Has anyone here had any experiences with Aliexpress? I found a switch that is not available anywhere but on Aliexpress from one seller. It's a switch for a Enco lathe made in China, Enco merged with MSC, and they no longer support the model of lathe I have. I've done my research on this and only one place sells a compatable switch.

How do you pay when buying from Ali? How do you keep from using your credit card so it won't get hacked or identity theft happening?

 

All I can say is that I have ordered a couple of times from Aliexpress and had no problems.
I paid with Visa debit but if you are concerned you could set up a QIWI Wallet as a buffer between your bank account and the seller.

 

I do...Always.
I use Visa debit.
Never had an issue with the refunds either

by the way..my rank is A4

 

Has anyone here had any experiences with Aliexpress?

Hit or miss. Some things are as stated and some aren't. It seems that most Sellers just sell things and know little about what they're selling. The dispute process seems to favor Sellers. I am 1 for 3 for disputes.

How do you pay when buying from Ali? How do you keep from using your credit card so it won't get hacked or identity theft happening?

I used a credit card. Having information stolen is a sad fact of life. I've been affected by data breaches at Target, Home Depot, Bank of America, and Yahoo. Reputable companies will offer free identity theft monitoring for thefts involving financial information (Target and Home Depot); and some don't. Bank of America won't even tell you what was compromised or when; they just say your data was compromised and issue a new card...

 

When my Bank of America debit card was compromised (for exactly one dollar but somewhere a ocean away from me) I had to insist on being issued a new card.

Neither the phone contact nor the in persons representative suggested this when I noted this charge, even though I noticed it only because the bank alerted me to a foreign transaction.

Instead I was offered reasons like "when you purchase gas for your car it will many times first post as a one dollar transaction."

Did they honestly think I drove across the Atlantic ocean and all the way thru Europe just to buy a tank of gas?

I have recently applied for the Americal Express Serve card. Load with cash and all I can be hit for is that cash. I intend to use it as a firewall between my bank accounts and the crewl world. Being a NY resident I don't even have to pay a monthly fee.

Nice.

 

Instead I was offered reasons like "when you purchase gas for your car it will many times first post as a one dollar transaction."

I once had a $20 prepaid bank card and I placed a $19 and change order with Jameco.com. Jameco posted a $1 charge to "verify" the card, and then informed me that the charge for my order was denied. Duh, they took $1 from the card that wouldn't be credited back for days/weeks. I explained the situation to the person and they took $1 off shipping so the charge would go through.

I don't use debit cards. My impression is that they don't offer the same protections as a credit card. With a debit card, it's your money, so the bank can't lose anything and someone can drain your account before you know it.

 

Did they honestly think I drove across the Atlantic ocean and all the way thru Europe just to buy a tank of gas?

For me it was an offshore auction house. Not an online website thing an actual auction house. Why would I go somewhere and spend money at an aution with no other travel expenses on the card?

To get back on topic. I think Ali can charge your paypal account.

 

There is no money in my account to drain.
I transfer money when I want to buy something

 

For me it was an offshore auction house. Not an online website thing an actual auction house. Why would I go somewhere and spend money at an aution with no other travel expenses on the card?

To get back on topic. I think Ali can charge your paypal account.

actually its upto the seller to offer this, in china charge to withdraw from paypal to bank is usd 35 for some

 

To get back on topic. I think Ali can charge your paypal account.

That's what I thought too, but they don't list it on the Ali list of payments.

 

All I can say is that I have ordered a couple of times from Aliexpress and had no problems.
I paid with Visa debit but if you are concerned you could set up a QIWI Wallet as a buffer between your bank account and the seller.

Online they say the QIWI isn't too reliable, being a Russian company. The Visa debit is the way I'm leaning in this.

 

I've purchase from Chinese vendors a couple of times when I can't find the product in the US. White LEDs for TV backlights are one such item. I have one credit card with they lowest credit limit available (it used to be $500, but now BofA's minimum is $1000). They used to keep increasing the credit limit, but I would call them and tell them to drop it back. I use a credit card because it offers more protection than a debit card (I won't even have a debit card).

All-in-all, I am more than happy with my dealings with AliExpress vendors.

 

A vendor cannot charge to your PayPal account without you authorizing the payment. Even if your Paypal account is hacked PP has a zero dollar liability if you report the transaction.

I actually had my debit card charged to fund someone's PP account. My bank was not very helpful insisting I try to resolve this before they old cancel or reverse the charge. One call the PP got the charge reversed, the suspect account locked, and a huge amount of apologies for my inconvienence.

While I trust the PP system there are times I want something ever stronger, such as when I visit Mexico in an area where 100% of every credit or debit machine is hacked and will leak your info. Here I carry nothing but cash both in USD and Mx peso, though still want a backup card I can drain totally one time without further liability.

 

The Visa debit is the way I'm leaning in this.

Probably good practice for any online purchase. Just load it with what you need then buy. But I have never done it. So darn inconvenient.

 

The Visa debit is the way I'm leaning in this.

Probably good practice for any online purchase. Just load it with what you need then buy. But I have never done it. So darn inconvenient.

With a debit card, the vendor has access to your entire account. They can essentually take all of your money with a fraudulent transaction. You have to hope that the bank can recover the fraudulent funds.

With a credit card, the vendor can only ask the bank for the money. If you dispute the transaction, no money will leave your account until it is settled.

 

With a debit card, the vendor has access to your entire account. They can essentually take all of your money with a fraudulent transaction. You have to hope that the bank can recover the fraudulent funds.

With a credit card, the vendor can only ask the bank for the money. If you dispute the transaction, no money will leave your account until it is settled.

There are debit cards where you can load the card with what you want. If the item cost $100 then you load it with $100. The worst that happens is you lose $100. You then just toss the card. A lot better that trying to settle the matter with the card company of thousands of dollars. And there are cards with the same protection as a credit card. Essentially it is a pay ahead credit card.

 

Here in UK, the protections are very similar for both credit and debit cards.
http://www.money.co.uk/current-accounts/is-debit-card-protection-the-same-as-for-credit-cards.htm

 

You talk about debit card account been drained.
Will it happen if the account link to the card is empty.
I transfer from my saving to Visa account when I buy things.

 

You talk about debit card account been drained.
Will it happen if the account link to the card is empty.
I transfer from my saving to Visa account when I buy things.

Then they can only take what you transfer. And a lot of cards are limited to $50 (in the US anyway). Even though you are protected by the credit card company, the good thing about using your method is that you limit what the thief can take.

 

Will it happen if the account link to the card is empty.
I transfer from my saving to Visa account when I buy things.

It may depend on the country and bank.

From what I understand, in the US, charges that exceed your balance will be denied. It's possible to set up overdraft capability from another account by linking a savings or checking account to the debit card. In this case, the bank will transfer money from the linked account and charge you a fee to make the transfer.

When my daughter opened her first checking account, the bank gave her an ATM card that was also a debit card linked to her checking account. I didn't like that, but the bank said all of their ATM cards are now also debit cards. That means whatever is in the checking account can be drained by thieves.

My ATM card has access to my checking account and I think I set up checking overdraft protection from my savings account; it was decades ago and I don't recall. I don't like that. Maybe I'll change banks over that policy; providing other banks haven't done something similar.