241–250 of 721 posts
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It does not work. You have to declare the real source of the merchandise. Or it has to go through "substantial transformation" so that is called "Made in France". Country of origin is taxed and not country of shippment.
How does what you say not make it work though? Are you aware that people lie for financial gains?
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Temu/Aliexpress/etc are for buying very cheap clothing. 2 out of 3 items fit and 1 out of 3 is decent quality. That's still cheaper, depending on what tariffs your country is charging. I wouldn't buy something where a warranty would be useful from them. Ok, maybe very niche hobby products, but then I wouldn't expect a warranty.
Not entirely. For cycling there are now a group of trusted companies that many people purchase from - WinSpace, Magene, iGPSport, that stand behind their products. I have a Magene p505 crank-based power meter - £250 delivered. It's as accurate as ones costing 4X as much, and has not shown any signs of issues in the year+ I've been using it. The idea that AliExpress is just for cheap tat is less and less true, and pro…
Their products can also be bought either directly or from other bike-specialized shops, they don't sell exclusively through Aliexpress.
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You were always free to buy fewer things you care more about.
This isn’t true, because the subsidized stuff from China drove medium-quality choices out of the market. Try to buy some nicer jeans or T-shirts. The choices are stuff made as cheaply as possible, brand name stuff made as cheaply as possible but marked up like it isn’t, and actual quality clothes at 15x the price of the cheapest stuff. Most of the US clothing manufacturers have pivoted to the high-end just to survive…
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Not entirely. For cycling there are now a group of trusted companies that many people purchase from - WinSpace, Magene, iGPSport, that stand behind their products. I have a Magene p505 crank-based power meter - £250 delivered. It's as accurate as ones costing 4X as much, and has not shown any signs of issues in the year+ I've been using it. The idea that AliExpress is just for cheap tat is less and less true, and pro…
> For cycling there are now a group of trusted companies that many people purchase from - WinSpace, Magene, iGPSport, that stand behind their products. Do you follow Trace Velo on YouTube? Any others you recommend (aside from China Cycling)?
I also follow Peak Torque, who is very hot on engineering. Hambini is ok, but pretty brash and abrasive.
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> Obviously YMMV, but I bought some Amazon MTB pedals rated 4.7 starts @ 9k ratings. Every site is different, no? Amazon isn't AliExpress. Though lately Amazon if flooded with marked-up AliExpress stuff. I'm not fond of Amazon, their customer service is more of a hit and miss since various years. That said, I've been watching Trace Velo. He reviews a lot of AliExpress cycling things. It's often bad after prolonged us…
Amazon is AliExpress with onshore warehousing.
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> Obviously YMMV, but I bought some Amazon MTB pedals rated 4.7 starts @ 9k ratings. Every site is different, no? Amazon isn't AliExpress. Though lately Amazon if flooded with marked-up AliExpress stuff. I'm not fond of Amazon, their customer service is more of a hit and miss since various years. That said, I've been watching Trace Velo. He reviews a lot of AliExpress cycling things. It's often bad after prolonged us…
Amazon is AliExpress with onshore warehousing.
I hope temu and the other Chinese companies in that segment stop selling overseas. Their model is just incredibly destructive to the environment, they ship over the lowest quality garbage imaginable and create so much pollution and waste in the process. I also have quite a bit of disdain for people using these sites. Nobody needs this and it is just harmful all around.
Your environmental footprint depends on your income and your country.
Everything bought is environmentally unfriendly in proportion to the cost.
The only exception is something where the only purpose is to be environmentally good (maybe planting some trees, maybe something that reduces energy usage).
Complaining about specific things being bad is almost pointless.
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Not entirely. For cycling there are now a group of trusted companies that many people purchase from - WinSpace, Magene, iGPSport, that stand behind their products. I have a Magene p505 crank-based power meter - £250 delivered. It's as accurate as ones costing 4X as much, and has not shown any signs of issues in the year+ I've been using it. The idea that AliExpress is just for cheap tat is less and less true, and pro…
Obviously YMMV, but I bought some Amazon MTB pedals rated 4.7 starts @ 9k ratings. One suffered a catastrophic failure, shearing off at the crank and I was pitched over the bars. Design and manufacturing is obviously a major part of the equation with this product sector, and no doubt the Chinese can do that as good as, or even better than domestic brands in many respects. What they don't do as well, as far as I'm awa…
You need to know the brands to buy (Trace Velo, Peak Torque and China Cycling helps here) and buy directly from their Ali Express store, or from their website.
Amazon is only if you need a cheap bike maintenance tool within a couple of days that you're happy only using a few times before you have to throw it out. Not for components.
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AliExpress is great for electronics. Not the „I need a phone“ stuff (although for that it’s fine too, I think), but more the „I need an ESP-32 module“.
This. People buying a laptop there for ten bucks then receiving the photo of one have indeed all the rights to complain, but common sense should suggest them before the purchase the old saying that if something looks too good to be true... And this can happen everywhere there's no strict quality control or accountability. Aliexpress is great for small modules, SBCs, diy electronics in general, however I wouldn't ever…
Some Chinese companies care about a long-term brand and place high standards on themselves but it's not true that anything online has passed safety standards. It's hard to differentiate the two due to the amount of fake reviews also.
I loved temu, aliexpress, and shein. I probably averaged 1 item per day arriving to my house, for years and years. Mostly little electronics parts and specialized tools for my workshop. Buying from Amazon or locally would have cost me 10x as much. Obviously it's over now. Anyone getting a package in May will be hit with a $75-$150 or more bill per package, even a 75 cent envelope will be charged +$75. I feel bad for…