Buying From AliExpress

[hmjgriffon]

I'd think that anyone who installs for a living would need to keep their common cameras that they install in stock themselves so they don't have to wait on their distributor, but if you need ridiculous fast response, you probably need to find a local company in your city or at least in your country, if that isn't an option, you're kinda screwed and keeping lots of extra cameras on hand would be the best option, if you can afford it, otherwise, inform customers there can be a wait.

 

[darrenph1]

First time I ordered from Andy @EMPIRETECANDY
I'm about to use Jimbu and a few other seller from Ali for this order as I'm starting to get annoyed personally.

I used Jimbu for my first 2 cams and mounts. They did pull the "9999 in stock items" on the webpage but I was quickly notified by them after ordering that they were out of stock and asked if I wanted to cancel the order. He stated he would be getting some soon. I said no and he got a shipment in the next week. The 2 cams I got from Jimbu were branded. I also went the DHL route with them and it arrived quickly. Overall good experience and I would order from them again.

I was lucky enough to get the rest of my cams through Andy last week.

 

[mat200]

FYI - March 30 2017 - just signed up as a new user on Aliexpress - noticed that they have coupons for new users if you install their mobile app, the coupons are limited to the first 200k that day - I just managed to get them - perhaps because it is the last day for this promotion and expires tonight, and thus they have not yet hit the 200k limit. Wanted to share it with anyone else sitting on the fence...

"RULES:- Available coupons:

US $3 off orders of $4 or more
US $7 off orders of $79 or more
US $30 off orders of $249 or more
US $60 off orders of $500 or more
US $100 off orders of $700 or more- Campaign period: March 21, 2017 (PT) - March 30, 2017 (PT).- Coupons will only be given to users who haven't shopped on the AliExpress app yet.- This offer is limited to one (1) per registered AliExpress user and device.- Coupons can be used on combined orders.- Coupons can be combined with instant discounts and sellers coupons.- A total of 200,000 coupons will be given away each day.- Coupons are given on a first come, first served basis.- Make sure you have installed the latest version of our app."

 

[tigerwillow1]

I noticed something different on an Ali Express order I made yesterday. On my credit card info, an order a month ago said Ali is in China. The info for yesterday's order says Ali is in Delaware.

 

[mat200]

I noticed something different on an Ali Express order I made yesterday. On my credit card info, an order a month ago said Ali is in China. The info for yesterday's order says Ali is in Delaware.

Ali is like Amazon.. but bigger.. it is everywhere, including having offices in the USA iirc - like fb, google, amazon, and others which are global corporations. ( Remember the best news yahoo had was that they owned a 15% stake in Ali.. iirc they spun it off before attempting to sell the rest to Verizon. )

 

[mat200]

FYI - March 30 2017 - just signed up as a new user on Aliexpress - noticed that they have coupons for new users if you install their mobile app, the coupons are limited to the first 200k that day - I just managed to get them - perhaps because it is the last day for this promotion and expires tonight, and thus they have not yet hit the 200k limit. Wanted to share it with anyone else sitting on the fence...

"RULES:- Available coupons:

US $3 off orders of $4 or more
US $7 off orders of $79 or more
US $30 off orders of $249 or more
US $60 off orders of $500 or more
US $100 off orders of $700 or more- Campaign period: March 21, 2017 (PT) - March 30, 2017 (PT).- Coupons will only be given to users who haven't shopped on the AliExpress app yet.- This offer is limited to one (1) per registered AliExpress user and device.- Coupons can be used on combined orders.- Coupons can be combined with instant discounts and sellers coupons.- A total of 200,000 coupons will be given away each day.- Coupons are given on a first come, first served basis.- Make sure you have installed the latest version of our app."

Wow, what a painful experience that was... very painful... Aliexpress, Verified by VISA folks, AND the CC company all attempting at various points to deny orders due to being over zealous about fraud.
IN FACT Aliexpress would NEVER allow my $3 off $4+ to complete - each time it would be approved by VISA and the CC, and Ali would CLOSE it - canceling the order.
Aliexpress did the same with the other orders at times, and I had to check my orders and reprocess the payments, one order I had to re-order once I noticed it had been closed and the Coupon returned to an unused state.

Seriously big corp anti-fraud folks - IF I am shipping it to the address on record, it shouldn't be that hard to approve. Spent hours on this, with a lot of time on the phone with the CC company AND with the Verified by VISA folks.

Recommend just going straight to @EMPIRETECANDY and asking him what the best option is to purchase.
Throughout this experience working with Andy was a very good experience, and I highly recommend purchasing through him.

Wondering now if going through all the hoops was worth the discount of the coupons.

 

[cybermech]

Wow, what a painful experience that was... very painful... Aliexpress, Verified by VISA folks, AND the CC company all attempting at various points to deny orders due to being over zealous about fraud.
IN FACT Aliexpress would NEVER allow my $3 off $4+ to complete - each time it would be approved by VISA and the CC, and Ali would CLOSE it - canceling the order.
Aliexpress did the same with the other orders at times, and I had to check my orders and reprocess the payments, one order I had to re-order once I noticed it had been closed and the Coupon returned to an unused state.

Seriously big corp anti-fraud folks - IF I am shipping it to the address on record, it shouldn't be that hard to approve. Spent hours on this, with a lot of time on the phone with the CC company AND with the Verified by VISA folks.

Recommend just going straight to @EMPIRETECANDY and asking him what the best option is to purchase.
Throughout this experience working with Andy was a very good experience, and I highly recommend purchasing through him.

Wondering now if going through all the hoops was worth the discount of the coupons.

Wow, your cc company must really stink! I had a fraud alert the 1st time I tried to purchase (less than $200 order). The 2nd order, I had to get verified on Ali, which was just a matter of waiting. The last 2 orders, both with coupons, went off without issue.

 

[mat200]

Wow, your cc company must really stink! I had a fraud alert the 1st time I tried to purchase (less than $200 order). The 2nd order, I had to get verified on Ali, which was just a matter of waiting. The last 2 orders, both with coupons, went off without issue.

It's also the Verified By Visa people in the loop, not just the CC issuing company, as well as Aliexpress.

 

[cybermech]

It's also the Verified By Visa people in the loop, not just the CC issuing company, as well as Aliexpress.

I had no issues with them. Ordered yesterday, went through the verified by visa screen, then back to Ali. Crazy. It's enough of a pain just getting the account set up and verified.

 

[cryptelli]

This vendor is garbage,they cheat people

What you on about? Care to quantify your statement?

 

[hmjgriffon]

This vendor is garbage,they cheat people

hahahaha, first you pedal cameras that are total shit with wacked out features that don't exist and claim all sorts of military grade shit, then you dare to try and defame our brother and best vendor I've ever worked with in any industry ever? Suck and egg dude lol, your words fall on deaf ears here.

 

[cryptelli]

too sucks

No. What really sucks is your comment regarding a vendor who has a flawless record amongst folks on this forum. Before you start throwing around accusations you should really spend more than 40 characters doing so.

never be back

Buh bye.

 

[alastairstevenson]

This vendor is garbage,they cheat people

I bought one camera before, had high hopes for this camera however I was left seeing that this product was showing it's age.

Presumably it was your choice of camera, and you decided to purchase it. And the purchase and delivery went well.
Stand in front of a mirror and then you will see where the finger of blame should point.

 

[Mike K]

I don't have my cameras yet but I have to say It took me more than 2 months to eventually establish an order. Most of the problem was that the web site would not recognize any of my CCs. Debit or credit, and I tried different stores within AliExpress. Calling the banks to investigate the problem they had no record of any attempt to charge my accounts. I reluctantly settled for the PayPal method.

On the other hand, although Andy was not always prompt with his responses, he wasn't any slower than any other tech support type guy that I have tried to correspond with. I think the procurement issue should be separated into two parts.

I think from my experience Andy is ok, but the AliExpress web site leaves a lot to be desired. AliExpress is no Amazon Prime and that is for sure!

 

[spencnor]

+1 @Mike K

I made my first cc purchases with AliExpress about two years ago with no issues. Then in the last year or so AliExpress would reject all my cc's. I would communicate with some person via their "chat" about this, all to no avail. Of course, I choose to not submit their requested personal I.D. documents as I don't do that for any web purchases.

I'm happy that I can go the PayPal method with Andy, but there are other AliExpress items from other vendors I would like to purchase. I wonder how others here are are able to use their cc's with AliExpress.

 

[Shockwave199]

Call your CC customer service before purchasing and let them know what you want to do and how you can avoid flags. A couple years back through MC I was able to set up alias cc numbers that were for purchases just like Ali with their own numbers but billed to my account. It was a great way of protecting the default CC number. That said, paypal is way better and hopefully any future purchases with Andy will be that much easier.

 

[spencnor]

Call your CC customer service before purchasing and let them know what you want to do and how you can avoid flags. A couple years back through MC I was able to set up alias cc numbers that were for purchases just like Ali with their own numbers but billed to my account. It was a great way of protecting the default CC number. That said, paypal is way better and hopefully any future purchases with Andy will be that much easier.

Thanks. I'll try that with one of my cc's

I too have a couple of cc's that can generate a temporary cc number with dollar and time limits. I generally use this for all web purchases. I tried this and a permanent cc number with AliExpress with no success.

 

[beingaware]

Be mindful that most Asian countries are in public holiday Mode until Wednesday.
Ching Ming is a 3 day holiday which started on Sunday and finishes Tuesday Night.

Sellers and Couriers will have a back log on Wednesday to get through so expect some delays if buying from Ali or via Andy.

Speaking of Andy, triple check on the day he plans to ship out.
He sent me a 4216 rather then the 5216 I ordered/paid for.

Thankfully the 4KS2 models are almost identical apart from the Network I/O.

He is also very low on all stocks and won't be seeing much for the next few weeks until Dahua comes fully back online. (They moved factory locations).

I needed some cameras in a hurry and ended up buying HDW4431EM-AS from him, shall be interesting to see how those go.

 

[hmjgriffon]

Well damnitt, I'm sposed to get my bracket and Z5 ultra on wed lol.

 

[Arjun]

When did you get tracking info?

Well damnitt, I'm sposed to get my bracket and Z5 ultra on wed lol.