The Aliexpress search engine is simply a disaster. Hard to find things from any store. But I have had the problem with finding something specifically from Simon’s store as well.
I have no clue as to why it works like it does, but I do know that it is just hosed in general.
there search is so bad it HAS TO BE FOR A REASON
random bad programming could not make it so terrible
1 Thank
that is probably going to invoke the customer-hostile WORST MATCH!!
probably it will delete C:\
The best way to know is trying! Like I said, when clicking on “Orders” the first lights to appear are sponsored (AD in the corner). When clicking “Best Match” 3 of the first 5 lights were from Simon’s store.
I had another problem with Aliexpress, i was checking out Convoys and there was a Lumintop(?) promo for $15 for an AA light, but when i tried to click on the store to see what other lights Lumintop has i got a 404 error for the whole store.
Yep, it’s ridiculous. The real store isn’t even at the top of the search results. I just follow the main store and navigate to it by clicking the link in my followed stores list.
I did accidentally order from one of those knockoffs last month and I did get a legit convoy flashlight tho. Everything was there, in the original box, was packed nicely too. But I overpaid and shipping took 3x longer.
1 Thank
Does that work if you click it? It used to but it stopped recently. I have to use https://convoy.aliexpress.com/store/1100591265 now.
Often, the best way to reach the true “official” store, or authorized outlets, is to follow the links from the website, or, in lieu of one, the links provided by the reps here. Simon has a thread devoted to his Convoy offerings, as do other brands.
Commercial search engines haven’t returned pure results to queries for a very long time.
Behind their opaque algorithms, various factors are considered, and weighed, most often based on financial considerations, or how well a potential target tries to game the SEO, which supports an entire industry in itself, devoted to those strategies.
On a site like Amazon, the results are weighed most in favor of what it thinks you’re most likely to buy, and what sellers pay to be placed prominently in the results. Even without those things, A9 its search engine, stunk even when it was originally founded as a separate company to develop the technology.
Aliexpress, being Aliexpress, likes to do things with its site that are often mildly puzzling at best, and confusingly frustrating at worst. What’s uncertain is if they are bugs, or features.
Yep
So yea it seems it’s just not working for me in Firefox. It works in Chrome and Edge.
When I search for the M21F on Aliexpress the first two results are from the Convoy Flashlight Store. Maybe some browsers are being routed to different URLs for some reason?
Windows 10 Pro, Firefox 110.0
Funny, I just noticed how bad this had become a couple days ago when I was getting an order together. Since these other unofficial stores usually use the same photographs and even the text descriptions, it’s hard to pick it out of the suggested products…on a search it usually shows the store/seller but it’s weird how the official store often gets excluded.
I keep his link and a few product pages bookmarked, too, but what I have found when using other browsers/computers is that searching for an item that only Simon is likely to sell (or is much less common), that usually gets me a link to his actual store. That’s been true on both google and the ali engine. Things like emitters, lenses, the UV lights or the little stainless AAA light, gaskets. A lot of these other stores only sell the lights themselves and maybe a reflector or two.
I do it differently: I always have in the buying cart some products from Simon’s store (and from others also difficult to find in a search).
So, whenever I need to buy from him, I just click on the Cart > Store and search what I want.
Sometimes generalist stores have the same products, with less options (LEDs), with different prices (either higher or lower), and buying from them is an option.
However, since Simon belongs to the community, I prefer to buy from him. I/we also know he will solve any issues that the product may have in a much better way 
That’s the wrong store when I click it
Thank you…
Same for me too. The actual store rarely shows up on searches. I think Simon doesnt care about Ali’s search algorithms to get the top result. I find the actual store from the messages with Simon.
1 Thank
This has always been my go to.
Just type literaly: convoy . aliexpress . com
How I remember it? Ask what’s the store name? “Convoy”. What site is it on? “Aliexpress”. Combine them → Convoy.aliexpress.com and it will always take you to the official one. Works for some of the other known brands as well, sofirn, wurkkos, and others.
Searching in AliEx search bar for a store is basically useless. I’ve found by comparing my search results with a friend’s search results for the same exact phrase is different. It looks like AliEx filters your search results based on your previous purchases/search queries. So even If I type exactly (for example) “Jinbao Pen Store Official” for some f***ing reason it will show my first 4-5 search results as flashlights I’ve searched for before, and only the 6th and onward will be actually Jinbao pens - and they won’t even be from the official Jinbao store.
I have this thread bookmarked.
It has affiliate links, but it’s still good for finding the more popular flashlight vendors on AliExpress. 
1 Thank