I have been shopping on Aliexpress since 2016 and many of the sellers I bought from within the first year were honest , sold items consistent with the description and promptly refunded money for broken items etc. However, in the last year or so, the platform has been flooded with con-artists/scammers who use bait and switch to sell items that are far from their description or really crappy low quality items you can’t even use, or with clothing items , fall apart after one wash. Then when paying a higher fee for faster delivery (e-packet or DHL) some sellers decide to pocket the shipping fee and send by China post (2+months ) without your consent . The prices for goods have also increased astronomically while the quality has decreased ten fold. Customer service is non-existent and the aliexpress judgement for disputes is almost always in favour of the seller unless you have a Gold level membership. Gold members always get their money back like I have except every time I open a dispute my membership level goes down by almost 200 points, then another 100 or so by leaving a justified negative review, which incidentally does not get published. I feel bad for the few merchants who do a great job selling quality goods at reasonable prices but you will be returning several items (at your cost ) before meeting a reliable and honest seller. Too bad they don’t filter out the scammers from the honest ones. Totally UNFIT for international trade and commerce. Beware of the hundreds and thousands of positive reviews posted by members from Eastern European countries ; many get paid and receive free items in exchange for posting on their blog and leaving great reviews. Always look for reviews posted by North Americans - they’re usually spot on, though sometimes you won’t find enough to convince you to buy.