Originally Posted by
tk1971
After reading about Overbyte's description on how seller's on Aliexpress operate (sending bogus tracking numbers while they order the goods, then update the tracking number later after actually shipping it), I sent a message to the seller requesting updated tracking info.
The response was that the factory is busy producing this bike, which is apparently under high demand. The seller notes that if I can give them an additional 5 days, all will be good. The seller finished the message by reminding me that I bought the bike at the lowest price ever, and that no one else has bought at this low a price.
AliExpress has features which provide some protection for buyers against sellers who may cheat the buyer, but sometimes the rules get in the way of the honest seller who just needs a little more flexibility. You still have your protection by AliExpress against being cheated since the seller doesn't get the money you gave AliExpress until you confirm you received the product okay, or until you let the deadline to cancel expire, and then the money goes to the seller.
On another point, I noticed that there's a seller based in Hong Kong which seems to be a big company offering this same bike in quantity 1. Their listing says that they can supply up to 5000 bikes/month. That's clearly a bogus number, considering that the other seller we're talking about is having delays just getting a single bike. The factory isn't named as a bicycle factory. (I mean the actual factory, not the HK trader.) I'd really like to see some photos inside the factory. I'll bet it just a small place with a few people cutting, welding, and assembling the bikes, not one of those enormous assembly lines of mass production. When I searched Taobao using the Chinese name of Free Ride, I found quite a few other sellers who are selling in the China market, for about the equivalent of US$150. So the small factory is probably quite busy building bikes for the domestic demand, even though there is a huge variety of cheap folding bikes in China.
Another interesting point. I asked the seller if China's government has an agency that informs the public about product defects and orders recalls of defective products, like our US Consumer Product Safety Commission (and other western countries' equivalents). She said China is not that advanced yet. So,
caveat emptor. Here in the US, every year there are recalls of bike products, not many, due to defects that could cause serious injury. You won't get that if you buy directly from China. If you buy from a US importer who buys from China, then the importer is responsible and liable for product defects and recalls of them.