Hugh
0
November 11 is the biggest sale day in China, they call it singles day as in 11:11. I use Aliexpress when I purchase items on that day. A brief explanation follows. Aliexpress is kind of a chinese ebay, thousands of small business's sell their goods on the platform, there are of course other such as DH Gate, Alibaba etc. My experience is e bike motor purchases so I will describe the process. Last Nov I bought 2 48V Tongsheng 500 watt motors along with 2 17.5 watt hour rack mounted batteries. The vendor i chose offered free shipping and each cost me $900 Canadian. Buying just that battery from a Canadian vendor would be around $700 and the motor would be in the $500 range.
If you purchase an item Aliexpress holds on to your money till it's delivered. The vendor always sets a delivery date, usually giving themselves something like a couple months. Once you receive your order Aliexpress releases the money to the vendor. If it doesn't arrive or is really late you can opt for a reshipment or a refund. Again I'll use a motor as an example, when you see a vendor that might have what you want click on the company name, its on the left side near the top. That will tell you how long the business has been active. Personally I don't use ones that are only say 2 or 3 years in business, much preferring a business thats been around for a longer period of say 7 or more years. I check items and put them on a "wish" list now and on the 11th if still interested move to purchase. I have saved myself quite a bit of money by this method. Buying a battery from an established company also reduces the odds of getting counterfeit cells, you want Samsung, LG etc cells you can count on
If you purchase an item Aliexpress holds on to your money till it's delivered. The vendor always sets a delivery date, usually giving themselves something like a couple months. Once you receive your order Aliexpress releases the money to the vendor. If it doesn't arrive or is really late you can opt for a reshipment or a refund. Again I'll use a motor as an example, when you see a vendor that might have what you want click on the company name, its on the left side near the top. That will tell you how long the business has been active. Personally I don't use ones that are only say 2 or 3 years in business, much preferring a business thats been around for a longer period of say 7 or more years. I check items and put them on a "wish" list now and on the 11th if still interested move to purchase. I have saved myself quite a bit of money by this method. Buying a battery from an established company also reduces the odds of getting counterfeit cells, you want Samsung, LG etc cells you can count on