Help with Searching AliExpess?

Chazzozz on 07/04/2023 - 09:26

“Hi, my name is Chazzozz and I really suck at searching AliExpress.”

There, that’s the awkward, embarrassing part of the post out of the way. I almost hate to admit it but I’ve never bought anything from AliExpress simply because I can never find what I want using the search function. For example, today I went looking for some Lightning charge cables, preferably from AU sellers and (if possible) in multiple quantities. I could easily search for just ‘Lightning cable’ and get lots of hits from overseas but as soon as I tried filtering on AU stock or high-rated sellers all my hits changed to just about everything else EXCEPT Lightning cables (e.g. USB-C or adapters or HDMI….). Surely I must be doing something wrong, so I’m appealing to any OzBargainers who could impart some AliExpress search-fu wisdom I can learn from.

I know the deals are out there if I can only find them…

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Comments

  • CyberMurning on 07/04/2023 - 09:31
    +6

    its a nightmare/

    sometimes you search for an item, you found lots of result then try sorting by lowest price but then suddenly your search result is empty, gone.
    tick the free shipping, yeah some search result still have shipping.

    all the seller manipulating the sytem, they list for example item A for 1c but the real item B (that we are looking for) is sold at $10. but this list come up first because of that 1c item.

    and when there is a deal cashback, well good luck searching for the item you like for hours only to find out they are not eligible lol….

    same as ozb, it is exist not to help you save money but help you spend more.

  • 87percent on 07/04/2023 - 09:38
    +3

    For charging cable, I would stick with the big brands (like Anker), from larger stores. The price difference isn’t really that much, and I personally wouldn’t order crap cables as they’re riddled with problems

    • CyberMurning on 07/04/2023 - 10:52

      there are few other good ones.. cant remember all but
      cable guy
      van something start with v

  • outlander on 07/04/2023 - 10:05
    +4

    Aliexpress isn't really for australian stock, so there's your first hurdle.

    A trick is to sort by order, to see what everyone else is ordering. Usually those are the best/cheapest

  • altomic on 07/04/2023 - 10:36
    +3

    Aliexpress search function has deteriorated deliberately. Long gone are the days of sorting by actual cheapest . Or searching by quantity or by unit price.

    Searching on aliexpress sucks.

    However , whilst the actual visual search options have been removed you can still search by various methods by altering the URL. That info is on my desktop .

    The other method i use to search is to find the type of product i want and then search through the "items by other sellers" at the bottom of the page. Open each of the products and then repeat the search.

    Always check feedback of the product. Don't just look at the 5star feedback back but check the star feedback. Most 5 star feedback is left by people who say "item received". 1 star feedback will reveal if the item matches the description.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 07/04/2023 - 10:40

    Yeah nah the search engine is balls

  • blitz on 07/04/2023 - 10:46

    As I recall it was about five years ago that AE changed their search algorithm to the clusterfug that it is now. You used to be able to sort by orders to find some good deals, but nowadays even standard searching may not discover what you actually want.

    Also be aware that AE may insert several pages of fundamentally unrelated 'ad' listings before your actual search results.

  • onetrickpony on 07/04/2023 - 11:25
    +1

    Its frustrating, Redbubble is almost as bad too. You can have more luck using Google search. Try typing - lightning cable AliExpress, then click on the shopping tab. You don't get as many filters that you do on Ali, but since they don't work anyway. You can still search cheapest first, and use the filters on the Lhs to weed out the other sellers, and just make it Ali. Its a better option then tearing your hair out on AliExpress

  • Chazzozz on 08/04/2023 - 17:29

    I ended up just doing what I usually do - head over to eBay and buy there. I was able to score a multi-buy that came down to $2.84 per cable, which is within the range I was willing to pay (up to $3 each). All I need them for is when staff members come to my office an ask if I happen to have any spare charge cables - instead of letting them borrow mine with a solemn promise to give it back, I'll offer them one of these they can keep if they drop a couple of bucks into to the Social Club tin.

  • joelmuzz on 09/04/2023 - 15:31

    It's really not for local stock, that's eBay and Amazon job. AliExpress is for direct from China, at the cost of up to 6 weeks shipping time.
    Cheap, but not for anything you need in a hurry.

    • Chazzozz on 09/04/2023 - 15:41

      Yeah, I get that, and for the price I’d be quite prepared to wait in cases where only Chinese sellers had what I wanted…if only I could find something. That’s the frustrating part.

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