Nope, we've never used Ali-express or 1688.com. I'm talking about Taobao. We also often purchase from Tmall, but Tmall sellers are usually better organized or

Nope, we've never used Ali-express or 1688.com. I'm talking about Taobao. We also often purchase from Tmall, but Tmall sellers are usually better organized or less shady. Sales numbers and reviews aren't 100% trustworthy. If someone buys X but X is out of stock and the buyer asks the seller to send some Y of roughly equivalent value instead, Taobao won't show the next buyer any new sales of Y but will show the (nonexistent) sale of X. And if you leave unfavorable reviews, sellers will wheedle you endlessly on WangWang, begging you to get rid of the negative feedback and offering partial refunds or free stuff in a future order.