Amateur 
AE is just a platform for sellers, nothing more. You don’t avoid ebay completely just because one seller is rotten to the core.
AE has a very nice refunding process - worked for me every time and since an open dispute is bad for the seller (in some way idk) you hold all the aces.
Just an example from minutes ago - the AE tracking sais “shipment cancelled” for one order - it usually takes like 5 Minutes until a dispute like that gets settled in my favor.
Is AE open for business during the Chinese New Year? For the last 4 or 5 days every time I try to login to check tracking on my Convoy order AE is requiring me to complete “Identity Verification” which never sends a text with the verification code.
I just logged in with no problem
Thanks for the confirmation. Sounds like an issue with my account 
Well AE customer service can not unlock my account for 3 to 5 days.
I have had horrible luck with aliexpress. late orders, orders never arrived and fake claims with counterfiet products. NOT ONE TIME has Aliexpress help me get a refund. Their buyer guarantee is a joke. Ali or their sellers will never get any more of my money.
Just FYI, Paypal is your friend
Order from the Sofirn store on AE & you will be just fine. They are 110% legit & their customer service is the absolute best!!
“Problems” can occur no matter where or who you order anything from…… stuff just happens sometimes. That is where good customer service is worth it’s weight in gold. Sofirn Customer Service is top level!!
The quote below says it all.
All I did to trigger their security system was track my Convoy order from my iPad, from my home with the same external IP as my laptops!!
Their security system allows you to change your password, but then prevents login with the new password. So much for my work around, guess I wait 3 to 5 days.
Aliexpress.
Nearly 90 orders only 1 lost, silicone 18650 sleeves, pennies and refunded when never showed up.
Cells seem to take for ever, 10 weeks was the longest.
Banggood, Gearbest never had any issues.I am in the UK.
I actually HATE ordering from AE but their stores have items you cannot get anywhere else including BangMeGood, Gearbest, Fasttech, or whatever Chinese site that advertises here.
Sorry you’ve had such bad luck with refunds with AE but like I stated in my original post, AE at least refunded me in a very timely manner without me taking up a dispute with Paypal. Also, I would NEVER order from a store on AE that doesn’t except Paypal.
As an aside, I’m still awaiting the item I ordered a second time from another store that others have had good luck with ordering the exact same item and they received it in under a month. It’s now over 5 weeks. It really is hit or miss when ordering from China.
AE has the problem that there is no real human customer support. If you have a problem, that is not standard and you can’t solve it with a few clicks in their system, you are screwed. I spent a lot of money there, but after that one problem with Elfeland store on AE, I’ve decided to never buy there anything again if I can find it anywhere else. Yes, I did not lost much and it happened only once, but the problem is in how they work and that they don’t have canceled customer support. It means that it can happen again anytime.
Yeah… the only three stores I order from through AE are…
I trust them to do the right thing regardless of AE.
Never disappointed to date… 
There may well be other good AE stores I am not familiar with.
I am familiar with these three & can recommend them. .
Don’t know about the $3 for signing up, but I ordered an SF13 from the Sofirn Official Store about a month ago. The light got here in about 2 weeks, and works great. This is my 7th or 8th Sofirn light, and I’ve never had a problem with any of them. Great lights, great customer service.
EDIT: The Sofirn store in BlueswordM’s list below is the one I ordered from. Fast shipping, good prices, everything I’ve gotten from them has been top quality.
See, here are the store I always order from. Never had a problem with them, and I’m willing to pay more for higher quality/better customer support/helping smaller companies.
Convoy Store: https://convoy.aliexpress.com/store/330416
Sofirn Store: https://sofirn.aliexpress.com/store/2933049
Jaxman Store: https://jaxmanjaxman.aliexpress.com/store/1812094
Aliya’s Battery Store(mostly for Canadians wanting good 18650s at decent prices): https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1382210
UGreen Store: https://ugreen.aliexpress.com/store/301635
For electronic supplies, like alligator clips, power jacks, etc: https://elecapital.aliexpress.com/store/2949063
The $3 US new user coupon is only valid for orders totaling above 15 $US (combined total of all orders shall be >15 $US), I believe. But it does work, I used it a long time ago.
I received this month a fake product from AliExpress. I made a PayPal claim and I need to send It back. I feel bad for sending it back because this way the seller will probably selling the same fake product to someone else.
What is that fake product?
Could you link it?
How and where would you send the product back? Does it even make sense to return it from a financial point of view?
I only order at Chinese shops when I can pay with PayPal.
PayPal also offers “return shipping on us” (up to $30 on 12 eligible purchases a year.) So I don’t have to pay for the return shipping.
But the product I ordered is not flashlight related. Bought 2 USB sticks (JetFlash®790) The price wasn’t even that cheap (compared to the prices in my country). So I was really surprised that they were fakes. They were much slower than they should be and 1 wasn’t even usb 3, the USB sticks didn’t even have a activity led). (Store: Scarborough Fair USB Flash Drive)
But I do have positive experiences with the Convoy and Sofirn Store. The Sofirn store has delived al my orders within a week!
Never actually buy flash memory, like USB drives and SD cards.
It’s way too risky to do.