# AliExpress 62 Hacker News commenters recommended AliExpress and 76 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 3 years (3 owners). **Verdict:** People recommend it for low prices on parts and small items, and for refunds; critics most often cite counterfeits, poor quality and data privacy concerns. ## Why people recommend it - Low prices on parts and small items (9 comments): "China has amazing prices for genuine electronics components from every manufacturer." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49326188)) "4 of the exact same item from AliExpress cost me about £4 including shipping." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49350824)) "I can buy 3 from the local store or a BAG OF ONE HUNDRED from Aliexpress." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48321892)) - Easy refunds and buyer protection (5 comments): "what it has going for itself is customer support. They'll return you money pretty much in every single case." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49418324)) "AliExpress and Temu would refund you if you complained about a delivery. Zero risk." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49420868)) "Surprisingly, the number of products that needed such a return was extremely low." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46683412)) - Finds items unavailable elsewhere (4 comments): "often it's really solid, and you can find things you can't find elsewhere" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47855567)) "AliExpress sells them, too, which is much more accessible for anyone living in the EU." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46856420)) "you can get directly from the source with Aliexpress and other over border stores" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50102729)) - Orders arrive as expected (4 comments): "I did not have that experience at all, ordered there dozens of times." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49379492)) "AliExpress rarely takes longer than 2 weeks from china these days" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48822787)) "I've bought both from AliExpress before and they were fine." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48315865)) ## What people warn about - Counterfeits and low-quality goods (4 comments): "their failure to police these obvious scams is a blot on their record" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48703589)) "Until you learn the hard way that they are not up to the standard advertised, if they happen to be rated in the first place." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48323837)) "It reminds me of AliExpress in that sense. Lack of specs, lack of manuals, lack of details about any product." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47160879)) - Privacy and data handling concerns (4 comments): "If they go to the lengths shown in this article to side-channel fingerprinting, imagine what they do when they have native privs." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49421377)) "You just have to press the right link on the site and you get the tracking page (despite saying you need the app)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49377946)) "They hire a mobile dev team to create an app to give you a way to hand over data that you otherwise wouldn't" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49377400)) - Slow and unreliable delivery (3 comments): "about half the time the final delivery is through a Chinese gig delivery company that must pay practically nothing to the driver" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49374762)) "They gave me a USPS return label with a domestic address that Google Maps showed as some generic office building." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48740546)) "Aliexpress used to ship almost exclusively from China, so your package took 4-6 weeks in a best case scenario." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48821472)) - Audio problems in browser (3 comments): "Opening the Aliexpress webpage causes a silent audio stream keeping the PC>headphone link active blocking my phone audio." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49372584)) "aliexpress wakes up my audio card if nothing plays, which results in a very faint "pop" sound every time I open the tab" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49374244)) "if aliexpress is opened in one tab in chrome, and switching to a tab with youtube opened, audio don't play in this tab" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49374478)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Amazon](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amazon.md): 238 recommend - [eBay](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ebay.md): 101 recommend - [Temu](https://hackerapproved.com/p/temu.md): 15 recommend - [Allegro.pl](https://hackerapproved.com/p/allegro.md): 13 recommend - [Tindie](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tindie.md): 11 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.aliexpress.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "AliExpress", https://hackerapproved.com/p/aliexpress/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).