. And way better quality with Aliexpress so it's a win win. Same goes for watch bands.
Most cycling gear there is crap, but the "Mountainpeak" cycling jersey that I bought was amazing - lots of attention to detail, great material, etc. Felt like a very expensive top, for not very expensive money. (Most other AE cycling jerseys are made out of the worst material with the worst shapes and sizes…)
Bought some really great bicycle lights - clearly the "big brands" just rebrand some of these and charge an extra $80…
Got some great bike mounts.
USB-C cables have been amazing and cheap.
Cheap headphones that I've been using for a few years that are pretty amazing
Got a great and cheap backpack with lots of little tricky features that I love.
Replacement/Spare chargers for things like smart bands and smart watches.
Other stuff has been complete garbage…
I went back and revisited the Mountainpeak cycling gear page… And it's gone to utter garbage. Nice materials - gone. Nice fit - gone. Crappy zips, crappy cuts.
Oh boy.
Time to look for more! (I'll be honest - I like looking for bargains on Aliexpress!)
Which lights do you recommend if you don't mind me asking
The one I bought is now no longer available, but it's like this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32878171825.html?gps-id=pcDe…
This is a list of similar lights - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000144809758.html?spm=a2g0s…
I paid $11 at the time, they're pretty good in general (though the braking detection isn't the best…)
Droz reminded me of the Tronsmart Titan charger which was my first purchase on AliExpress. $30 for a five port QC2 charger and it still works 5 years later. Happy with that.
TWS ear buds, Charger cables (Type C, Micro Usb), Gaming gear (headphones, keyboard, mouse etc..)
Happy/Novelty Socks. The same designs are available there for $3 each rather than the crazy price you see in the shops
Bras and undies. I went looking after finding some really nice ones while in China, need to take a punt with sizing sometimes but can find good quality and cheap.
Bought some shoes on there recently so see how they are when they arrive, fingers crossed.
Previously bought good quality mobile phone parts but the last few things I bought not as great (that said the two genuine local items I bought from eBay Australia were both faulty and I still haven't gotten a refund for one of them despite going through PayPal so Ali is still winning in this department)
Adding earphones & earbuds & torches
I’ve bought several pairs of shoes around $70 each (leather). Shop in Melbourne sells exactly same for 3x the price. Great function is to take a photo of something and put in AE search
Can you share a link? Shoes are one of those things that are super easy to make cheap and crappy and shopping online/without a brand seemed too risky to me. But if you've already taken the risk and found good ones I'm happy to save money
Search for Socofy shoes and go to their official shop page. These aren’t your standard work shoes. A bit different in style
Skate pads / accessories. Whole set of knee + elbow + wrist pads only cost around $22 USD / $29 AUD delivered.
bike cleaning and repair tools. Chain cleaner cost me $3.91 USD (roughly $5 AUD)
Silicone gel insoles, used to pay around $1.50 USD per pair but now they cost a bit more at $2~3 USD.
AIGO 140mm LED case fans, also called 'darkflash' (pretty sure they come out of the same factory with different brandings) $9.99 USD GST inclusive. Not amazing value but I got them fairly cheaply when cashback is upsized.
Have heard things about Snowman CPU coolers but personally never tried them and there's the risk of it being damaged in post (the aluminium fin stacks are easily bent).