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Is AliExpress Safe in 2026
Quick Verdict: AliExpress is generally safe for budget purchases when you follow basic precautions, but it carries real risks that mainstream retailers don’t. The platform is legitimate and backed by Alibaba Group — one of the world’s largest e-commerce conglomerates — with built-in buyer protections and encrypted payment processing. However, its open marketplace model means your experience depends almost entirely on which seller you choose, and the platform is currently under active regulatory scrutiny in both Europe and Asia for data privacy violations and inadequate moderation of illegal products.
Safety Rating: 6.5/10 Main Risk: Inconsistent seller quality and data privacy concerns tied to cross-border data transfers to China Our Advice: Use AliExpress for low-to-mid-value unbranded items, always pay through the platform’s checkout, and never share payment details outside the official system.
Last verified: February 2026
AliExpress Safety Scorecard
| Category | Rating | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Data Privacy | ⚠️ Moderate | Fined $1.4M by South Korea in 2024 for unauthorized data transfers; EU GDPR complaints filed by noyb in 2025 |
| Payment Security | ✅ Strong | PCI DSS compliant, AliPay escrow system holds funds until buyer confirms delivery |
| Scam Risk | ⚠️ Moderate-High | Counterfeits, brushing scams, and AI-generated fake reviews are persistent issues on the marketplace |
| Account Security | ✅ Good | HTTPS encryption, two-factor authentication available, secure login protocols |
| Customer Support | ⚠️ Mixed | Buyer Protection program exists but dispute resolution can be slow and inconsistent |
| Legal Compliance | ⚠️ Under Scrutiny | EU Digital Services Act preliminary breach finding in June 2025; ongoing investigation with potential fines up to 6% of global turnover |
| Overall | 6.5/10 | Legitimate platform with real protections, but regulatory pressure and seller variability demand buyer vigilance |
What Is AliExpress?
AliExpress is a business-to-consumer online marketplace owned by Alibaba Group, headquartered in Hangzhou, China. Launched in 2010, it connects independent sellers — primarily Chinese manufacturers and retailers — directly with international buyers across more than 220 countries and territories.
The platform attracts approximately 615 million monthly web visits and around 159 million monthly active app users as of 2025, making it one of the largest cross-border e-commerce platforms globally. It generated an estimated $63.9 billion in gross merchandise value in 2024, with its strongest markets in Europe, South Korea, Brazil, and the United States.
Unlike Amazon, AliExpress does not stock or sell its own products. It functions purely as a marketplace — a digital intermediary where thousands of independent sellers list their own inventory. This model enables dramatically lower prices through direct-from-factory sales, but it also means product quality, shipping reliability, and seller honesty vary significantly from one store to the next.
Is AliExpress Safe? The Full Analysis
Data Privacy: What AliExpress Collects and Where It Goes
This is where AliExpress faces its most serious and documented challenges. The platform collects standard e-commerce data — your name, shipping address, payment details, browsing history, and device information — which is comparable to what Amazon or eBay gathers. The critical difference is where that data goes and under whose jurisdiction it falls.
The South Korea Fine (July 2024)
South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) fined AliExpress approximately ₩1.978 billion ($1.4 million) for violating the country’s Personal Information Protection Act. The investigation revealed that AliExpress had shared personal data from roughly 180,000 Korean customers with around 180,000 overseas sellers — mostly based in China — without obtaining the required consent or providing legally mandated disclosures about how that data would be handled. This marked the first enforcement action under South Korea’s revised PIPA for violations involving overseas data transfers.
The EU GDPR Complaints (January 2025)
Austrian privacy advocacy group noyb filed formal GDPR complaints against AliExpress, along with TikTok, Temu, SHEIN, and Xiaomi, accusing these companies of unlawfully transferring European user data to China. Noyb’s position is direct: because China is classified as an authoritarian surveillance state without independent data protection oversight equivalent to GDPR standards, such transfers violate EU law. The complaints were filed across five EU countries — Austria, Belgium, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands — and remain pending.
The Alibaba Cloud Breach (June 2022)
Although not directly targeting AliExpress buyer accounts, the broader Alibaba Group experienced a significant cloud storage vulnerability in 2022 that exposed 11 billion pieces of data. This incident raised serious questions about the overall security infrastructure across Alibaba’s ecosystem.
How Does This Compare?
For context, most major e-commerce platforms collect similar types of personal data. Amazon, eBay, and Walmart all track browsing behavior, purchase history, and device information. The distinction with AliExpress centers on cross-border data transfers to China, where privacy laws do not provide the same protections as GDPR or CCPA. If you’re shopping on Amazon’s US marketplace, your data stays under US jurisdiction. With AliExpress, your personal information crosses into a regulatory environment with fewer transparency requirements and greater government access authority.
Dimension Verdict: ⚠️ Moderate Risk — AliExpress collects comparable data to other e-commerce platforms, but documented regulatory violations and ongoing legal challenges around cross-border data transfers to China make this a genuine concern.
Payment Security: Is Your Money Safe?
Payment security is one of AliExpress’s genuine strengths and the area where it most closely matches Western marketplace standards.
The platform supports all major payment methods including credit cards, debit cards, and digital wallets. It is PCI DSS compliant — the same payment card industry data security standard that governs how Amazon, Walmart, and every other major retailer handles credit card information. All transactions are encrypted with HTTPS protocols.
The cornerstone of AliExpress’s payment safety is AliPay, which functions as a third-party escrow service. Here’s how it works: when you purchase an item, AliPay holds your payment in escrow and only releases it to the seller after you confirm that the order arrived in satisfactory condition. If you never confirm receipt, the payment eventually releases automatically at the end of the Buyer Protection period — but during that window, your money is protected.
This escrow mechanism means sellers never directly access your payment information. AliExpress doesn’t permanently store your full payment details either, reducing the risk of data theft from merchant-side breaches.
Key limitation: These protections only apply when you pay through the official AliExpress checkout. If a seller asks you to pay via bank transfer, wire payment, Western Union, or any off-platform method, you lose all buyer protections entirely. This is one of the most common scam vectors on the platform.
How Does This Compare?
AliExpress’s escrow system is actually more protective than the standard marketplace checkout on eBay (where PayPal buyer protection operates separately) and comparable to Amazon’s A-to-Z Guarantee. The escrow model gives buyers a structural advantage because the seller genuinely cannot access your funds until you’re satisfied.
Dimension Verdict: ✅ Strong — PCI DSS compliance, escrow payments through AliPay, and encryption provide solid financial protection. The system is structurally sound as long as you stay on-platform.
Scam Risk: Common AliExpress Scams to Watch For
AliExpress’s open marketplace model makes it fertile ground for scams, and the tactics are evolving. According to Interpol’s 2025 Cybercrime Assessment, cross-border marketplace fraud increased 37% year-on-year, with 68% of cases involving some form of identity spoofing or platform impersonation. Here are the most common schemes you’ll encounter:
1. Counterfeit and Imitation Products
This is the most pervasive issue on AliExpress. Listings frequently present cheap replicas as premium or branded goods, using professional photos — increasingly AI-generated — to make knockoffs look legitimate. If you see a pair of Nike shoes listed for $30 with free shipping, they are almost certainly not authentic. The European Commission’s June 2025 investigation specifically cited AliExpress’s failure to adequately moderate counterfeit goods as a key DSA violation.
2. Brushing Scams
Brushing is a deceptive tactic where dishonest sellers send unsolicited packages — usually containing low-value or random items — to your address. They then use your name and address to create fake orders and post fabricated positive reviews for their products. According to ESET’s cybersecurity analysis, brushing remains a common issue on the platform. If you receive packages you didn’t order from AliExpress, this is likely what’s happening, and it means your personal information has been compromised at some level.
3. Non-Delivery Scams
Some sellers mark items as shipped without ever dispatching them, using fake or recycled tracking numbers. BBB complaints are filled with reports of packages showing “delivered” status that never arrived, sometimes because sellers attach legitimate tracking numbers from other shipments in the buyer’s geographic area.
4. Malware-Infected Electronics
Not all risks involve fake products. In 2023, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reported that Android TV set-top boxes sold on AliExpress and other platforms came pre-loaded with malware straight from the factory. These compromised devices connected to botnet command servers upon powering up, enabling click fraud and turning buyers’ home networks into proxies for cybercriminals.
5. Post-Delivery Exploitation
A newer tactic involves sellers shipping low-value items — empty boxes, plastic weights, or cheap substitutes — and then pressuring buyers to accept partial refunds before opening the package, citing “logistics delays” or “customs inspection windows.” Once a buyer accepts a partial refund, they forfeit their right to a full dispute under Buyer Protection.
6. Phishing Attempts
Scammers impersonate AliExpress staff through fake emails or messages that look official, asking you to “verify” your account, re-enter payment information, or click on suspicious links. These phishing attempts target buyers who have active orders and may be expecting legitimate communications from the platform.
Dimension Verdict: ⚠️ Moderate-High Risk — Scams are a reality on AliExpress, but most can be avoided with informed buying practices. The platform’s open marketplace model inherently carries more scam risk than curated retail environments.
Account Security: How Well Does AliExpress Protect Your Account?
AliExpress implements standard modern security measures for account protection. The platform uses HTTPS encryption across all pages, which protects data transmitted between your device and AliExpress’s servers — including login credentials, personal information, and payment details.
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is available and can be enabled through the account security settings. AliExpress supports SMS-based verification and email verification as secondary authentication methods. When logging in from a new device or location, the platform typically triggers additional verification steps automatically.
Data Breach History
AliExpress itself has not disclosed a direct breach of buyer account credentials. However, the broader Alibaba Group ecosystem has faced security incidents. The 2022 cloud storage vulnerability exposed billions of data points, and a 2017 Check Point Research report identified a flaw where fake coupon links could inject malicious code into AliExpress pages, potentially tricking shoppers into revealing sensitive information.
Account recovery options include email-based password resets and customer support verification processes. However, multiple user complaints on review platforms mention difficulty recovering compromised accounts, particularly when linked to email addresses that were themselves compromised.
How Does This Compare?
AliExpress’s account security is on par with most major e-commerce platforms but doesn’t offer advanced options like hardware key authentication (FIDO2/WebAuthn) that Amazon and some Western platforms now support. The 2FA implementation is functional but limited to SMS and email — methods that security experts increasingly consider vulnerable to SIM-swapping and email interception attacks.
Dimension Verdict: ✅ Good — Standard encryption and available 2FA provide adequate protection. No confirmed direct breach of AliExpress buyer accounts, though the broader Alibaba ecosystem has had security incidents.
Customer Support: Can You Get Help When Things Go Wrong?
Customer support is arguably AliExpress’s weakest dimension and the source of its most consistent complaints across every review platform.
The platform offers several support channels: a chatbot-driven help center, live chat with human agents, and an automated dispute resolution system. AliExpress has also introduced a “Priority Escalation” channel for high-value disputes in 2026.
The Buyer Protection Program
AliExpress’s Buyer Protection is the platform’s core safety net. It covers non-delivery, items not as described, defective products, and counterfeit goods. Buyers can open a dispute starting from the 11th day after shipping, and the protection window extends up to 60 days after the estimated delivery date (with extensions possible up to 75-90 days in some cases).
If you file a dispute and the seller doesn’t respond, AliExpress’s mediation team typically decides within 7 days. For small discrepancies under $5, refunds are now auto-approved as of 2026.
The Reality of Dispute Resolution
On paper, the system works. In practice, the experience is highly inconsistent. Trustpilot reviews — where AliExpress holds approximately 2.4 out of 5 stars based on over 180,000 reviews — consistently cite the same problems: scripted customer service responses, disputes resolved in the seller’s favor despite clear evidence, unreasonable evidence requirements (such as demanding an “unboxing video” to prove items were missing), and resolution timelines stretching weeks or months.
BBB complaints echo these patterns. AliExpress is not BBB accredited, and user reports describe circular support interactions where agents follow identical scripts without addressing the specific issue. Multiple reviewers on Reviews.io — where AliExpress holds 1.4 out of 5 stars based on over 3,000 reviews — describe feeling that the dispute system is structurally designed to discourage claims rather than resolve them fairly.
Notably, AliExpress’s app store ratings tell a different story: 4.5 stars on Google Play and 4.7 stars on the Apple App Store. This discrepancy likely reflects the fact that most transactions go smoothly, and dissatisfied customers disproportionately seek out review platforms to voice complaints.
How Does This Compare?
Amazon’s A-to-Z Guarantee is significantly faster and more buyer-friendly. eBay’s Money Back Guarantee also tends to resolve disputes more quickly and with less evidence burden. AliExpress’s dispute resolution, while ultimately effective in many cases, requires more patience, documentation, and persistence than Western marketplace alternatives.
Dimension Verdict: ⚠️ Mixed — Buyer Protection exists and works in theory, but dispute resolution is slow, inconsistent, and frustrating. Expect to invest significant effort if something goes wrong.
Legal & Regulatory: Where Does AliExpress Stand With Authorities?
AliExpress is currently facing the most intense regulatory scrutiny in its 16-year history, with active investigations and enforcement actions across multiple jurisdictions.
European Union — Digital Services Act (DSA) Investigation
In March 2024, the European Commission opened formal proceedings against AliExpress under the EU’s Digital Services Act. AliExpress was designated a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) in April 2023 due to its 45+ million monthly European users, subjecting it to the DSA’s strictest compliance requirements.
On June 18, 2025, the Commission issued preliminary findings that AliExpress breached its obligation to assess and mitigate risks related to illegal products. The investigation found systemic failures in the platform’s content moderation systems, inadequate enforcement of penalty policies against repeat offenders, and risk assessments that underestimated the dangers of counterfeit and unsafe products — including non-compliant medicines, unsafe toys, and products harmful to minors.
As part of the same proceedings, AliExpress made a series of binding commitments to the Commission covering advertising transparency, recommender system transparency, trader traceability, complaint handling, and researcher data access. An independent Monitoring Trustee now oversees compliance. If the preliminary breach findings are confirmed, AliExpress could face fines of up to 6% of its global annual turnover.
South Korea — Privacy Enforcement
As detailed in the Data Privacy section, the PIPC’s $1.4 million fine in July 2024 established that foreign e-commerce platforms operating in South Korea are fully subject to domestic privacy law. The decision triggered broader regulatory tightening: in March 2024, Korean government ministers held an emergency meeting announcing increased scrutiny of Chinese e-commerce platforms and proposed updates to the Electronic Commerce Act requiring foreign platforms to establish local offices.
EU — GDPR Data Transfer Complaints (2025)
Noyb’s GDPR complaints, filed in January 2025 across five EU member states, target AliExpress’s practice of transferring European user data to China. Given the €530 million fine TikTok received in May 2025 for similar EU-to-China data transfers, AliExpress faces meaningful legal exposure on this front.
Dimension Verdict: ⚠️ Under Active Scrutiny — Multiple concurrent regulatory actions across the EU and Asia. The platform is cooperating with authorities and making compliance commitments, but the volume and seriousness of these investigations represent significant ongoing legal risk.
Red Flags When Using AliExpress
Watch for these warning signs that indicate a seller or listing may not be trustworthy:
1. Prices That Defy Logic — A branded product listed at 80-90% below retail price is almost certainly counterfeit. Genuine brands rarely authorize discounts that extreme, even for factory-direct sales. If the deal seems impossible, it is.
2. New Seller Profiles With Perfect Reviews — A store that opened last month but already has hundreds of five-star reviews with generic, overly enthusiastic language is likely using brushing tactics or purchased reviews. Legitimate seller reputations build over months and years, not days.
3. Requests to Pay or Communicate Off-Platform — Any seller asking you to send payment through bank transfer, Western Union, cryptocurrency, or any channel outside the official AliExpress checkout is attempting to bypass buyer protections. There is no legitimate reason for a seller to request this.
4. Vague Product Descriptions With Stock Photos — Legitimate sellers provide detailed specifications, multiple real product photos (often including photos taken in their warehouse), and clear sizing or compatibility information. Listings that rely entirely on professional or AI-generated images with minimal text are higher-risk.
5. Pressure to Confirm Receipt Early — Some sellers message buyers asking them to click “Confirm Receipt” before the item actually arrives, often offering small discounts or coupons as incentives. Confirming receipt early releases the escrow payment to the seller and significantly weakens your dispute position if something goes wrong.
6. Suspiciously Fast “Shipping” With No Real Tracking — If tracking shows your item was “shipped” immediately but tracking updates stall for weeks, the seller may have created a shipping label without dispatching the product — a tactic used to reset the dispute clock.
How to Use AliExpress Safely: 8 Practical Tips
1. Always Pay Through the Official Checkout — Never transfer money outside the AliExpress platform. The escrow system through AliPay is your strongest protection. Credit cards offer an additional layer of chargeback protection if the platform’s dispute system fails.
2. Enable Two-Factor Authentication — Go to Account Settings → Security Center and enable 2FA. This adds a verification step that prevents unauthorized access even if your password is compromised.
3. Verify Sellers Before Buying — Check the seller’s store age, total number of orders, feedback percentage, and recent reviews. Prioritize sellers with the “Top Brand” badge or high transaction volumes over several years. Cross-reference reviews by filtering for your specific product and looking at buyer-uploaded photos.
4. Start Small With New Sellers — If you’re testing a new seller or product category, keep your first order under $20. This limits your financial exposure while you evaluate the seller’s reliability, product quality, and shipping speed.
5. Never Confirm Receipt Until You’ve Inspected the Item — The Buyer Protection clock is your leverage. Do not click “Confirm Receipt” until you have physically received, opened, and inspected your order. Document the unboxing with photos or video — this evidence is critical if you need to file a dispute.
6. Use a Dedicated Email Address — Create a separate email account specifically for AliExpress purchases. This isolates your primary email from potential data exposure and makes phishing attempts easier to identify.
7. Avoid Electronics With Embedded Software — Given documented cases of malware-infected devices sold through the platform, exercise extreme caution with any product that contains firmware or software — including TV boxes, smart home devices, and USB drives. Stick to established brands from verified sellers for these categories.
8. File Disputes Within the Protection Window — If your order hasn’t arrived or doesn’t match the listing description, open a dispute before the Buyer Protection period expires. Upload all evidence (screenshots of the listing, photos of what you received, tracking history). Don’t accept partial refund offers from sellers unless you’re genuinely satisfied with the compromise.
Safer Alternatives to AliExpress
If AliExpress’s safety profile gives you pause, these alternatives offer different risk-to-reward balances:
- Amazon: Higher prices than AliExpress but significantly faster shipping, a more buyer-friendly return policy (A-to-Z Guarantee), and stricter seller vetting. Product data remains under US/EU jurisdiction depending on your marketplace. Best for buyers who prioritize speed and hassle-free returns over maximum savings.
- Temu: Also owned by a Chinese parent company (PDD Holdings), Temu offers comparable prices with faster shipping to many markets. However, Temu faces similar regulatory scrutiny — South Korea’s PIPC fined Temu ₩1.369 billion in May 2025 for privacy violations, and the EU is investigating it under the DSA as well. The trade-off vs. AliExpress is faster delivery but an equally uncertain data privacy landscape.
- eBay: A more established Western marketplace with buyer protection through its Money Back Guarantee. Prices are generally higher than AliExpress for equivalent items, but dispute resolution is faster and more transparent. Better for buyers who want marketplace variety without the cross-border data transfer concerns.
FAQs: Is AliExpress Legit 2026
Is AliExpress safe to use in 2026?
Yes, AliExpress is generally safe for everyday purchases when you follow basic precautions. The platform is owned by Alibaba Group, uses encrypted payment processing, and provides Buyer Protection on most orders. However, safety varies significantly by seller. Stick to sellers with established track records, pay only through the official checkout, and avoid products that seem too good to be true. The platform’s regulatory challenges in the EU and Asia are worth monitoring but don’t make individual transactions inherently unsafe.
Is AliExpress legit or a scam?
AliExpress is a legitimate marketplace — not a scam. It processes billions of dollars in transactions annually and serves over 150 million active users worldwide. The platform itself is real and legal. The risk comes from individual sellers within the marketplace who may sell counterfeit products, use deceptive listings, or employ scam tactics. Think of it like a massive open market: the venue is legitimate, but not every vendor inside is equally trustworthy. Your due diligence determines your experience.
Does AliExpress sell your data?
AliExpress collects personal data including your name, shipping address, payment information, and browsing behavior — similar to other e-commerce platforms. The critical concern is that this data is transferred to China under Alibaba Group’s infrastructure. South Korea fined AliExpress $1.4 million in 2024 for sharing customer data with overseas sellers without proper consent. EU privacy group noyb filed GDPR complaints in 2025 over data transfers to China. While AliExpress’s privacy policy outlines data usage, the regulatory environment in China offers fewer transparency guarantees than GDPR or CCPA frameworks.
Has AliExpress ever been hacked?
AliExpress has not publicly confirmed a direct breach of buyer account data. However, the broader Alibaba Group experienced a significant cloud storage vulnerability in 2022 that exposed billions of data points. In 2017, security firm Check Point Research identified a vulnerability that could allow attackers to inject malicious code into AliExpress pages through fake coupon links. These incidents, while not direct AliExpress buyer account breaches, indicate security challenges within the broader ecosystem.
Can you get scammed on AliExpress?
Yes, scams occur on AliExpress just as they do on other open marketplaces. The most common scams include counterfeit products sold as genuine, non-delivery with fake tracking numbers, brushing scams that use your address for fake reviews, and phishing attempts impersonating AliExpress staff. The platform’s Buyer Protection program provides a safety net for most of these scenarios, but you need to file disputes within the protection window and provide evidence. Staying on-platform for all communications and payments is the most effective defense.
Is AliExpress safe for kids and teens?
AliExpress is not specifically designed for minors and does not have robust age-verification or parental control features. The EU’s June 2025 DSA investigation specifically cited concerns about minors’ exposure to inappropriate content on the platform. Additionally, children and teens may be less equipped to identify scam tactics, counterfeit listings, or phishing attempts. If a minor is using AliExpress, parental supervision over purchases and account activity is strongly recommended.
Should I give AliExpress my credit card information?
Using a credit card on AliExpress is reasonably safe due to PCI DSS compliance and the AliPay escrow system. Credit cards also offer an additional layer of protection through your bank’s chargeback process if the platform’s dispute system fails. For extra security, consider using a virtual credit card number (available through many banks and services) specifically for AliExpress purchases. This limits exposure if your payment data is ever compromised.
Is AliExpress safe to use with a VPN?
Yes, using a VPN with AliExpress is safe and can add a layer of privacy by masking your IP address and encrypting your connection. This is particularly useful on public Wi-Fi networks. However, some VPN connections may trigger additional security verification steps when logging into your AliExpress account, and in some cases, pricing or shipping options may change based on your apparent location. A VPN does not protect against seller-side scams or product quality issues.
What happens if you get scammed on AliExpress?
If you believe you’ve been scammed, your first step is to open a dispute through the AliExpress Buyer Protection system before the protection window expires. Upload all evidence — photos of what you received versus the listing description, tracking screenshots, and any seller communications. If the seller doesn’t respond within the allotted time, AliExpress’s mediation team intervenes. If the platform’s dispute process fails, you can escalate to your credit card company for a chargeback. Document everything from the moment you suspect a problem.
Is AliExpress legal in the United States?
Yes, AliExpress is fully legal to use in the United States. There are no federal laws prohibiting Americans from purchasing goods through the platform. However, buyers are responsible for applicable import duties and taxes on orders, particularly shipments valued above the de minimis threshold. Some product categories — such as certain electronics, supplements, or items containing restricted materials — may be subject to customs restrictions regardless of the platform they’re purchased from.
How does AliExpress compare to Temu for safety?
Both platforms operate on similar models — connecting Chinese sellers with international buyers at low prices — and both face comparable regulatory challenges. AliExpress has a longer track record (launched 2010 vs. Temu’s 2022 launch) and a more established Buyer Protection system. Temu has been fined by South Korea for privacy violations and is under EU DSA investigation, mirroring AliExpress’s regulatory situation. AliExpress generally offers a wider product selection and more seller transparency, while Temu emphasizes faster shipping. Neither platform has a clear safety advantage over the other.
Does AliExpress Buyer Protection actually work?
Yes, Buyer Protection works in most cases, though with caveats. The system covers non-delivery, items not matching descriptions, and defective products. Data from sourcing platforms suggests that roughly 80% of Trustpilot reviews rate AliExpress 4-5 stars, and 99% of sellers reportedly agree to resend defective items. However, the dispute process can be slow (15-60 days for refund processing), evidence requirements can feel unreasonable, and some buyers report that the system favors sellers in borderline cases. For best results, document everything and file disputes promptly.
The Bottom Line: Is AliExpress Safe?
AliExpress is a legitimate global marketplace with real buyer protections that works well for most transactions — but it demands more vigilance than shopping on Amazon, eBay, or domestic retailers.
Use it if: You’re a patient, research-savvy shopper looking for budget-friendly unbranded products and you’re comfortable with longer shipping times, variable quality, and the occasional need to file a dispute.
Avoid it if: You need guaranteed product authenticity for branded goods, fast and hassle-free returns, or you’re uncomfortable with your personal data being processed under Chinese jurisdiction.
Protect yourself by:
- Always paying through the official AliExpress checkout — never off-platform
- Verifying seller ratings, store age, and buyer-uploaded photos before purchasing
- Filing disputes within the Buyer Protection window and documenting everything with photos and video
Our Safety Rating: 6.5/10