Ian
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- Joined
- Feb 23, 2002
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I just wanted to post a little about AliExpress, as I've signed up earlier in the year and I've placed around 40 orders now (the vast majority under a quid, delivered!). It's a huge collection of Chinese businesses that operate online stores, similar to Amazon marketplace (a lot of the time they are on both).
I often work on little electronics projects or DIY stuff, so I'm often in need of random pieces of hardware that I can source reasonably easily from the UK, but they're quite expensive. I started planning ahead a little more and ordering the hardware direct from China, and the cost is often around a quarter of the price, including tracked delivery. It can take a few weeks for a part to arrive, but I don't really mind as it means I can build things that would otherwise be too expensive to make it worthwhile.
As an example, I bought a box of 10 bearings for around a pound including delivery, which would otherwise have been around £8 in the UK (they're almost certainly the exact same ones from China anyway). If you need to buy stuff for electronics projects, it's really worth a look . I'd be a little wary about buying tools, as I don't expect the quality would match up from the looks of things (although I did buy some ferrule crimpers from there and they were ok).
I often work on little electronics projects or DIY stuff, so I'm often in need of random pieces of hardware that I can source reasonably easily from the UK, but they're quite expensive. I started planning ahead a little more and ordering the hardware direct from China, and the cost is often around a quarter of the price, including tracked delivery. It can take a few weeks for a part to arrive, but I don't really mind as it means I can build things that would otherwise be too expensive to make it worthwhile.
As an example, I bought a box of 10 bearings for around a pound including delivery, which would otherwise have been around £8 in the UK (they're almost certainly the exact same ones from China anyway). If you need to buy stuff for electronics projects, it's really worth a look . I'd be a little wary about buying tools, as I don't expect the quality would match up from the looks of things (although I did buy some ferrule crimpers from there and they were ok).