China sourced component purchasing

[maxvalutech]

Don't know if this a trend commencing or not. My last two purchases have been less than satisfactory but note they were from sites other than well known ones such as Ali and DHgate. First I ordered a led strip and that checked out OK via site but later I received email saying had to buy a bundle of 12 at of course 12 times price of 1. I went ahead only as part of my learning curve re LEDs and their replacement. Just the other day I booked out a tuner for price $0 + postage $5 (many sellers in China give a price and free delivery and I thought this may be a reverse marketing ploy) and again an email asking for an extra $9. Got a refund went to another site booked out tuner for $5 + $5 postage, turned out to be same vendor, again an email asking for an extra $4. Now that to me is relatively dear both in item cost and China Post charges. All $$$s US. Any similar experiences lately ?

[jetadm123]

Re: China sourced component purchasing

That's a new one on me...asking for "additional funds" to complete the transaction. Are they asking you to send money using a different method? In other words, bypassing the current system to avoid paying seller's fees to Ali. I think a lot of these sellers are similar to eBay, where it's the same seller using a different user id to peddle their merchandise. Either way, it sounds like outright fraud and these sellers should be reported. Of course, once their account is closed, they'll be back next week under a different user id.

[maxvalutech]

Re: China sourced component purchasing

I think the sites I found the items on are "trawling" type middleman ones who arrange checkout and advise vendor - not ones I had previously seen. But one or the other is doing the wrong thing. I used my PayPal account as a precaution. Request for extra funds came from vendor direct to me.

[jbfr_54]

Re: China sourced component purchasing

Hi, I never had any problem with components bought through Aliexpress. I think vendor are very afraid of any complain that might disqualify them in Aliexpress so they do not wrong things on purpose. Twice a problem with a defective smartphone LCD, vendor sent another one. Just a problem with LED bulbs (I admit these are not components), the announced power is a way far from being real power (sometimes 50%), vendors use Voltamps values of apparent power instead of effective real power in watts and the power factor is poor (about 0.5). Bulbs are not marked so it is difficult to prove anything. Beware of low cost bulbs or be ready to accept 50% difference in power. LED's for TV strips are OK so far. These are real components. Good buys !