purchasing tubes

Have done both. Aliepxress is like amazon. Just a middle man. Most of the tubes you'll find on Ali are China sourced tubes. Their QC specs are a mile wide so you are likely to get some duds as well as some OK tubes. If your tube amp is ARC or VTL take a pass on the Chinese tubes. All you will experience is fireworks. The power tubes will not hold up to the higher B+ values on these amps. 

not tubes yet, but

I buy from Aliexpress and Temu, including successful returns/full refunds.

you need to pay attention

1. pick ’local warehouse’, the item is already in your country so ship/return is local

2. keep eye on both cost and shipping cost

3. some items have minimum order of more than a single unit, if a great price, think about giving gifts if you need to buy 2 or 3 of an item.

Wondering if the Tariff, Tariff, Tariff on Chinese products going crazy lately???