Aliexpress review - what to expect

[mike_bike_kite]

Many of you might wonder what it’s like ordering from China. I thought I’d give a quick review.

Why do it? The price is usually 2/3rds the price and on a $2K wheel that’s not to be ignored. So why doesn’t everybody get their wheel from China?

Do you trust them? Will you get the latest wheel? Will you get anything at all? When should you start to worry? It doesn’t help that all your emails get ignored or you get a polite message back telling you absolutely nothing. In my experience you do get the latest wheels and they do deliver ... eventually.

Delivery times are pure fiction. They say that the wheel will be delivered in around 2 weeks but it’s more like 2 months. A lot can happen in those 2 months, here in the UK we’ve gone back into lock down, our ports have almost come to a stop and Brexit is just around the corner. It's not great if you're expecting a delivery from abroad.

Can't you just track progress? The tracking links on the web site are the equivalent of a lucky 8 ball. Mine simply showed “Shipping” for the first couple of weeks and then it magically changed to “Label printed” by UPS! I thought the wheel had finally arrived but UPS had no clue about the package and 4 weeks later, nothing's arrived. I wonder if there’s a specific reason they can’t link the package to the shipping container and so to the ship and then just display the exact position of the ship.

Warranty? Having a warranty with a Chinese firm doesn’t reassure a buyer but, in all honesty, having a warranty with a local company isn’t much better unless that company is in your city - the cost of mailing a 30Kg wheel is just too prohibitive.

My own country's post office even managed to get in on the act this week. I had an email from them saying I needed to pay £20 customs and handling charge but they also asked when I wanted the package delivered. My wheel had finally arrived in the country!!!! I paid up and selected a delivery date. Imagine my disappointment when a small package was handed to me containing 3 calligraphy pens for my wife. I’m still waiting for the wheel.

Edited December 19, 2020 by mike_bike_kite

[xiiijojjo]

I have ordered all my wheels from ali and have never had a problem beyond the typical gotway QC which is none of their fault. So beyond opening up the wheel and doing QC myself all ali wheels have preformed out of the box with no issues.. Mind you i treat my wheels with love so they never needed much aftercare but i have done any repairs personally as i never felt unqualified to do what i consider to be relatively easy fixes but i do understand how others might want warranty depending on riding style and skill. 

On top of all that i think being able to repair these wheels might be a very handy skill in the future.. Considering how much family and friends i have nudged in the direction of getting wheels 

Ultimately i only recommend buying from ali if you are a skilled "diy repair man type guy" along with being a skilled rider however for the more mentally docile just get a warranty.  

[KiwiMark]

I have ordered a bunch of smaller things from AliExpress, but also a scooter (Kaabo Mantis Pro) and a wheel (RS C30) from Wheel Riders Store.  Both of the big heavy items arrived just fine, but took ~9 weeks - the wait was excruciating both times!  The problem is that I live in New Zealand and neither PEV was available locally at the time of ordering them from China.  The cost saving was also quite a lot, so I definitely couldn't ignore that.  Overall it was worth ordering from China to get what I wanted at a good price.

If my financial situation was significantly better and what I wanted was available locally: I would most likely buy locally to avoid the hugely long wait time and to have local warranty and support and consumer protection.

BTW: The only update I had was when they shipped the scooter or wheel, once shipped there was no tracking at all and I had no information on progress until a courier arrived at the house with a rather heavy package.

[mike_bike_kite]

The review wasn't criticism or praise, it's just telling people what to expect if they purchase a wheel this way. I'm all with you on supporting local suppliers but unfortunately I simply couldn't afford the prices. The aim of the review was just to explain what you're in for if you go Aliexpress etc. Most wheels are fairly reliable so I don't think it's essential to be a skilled DIY guy but it's nice to have a local dealer you can call that speaks English and is actually in the same time zone.

 

 

[Scottie888]

I guess what @mike_bike_kite is really saying is that when one buys from China, one is basically buying a grey market product ie. don't expect your local dealer (if there's any) to provide any support. To make things worse, its a grey market product made by what is basically for all intent & purposes, a cottage industry. We've all heard about the infamous Gotway DIY internal/external QC on their products but I'm guessing some other mfgr's might not be that much better.

So don't expect the wheel to be built like your neighbor's latest $1k+ iPhone or Samsung S20. Luckily, EUCs aren't very complex products & strangely, GW's DIY internals make for seemingly easier DIY repairs. Go check the teardown vids on the Inmotion V11 & a GW/BG MSP/RS & one gets the drift.

The price for importing a cheaper grey market product is more likely than not a DIY proposition interms of repairs so its up to us individually to assess whether its worth the price of entry. But like Mike said, an EUC bought from an insitu online store might not mean better service. The cost of shipping might well be just as prohibitive.

Personally I've bought 2 EUCs from Ali & besides the famed 1st batch suspension issues of one of them (the KS S18 of which even most local dealers have absolved all responsibility for so its DIY fix regardless but luckily we have a full repair thread here - thks @Feynman), I've had zero issues with the other, a GW Tesla V2 (strangely enough no). So much so I've just ordered a MCM5 V2. But that's me.

Bottomline is Caveat Emptor. Educate yourself on the in/out's of buying direct from China sans local support & keep an open mind on covid shipping delays & QC issues. It's the present state of affairs even if its bought online in country.

[KiwiMark]

Another consideration for some of us:

Even if the local supplier had the RS in stock I'd still have to decide whether it was worth getting the wheel back to them for any support issues.  My RS is a largish and heavy wheel, so courier costs each way would not be cheap.  The only supplier in NZ that sells EUCs is roll.nz (many of you know them for their neoprene body guards for various EUCs) and they are about a 6hr drive away.  A courier to them would be MUCH cheaper than to an overseas supplier, but I'd still be likely to order parts and do the work myself to save a bunch of money.

I'm still happy with my decision to buy from AliExpress for the cost savings and for the availability of more/newer options like the RS.  Everyone needs to decide for themselves whether to buy from China or from locally and they should factor in cost but also other things like the convenience of local support - depending on how local that is and how good that local support would be.  So, all readers - consider your financial position, consider the wait time, consider the availability of what you want to order, consider that you would need to learn to open and service/repair the wheel yourself (if you bought from China).  Make an informed decision considering the experience of others along with you own particular circumstances.

[mike_bike_kite]

I just looked on the tracking site and found that the status of my order has now gone to "Delivering"!!! I'm not going to get too eager just yet as it now states the expected delivery date is between Nov 20 - Nov 28 last year??? does China use a different calendar to the rest of the world? or do they mean Nov 2021  

[Boogieman]

A MAJOR consideration is TAX and custom charges + delivery time
- Some Ali's have local warehouses in EU and promise 1week delivery (spain poland and so on) - the risk is of course that these are OLD versions. BEWARE!
- Some promise tax free from China (delivery through different countries, this type of shipping is being SHUT DOWN by EU. Netherlands is a nono now for example per my experience)

Here in the Nordics where I live, we pay 25% VAT + 16€ custom charges if price is above 160€ - THAT is a major price increase if the seller DO NOT stand by his word (personally i dont trust them binging out cash if they can avoid it)

Buy stuff with payment that can fight for You if they do "lie". A good bank card (Platinum and up if they take cases outside EU) or PayPal (have heard good and bad, some issues are resolved some are not. Make sure to save converstations on promises from Ali sellers IN CASE)

I have been buying from Ali since my first Tesla (and before that I bought a Ninebot mini plus from another China dealer (Gearbest - 3rd biggest online)
No problem with those buys - no tax - no nothing, but that was like 3-4 years ago.
After that loads of small stuff like xiaomi products, tire moniitoring, car cameras, EUC spares like tyres and hoses and god knows. No problem normally and the small issues I have had, like a bent tyre I got money back or new tyre (but not custom charges which was the major cost in that case)

Not until my latest buy of KN95 masks I have had some odd sudden changes in shipping vs order, 7 packs of masks were shipped in two parcels even if only in one order (due to weight as per seller...i guess he meant sheaper for him to ship 2...) made me pay VAT + 2*TOL and TOTALLY diufferent arrival times (3weeks difference). Doesnt help to be angry, You will just get a "i am sorry" and if You have the time a discount on next buy or some shit unless product is faulty.

 

So Yeah...on the other hand the dealers in our countries have to deal with their counter part in China. If they get a NO - You will too. It all depends how You value the time and effort and how large the dealer is. Small/new delaer = small leverage vs ordering yourself. Big dealer = big leverage (like the major ones in US and UK i guess ).

So if a small dealer add on a big price hike, I would order directly.
If they price hike is in concurrence with their rep and size - I would order from the dealer locally.

Its like everything else - its all bout the $$€€££...for You and for the dealer..and time is money 
Do You have a lot of cash (and value time) - go local (unless You have skills in dealing with Chinese sellers)
Do you have a lot of time (but less cash) - go China

 

Regardless of choice - PRESSURE the seller to tell You exactly which version You are paying for. Chinese will just say "its the latest version" even if they have no clue. Just a friendly tip


Cheers

Edited January 9, 2021 by Boogieman

[Planemo]

13 minutes ago, Boogieman said:

A MAJOR consideration is TAX and custom charges + delivery time
- Some Ali's have local warehouses in EU and promise 1week delivery (spain poland and so on) 

And even the ones who state 'EU stock' seem to be stretching the truth a bit. I specifically bought my MSX from a particular Ali vendor purely because of their statement that they had stock in Spain and delivery would be about 2 weeks. This was a big plus for me, not only due to the speed of shipping but also because I knew that I couldn't be hit for import tax and VAT.

I got the wheel 5 weeks later, so I suspect it was never in the EU at all. Thankfully I didn't have any extra charges to pay though...

[Scottie888]

Far's my personal experience with Ali goes, its generally been fairly positive. Sure, some stuff came late (up to 10weeks) but some stuff arrived in little over a week as well. The lastest is a GW fast charger which hit customs in a week after confirm shipment & I est. a few more days to get it to my front door. Far's wheels go, its generally been 5-8weeks for me & that's in the heat of covid fever.

For me in Canada, I've not had one case of customs or duties issues & I've gotten everything I've ever ordered . FWIW I've not had anything arrive DOA. I've even ordered & cancelled a Alibaba (subsidiary of same parent company) & gotten all my money back. Took a few weeks but it is what it is. 

As normal, YMMV

[KiwiMark]

I couldn't find any local supply for a boosted battery for my Insta360 One R camera, so I ordered one from AliExpress.  It took just over 8 weeks, so it was a long wait, but it was a good price and it did arrive.  If you want something quick then AliExpress may not be your best option, but if you can wait then they are a good option.

[drader]

When I bought my wheel from Aliexpress there was an ad that said "Free wheel cover!". What I got was essentially a shower cap designed for automotive rims, to keep the dust off the spokes.

[mike_bike_kite]

It's now 2 months and a week since I placed my order and I must admit I'm starting to regret this purchase in a few ways. Firstly, in an age of instant gratification, this is straining my patience too much. I still don't have a clear picture of where my delivery is but apparently it's in Europe at the moment but held up by backlog at the ports - this may or may not be true, after all they said originally that delivery took 7-15 days! Secondly, I've now seen a couple of surprise deals where I could of purchased the wheel more locally for a similar price (+£100) but got the wheel in a few days. Thirdly, we've now gone into Brexit and I suspect I'm going to get taxed on the wheel when it arrives. That will knock of the advantage of buying the wheel direct from China and, of course, if the wheel was delivered in the time it stated then this wouldn't of happened. Fourthly, I like the Nikola but all these recent stories of Gotway batteries going up in fire is very alarming to me. Fifthly (is there such a word?), I don't think I can even ride the wheel for the next month here in London as we're not supposed to be in lockdown unless exercising.

[Planemo]

All very valid points, and I do fear that my Chinese vendor wheel purchases may be over now. It will be interesting to see if you do get hit for import tax and VAT on this wheel.

That said, even before Brexit, the Chinese vendors usually state 'all EU taxes paid' but I have never been overly confident of that...and especially not now we are in Brexit. As usual, many will probably get lucky, but I do wonder if there will be higher percentage of wheels getting levies against them now.

[mike_bike_kite]

Another 2 weeks have past and it's now almost 3 months since I placed my order so I thought I'd ask the sellers "Green and fashion travaling shop" to give me an update.

All my requests for info from the seller all get an apologetic reply "Dear, friend, we are sorry ..." but never includes the information I'm after. They even have reasonable excuses, Covid, port holdups, Brexit, Chinese new year but this is a small consolation if you've been waiting 3 months. 2 days ago I contacted Paypal and asked them to look into it for me.

Within an hour received email from the sellers saying "good news, your goods on the way!". Sadly, when I looked on their order status page it just says "order frozen". It's weird how truth and honesty always used to be quite simple concepts but these days it just seems beyond the grasp of many people. Obviously I contacted them again and received another "Dear friend ..." reply that told me nothing. I guess I'll give them a week and then I'll ask Paypal to investigate further and get my money back. The sellers do have a dispute button on their site but I I suspect I'd end end up screaming by the end of the process. I suppose it was a little silly ordering from a company that can't even spell it's own name correctly.

I bought my first wheel from China and it took 2 months to arrive and arrived in perfect condition. At the time I hadn't a clue what the experience would be like and couldn't find any info here. This time round I thought I'd write a proper review just so others would know a little more than I did. Unfortunately, from this particular experience, I'd simply say it's been

                        

[Carl Svanfelt]

I have to say that Aliexpress has worked well for me so far. Only two purchases have failed. In both cases, I made the complaint directly to Aliexpress, not to the company I bought the products from. The reason for this was that few of the companies operating on the Ali site can communicate in English.
After the complaint, I received a request from Aliexpress "did the product not meet expectations?". "No" I answered, and explained why. The same week, I got my money back.

[lirva]

I have bought all my new wheels from china, 2 from ali and 1 from gearbest.

Some GW QC issues and accessories missing, everytime Ali seller have sended missing parts super fast air freight. Communication have been ok. 

If you have ups tracking number, try this tracking site, might show something before ups gets it. -> http://ouya561.yutengsoft.com:8080/kdguiji/zhu/

Edited February 4, 2021 by lirva

[mike_bike_kite]

The story of my China purchase has now come to a close. My wheel has apparently been in a warehouse somewhere in Europe for a couple of months but the carrier company they used wasn't shipping to the UK. You'd think they'd change the carrier or notify you or just do something - they didn't. I'll admit there's been lots of valid excuses from Chinese new year, covid, port closures to Brexit but I'm bored of listening to them. After 3 months of waiting I eventually called Paypal and asked them to sort things out. I would be happy if they either delivered the wheel or sent my money back. I received a full refund today. 

I've obviously found it very frustrating dealing with this Chinese seller. I think the major issue was the lack of information as to what was going on. Weirdly, I can now buy the wheel in the UK at a price not wildly above the Chinese price but I haven't placed an order. I'll admit I was a little worried by stories of battery fires but I was more put off by the local police starting to crack down on EUC riders. Just a few days ago someone got a £300 fine and 6 points on his driving license and felt lucky to not have his wheel confiscated. The offense was riding a motorised vehicle without insurance or MOT but neither are available for EUCs and insurers won't offer insurance as the vehicles are illegal. It's a kind of catch 22. 

Surprisingly the UK government is saying all vehicles are going electric by 2030 and even Boris Johnson said he thought it was ridiculous these things weren't legal. Weirdly you can still ride an electric bicycle without any issues but they do get stolen quite frequently while locked up. Go figure ...

 

[Mrd777]

On 2/10/2021 at 8:38 AM, mike_bike_kite said:

The story of my China purchase has now come to a close. My wheel has apparently been in a warehouse somewhere in Europe for a couple of months but the carrier company they used wasn't shipping to the UK. You'd think they'd change the carrier or notify you or just do something - they didn't. I'll admit there's been lots of valid excuses from Chinese new year, covid, port closures to Brexit but I'm bored of listening to them. After 3 months of waiting I eventually called Paypal and asked them to sort things out. I would be happy if they either delivered the wheel or sent my money back. I received a full refund today. 

I've obviously found it very frustrating dealing with this Chinese seller. I think the major issue was the lack of information as to what was going on. Weirdly, I can now buy the wheel in the UK at a price not wildly above the Chinese price but I haven't placed an order. I'll admit I was a little worried by stories of battery fires but I was more put off by the local police starting to crack down on EUC riders. Just a few days ago someone got a £300 fine and 6 points on his driving license and felt lucky to not have his wheel confiscated. The offense was riding a motorised vehicle without insurance or MOT but neither are available for EUCs and insurers won't offer insurance as the vehicles are illegal. It's a kind of catch 22. 

Surprisingly the UK government is saying all vehicles are going electric by 2030 and even Boris Johnson said he thought it was ridiculous these things weren't legal. Weirdly you can still ride an electric bicycle without any issues but they do get stolen quite frequently while locked up. Go figure ...

 

I've come to NOT trust these guys from Ali, which are the same guys that have the CHICWAY shop.  In August they (Chicway) sold me a Monster Pro a bit more then $700 less then the going price.  Long story short as its not worth discussing the manufacturing issues with Begode etc, but months went by with the usual communication "friend, everything is ok, they are updating the wheels, we want you to have a fresh one".  I started really contacting them every day as I knew PayPal has a 180 day (6 month) insurance and I was on the 5th month..   Finally they wrote that they didn't want to sell the Monster Pro because of the fires, etc and they would refund me "later".  (I think the real reason was because they realized they sold me the wheel at a ridiculous low price and would loose money on it)  I replied, refund me "now", and they ignored multiple communications from me, even from instant messenger on facebook of the two venders that have Ali, and Chicway.  I almost felt like they were waiting on my insurance from PayPal to run out.  I contacted PayPal and they refunded me in two days, case closed.  

 For the record 95% of my wheels are bought from my trusty dealer Ewheels, I was enticed by the early order, cheap price and the fact no one in the States was carrying the wheel, however its just not worth it!

Edited February 15, 2021 by Mrd777

[Newell.Live]

I was enticed to buy a lower than average price Tesla V2 from Chicway.shop (-200 and no tax) and was very pleased with the speed/quality of delivery.  The product itself was fine, shipped from a local warehouse, and was just a nice experience. They communicated well; always within a day and everything went the way it was supposed to.  I'm afraid to test the warranty though, but thank goodness I haven't had to.  If buying from them, I would only suggest buying a wheel that is in stock at your country's warehouse.  This was my first experience in buying and riding a wheel, and I have to say, after knowing a bit more I would probably pay the extra money and buy from ewheels (especially if it was a more expensive wheel).  Again, not that anything went bad, but if something does go bad, having a leader in the EUC community who is backing you up would be definitely worth the price.  On a funny note, I did get the VIP gift too... the Giant shower cap LOL

Edited February 14, 2021 by Newell.Live

[Planemo]

24 minutes ago, Newell.Live said:

 If buying from them, I would only suggest buying a wheel that is in stock at your country's warehouse.

You appear to suggest that one would get an honest answer to that from a Chinese Ali vendor 

My 'spanish stock' MSX still took 6 weeks to get to me. Amazingly, about the same time it takes to ship from China. Who woulda guessed?!

[Newell.Live]

9 hours ago, Planemo said:

You appear to suggest that one would get an honest answer to that from a Chinese Ali vendor 

I got a straight answer from the Chicway.shop on which models were in country and which were not.  Furthermore, I would have cancelled my order without shipping info in the time frames they quoted.  Maybe I was lucky.