Aliexpress Marketplace practices, be for warned.


I would like the audiophile community to know that Aliexpress will not stand to help buyers from vendor fraud of products purchased off of their website.  I recently order fake Audioquest cables from [Vipeos - HiFi Store] and was denied my cancellation even though placed  within a 24 hour period.  They promises no charges will post before shipping happens but as a fact my credit card was posted a charge within 12 hours.  Expected delivery time is about 2 weeks but still the vendor refuses to stop shipment and refund my card.  They rather I receive, send back, and ultimately get credit vs cash back.  So be aware of this type of practices Aliexpress is allowing to happen within their commerce market place.

daytrader

Each country develops along its own path.  China is no different.  China experienced several centuries of exploitation by the west and reacted as one would expect.

China does not uphold western concepts of Contract Law.  Enforcing a contact with a mainland chinese entity is an exercise in trying to hit a moving target.

China does not support the western concept of property ownership- actual real estate, manufacturing, whole/sale retail goods, or intellectual property etc. China is run by a dictatorship that owns all property- "ownership" in the western sense is essentially tacit permission to use until the Govt decides otherwise.  Many companies reported initial success in sourcing from mainland Chinese companies, then discovered their products were undercut in the market by counterfeit products either going out the "back door" or made by a brand new plant on the other side of town- but making the exact same product to be sold at much lower cost.  Or in the most extreme situations- Western owners of successful chinese companies would suddenly discover they were required to add local party leaders to their board- with substantial compensation, or their workforce would disappear. 

China does not recognize "international" trademarks and patents.   Several years ago Apple was forced to purchase the rights to their name and trademark for use in China. It seems that a small chinese company had registered the Apple name, logo etc.  Chinese courts supported the chinese company.  It is quite possible that the brand names for Nordost, Kimber, Cardas in China may be owned by a chinese entity rather than the global brand.  So are the chinese products fake ?  It becomes a semantic argument.

A western buyer of goods made in and sold from mainland China will often receive what the seller thinks will be accepted rather than what was actually ordered and expected by the buyer.

Caveat Emptor

20-25 transactions on Aliexpress over the past 3-4 years and never a problem. Quite happy with all the purchases. Just made another order yesterday for some tubes. Different strokes for different folks I guess.......

Just received another product from Ali,  the LHY SW-6.  I received it in less than a week.  

Same vendor , purchases were a month apart and both were received in a week. 

 

I bought Viborg and Choseal cables from AliExpress a few years ago, and everything went smoothly. The sellers also answered all my questions.

I also had a good experience with a Chinese supplier. I purchased,  Furutech Flagship a-36 cable from a supplier here in the States & was curious if the Chinese cable was the same. This was a little time consuming, but patience comes with age. The U.S. companies price was 10x the price of the Chinese cable. In the end, there was NO difference between the two cables.