7 things you should know to shop securely online on AliExpress

It's not always easy to stay safe when you shop online. For any legitimate and reputable site, there are still hundreds of people who want to take your money and run away, then of course, you will never get it back. If you want to avoid fraud and scams, it's important to research the website you're buying. How do those sites protect buyers? Is it easy to avoid fraud and fraud? How does the site handle disputes and refunds?

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In the United States, Amazon and eBay are two of the famous online names, while in Vietnam there are big websites like META.vn , Tiki , Lazada ... With our neighbor, China. , AliExpress is an online address that attracts many consumers around the world. Do you usually order from AliExpress? In this article, let's take a look at the world of AliExpress and answer the questions mentioned earlier.

1. What is AliExpress?

AliExpress is part of the Alibaba Group. It is a Chinese e-commerce company, providing many retail services to businesses and consumers around the world. In April 2016, it passed Walmart to become the largest retailer in the world.

Alibaba launched AliExpress distribution division in 2010. This is an online company that sells mainly Chinese products. It works more like eBay than Amazon, which means that AliExpress is a storage platform, allowing third-party companies to sell their products without selling their own products.

2. Buyer protection policy

Buying goods online always comes with unexpected risks. Unlike when you go shopping at stores in the city, online shopping means you can not see the product before payment.

This has eliminated an essential part of the buying and selling process. You may not feel the product for quality control or electronic product testing to ensure all functions work as described.

If you buy from a famous brand, you can read reviews or go to the store to report the problem. But for the case of AliExpress, where countless Chinese products are not available outside the store, you'll have to deal with it yourself. Usually, you will make a decision based on the description and a few photos. Therefore, it is important that the site has a strong buyer protection policy. Luckily, AliExpress has that.

The company provides 2 important commitments:

• A full refund if you do not receive the product: If the product is not displayed or even if it is not delivered within the time given by the seller, you may be able to issue a full refund.
• A full or partial refund if the product is not as described : If the product is different from what you expected, you have two options, which is to return the item to receive a full refund or keep the product and receive a refund.

3. Dispute settlement

Unfortunately, as with other e-commerce sites, getting a refund for lost, damaged or incorrect products is not as simple as clicking on the Refund button . You have to go through a fairly complicated dispute process. On AliExpress, the dispute process involves three steps:

First, you need to contact the seller and raise the issue directly with them. If you appeal before the order process is complete or more than 15 days after the order is completed, this is the only option you have.

If you are still in the previous stage of completion and the seller refuses to cooperate, you must wait until the order process is over and issue a problem with AliExpress. Sadly, if it has been more than 15 days and the seller refuses to cooperate, you have no other choice.

Second, if it is still within 15 days and you are not satisfied with the seller's response, you can open a dispute ticket. This makes the process formal.

Third, if you are not satisfied with the formal discussions, you can escalate the issue to AliExpress. The site will then act as a mediator between you and the seller to reach a solution.

4. Find reputable sellers

The easiest way to avoid using refund channels and disputes is to find a reputable seller. If thousands of customers have been happy with the sellers in the past, you'll have fewer problems.

5. Feedback page

The most obvious way to investigate a seller is to look at their history. On any vendor's page, click on the Feedback tab for full details.

Each seller has a percentage of positive feedback (Positive Feedback) and own feedback score (Feedback Score). Feedback score is the total number of reviews, converted into points. 4 and 5 star reviews are converted into 1 point, 3 stars are 0, and 1, 2 stars will deduct 1 point.

At the bottom of the page, you can see the star ratings are broken down into categories such as Item as Described (Products as Described), Communication (Communication), and Shipping Speed (Delivery Speed). For each of the subcategories, you can tell whether the seller in question is above or below the site average.

Finally, at the bottom of the page you will see a historical view of their scores along with buyer reviews.

6. Commitment of the seller

Sellers may also provide buyers with certain protection. As a general rule, the more commitments offered, the more confident you will be to make a purchase.

The seller is committed on each product. Just because they offer quite a lot of guarantees on an item doesn't mean the same guarantee applies across the entire catalog. Please make sure you find out carefully before ordering.

Sellers can provide 4 different types of commitments:

• On-time Delivery - The seller promises to provide a full refund if the product you pay for is not delivered by the agreed time.
• Returns and Refund - Seller promises to provide a full refund if the product is not as described.
• Domestic Returns - If the seller has a store in the country where you live, you can return the goods directly without worrying about shipping charges and other costs.
• Guaranteed Genuine - If you buy a large electronic item, this is one of the commitments you need to know. It means this item has been genuine by AliExpress.

To see which commitments apply to each product, check Buyer Protection information in the Quick Info section of the product page or click on the Seller Guarantees tab under the product image.

7. Be a smart shopper

Even if a product has many commitments in place, you should always be responsible for your actions when problems arise. AliExpress offers some helpful hints to ensure you avoid fraudulent sales. Not everyone, of course, but caution is still needed.

• If the price of the product is too cheap, too bargain, do not buy. You will not be able to own the latest iPhone product for only $ 10.
• Never send money to a seller's bank account. If the seller wants you to send money directly to them rather than through AliExpress, don't proceed. Depositing outside of AliExpress means the site will not include you in accordance with their buyer protection policy.
• Do not confirm delivery before receiving orders. Never say you received an item before it was in your possession and you double checked every issue.

Chinese products have a bad reputation for being cheap and poor quality. Of course, this is not entirely true. Many products on AliExpress are made and available for a fraction of the cost of what you will pay for an equivalent item at North American or European stores.