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Alibaba.com is for retailers. taobao is only targeting China. aliexpress.com is an international and consumer facing. Expect considerably cheaper prices, and

Alibaba.com is for retailers. taobao is only targeting China. aliexpress.com is an international and consumer facing. Expect considerably cheaper prices, and delivery times from 2-6 weeks.

rconti 10y ago
Or, as I call it, AliEventually.
- umanwizard 10y ago
  Well yeah, the stuff is probably being sent over on a container ship. Have you ever tried shipping something by airmail from a faraway country to the US? It would cost way more than the value of the actual product.
  - kogepathic 10y ago
    > It would cost way more than the value of the actual product. Shipping from China is already subsidized by postal rates from the rest of the developed world[0]. Shipping in a container on a boat isn't free, and probably costs more than you pay now when buying something from China: "As part of this reform process, China will be transitioned in 2016 into a category for more developed nations, who generally pay higher terminal dues." [0] http://fortune.com/2015/03/11/united-nations-subsidy-chinese-shipping http://fortune.com/2015/03/11/united-nations-subsidy-chinese...
    - vacri 10y ago
      Shipping in a container isn't free, but it's very very cheap. Earlier in the year, someone here on HN mentioned that if you have stuff to store, it's cheaper to put it in a shipping container and have it sail the seas, than it is to put in a local storage warehouse. That is, space on ships is cheaper than space in buildings. Or another anecdote: we grow oranges here in my home state of Victoria, Australia. However, oranges grown in Brazil, flash-frozen, and shipped across the pacific are moderately cheaper than the local ones. Of course, they taste like cardboard, but they have sailed almost halfway around the earth.
  - notatoad 10y ago
    My last AliExpress purchase (a pack of socks) took a week and a half to get to me in Canada. That's the same time an Amazon package takes if i don't pay for express shipping. Is a container ship really that fast?

Alibaba.com is for retailers. taobao is only targeting China. aliexpress.com is an international and consumer facing. Expect considerably cheaper prices, and delivery times from 2-6 weeks.

rconti 10y ago

Or, as I call it, AliEventually.

umanwizard 10y ago
Well yeah, the stuff is probably being sent over on a container ship. Have you ever tried shipping something by airmail from a faraway country to the US? It would cost way more than the value of the actual product.
- kogepathic 10y ago
  > It would cost way more than the value of the actual product. Shipping from China is already subsidized by postal rates from the rest of the developed world[0]. Shipping in a container on a boat isn't free, and probably costs more than you pay now when buying something from China: "As part of this reform process, China will be transitioned in 2016 into a category for more developed nations, who generally pay higher terminal dues." [0] http://fortune.com/2015/03/11/united-nations-subsidy-chinese-shipping http://fortune.com/2015/03/11/united-nations-subsidy-chinese...
  - vacri 10y ago
    Shipping in a container isn't free, but it's very very cheap. Earlier in the year, someone here on HN mentioned that if you have stuff to store, it's cheaper to put it in a shipping container and have it sail the seas, than it is to put in a local storage warehouse. That is, space on ships is cheaper than space in buildings. Or another anecdote: we grow oranges here in my home state of Victoria, Australia. However, oranges grown in Brazil, flash-frozen, and shipped across the pacific are moderately cheaper than the local ones. Of course, they taste like cardboard, but they have sailed almost halfway around the earth.
- notatoad 10y ago
  My last AliExpress purchase (a pack of socks) took a week and a half to get to me in Canada. That's the same time an Amazon package takes if i don't pay for express shipping. Is a container ship really that fast?