Originally Posted by Duragrouch

Those shipping costs on Aliexpress are ridiculous. During the pandemic when shipping costs skyrocketed, I could understand (I also saw a Brompton copy, I think made by Litepro or seen on their site), but I said I would just wait until shipping went back down in cost, which it should be. This is like fuel costs skyrocketing due to a perceived shortage in supply or refining and inelastic demand, but when that shortage problem is solved, fuel prices never come back down, not completely to where they were pre-shortage.

I wouldn't buy a copy unless, total cost, it was no more than 1/2 genuine cost, and even then, preferrably after on the market a while and has good reviews, no frame failures, good components. A particular challenge is whether any internal gear hub has the same "wide ratio" as the Brompton. I'd also check on patent status if it's a pure copy with no improvements.