A good friend of me who used to be a manager of the repair department of a big computer manufacturer always told to switch a device on (laptop for instance) and have it run a something heavy (like a benchmark) for 24 hours to rule out factory issues. I never had any from Alibaba: I did have one from lightinabox who sent a laptop which caught fire during the test. They said I should not have done the benchmark and refused to refund so never bought anything there again.

To be honest I had more issues with Amazon (seller) products, but those also were quickly refunded or replaced.

Anecdotal ofcourse. Might be totally different when my next order arrives.

For example, butane torches. You can go to Bed Bath and Beyond and buy a chinese made creme brûlée torch for $30 that lights well, smells clean, feels tight, doesn't leak butane and has a lifeime guatantee. Or you can go down the street to 'smoke shop' and pay $30 for a chinese made torch that leaks butane, has problems with the venturi lever, smells like vinegar, and lights on 3 out of 5 attempts.

The difference is that the second one is sold at the manufacturer level for a much lower price and has gone through more distributors and markup. When you order a random product online it's hard to know what tier you are receiving.

I'd think the higher voltage would have fewer problems since there's less current and voltage drop... covering up for less-than-spec wire gauges.

Once you want anything custom-looking, it quickly stops being mandatory. In the end, I have one ceiling light and one bathroom shelf from China.

Of course this would vary by locale, I guess.

on amazon if something is not described ( i ordered anker dongle for my macbook that did not work on the 2016 model) i get a refund right away and the shipping covered.

Err, that proves the parent's point -- if Amazon did some quality control they wouldn't sell it.

With other, no brand stuff you can expect to get what you pay for. As always.

Which doesn't mean much ("China quality" that is) since iPhones are also made in China -- as are expensive clothes for the likes of Armani and co and tons of other high-end stuff. And of course lots of Chinese designed and made products that are of high quality.

Of course tons of cheap stuff is made there too -- almost all the world's manufacturing of cheapo stuff. Heck, almost anything you can get on a place like Walmart is probably made in China too, but sold for 2-5 times as much as in Chinese sites.

If someone buys some $80 "laptop" off of Alibaba, or some "leather jacket" for $30, or some no-brand el-cheapo "camera drone", of course they're gonna get subpar quality. If an offer looks too good to be true, it probably ain't, and if there are no reviews (on third party sites) or nobody knows the brand name, well, those things don't point to getting a good buying experience.

As well as getting really cheap stuff, AE is really handy for getting hard to find things. Especially if you live in a small town as I do.

Put, yes, different countries have different sizing standards and you can't blindly assume US sizing when buying from elsewhere.

Same is true in the US though: American L translates to XL on shirts and XXL on boxers and the like in my country.

Watch the shipping prices and times to be sure you know what to expect. But we have never had any issues with quality or reliability.

edit: sp, silly auto-correct :)

I've purchased things from AliExpress that were useful products, but everything was fragile or had substantial bugs I had to work around. Always was happy for the price, but would rather find something in between the AliExpress price and the western price if I could get non-brittle plastic.