Convoluted Gift Card Strategy to Buy AliExpress Item for Cheap. Suggestions Needed

starbearer on 10/09/2025 - 15:44
Last edited 10/09/2025 - 15:45

Hello all,

I'm looking to buy a big item from Aliexpress which is around the 1.5k mark. Its at least 20% cheaper there than any of the other options I've found online.

Now, I have a whole bunch of points on multiple services and I'm wondering what are my options to maximise their use in order to pay the least amount from my pocket.

And of course, none of those points portals have an aliexpress gift card, so the only option is to get a few prepaid Mastercard/Visa cards from Colesworth, after getting Colesworth gift cards from the below portals and use those prepaid cards on AE.

These are where I've got points:
- $275 worth of points from Reward Gateway - (internal company portal)
- $200 worth of points on Velocity
- $400 worth of points on Westpac rewards
- Cashrewards pending amount which I'll take out, approx ~150

Do you think its a viable strategy? Any other options you would recommend?

General Discussion Gift Card

Related Stores

AliExpress
AliExpress
Marketplace

Comments

  • askbargain on 10/09/2025 - 15:55

    what kind of girl math is this

  • mapax on 10/09/2025 - 16:05
    +6

    ADAGCHS in 3…2…

  • Far Cough on 10/09/2025 - 16:13
    +2

    Seems like you enjoy doing things the hardest most complex way possible

    • starbearer on 10/09/2025 - 17:07
      +1

      dont hate the player, hate the game

  • starbearer on 10/09/2025 - 16:23

    so, I'll explain the reasoning:

    • I might be changing jobs soon, so need to use up the reward gateway points
    • My Westpac points, I'll need to use up as I'll be terminating the credit card
    • Cashrewards we all know what's happened.
  • star-ggg on 10/09/2025 - 17:02

    Can you buy Visa/MC GCs with Colesworth GCs?

    • starbearer on 10/09/2025 - 17:44

      that's what I wanna know

  • MS Paint on 10/09/2025 - 17:22

    Does the 20% cheaper include GST and shipping?

    • starbearer on 10/09/2025 - 17:44

      yes! its after those 2 being factored

  • aub on 10/09/2025 - 18:12
    +5

    I would be very hesitant to use anything but a credit card with aliexpress. The purchase protection is pretty important. It's not worth using gift cards and giving this up.

    • starbearer on 10/09/2025 - 18:52

      good point, thanks

  • brendanm on 10/09/2025 - 18:22
    +1

    This is not going to end well.

  • brendanm on 10/09/2025 - 18:38
    +1

    What is the item, and who is the distributor here? I had a $1k+ item I was going to buy from AliExpress, but the local dealer price matched it so I got it from them instead.

    • starbearer on 10/09/2025 - 18:53

      cell phone.

      when you say distributor, how did you find them out and reached out to them?

      • brendanm on 10/09/2025 - 18:55
        +1

        That probably isn't going to work in your case. This was a relatively niche thing, I doubt anyone selling phones will price match with AliExpress.

      • AwesomeAndrew on 10/09/2025 - 20:31
        +4

        Be careful with cell phones from overseas, our stupid government decided to implement the Emergency Call Service Determination which blocks phones that telcos are unsure whether it supports emergency calls over 4G. This has led to the false blocking of many phones which are imported from overseas. You should try and ask for IMEI from the seller and check it here https://amta.org.au/3g-closure-old/check-my-device/ to make sure it isn't blocked before purchasing.

  • spackbace on 10/09/2025 - 18:59
    +6

    Just convert the current points to ColesWorth GC's etc and use for shopping? Allocate funds from grocery shopping to AliExpress purchase

    • sam cho on 10/09/2025 - 19:26

      I recommend this 👍

  • zonra on 10/09/2025 - 19:56
    +2

    $1.5k item from Aliexpress, oh boy.
    For your consideration, I once ordered a $60 smart band off Ali, seller sent me a toothbrush with tracked postage.

    • aub on 11/09/2025 - 07:17

      I've bought expensive stuff off Aliexpress (in the $300 range). Other than the fact that it took two months to ship, it turned out as advertised. But I also relied on credit card protections.

  • Save 50 Cent on 11/09/2025 - 06:35
    +1
    1. You can’t buy gift cards with gift cards.
    2. You have to pay additional activation fees on those prepaid gift cards.
    3. If you spend those colesworth gift cards on groceries that you were going to buy anyway then pay for your aliexpress order normally then it won’t make difference to you.
    4. It would be a nightmare if you have a faulty/not delivered item and get a refund.
    5. Personally, I wouldn’t trust aliexpress with a purchase more than $100 and would rather pay 20% more.
    • starbearer on 11/09/2025 - 09:20

      thanks for this

  • Jac33au on 11/09/2025 - 09:08
    +1

    Just create a new aliexpress account and activate shopback for (today at least) 17.5% shop back, takes a while but its always worked for me. I have a dozen aliexpress accounts. Time has value too and you're burning it with your plan. Use all your points for other things in Australia instead.

    Expensive stuff on aliexpress is just fine for all the comments saying otherwise. I haven't purchased a phone in Australia for nearly a decade and have never had an issue. The refund policy is really good. Only issue is warranty but to date, i've not had to deal with that.

    • starbearer on 11/09/2025 - 09:21

      appreciate your help

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