AliExpress Stores Are Driving Me Nuts!

mihlit · 2019-02-09T08:26:58.000Z

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.

teacher · 2019-02-09T08:38:10.000Z

Yeah… the only three stores I order from through AE are…

Convoy
Jaxman
Sofirn

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. .

jch10400 · 2019-02-09T17:03:51.000Z

LEDlove:

BlueSwordM:

The Sofirn store is absolutely legit.

You will never have any problem with them.

Thanks!
Is everything else in the deal legit, such as the price of the item at $9.37 for a light that has the same look and specs of a Quark light that used to cost $78? And that $3 thing just for signing up with AE—would I actually be able to use that for this order? Is there also a shipping charge?

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.

BlueSwordM · 2019-02-09T15:55:45.000Z

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

USA · 2019-02-09T15:59:31.000Z

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.

Hellie112 · 2019-02-09T18:46:20.000Z

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.

BlueSwordM · 2019-02-09T18:55:55.000Z

What is that fake product?

Could you link it?

USA · 2019-02-09T19:08:41.000Z

How and where would you send the product back? Does it even make sense to return it from a financial point of view?

Hellie112 · 2019-02-09T20:05:01.000Z

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!

BlueSwordM · 2019-02-09T20:06:52.000Z

Never actually buy flash memory, like USB drives and SD cards.

It’s way too risky to do.

Hellie112 · 2019-02-09T20:28:08.000Z

I agree, my reasoning was that I didn’t have any financial risks because of PayPal. But I learned from it. The time I wasted on solving this wasn’t worth the gamble for saving a few pennies… For me it’s now more matter of principle. I don’t like to get screwed.

USA · 2019-02-09T20:33:46.000Z

wow, what an experience you had.

I always buy SD cards and flash storage from China, but I make sure it is always a cheap Chinese brand like Mirza or something. They are actually quite good for low speed applications like Raspberry Pis.

Alternatively you would have to find out which stores on AE sell real products, like we discuss flashlights sources and trustworthy shops here.

Gebe · 2019-02-09T20:58:11.000Z

I’ve never had any problems with the cheap SD cards or flash drives but I did go cheap once with a wall/USB charger for a Apple Shuffle Gen.2 I had. The first time I used it to charge the Shuffle, I came back in about an hour and the charger had melted the casing on the Shuffle!

LEDlove · 2019-02-09T21:19:57.000Z

jch10400:

LEDlove:

BlueSwordM:

The Sofirn store is absolutely legit.

You will never have any problem with them.

Thanks!
Is everything else in the deal legit, such as the price of the item at $9.37 for a light that has the same look and specs of a Quark light that used to cost $78? And that $3 thing just for signing up with AE—would I actually be able to use that for this order? Is there also a shipping charge?

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.

Advice taken! I have now signed up with AE and placed my order. What I didn’t realize about the Sofrin SF13 was that there were 2 versions. One had a max output of 320 lumens and the other had it at 420. I clicked on the 420 one. It was $9.60 instead of $9.37, but I think it’ll be well worth the extra 23 cents.
I’m curious how it can be so much brighter. They both use 2AA batteries and also have the Cree XPG-2 emitter.

teacher · 2019-02-10T01:55:37.000Z

LEDlove:

Advice taken! I have now signed up with AE and placed my order. What I didn’t realize about the Sofrin SF13 was that there were 2 versions. One had a max output of 320 lumens and the other had it at 420. I clicked on the 420 one. It was $9.60 instead of $9.37, but I think it’ll be well worth the extra 23 cents.
I’m curious how it can be so much brighter. They both use 2AA batteries and also have the Cree XPG-2 emitter.

You just got the NEW Version where they kicked the output up a bit at all levels LEDlove. See info below … :+1:

Sofirn SF13 New Version LED Flashlight AA Cree XPG2 420lm
US $9.60
Low (8 lm)- Medium (55 lm)- High (196 lm)- Turbo (420 lm)- Strobe (420 lm)
…….
…….

SF13 LED Flashlight AA Cree XPG2 320 Lumen
US $9.37
Low (5 lm)- Medium (45 lm)- High (180 lm)- Turbo (320 lm)- Strobe (320 lm)
…….
###########
…….

Here are the runtimes & other specs for the NEW Version you got.

LEDlove · 2019-02-10T02:55:09.000Z

teacher:

LEDlove:

Advice taken! I have now signed up with AE and placed my order. What I didn’t realize about the Sofrin SF13 was that there were 2 versions. One had a max output of 320 lumens and the other had it at 420. I clicked on the 420 one. It was $9.60 instead of $9.37, but I think it’ll be well worth the extra 23 cents.
I’m curious how it can be so much brighter. They both use 2AA batteries and also have the Cree XPG-2 emitter.

You just got the NEW Version where they kicked the output up a bit at all levels LEDlove. See info below … :+1:

Sofirn SF13 New Version LED Flashlight AA Cree XPG2 420lm
US $9.60
Low (8 lm)- Medium (55 lm)- High (196 lm)- Turbo (420 lm)- Strobe (420 lm)
…….
…….

SF13 LED Flashlight AA Cree XPG2 320 Lumen
US $9.37
Low (5 lm)- Medium (45 lm)- High (180 lm)- Turbo (320 lm)- Strobe (320 lm)
…….
###########
…….

Here are the runtimes & other specs for the NEW Version you got.

Thank you for the data sheet. Sounds like a winner!
The fact that they bumped up the numbers (especially by 100 lumens at the turbo end) while using the same emitter makes me wonder if the LED is overdriven at that level. So, would running it at 420 lumens cause it to die sooner?

BlueSwordM · 2019-02-10T02:56:57.000Z

It’s not overdriven at all. It’s underdriven in fact.

The XP-G2 is rated at about 600 lumens, so running at 420lm will not be a problem at all.

They probably made a new driver that can output more power.

LEDlove · 2019-02-10T03:12:20.000Z

BlueSwordM:

It’s not overdriven at all. It’s underdriven in fact.

The XP-G2 is rated at about 600 lumens, so running at 420lm will not be a problem at all.

They probably made a new driver that can output more power.

Interesting! Most lights I see with this LED are advertised to put out 180, 220, or 280. I know of one at a Menards store that claims 280 and only has a runtime of 1.5 hours. I think it’s an XP-G2.

BlueSwordM · 2019-02-10T03:15:39.000Z

Well of course, it is driven off of a AA cell, which has at most, 3Wh of energy.

Driving one at 5W wouldn’t be very smart, so 400lm+ of output are usually in bursts, even if the light can handle it.

LEDlove · 2019-02-10T03:19:18.000Z

BlueSwordM:

Well of course, it is driven off of a AA cell, which has at most, 3Wh of energy.

Driving one at 5W wouldn’t be very smart, so 400lm+ of output are usually in bursts, even if the light can handle it.

Is the XP-G2 cheaper to make than the next one up, the XM-L? Almost all of the budget lights seem to have the XP-G2, but it seems that the price has to really go up before XM-L is used. I remember it wasn’t all that long ago when XP-G was the latest and greatest.