I have purchased from Simon in the past for Convoy flashlights and very happy with dealing with Simon. Now I am looking at purchasing some LED replacement bulbs for my halogen bulbs.
I am curious how safe it is from purchasing through dealers from Aliexpress. Are they like Amazon where they have stock in the warehouse? I am a little worried to give my credit card to Aliexpress since they don’t take Paypal.
Ali-express is like the Chinese form of e-bay but just for suppliers. The good thing about them is that they act as the go between. The supplier doesn’t get your credit card number at all and only gets paid from ali-express after you receive your order and mark it accepted. They have an escrow system where they hold the money.
Like e-bay they have a feedback system and this is very important. Check their feedback and if they have been around a long time and it’s good feeback it’s generally going to be a good experience.
Even with poor feedback or no feedback the worst that will happen is that you will tie your money up for a while.
I have been buying from them for years and I like dealing with them. I have had to get my money back a few times but it was never a problem getting it back.
I’ve bought from shops on there before with no problems, I quite like the way they operate.
+1
Before you use your credit card at AliExpress you may want to check with your bank if there are fees for international transactions as some banks charge a fee.
+1
This applies to all overseas transactions for your credit card. Some CC may also charge conversion rate if ypu dont transact in USD.
+2 with post #1. The escrow system in Aliexpress is as tight as can be. Aliexpress is a very good company to deal with.
Am not associated with above company. Just a customer.
I just ordered and received an order and I was a little confused about the escrow system but once I figured it out I really liked it.
The weird thing about Aliexpress, is that all of my orders have free trackings. And I mean ALL, even the $3 one!
I don’t know how they do it but I am not complaining 
Thank Chloe and all, I never thought about international fees. I don’t recall any fee from ordering from Simon. I will check my Visa bill.