AliExpress Buyer Protection: How It Works, Opening Disputes, and Refunds

No one can guarantee you complete safety and security when buying online. On any large and reputable site, there are hundreds of sellers, and there's always a chance you'll run into dishonest ones. If you want safer online shopping, you need to understand the site you're using, its reputation, and its buyer protection systems. Here, we'll explain the buyer protection systems when buying from AliExpress.

What to know before buying on AliExpress

AliExpress is part of Alibaba Group, a Chinese e‑commerce company that offers various retail services to businesses and consumers around the world and in China. Alibaba Group launched AliExpress in 2010.

While Alibaba.com is a site for bulk sales, on AliExpress you can buy individual small quantities as a company or as an individual. On AliExpress, you can only buy products "as is" – finished products, and you make the purchase directly on their platform. AliExpress is not the owner or seller of the products.

Although prices on AliExpress are low compared to the rest of the world, they will almost always be higher than if you bought a larger quantity from a supplier on Alibaba.com.

It's important to note that almost all goods bought on AliExpress are shipped from China, which means you'll need weeks, if not months, to receive your goods. Usually that's 15 to 60 days. Although 60 days is a bit too long, from practice it's usually 20–25 days with regular postal service.

How to buy on AliExpress

What to pay attention to before buying from AliExpress

You are responsible for all customs costs related to the purchased product. To avoid delivery delays, check your local laws, as well as the list of prohibited items (you have it at the bottom of the page) and the list of taxable items.

When placing your order, confirm every detail, such as color, size, quantity, and so on. Check that you've given the correct delivery address for the package.

When the package arrives, inspect it to notice any damage or loss before signing for receipt of the goods. After signing, carefully examine the items that arrived.

If they're not in line with the agreement before buying, you can request a refund. Keep a copy of the history of all online chats, emails, correspondence with the supplier, etc. You never know if you'll need them.

Buyer Protection – buyer safety

The protection system used on AliExpress is **AliExpress Buyer Protection** (not Escrow). The Escrow system stopped being used on AliExpress from 2014/2015.

AliExpress Buyer Protection allows you to safely pay online without showing details from your credit card. You can also track payment to the supplier after you confirm you've received your order. Buyer Protection is fast, free, and simple to use.

The principle is very simple: the buyer pays for the goods, but the seller gets that money only after the buyer confirms they received their product and everything is fine.

Purchase with money-back guarantee

AliExpress offers two important guarantees:

• Full refund if you don't receive the order:

  If the item doesn't show up or even if it doesn't arrive within the timeframe set by the seller, you can file a request for a full refund. You'll get a full refund within 15–60 days (depending on country and product).

• Full or partial refund if the item is not as described:

  If the purchase is significantly different from what was expected, you have two options: you can return the item and get a full refund, or keep the item and get a partial refund.

The question is whether it's worth returning the product and who bears the cost of return shipping, which can be more expensive than the product itself. Shipping costs on AliExpress are unrealistically low, sometimes shipping is even free. If you've ever tried to send a package to China, even a very small one, you'd be surprised by the shipping costs.

Sellers with "Free return" label

Sellers who offer the "Free return" service have a "Free return" icon on the item details page. With the "Free return" service, you get an extra 15 days (in addition to the regular delivery date) to decide whether you want to keep or return the item for any reason, provided the products are unused, undamaged, unwashed, and in their original condition – together with the original packaging, tags, etc.

Note: You can have only one free location, meaning free return for only one order. So you can return only one product if you ordered more than one at once for free, while for the others you bear the shipping costs.

Payment and security

It's normal to be suspicious before buying from any website, because you never know who's behind it. But AliExpress is a globally known shopping site where millions of people buy. In addition, you can be completely relaxed because AliExpress works with the Buyer Protection system, which means your money is protected and the seller will never receive your payment details, and will only get the money once you confirm everything arrived and everything is fine.

AliExpress protects all payments using the latest encryption systems from Visa, Mastercard, and VerisignSSL. On its site, it uses the HTTPS protocol, through which the data you exchange between your computer and the server is encrypted and cannot be stolen by third parties. In short, AliExpress is a completely safe place to buy thanks to multiple encryption systems.

Which payment methods does AliExpress support?

• 1. Debit or credit card payment

  The most commonly used payment method. AliExpress supports Visa debit/credit cards, MasterCard credit cards, Maestro debit cards, and American Express. Any valid payment card is accepted; it's important only that you have enough money on your account, it doesn't have to be a "special" card for online shopping as many think.

• 2. PayPal

  AliExpress initially supported PayPal, but after a year that partnership was ended due to the high fees charged by PayPal. Around 2011, cooperation was terminated and AliExpress no longer offered this payment system, until recently. Recently, AliExpress has re-established the ability to pay via PayPal in some of its stores and in certain countries. This payment method has a big advantage: our bank account can be linked to a PayPal account so we can buy on AliExpress even if we don't have a credit card. However, not all sellers accept PayPal payments, and if you do find such a seller and pay with PayPal, you'll have to pay a small additional fee for choosing this payment method.

• 3. Western Union

  AliExpress does not support Western Union as a standard payment method. Although it's less known, you can pay via Western Union in some countries, but the process is much slower than with other payment methods: you must go to a post office or bank, fill out a form, and wait up to a few days for the payment to be verified. What's more, this is the most expensive way to transfer money to China.

• 4. Bank transfer

  This is one of the least recommended forms of payment, because only orders larger than 200 USD (not 20 USD) can be paid by bank transfer. In addition, you'll have to pay in dollars and make an international transfer. Most banks charge for international transfers, and the buyer must take on the costs. In short, it's better to choose another payment method.

There are some other less known ones that apply to individual countries and are not important to us.

Feedback system – ratings and reviews

The easiest way to avoid problems and disputes is to find a seller with a reputation. Then buying is much safer and less uncertain. If thousands of satisfied customers have bought from a seller, it's much less likely that you'll run into problems with them.

The best way to check a seller is to look at their business history. On any seller page, click the Feedback tab to get a full view of the seller's rating. Buy from suppliers who have 95% and higher positive feedback ratings (Feedback Score).

The two most important things when rating a seller and product on AliExpress are the seller's feedback rating (Feedback Score) and the product's own rating (Customer Reviews). The seller's feedback rating shows the volume of the seller's sales and their business rating (check whether the product is as described on the site, communication with the seller, and speed and quality of delivery). Customer Reviews represents the rate of feedback the supplier received for a particular sold product.

When choosing a seller, always aim for them to have 95% and higher for Feedback Score with at least 2,000 ratings.

All sellers on AliExpress have their own feedback result. It can be seen on seller pages, and the Feedback system on AliExpress has several different indicators.

1. Stars next to the product

Stars are an indicator of how satisfied buyers are with the completed transaction.

Rating:

• 5 stars = excellent
• 4 stars = good
• 3 stars = fair
• 2 stars = poor
• 1 star = very poor

Ratings of 5 and 4 stars are treated as positive feedback, 3 stars as neutral, and 2 and 1 star as negative feedback.

2. Number of ratings

The number of ratings is the number of stars the seller received during a certain period of time.

3. Feedback rating

Feedback rating is the percentage of each type of feedback received for a given time period. Every member has positive, neutral, and negative feedback.

4. Feedback score

Feedback score is the sum of all stars received after they're converted into points.

Conversion

• 5 stars or 4 stars = +1 Point
• 3 stars = 0 Points
• 2 stars or 1 star = -1 Point

5. Average rating

Average rating is the sum of points from all stars divided by the total number of votes in a given period of time.

Feedback symbols

Feedback symbols represent the number of successful transactions. Sellers and buyers have symbols, so you can rate how reliable a seller is and also how relevant a buyer's comment is.

In addition to seller feedback, a significant item in choosing a seller are customer comments from those who bought from them. Not all buyers' opinions are equally relevant, since they're also ranked by the number of successful transactions.

Resolving disputes on AliExpress

In most cases, the best solution is direct communication with the seller. Remember, if your argument is appropriate, justified, and correct, sellers will do everything to accommodate you and not get a bad rating from you. Ratings are their main driver of business. Whoever has better ratings has better sales.

If you're not satisfied with the product, first you must contact the seller and directly open the problem with them. Steps for resolving a dispute on AliExpress:

• 1. Contact the seller
  Go to your order history and select the item that's disputed. Talk to the seller about the problems and find possible solutions.
• 2. Apply for a refund
  If you can't reach a friendly agreement after contacting the seller, simply file a request to open a dispute within 15 days from the date the goods arrived or from the end of the confirmation deadline for package receipt (as stated in the order details).
• 3. Get your money back within 15 days
  If your complaint is appropriate, most sellers will refund you within 15 days.

However, if the problem is not resolved, you can contact AliExpress from the order details page to report a dispute.

Extra tips for safer buying

Be careful when buying well-known brands

Original or branded products on AliExpress are very rare. Always try to avoid them, because it's likely they're not authentic.

Check seller guarantees

Sellers can also offer buyers certain protective measures. The general rule is: the greater the guarantees provided by the seller, the more secure you'll be in your purchase. On the other hand, this helps AliExpress become a more reliable store.

Sellers offer guarantees by product. The fact that they offer many guarantees on one product doesn't mean they apply to all their products. Always do thorough research before deciding to buy a product.

There are four different guarantees that sellers offer:

• On-time Delivery – The seller promises to provide a full refund if your package doesn't arrive within the previously agreed time. (not all sellers, some offer)
• Return Policy – The seller promises to offer a full or partial refund if the product doesn't match the description.
• Domestic Returns – If the seller has a warehouse in your country, you can send the purchased goods back without worrying about shipping costs or customs fees. (AliExpress does not have a warehouse in Serbia; doesn't exist)
• Guaranteed Genuine – If you're buying more expensive items, you need to pay attention to this. It means the item has been verified as original by AliExpress itself. (only for branded sellers, not all)

Delivery before New Year

Keep in mind that you're not the only one who decided to buy gifts on AliExpress for Christmas and New Year holidays. Half the planet does that, so if you want your packages to arrive on time, order your goods in time at the beginning of month 10!!!

Items prohibited for shipping

Products listed as prohibited items for transport are taken from DHL, EMS, and AirMail. To avoid violating these regulations, please do not create orders that contain items prohibited for shipping.

• Antiques and artworks worth over £5,000
• Cash, money, or any form of collection and payment (credit cards, checks, etc)
• Original or imitation of firearms and their parts (including handles, moving mechanisms, screws produced for the purpose of making firearms), ammunition, explosives
• Hazardous goods including but not limited to perfumes, aftershave, flammable materials, and biological substances classed as UN hazardous materials
• Small electrical devices, including mobile phones with lithium batteries. Each package can contain no more than two batteries that must be within an electrical device
• Fur and ivory
• Human remains and ashes
• Illegal goods, pirated goods, counterfeit goods, narcotics, illegal drugs
• Jewelry, precious stones, and precious metals, costume jewelry worth over £5,000 per shipping list
• Laptop computers: no more than one laptop computer per package. Each package must not contain more than one lithium battery that must be inside the laptop! The shipment must not exceed a value greater than £5,000 per shipping list
• Animals, live and dead
• Unsecured lithium batteries
• Clinical and/or biological samples (including but not limited to body fluids and tissue samples)
• Perishable goods requiring controlled temperature (including but not limited to flowers and food)
• Pornography in any form (printed, film, or digital format)
• Cigarettes, tobacco leaves, tobacco in any form
• Coin and paper money of any kind
• Articles and texts prohibited for distribution or shipping by law or regulations
• Newspapers, magazines, books that are harmful to the interests of the People's Republic of China
• Articles harmful to general health
• Explosive, highly flammable, corrosive, radioactive, and toxic materials
• Alcohol (except alcoholic beverages)

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Frequently asked questions

Is AliExpress safe for buying?

AliExpress has a buyer protection system (Buyer Protection), but it only works if you pay through the platform and respect the time limits for opening a dispute. The key is to choose sellers with good ratings, a large number of orders, and realistic product descriptions.

How to open a dispute on AliExpress?

First contact the seller and try to resolve the problem directly. If you can't reach an agreement, file a request to open a dispute (dispute) within 15 days from the date the goods arrived. If the problem is not resolved, you can contact AliExpress via the order details page.

How long does a refund take on AliExpress?

If your complaint is appropriate, most sellers will refund you within 15 days. In some cases (depending on country and product), the refund can be 15–60 days.

Can I pay with PayPal on AliExpress?

The main payment methods are cards and Alipay, while PayPal is only available in certain countries and for certain sellers. If PayPal is important to you, check before buying whether it's listed as an option on the product page.

What is Feedback Score and how do I check it?

Feedback Score is the percentage of positive ratings a seller has. Buy from suppliers who have 95% and higher positive ratings with at least 2,000 ratings. Feedback Score can be seen on the seller page through the Feedback tab.

More articles on Alibaba and AliExpress

If you want to move from an overview of the Alibaba ecosystem to concrete steps, experiences, and safe buying, check out these articles:

Overview

• Alibaba Group
  Overview of the Alibaba ecosystem: Alibaba.com (B2B), AliExpress, 1688, Taobao, Tmall, and key differences.
• Alibaba – pros and cons
  Advantages, risks, and when Alibaba is the best solution for your business.

Buying and safety

• How to buy from Alibaba
  Step‑by‑step: registration, search, communication, samples, negotiation, ordering, and payment.
• Tips for safe buying on Alibaba
  How to protect yourself: Trade Assurance, supplier verification, red flags, and pre‑shipment inspection.
• Red flags when buying on Alibaba
  The most common pitfalls, companies disappearing from the platform, and how not to lose your goods and money.
• Creating a Request for Quotation (RFQ)
  How to write a good RFQ, filter quotes, and compare multiple suppliers at once.
• Alibaba experiences
  Our Alibaba experience as buyers and why we don't use it.
• Selling on Alibaba – an inside look
  If you want to see how Alibaba looks from the seller's side, read about our experience on Alibaba.

AliExpress

• AliExpress – basics
  How AliExpress works, when to use it instead of Alibaba, and how to test products in small quantities.
• AliExpress buyer protection
  Buyer Protection, opening a dispute, refunds, and tips for safe buying.

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