(I mostly use the desktop PC web browser to browse AliExpress, I normally only use the mobile App version when I have decided to purchase some items, since usually the mobile prices of items are slightly cheaper — several cents cheapers when using the mobile app. Also, I haven’t been updating my mobile AE app so it’s still a relatively older version, which may not support the new message center.)
So what I’m mentioning will mostly be based on the desktop web browser. I notice there is a new message center. And it is a bit confusing, because the replies could be in the “old” message center, while my new reply will be in the new ‘message center’. So it could get hard to follow, if the response exists in the old but not in the new, or vice-versa. AE is sort of encouraging or forcing the use of the new message center now.
The app is frictionless? How is the app search wise? Powerful searching is key to me. Something which can only show me a handful of items per page on a smartphone is useless. Some times I inspect hundreds of items per search. I also distrust applications from stores and crap like that.
After some tests. Once you signed in AliExpress with an account it adds your IP into their database. So every time you want to search something for example AliExpress checks your IP and is looking for a linked to the IP account. If that pair exists then AliExpress makes you sign in. I used VPN to hide my IP and it removed all restrictions in the same browser. Also there are not problems in network where nobody singed in AliExpress ever. Anyway I don’t think it’s a good practice because AliExpress keeps all information that can be used by hackers. Hackers can know your home address and your IP thanks to AliExpress.
I’m not familiar with taxes in the US, but they might be required to collect taxes if they want to do it right. At least for EU customers they don’t care about taxes, declare everything as gift or use some dubious ways to bring all packets inside the EU without paying taxes.
They all charge tax now, even eBay, before I never paid tax for out of state sellers. I also see 2 charges on my card, one to the seller and one to ebay for tax.
My experience has changed since my last remarks. At the moment I can again view most item pages without needing to login. I have no clue how anything works anymore . AliExpress continues to require the following for me to login:
#1. Enter username and password, press Signin (default [Enter] key) #2. Slide verification bar, press Signin (default [Enter] key No focus, so must use mouse) #3. Answer Captcha, press OK/Signin (default [Enter] key) #4. Slide verification bar, press Signin (default [Enter] key No focus, so must use mouse)
Sometimes the #4 verification bar doesn’t appear, but I must still use the mouse to press Signin again.
That process has remained consistent for the past few months and I’ve learned it well. However, I just now went to double-check before posting and something insane happened; it let me log in with just:
#1. Enter username and password, press Signin (default [Enter] key)
No verification bar, Captcha, or anything else. WTF??!? As I said, I have no clue how anything works anymore. This is the first time I’ve signed in with only a username, password, and [Enter] key since the new website went live at the beginning of the year. Nothing has changed on my end, as this is the same device and IP (or IP range) that I’ve had all year.
[Edit 2019-11-07] Things went back to the usual long process, so perhaps it depends on how old my cookie is or how long since my IP was logged. Who knows.
+1. I hate the coupon pop-ups on everysinglepage; they make you want to punch someone. However, I no longer see these, so perhaps I managed to disable exactly the right script or got lucky somehow [crosses fingers].
I also despise the nearly universal trend to now place floating button bars along the side of every page. They are constantly in the way of reading and cannot be disabled unless you’re a javascript wizard. I don’t understand why stores now insist upon having them. I’ve even had at least one occasion where I could not click a checkout button because the floaty bar was in the way! Stop the floaties!
Wow, I’m going to keep a better lookout for that, as I suspect that I’ve recently been letting my guard down about checking for that.
Thanks! I don’t keep a bookmarks bar exposed anymore, but I’ll some way to keep it handy. I was sure that there was likely some script in greasemonkey or something to do this, but had never looked into it and a bookmarklet is a nice solution.
I came up with an initial solution for Kill Stickies that might suit my needs (see follow-up). I added an extension to my browser (Firefox) called Custom Style Script that allows per page javascript or CSS code and offers a toolbar button to switch it on or off.
I then went into the Custom Style Script settings and entered the following in section III. Code:
URL= *
Javascript= var i, elements = document.querySelectorAll('body *');
for (i = 0; i < elements.length; i++) { if (getComputedStyle(elements[i]).position === 'fixed') { elements[i].parentNode.removeChild(elements[i]); } }
Or if you'd like to see the stickies for a few seconds before they disappear, then:
Javascript=
setTimeout(function(){ var i, elements = document.querySelectorAll('body *');
for (i = 0; i < elements.length; i++) { if (getComputedStyle(elements[i]).position === 'fixed') { elements[i].parentNode.removeChild(elements[i]); } } }, 5000);
Where "5000" is the delay in milliseconds.
I then pressed the "+" bar to add it to the database and all floaties/stickies seem to be removed so far. They do appear for a few milliseconds upon page load even with zero delay, but they quickly disappear as I'm sure that the custom script is run after the page loads. If I want the floaties to come back, I simply click the toolbar button, click the "power" button for the extension, and refresh that page and any others.
Not having stickies may cause navigation problems, but I don't want to have to run a bookmarklet every single time I load a page at AliExpress or elsewhere. We'll see how it goes.
Yes, Greasemonkey is a far more capable solution, but it's much larger and likely slower than Custom Style Script. Use whichever you prefer or is available in your browser.
. AliExpress continues to require the following for me to login: