AliExpress

Cross-border marketplace, English UI, ships worldwide. The site we used to buy the COLMI ring.

Search & sort

  • Search URL pattern: https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-<query>.html
  • Sort by orders: append ?SortType=total_tranpro_desc (or click “Orders” on the results page). Also Price ↑/↓ and “Best Match” (ad-polluted — avoid for ranking).
  • Direct item URL: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/<itemId>.html. The item IDs and current prices are in the search page’s link hrefs and pdp_ext_f params — read the page structure once to harvest them, then navigate to each item directly (grid clicks are frequently intercepted).

Seller / trust tiers

  • Choice (“AliExpress commitment / Shipped by AliExpress”): platform-fulfilled. Faster, consolidated shipping and the smoothest returns/refunds. Prefer for electronics or anything that could be DOA.
  • Certified Original / Brand+: authenticity guarantee; often the brand’s official store. Best signal you’re getting the genuine item (not a rebadge) — but frequently priced at a premium over equally-genuine high-volume third parties.
  • Plain third-party stores: fine when volume + rating are high. Check the store rating and years active if it’s a no-name with few followers.

Price gotchas

  • The big number is usually the sale price; there’s a struck-through list price. Real cost may drop further with “SG$X off on SG$Y” thresholds and +% off with coins applied at checkout — note these but don’t rely on hitting the threshold.
  • Price and “Only N left” change when you select the variant (size/color). Re-read after picking the variant.

Shipping

  • ETA and cost are on the right rail (“Delivery: ”, often “Free shipping”). Choice items usually show tighter, sooner windows.
  • Confirm the destination country (top-right region selector) matches the user before trusting the ETA.

Gotchas seen in practice

  • The same brand can run multiple listings at very different prices (e.g. an “official store” listing at ~70% more than the brand’s own higher-volume listing). Always compare within-brand, not just the first official-looking one.
  • A variant (e.g. size 8) can be greyed out / out of stock in one color but available in another — switch color to check before concluding it’s unavailable.
  • Decline the notifications / app-download popups (privacy-preserving) before interacting.