My daughter has ordered some inexpensive crap from them and everything came as advertised. Delivery can take a while, like a month.

I've rented augers before and with two people you can do holes very quickly

I've bought shit from them. From knock-off crap, to quality stuff. Shipping is #1 issue. Can take a VERY long time for stuff to arrive. Report back and let me know how it went.

Rent a big mofo auger.

Remember that the force of the auger needs to be countered somewhere and if you're the one holding the other end... It's you.

Rent a big one mounted to something heavy.

I've rented them before... I want a three point hitch version I can attach to my tractor, but theyre tough to find used. I'm going to break down and call a couple or equipment dealers Monday but Im sure I won't want to spend that kinda money.

If you bought it new, could you re-sell once done to recoup some costs (or just treat is as free beer money when you eventually sell it!)

---

Long Chile was a silly place.

I think a bobcat & auger would be the way to go.

But I already own this sexy Japanese beast...



Yes, I'm fat. Not as fat as Duffy though.

Well okay a case of beer and a friend with a bobcat.

Im trying to look at floor leveling systems from Alibaba, most of the time I have trouble seeing the quotes on my computer.

I have looked at one and it seems reasonable, shipping is 1.5x the price of the item, so there is that. I do have a friend over that way who has been there a few yrs, seeing what he can come up with for me.

Well, I just got Alibaba to work for me.....so I will let you know

The shipping and service/payment fees for me was 197, the stuff I bought was 110, so we will see

Well I bought, they were supposed to ship on the 25 or 26th and I was told 5-7 days.

Been in touch with them, and they didnt even send the info to FedEx until 9-30, then they were on Holiday 10/1-10/7 so no employees, but supposedly sent the package out the 6th, and I check the FedEx page, they received the shipment today and expect delivery on the 17th.

Needless to say, Im not to happy about it

As was mentioned: Shipping is guaranteed to suck. Rarely have I had anything show up faster than a month. And the Chinese seem to ALWAYS be on some sort of holiday.

I have gotten stuff quicker before

So have I. Sometimes items come quick, some slower than cold molasses. The "slow boat from China" seems more popular though.

I've ordered once and it was a very good experience. Good price and fast shipping (used ePacket). Item (bicycle helmet) arrived well-packed, as advertised,
and in excellent condition.

Friend of mine buys legally gray stuff* from them all the time. Always cheap, shipping takes weeks, but it usually arrives okay. I think he had an issue once. It was cheap so he gave up trying to fix it.

*Cell phone jammers, 2W laser "pointers" (a laser cannon is more like it), knockoff tactical flashlights for literally 1/10th the price, and things like that.

I know individual vendors will vary but is the system robust enough to prevent pure fraud?
.[/quote]
Short answer; no not really.

I have bought over 160 times from them, over several years, with usually very good experiences.
I have mostly kept it to cheap stuff; clothes, cheap electronics, kids toys, camping gear.

Shipping, as others have said, is all over the place: 6 days to 6 months (Usually 12-20 days).
OTOH,I usually take a "free shipping" option, and I suspect subsidised shipping is one way that the Chinese government supports its industry. I have bought lots of products shipped from China for a total cost less than postage would be from the other side of town (say, an iPhone case or power cord for $2 - 3 including delivery).

The more expensive the item, however, the more chance of it not showing up, and I have had a couple of bad experiences there. The AliExpress "buyers guarantee" is ultimately useless.

What happens is your (say) $100 external hard drive fails to show up. You lodge a dispute.
You then receive a Chiniglsh request that you provide your documentation proving that you did not receive your goods.
You reply: "To what documentation do you refer? No documentation is produced for a good that is not delivered."
They reply: "No documentation. So sorry, we have released your payment to the seller"
You contact Visa, who uphold your dispute, refund you, and go to battle with AliExpress (for the 10 millionth time, I'd guess).
Aliexpress send you a rude note expressing their disappointment, but nothing else happens.

If you can put up with that kind of pain in the A, 98% of the time you get some decent Chinese junk, cheap.

I'd like to see how you go with a $350 bit of kit. I'm tempted to buy a new pool heater that is about 20% of the domestic price on AliExpress/ Alibaba, but I don't know if I'm confident enough.

just placed my first order from them - a cheap shirt. it took 2-3 weeks, i think, but showed up no worries and as described. (was shipping to switzerland, by the way.)

so that's a sample size of 1, but i'll order cheap stuff from them again (probably the same shirt in a different colour.)

-mike

---

____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

I got my tile leveling system today finally, all appears good