AliExpress experience

AliExpress was founded back in 2010 and is now often referred to as the Asian equivalent of Amazon. However, this is only partly true. According to our AliExpress experience, the huge marketplace mainly offers brokerage deals between buyers and sellers. The platform is therefore more comparable with the Internet giant eBay. In the following, we will show you what the marketplace has to offer and which products for 3D printing can be found here.

The most important in a nutshell

• AliExpress belongs to the world-renowned Alibaba Group and was founded in 2010
• The marketplace is now available in more than twelve different languages and numerous nations around the world.
• Over 100 million items are available for order through AliExpress
• Supplementary money-back guarantee to the statutory right of withdrawal
• For payment processing AliExpress offers, among others, PayPal, credit cards, Giropay or Klarna.
• Gigantic variety in the field of 3D printing with printers, accessories and printing materials

AliExpress: Product selection

AliExpress offers you more than 100 million products through the various merchants. Thus, it should be clear that almost any type of product can be purchased here. A large proportion of the products are, of course, distributed in the area of technology and entertainment. From simple USB sticks to state-of-the-art gaming laptops, TVs or digital cameras, everything is included. According to our AliExpress experience, the marketplace also promises a great variety in the area of women's and men's fashion or the category for jewelry and watches.

But you will also find what you are looking for if you want to buy new furniture for your home or garden, for example. You can also find bags and shoes of all kinds, toys, items for babies and children, lamps or smartphones. Also included are tools and products for DIY, products from the automotive and motorcycle sectors or articles for outdoor fun and sports. If you want to save money on your purchases, you should take a look at the so-called super offers, according to our AliExpress experience. Here you can often find enormously favorable deals, which, however, can only be used for a short period of time.

3D Printing and AliExpress

A closer look reveals that AliExpress is not only well positioned in terms of breadth, but also in terms of depth. The marketplace also offers an enormously large selection in the area of 3D printing. Dealers from all over the world offer their printers, printing accessories or printing materials. According to our AliExpress test, there are renowned brands such as Creality or Elegoo, but also lesser-known and smaller manufacturers. For sorting the individual articles you can use different filters. For example, you can display only products with free shipping or only products with a certain rating. Despite the huge variety, you will find your way around in no time.

3D Printer

You will find a suitable 3D printer for your needs on AliExpress in no time. You can choose from hundreds of different products and discover articles for every budget. For the somewhat frugal buyer, for example, printers like the Artillery Hornet Ultra or the Geetech A10M are on offer. You can get even cheaper mini 3D printers like the K7 X1, which are often offered for less than 100 euros. If the price is not an issue, you can also go for the Creality CR-6 Max or the Voron 2.4 kit.

3D Printing Accessories and Printer Parts

If you don't need a complete printer or kit, you can also find printing accessories and printer parts at AliExpress. The selection is enormous and in principle allows you to easily purchase individual spare parts of all kinds. For example, you can purchase upgrade kits for your printer's axles or invest in a new fan. Also included are pressure rails, various hoses for the printers, nozzles, Co2 honeycombs or threaded rods.

3D printing materials

In a separate category, AliExpress also offers additional materials for your 3D printing, apart from accessories and printer parts. The largest selection in this area is primarily the filaments, which can be purchased in numerous designs and especially colors. In addition, you can also resort to resins or filament dryers.

3D Pens

For the offspring or even their own first steps in the field of 3D printing, AliExpress offers many different 3D pens. As a rule, the packages come with different colors, so that children, for example, can playfully learn how to use 3D printers. In terms of price, the pens are of course noticeably lower than the classic printers. You will also find what you are looking for in this category if you just want to buy new paint for the pens or similar accessories.

3D Scanner

In addition to 3D printers, AliExpress also offers a whole range of 3D scanners. Here, too, the selection ranges over countless products for every budget. Comparatively inexpensive 3D scanners are, for example, the KS 3D Scanner or the HE3D 3D Scanner Kit. The modern devices from Creality 3D or Creasee are noticeably higher quality.

Payment methods at AliExpress

As a global marketplace, AliExpress naturally offers a wide range of payment methods. At the same time, these underline the serious impression of the provider. After all, with Klarna or PayPal, for example, there are two options that are also enormously popular in this country. Alternatively, you can also use your credit card, bank transfer or Giropay for your purchase. The payment methods do not lead to problems or the like.

However, the fact that an additional fee is charged for transactions via PayPal is a bit of a shame. If your merchandise value is less than $20, a 0.8 percent fee applies. If the value of the goods is at least 20 US dollars, a fee of four percent will be charged.

AliExpress: Shipping, customs and delivery times

AliExpress is not a classic online store, but a marketplace. This means that AliExpress does not operate its own warehouses in the EU or other regions. Instead, this is where salespeople connect directly with customers. The handling of the sale, and thus also the shipping, is in each case in the hands of the seller. The good news is that the sellers come from all over the world and, to a large extent, from Germany. In the portfolio, it is easy to call up the respective shipping region. This allows you to search specifically for items shipped by vendors from Germany or other European countries.

You don't have to worry about customs in this case. It is different if the goods are sent to you by an Asian merchant, for example. Around the delivery times can be mentioned that these are of course dependent on the respective shipping location. However, it is good to know that the merchants cannot take too much time when processing your order. If the order has not been processed within a certain period of time, AliExpress will cancel the order and refund your money.

Advantages and disadvantages of AliExpress

Advantages

• Over 100 million products available from merchants around the world
• Wide range in the field of 3D printing
• Secure payment methods like Klarna, PayPal or Giropay available
• Customer support available around the clock via live chat
• Money-back guarantee in addition to the right of withdrawal
• Origin of the articles can be conveniently specified in the search filter

Disadvantages

• Lower web page section only laboriously accessible due to the many products
• Fees for payments with PayPal
• FAQ section not available in German language

Conclusion

AliExpress is a real marketplace giant on the World Wide Web. More than 100 million products from merchants around the world are available here. For 3D printing fans, too, the place is teeming with attractive products. Whether whole printers, accessories, pens or materials such as filaments. At AliExpress you can find all the necessary products for successful 3D printing. We advise to pay close attention to the origin of the products. On the one hand, this saves possible trouble at customs clearance. On the other hand, shipping is much faster for orders from German retailers, for example.