Buying via AliExpress - VK Ham Radio


Topic	Buying via AliExpress
Subtopic	An Explanation of the Freight Process
Equipment Required	Computer + Internet
Document last reviewed and updated (reviewed each year)	28th June 2025
Last Change	Initial Document

Introduction

This article aims to guide both new and infrequent online shoppers through the freight processes and typical delivery times when ordering from platforms like AliExpress and Banggood, as well as eBay for items shipped from China. While seasoned buyers might already be familiar with these details, many newcomers and unsuspecting eBay purchasers, particularly those buying amateur radio parts, may not realize that items listed with Australian locations and 7-14 day courier delivery are often drop-shipped directly from China.

This information is primarily for Australian buyers, though the general shipping model is likely similar in most other countries. It’s important to note that my personal experience with AliExpress has been overwhelmingly positive: over 97% of my purchases have arrived on time, in good condition, and as described, leading to satisfaction. For items over $100, 100% have met these standards, leaving me very satisfied.

Despite a few cautionary tales you might encounter, overall, transactions have been reasonable, especially when considering the advice provided in this article. If anything about a potential purchase feels off, seems too good to be true, or raises doubts, it’s always best to reconsider or cancel the order before it ships. While a seemingly incredible deal can be tempting, losing money is far more difficult to recover from.

My Background

My perspective is informed not only by extensive personal experience but also by a professional background over many years in the freight forwarding and customs IT industry. While my direct involvement in the sector isn’t current, the fundamental principles and processes of customs and freight remain largely consistent, making this overview highly relevant. This guide is specifically tailored for the infrequent or less experienced Australian purchaser, but it may also provide valuable insights and fill in knowledge gaps for more regular buyers. While the core mechanics of this process are highly similar, if not identical, in over 80% of other countries, the specifics here are Australia-centric.

Some Guidelines you should consider when purchasing 240v Products

If possible avoid purchase of 240V equipment from overseas suppliers. In almost all cases these are not certified for use on the Australian power systems, can lead to possible fires or overheating, and/or can lead to electrocution or worse. Now to give the Chinese manufacturers their dues, most 240v equipment is designed and made well, and will work with no issues. However naturally statement may not cover all manufacturers, and even a manufacturer that produces good equipment, may slip on their quality (money constraints, down turn in orders due to tariffs etc). Even certification logos (e.g. CE, etc) cannot be relied on. This is why for 240V products there is a reasonable risk.

I will state up front that I have purchased a few 240V products from overseas, but when it arrives I run it through a reasonably stringent check, which includes in many cases disassembly of the device checking

All solder joints (poorly done as well as dry joints)
All 240V connections, and that includes the grounding lugs/screws to the case.
Checking that they have all the wires correctly wired from the power plug to the various points in the device
Checking the switch is connected to the Active line
Checking the fuse is wired on the Active line

However I have a reasonable background and understanding of 240V (and like many, the experience of being thrown across the room). Even after these checks, I would not feel comfortable, leaving a device unattended for hours on end. So for devices that I do need to leave on, I purchase the product locally with all the relevant certifications. The product still may have come from China, but I know it has been tested in Australia to Australian standards.Otherwise, like most of you, involved in Amateur Radio, almost all of our equipment is 13.8v DC or uses USB-C connections, and the 98% of products I have purchased work on these voltages.

Smart Online Ordering: Don’t Get Caught Out

Before you click “buy,” take a moment to double-check the product description. It’s incredibly common for buyers to get swept away by a vibrant product photo and an attractive price, only to be disappointed when their order arrives. Often, the issue isn’t misrepresentation, but rather that the buyer overlooked crucial details in the “variation” boxes or even thought they were ordering the main product when, in fact, they’d selected an accessory like a case or a cable set. This oversight is particularly common when clicking directly from a seller’s promotional email, which might lead to a page featuring a related part rather than the complete item you intended to buy.

To avoid these common pitfalls, I recommend a simple, yet effective, process – especially after a long, distracting day. Here’s what I do:

My Pre-Order Checklist

Locate and Initial Check: Find the product and do a preliminary check to ensure it seems like the right item.
Add to Cart and Pause: Add the item to your cart, then walk away. Seriously, leave it there. Come back the next day, or even over the weekend if you’re not in a rush. This pause is critical for clear thinking.
Re-evaluate with Fresh Eyes: When you’re ready to order and not feeling rushed, revisit your cart.
- Scrutinize the Product Page: Reread the product description thoroughly, pay close attention to all variation boxes, and fully review the entire page, including detailed specifications.
Cross-Reference with Other Sellers: Search for the exact same product from other sellers – you’ll often find 10 to 15 different traders offering it. Compare their product options, prices, and descriptions. Sometimes, seeing how another seller describes or packages the item can highlight a detail you missed in your original choice, prompting you to go back and re-verify.
Dive into Reviews for Red Flags: Once everything looks correct, spend time reading the reviews. Look specifically for consistent complaints about:
- “Dead on Arrival” (DOA) failures.
- “Didn’t get what I ordered” discrepancies.
- Major differences between the product picture and the actual item received.
“No Reviews” is a Red Flag: Be very wary if a product has no reviews. This often signals a new reseller. While you might take a chance on a low-cost item, for more expensive purchases, it’s generally wiser to spend a few extra dollars with a more established and trusted seller.
Verify Delivery Estimates: Check the estimated delivery date. Typically, for items from these platforms, you should expect delivery within 10-14 days from your order date. (My personal record for door-to-door delivery is a swift 6 days!). If the estimated delivery time is significantly longer, it could indicate that the trader is struggling to get stock, or for very heavy items, they might be using slower, cheaper shipping methods, which naturally extends the transit time considerably.

By following these steps, you’ll significantly reduce your chances of ordering the wrong item and enhance your overall satisfaction with international online purchases.

AliExpress Trader Scams

Sorry this is not Clickbait, but it needs to be raised.

Every once in a while, there will be a trader that is selling a product that is incorrectly described. Everything looked normal, no variation boxes, even the price it has been reduced from looks like the normal cost for the product. In this case there were no reviews, no red flags other than a default trader name, but at a low cost, it was not the end of the world if the wrong product arrived (other than the hit to the pride). So I ordered…And here is the product, so we are dealing with facts instead of hearsay (and I had a copy as I screenshot almost every order).

However, a few hours later the spider senses going off, and looked into this reseller further. Looking at the other products he sells under his trader name. There it was, he was mainly selling the cases, and there it was the case (and overpriced for what it was), for the same price as the complete unit I ordered. Realising this was either a scam or a mistake, I immediately cancelled the order and requested a refund as it had not shipped.

AliExpress issued a refund within 24 hours or so, so no harm done. A few days later some reviews popped up, each with the same message. All they received was a box, no AllStarLink Node hotspot.

Now before we run around shouting SCAM, SCAM, we need to give the benefit of the doubt. One thing we must remember is that English in most cases is not their main language, in many cases relying on computer based translation which may never be 100% accurate. Another thing that is, which will come as no surprise, is that there is a lot of plagiarism in the advertising text and picture. You only need to look at one product across multiple resellers and look at the pictures and text used. In many cases they have no ability to understand the text, relying on the pictures. It may have been a genuine mistake (it could have been an attempt to deceive), we will never know. However, I am sure, even if it had been shipped, with the correct evidence AliExpress would have organised for a refund.

If you want to read a little more on this issue…..you can see more on this article Buying Ham equipment online – Caveat Emptor – VK Ham Radio

Interesting, trying to go to this Trader again a few months later and looking for these reviews again, brings up an error.

Reviews (or no access to reviews)

This seems to have occurred the the last year or so, when going to check reviews (however it is unknown how much trust you can place on the reviews as I am sure some traders are doing their own reviews (at least if the product or the trader is new on the scene), especially due to the grammar/language being used or the terms being used.

This is what I am referring to

Whist it does not come up on every item, it is fair to say it occurs 80% of the time. If you see an item you are interested in and want to read the reviews (which I really recommend), then take the actual URL from your normal browser you have been using e.g. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007713889588.html (up to the HTML part), and send it as an email to your phone. Then use the Phone to access the site and the reviews (which works)

So now this time, this comes up, and I can now read the reviews on the product

I am not sure why I get the region message. Whether I gave a bad review or something else that upset them, but I do know it appears to be tied to my account, as all three browsers (which have been used to login to AliExpress) do the same thing (even if I just plug in the short URL), so it appears to be tied to cached data / cookies or similar. It could even be a bug in their website (or a bug that occurred a year ago). I know I am not the only one, with many others complaining about it. Hope this helps someone else.

If AliExpress wants to keep selling, they need to fix these things, otherwise people will drop off. I know that I have been ordering a little more from Amazon lately, as it is not always price, but convenience and trust as well. When they won’t show the reviews, whether by website programming, poor proxy implementation, or they are genuinely try to stop people seeing reviews (or make it harder), the that Trust is not there.

AliExpress Shipping – Another Gotcha

Just one thing to watch out for when you go to order, check the Shipping. It is never that clear how they will ship it.

The above is not meant to be a comprehensive guide, as I am sure there are others that I have not come across. I generally usually make sure that my choice is Aliexpress Standard Shipping. Just be aware it is the trader that selects what options are available, so again look at the different traders for the same product, as you may find that one does not provide AliExpress Standard Shipping while another does. His price might be another few dollars for the product, but I would rather make sure it is being tracked and delivered.

I have been caught once or twice on an item (usually a low cost adaptor). When I went to raise a dispute I got this back from the trader:
“Dear friend, I’m sorry that you chose this economy route when placing your order, which is quite slow. There will be a prompt on the order page indicating the approximate delivery time, which you may not have noticed. The package has arrived locally and is ready for delivery. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and hope that you can choose a faster logistics method for your next purchase”

There were no other options for other shipping methods and you can see this issue time and time again on some of the lower price items. Also this was not a case of something taking a long time as their message seems to indicate. It was lost in freight, and the reason for my intervention is that the AliExpress system was going to mark my order as delivered, when it was clearly lost.

To be fair, even though I did not find the dispute process painless, AliExpress did refund the money. So for a few extra dollars on the price of the product or a few extra dollars on the freight (if they offer it will be well worth it)

Ok, you are ready to order – you have done your homework

First of all, grab a screen capture of the whole ad. You may have to take a few captures, but it will be worth the time. Particularly if you raise a dispute or request a refund, pictures are clearer than the written word, especially when you have a language barrier.

Place the order – again check those variation boxes

Order has been placed, now go to the orders page, and take screen shots of exactly what the system is showing that you ordered.

Check the delivery dates are still in line with what you saw from the trader. If they have blown out more than what is reasonable, assume that this reseller has no stock, or they are reselling from another trader. Any time you have a concern, if it has not shipped, seek a refund (see refunds paragraph).

Now watch your order

It may sound a little over the top, but the earlier you catch issues, the easier it is to deal with it.

If everything looked ok when you ordered, you generally will see

Email confirming your order from the reseller (usually within 8 – 12 hours)
Email confirming that your order has shipped (usually within 2 – 12 hours later)

Generally, I will leave 24 hours, maybe a bit longer for the whole process. If you do not see these emails, time to go back to the AliExpress site and check your order. However there are few things to note

Weekends. Not all the traders work on the weekends or Chinese public holidays but I have been surprised on many of the orders.
Similarly, unlike Australian business hours, I have seen them acknowledge an order at 10.00pm our time, and see a shipped email by the morning first thing (which generally means they have picked the stock and ordered a courier). Remember it is not just your order they were working on but numerous other orders.
They are generally 2 hours behind (Sydney)
Try to avoid ordering near China’s Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) and National Day (Golden Week). These holidays do have an impact on ordering/shipping and typically impact for about a week. However I have found some resellers appear to be offline for some key days or key weekends in these major holidays, but will ship whilst still inside some of these periods, but be aware there may still be an impact, as they are reliant on couriers and sorting processing centre staff being onboard as well, which may not always be the case.
Again, if you are concerned, nothing is moving, check for standard Chinese public holidays as a possible reason

One more thing to check, occasionally, I have looked the AliExpress site and reviewed my order after placing the order, to find that it says my order will be shipped in so many days, yet their page showed 8 units in stock when I ordered – if you do not want to wait, and it has not shipped, seek a refund (see refunds paragraph).

Once it is shipped it is in the hands of couriers, freight forwarders, airline flights……it’s now time to sit back and go for the ride.

Refunds

Generally AliExpress is good on refunds, particularly if the item has not been shipped. I have found them extremely responsive in issuing a refund (usually within 24 hours) no matter what method you used for Payment (e.g PayPal, Credit card etc). Once it has shipped however, you probably need to wait for the item to arrive before you can raise an issue. They generally will not (and probably cannot) remove mid-shipment.

Tracking your Parcel

If you live in Australia you have a few resources that are good for tracking your parcels, but again if you live in another country, you will have similar systems, with the main difference being the last or local leg of the journey. These systems are:

AliExpress Tracking (via the AliExpress Website) – www.aliexpress.com
17 Track : https://www.17track.net/en
Parcels App : parcelsapp.com
Australia Post – www.auspost.com (you may need to sign up – no cost)

Now you might think why do you need a few. Generally they are all feeding via an API, but what you might find is that one site might give you a simple description, where as another may provide a better description.

I found one of my parcels held up at the sorting centre in China for two days with the caption

“Processing problem at departure country/region sorting center.”

Whilst there was no urgency, I was still a little concerned with the lack of information, as the only information was “we are in the process of improving our processing and there might be a short delay”, yet the other tracking systems appeared (how much it can be relied on is another matter) to show a delay in processing due to a “Battery packaged with product”. Now that is something I believe would hold things up. Remember, now, your order is now grouped with all the others that are going to a country with possible strict importation rules (or it could be the airline will not allow those products on the plane).

Whilst my products did not contain batteries, it is possible another persons order did have batteries, and this order needs to be found and weeded out.

Anyhow, if you have taken in what is in this article, have applied it to your purchase, its a case of sitting back and wait for it to arrive.



Typically you see this on low cost items. No options for shipping. Basically you are are on a wing and a prayer. There is no mention of tracking, but I have seen some that have some sort of tracking. This is most common on low price items	Generally what you are looking for is AliExpress Selection Standard Shipping as a minimum. However it is not clear if it includes tracking from door to door.	This one clearly spells out AliExpress Selection standard and it states Tracking Available	This one clearly spells out AliExpress Selection standard and it states Tracking Available, plus you have the ability to choose other methods at an additional cost if you prefer.

My Pre-Order Checklist

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