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Member since 11/8/18
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Posted on: 11/17/19 4:16 PM ET
Has anyone ordered fabric from AliExpress? If so how was your purchase?
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Posted on: 11/17/19 4:37 PM ET
I frequenlty order little things from Aliexpress. zippers, buttons, decorative trinklets or trims, electronic gadgets. The price is low, the quality varies from high to low at random, the delay is not worse for us in EU than from US (about 3 week to 6 week) . For most case the shipping is free. And chinese tea is the best in the worlds, they have millenium experience growing and preparing it. I have grown to be very fond of Milky TaiWan green tea. I tried a few bits of fabric, as samples (cotton) and they are were low quality. Of course I expect genuine natural silk to be better, as China produce it but frankly I dont know. My companion buy electronics components there. The warranty system works better than Amazon one. In fact, beware of chinese sellers on Amazon, they may be rejects from Aliexpress system.
  
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Posted on: 11/17/19 4:56 PM ET
As Aliexpress is a selling platform as Amazon it's difficult to rate the overall experience and quality of the products bought there as it varies from seller to seller.
I've bought some small items there like zippers, magnetic buttons, lace trim or FOE getting good quality items on all transactions. Some sellers offer free shipping worlwide, products are sent via snail mail by default so it usually takes in between 2-4 weeks for purchases to arrive to Europe. Also, some sellers offer a faster shipping trough DHL or similar.
This month I ordered a batch of fat quarters, just to check out. The fabric is dense and the prints are nice, the measurements of the precuts are a little bit off though.
Maybe I've bought 10 times in Aliexpress in the last 8 years and overall I'm happy with what I got. I stick to shops with positive ratings over 95% and I only buy items which have already been reviewed by at least 10 people and have high ratings. Usually reading the reviews and having a look at the reviewer photos you can get extra info on what you can expect to recieve in your mail box.
  
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Posted on: 11/17/19 5:20 PM ET
I regularly purchase from AliExpress and it depends on what you are buying. Smaller items and embellishments are awesome. Also, different presser feet are super cheap. High-quality watercolor brushes for dirt cheap.

When it comes to fabric my experience has not been that great. I've ordered fabric maybe 5-6 times. Most of the time the descriptions of the product are inaccurate. A lot of the sellers will list the fabric as silk but it is actually polyester. I've had this happen a few times and in some cases, I requested a refund and got it.

Most recently I ordered nylon English netting/tulle and it was perfect and really cheap like $1-$2 per yard. It had stretch and did not rip at all, unlike stiff tulle.

Be cautious. Don't order a lot initially until you know that the seller is trustworthy.
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Posted on: 11/17/19 8:23 PM ET
thank you all for your input.....was curious what you all thought about ordering from this platform
  
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Posted on: 11/18/19 5:08 AM ET
I have ordered silk several times, it was not cheap (20 - 40 USD/yard) but I found the quality to be very well. Especially of the silk jersey, but have also ordered silk crepe de chine and silk dupioni of good quality. The silk satin was quite thin, but this was indicated (low momme) so I could have known that. Ordered from habotai silk and JJ silks. I specifically looked for shops on Aliexpress that include a description how to test for real silk, because I assumed then their silk would actually be real, which was indeed the case (tested it at home by burning a small section)
-- Edited on 11/18/19 at 5:11 AM --
  
Member since 11/8/18
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Posted on: 11/18/19 6:16 PM ET
In reply to Sailledolfijn
thank you Sailledolfijn
  
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Posted on: 11/18/19 10:59 PM ET
No, and I have no desire to do so. I try to support American as much as possible. While with fabric and sewing notions this is very difficult, I prefer to support local stores — including the infamous JoAnn — so that they are still there in 5, 10, 15 years. I know their suppliers are overseas but there is a brick and mortar store in town and I value having it there.

There are other American and Canadian online fabric stores that I enjoy supporting because they are small businesses working hard to give us quality products. I know a lot is made overseas, but again, I’m supporting mom and pop online shops that take the guess work out of shopping. I pay more per yard but I get service, quality, and the satisfaction for supporting other small businesses where as they say, an actual person does a happy dance when they get fulfill each order.

Plus, I have no need for a large stash, potentially filled with cheap material I will never use. Every now and then I cave and order something from a discount store because of its amazing price only to be upset that whatever I make is going to look cheap and wear horribly.
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Posted on: 11/19/19 5:51 AM ET
I agree there is a valid reason to shop mostly local. I buy most of my fabric in the Netherlands or otherwise elsewhere in Europe. I also see no reason to buy cheap fabric on Ali, as I love quality in my fabric. However, for silk I make an exception as it is hard to come by in the Netherlands and the quality of the silks from the Ali shops I mentioned, is very good (and not cheap by the way).
-- Edited on 11/19/19 at 5:52 AM --
-- Edited on 11/19/19 at 5:52 AM --
  
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Posted on: 11/19/19 8:22 AM ET
My DH buys a lot from them. Like with anything, the cheaper the price, you are going to get what you pay for. So much of what is available in the stores comes from China in the first place, with big mark-ups. I've never been a fan of buying from China, but that's where marketing has gone. I was given fabric I doubt was bought from there with Chinese in the selvedge. I've read that rhinestones are actually made in China, so why not buy them from there?

I don't like buying fabric online from anywhere, so I've never tried from Ali. But I got a great deal buying a package of jeans buttons! My local stores are kind of awful for notions, so I figure if they aren't going to carry stuff or if they are going to give me three pieces of plastic stamped Made in China for $20 and I can get them for $5 from China, why not? I bought the exact same package of presser feet from Ali that Amazon was selling, for a lot less. I could tell because they both had the exact same weird Chinese translation, plus I've read that they are working out being in cahoots anyway. I keep hearing horrible stories about Amazon human rights. So where am I supposed to shop?

I used to believe in buying American, too. Then I moved to Europe, lol. My favorite fabric store buys everything from Italy, apparently still a large EU manufacturing source. So I could state in all my reviews that my fabric is imported from Italy, lol.
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