Guide on How to Buy on AliExpress
AliExpress is an e-commerce platform that serves as a popular online retailing service owned by Alibaba Group in China. It was 2010 when AliExpress was launched and now becomes a famous one-stop online shop for many online buyers and gain more popularity like Singapore and serves countries like the USA, Canada, Russia, U.K., and over 200 countries and regions.
This article summed the things you need to know as a guide to your AliExpress shopping experience.
1. Register a Free AliExpress Account
I know how excited you are shopping and receiving your first items from AliExpress. But before going to the fun part of adding items to the cart, register first. Click the “Join” button and enter your email and choose a personal password. Don’t worry! You can always reset your password if you forgot it.
2. Browse Through Wide Selection of Products
Think of the product’s name, and AliExpress will show you thousands of results in seconds. Because they wanted to keep their promise of selling you 100 million plus products, so go can never go wrong shopping with them.
Their database is smart enough to give the best result at very competitive prices, with the help of their thousands of sellers. And the fun part begins here in product search and selection. You can use a shopping assistant (like https://alitools.io/en), an app, or browser extension mainly designed for Aliexpress to make sure you get the real deals.
Add To Cart or Create a Wishlist
Perhaps you wouldn’t notice that you’ll find adding to the cart addicting if you are a frequent online buyer. Funny. But seriously, just like real shopping at the supermarket, the concept is just the same with online shopping. Go to each product’s landing page and thoroughly read the product specs, reviews, and prices. And then, it is time to choose your preferred color, size, and quantity. After that, click the “Add-to-Cart” button, then go find another item until you have completed your shopping list.
However, if you are not yet buying but waiting for the upcoming Shopping Festival or just looking around for items that you might buy soon for yourself or as a gift, it would be best to create a “Wishlist” instead. You can make up to 10 wishlists and add up to 1000 items. These wishlists are like folders of things you wanted or planning to buy soon.
3. Add a Shipping Address
For smooth processing of your orders, add your shipping address before finalizing your orders. Here is the simple guide on how to add an address:
- Make sure you signed in to your account.
- Click the “My Orders” tab.
- Find the “Ship Address” and hover on it, and click the “Edit”.
- Then, start adding your address. You can add up to 10 delivery addresses, but you can select the one default address by leaving a checkmark on “Set as default.”
- Finally, click the “Save” button.
You can manage to add and change your address anytime. Take note that if you mistakenly provided an incorrect address but placed an order, contact the seller to address correction or cancel the order and place a new one upon getting the seller’s approval.
4. Order & Pay
As soon as you have completed filling up your shopping cart and adding your shipping address, it is time to make an order. The ordering process is easy. Click the “Buy Now” either on the landing page of the chosen product for buying a single type of item or go back to the shopping cart for combined orders or multiple products.
Then select your shipping address and add your payment methods like credit cards and enter the correct payment details like the account name, card expiration date, and 3-digit CVV or card verification value and click confirm. Like any other online platform, they assure their online buyers that their personal information is secured and safe.
5. Review and Place Your Order
An “Order Review” is like summarising your items before finalizing and placing them as an order. It usually appears after your payment method. Carefully check if you have the correct items because that will be the last step before you “Place Order”. If you realize that there are errors on your order, immediately message the seller unless a cancellation is allowed.
6. Wait for Order Arrival
Waiting for your orders to arrive can give you mixed emotions. You find it extraordinary if the items arrived early but are worried if it’s beyond the estimated delivery date. But understand that your orders go to another process like packing, shipping, and customs clearance (for international buyers).
You can always track your order by revisiting your AliExpress account to get more details.
7. Rate and Send Feedback
Your order has finally arrived. It’s time to unbox your package. Inspect thoroughly for any damage or missing part. You can also leave your feedback and ratings upon receipt of your orders. From your AliExpress account, find the “Manage Feedback” and start creating your comments about the product or if the seller met your expectations.
Before submitting, rate your shopping experience. Your feedback will ensure that sellers know what they need to improve and help other buyers decide.
Aftersales
But what if there is something wrong with your order after unboxing them? Don’t get stuck whining because AliExpress is ready for this. They have set up their aftersales support reliable and always available. You can reach them 24/7 to receive your complaints and disputes for billing and refund issues.
You can also contact the sellers if you have problems that need to be resolved. The “Help Center” is also the best spot on the platform that shows step-by-step procedures on how you get a solution.
Buyer Protection
AliExpress understands the value of money you spend buying items from their platforms, either mobile or browser. They created a Buyer Protection program, like a Money-Back-Guarantee, if you did not receive your orders or your expectation of the product was far from what was previously described. Once the dispute and claim process has been completed, you can get a refund after 15 days.
Real Deals and Ease of Shopping
To take advantage of the great deals in AliExpress, you can install simple but effective extensions to your browser or app. They will be your shopping assistants and help you monitor the real-time price changes of products on AliExpress and give you the power to spot fake deals.
Like any other e-commerce platform, buying online has never been easy these days. People are too busy with a lot of stuff like work, business, study or just lazy to shop. People wanted to save time. The ease and convenience of shopping in AliExpress is an example that online shopping is here to stay and continues to evolve and improve.
