Many years ago there was a thread about Conti-branded tires the OP had bought online. The consensus, based on the labeling and other factors, was that they were fakes.

As has been stated above, I think it comes down to how much you are willing to risk to save some coin.

Bought one set each of 10 & 11 spd MicroNEW shifter groups from them. Received in 8 days. Seem to be legit product (stuff works good...)
Just ordered a pr of Conti Ultra IIIs for my weekday ride - need a less costly, yet decent ride option...
They will come 'In Branded Packaging', will they be legit branded goods or counterfeit ??? Will prolly be hard to tell...
also, cycling caps, some neck tubes, and RideNow TPU tubes...
Ride On
Yuri

I rarely buy from LBS because the few that are a reasonable distance from me have owners who not not very customer service oriented unless they are part of a racing team who spends mucho danero. They usually don't have the part/supplies I'm looking for and when ordering can take weeks to arrive.
Counterfeit products exist everywhere and there is always a risk. I have never purchased form Aliexpress, though have been tempted a few times. If the price is right, I will order through Amazon. Why? Because their customer satisfaction policies are great. I've heard/read stories about Ali which make me believe, once purchased, you're on your own regardless of the problem.
On a related note. Online bike stores have mostly been positive experiences with a few hitches. Recently, I was shopping for a seat post. I sent an email to the online store describing the diameter, length, setback, material, etc. Asking what is available. They replied, they cannot recommend one brand over another! Is this how they do it in-store?

The thing is, with buying from Aliexpress, is working out which stuff has been bought at bulk prices as OEM equipment for completes or whatever, and what's just knock-offs. Look at Darkrock's store. They make steel frames, they're pretty good, and they sell completes as well. They sell Shimano stuff, like GRX, that's legit. It's a grey market sale, in that they bought the components for a complete bike, yet they're selling them to you aftermarket. They don't come in nice blue aftermarket boxes, even if they're original Shimano, because they never had them, they were sold in bulk intended as components for complete Darkrocks. That's one type of bike component sale on Aliexpress.

Then, you see a Deore bottom bracket. Have another look at Ali, and every Deore bottom bracket on Aliexpress seems to be that same model, there's no real natural variability between them, like you should be seeing. They look like NOS from the 2010s and you buy one, to test it out. It's grinding away within a few hundred kms, a complete dud and a cheap knock-off. The sellers know the real Shimano stuff comes from Ali in bubble wrap as well, so they just send you a counterfeit bottom bracket packaged like a real one from that site. Same goes with chains, and it's a huge thing. There are the unbranded imitations, in packaging that looks just like Shimano, but there's no name on it. Those are crappy, but they're paradoxically better than the imitation Shimano chains, that come in very convincing packaging. There are subtle differences, but it's wildly easy to be scammed, even if you're an experienced Ali customer. The giveaway is often in the widespread nature of the product on the site, in that the site's flooded with the fakes and there are a few originals, but the originals cost almost as much as they would in a bike shop near you. There, I look at the seller's name and reputation, as there are lists of good sellers floating around, and they're not all crooks. Far from it.

For things like bottom brackets and chains, there are emerging brands, like ZTTO. I would much prefer to buy their chains over fake Shimano chains, and they actually cost more than the fakes. The oddly named "Risk" do pretty decent tools, I use them constantly, and I have been impressed by things like Sunshine cassettes. I had one that had clearly improved on the spacers that the brand they were copying--Sunrace--had been using in the past. The knockoff was nicer than the products it was knocking off, or nicer than they had been in the recent past. Weird branded Chinese things can actually be really good, better than the knock off and fake stuff that you often see.

Only had a very quick look, but what look like genuine GP5000S TR are no cheaper than you can find in European online bike shops. Yes I’m sure they cost less in China, but not necessarily once they are re-sold back to Europe/US etc.

To me it makes more sense to buy Chinese products from Aliexpress. It seems to work well for Chinese branded wheels, frames, groupsets etc looking to build a genuine reputation.

China builds a clear majority of the bikes sold around the world. 86% of the bikes sold in America are built in China. So it is not at all surprising that they would be swimming in spare parts.

The vast majority of this will be low end gear. I doubt they would be swimming in premium German manufactured tire imports like I was talking about in the post you just quoted.

Many of the resellers on Aliexpress sell bulk-purchased items intended for OEM manufacturers, etc. Many items I have purchased are not in retail packaging.

I buy stuff from Aliexpress and one thing that I have noticed recently is that some stuff gets here very fast - and is shipped from a US address - either Indianapolis or New Jersey. Something tells me they have set up a warehouse in the USA to distribute stuff.

Both of my bikes are almost entirely built from parts I bought on Taobao, which is the Chinese domestic version of AliExpress. I've bought Shimano stuff (full 105 Di2 groupset, GRX rear derailleur, for example) that's definitely genuine, as well as tires (Schwalbe, Continental, Vittoria, and Michelin) that are also either genuine or good enough fakes that it makes no difference, plus a stack of different brands of Chinese stuff. Most of it has been thoroughly excellent, with no issues whatsoever in thousands of kilometres of riding.

They will resell back to Europe/US from China, only if the cost continues to remain lower, after paying sales tax, import/export duties, etc., if any, and there is a profit margin. If any transaction results in a loss, they will not resell to Europe/US. No one does business at a loss, not if they are losing a penny on a sale.

Funny, I bought a pile of eastern European made Gillette Track II blades online early COVID; enough for the rest of my life. Paid real money but not by the standards of today's blades. Was scared I was being ripped off and that the quality would be junk but now, several years later, I can say they are very, very close to the old made-in-Boston blades. And I get to keep using the German made razor my brother gave each of us at his wedding. Aluminum handle with really nice heft and feel. So, not the cheapest but I have a happy face for years to come. So, Gillette by name and licensing and made far from the US but not Asia.

In the example I cited, the price of those premium German manufactured tires was roughly the same but it varies from day to day depending on offers and sales. If I saw the same premium tires for a lot less then I would suspect they were probably fake.

I would not say 'Lower End', maybe not the top tier for a few manufacturers.... China has progressed in a similar fashion to Japan Post WW II. One can expect everything in the way of range and quality from China.
as relates to tires - Continental - a quick google produced this AI statement (Hilight by google...) :

"Continental produces bicycle tires in Korbach, Germany, and Hefei, China.
Explanation

• 
  Korbach, Germany
  • The Korbach factory produces premium road tires, including the Grand Prix and Gatorskin lines.
  • The factory also produces the Urban Taraxagum bicycle tire, which is made with dandelion rubber.
  • The Korbach factory is equipped with a cooling chimney and a production line that includes rubber production, tread shaping, casing assembly, and vulcanization.
• 
  Hefei, China
  • The Hefei factory produces lower-end Grand Sport and Super Sport tires.

Continental also has other production facilities outside of Germany. They have smaller factories in other countries, including Brazil, India, Romania, Hungary, and Poland. "

So, other than those listed, all might be made outside of Germany, and I would be confident that the Chinese goods are at the same level as any of those 2condary Euro sites...
I would hardly call the Gran Sport/Ultra tires 'lowend' in the overall range of tires available.
Same can be said about every aspect of all consumer goods available today.
Counterfeit can always be a consideration, when product volumes or selling prices are high, regardless of place of manufacture.
But I would also be more inclined to believe there are resellers who buy in bulk and resell at lower than established sellers within any marketplace (US, UK, Euro zone, etc...)
There are many facets to the supply and sales chain which we should consider, some important on the expected product and use, others just another cost link...
Ride On
Yuri

They really have. The interesting thing I see from them is innovation, based on their experience in replicating other products. I had to chuckle when they admitted they'd tried to make a 60 tooth ratchet for their (entirely based on DT Swiss) hubs, they'd hit a technical wall, and suddenly realized why DT Swiss ratchets are 54 teeth at the top end. You can see how much they'd like to be be able to market a 60 tooth ratchet, after brands like Sunrace had such success with wide range cassettes, for example, when they were the only game in town, but they keep failing in practice. I'm waiting to see the ones that barely work, but are sort of okay to buy, before the truly decent ones come to market. May never happen, but it's a predictable pattern, just like with Japanese manufacturers in the 1960s and 1970s, as they rapidly improved their quality.

It may be controversial, but I'd say you can hardly call Gatorskins 'highend' most of the time. Is it just me, or do the dark brown sidewalls come unstuck for others? I had a pair I was commuting on, the sidewalls crapped out and the tires puncture a few times, so I replaced them (with 0.5 mm left on their wear indicator) and the next pair were just as bad. I genuinely couldn't work out if it was the tire manufacturing process to blame, or if I was buying tires that had sat around in a German warehouse for too long and were perishing due to age.

I buy stiff all the time , shipping is pretty quick an always on time, saved a lot of money

How much per pill?

Just bought a couple things off aliexpress. Hadnt bought from the site before.

I fully expect both to be totally safe and serviceable. At worst, I will change out the 6 stem bolts if they are soft or whatever, and use spare bolts I already have.
These are half the cost elsewhere.

I guess the handlebars could be fake?...who fakes a silver Uno handlebar though?...and if so, then I am out $18 and will buy a Ritchey bar. But I doubt its a fake handlebar or that its unsafe. If there are any crease or cuts then sure Ill toss the bars. Some squeezing and flexing should show they feel no different from every other drop bar when new.
If they end up being unsafe, god save my kid!

I really like their bars.
They also do them in 25.4 as well as 26.0mm (found that out the hard way)

The stem is their lower end model but they don't do the 6/7 in silver unfortunately.

I bought the Uno drop bar in 26.0mm at one point. It was nice enough in ever way, except it was pretty heavy. I understand a 26.0mm bar would be heavier than a 31.8 bar which has the advantage of the larger diameter, but that 26.0mm bar weighed something like 390g, vs maybe 320g for the similar Soma Highway One, and maybe 310g for the Nitto M106. I wasn't really trying to be weight weenie, but that weight difference was too much to ignore.
If you don't care about weight though, it is a fine, inexpensive drop bar.

I actually figured I would buy a Hwy1 bar since it has to be silver. I have 3 of em, I think and like the bend so I thought that would work great.
Hwy1 bars are $90 now. Its a Soma Hwy1 bar...I just cant bring myself to say that is worth $90. I swear I bought 2 of em only 4 years ago for $40. Yes inflation, but still.

Ordered this cap in black for winter cycling and for some unknown reason it was completely free. No shipping, no fees, no nuttin. My hair hasn’t fallen out because of the hat, because it couldn’t wait for the hat, so it left on its own.

Or the tires have been sitting in a warehouse for the last 8 years.

That's what I get basically half of the time I buy tires from European online sellers.

interesting discussion. as several have mentioned there are really a lot of facets to international trade and a lot of reasons why a product might be cheaper from one place or another :

1: it’s a locally produced item that gets marked up a whole bunch by middlemen and distributors who each have to cover their overhead, advertising etc
2 : it’s an OEM item sold in bulk to a manufacturer or distributor in the country where the manufacturing occurs, at a lower price because OEMs get volume discounts, don’t pay the same share of advertising and distributions costs, etc
3 : the manufacturer dumped a lot of components into a market at sub-cost to build market share and kill competitors.
4 : currency fluctuations have caused the price in USD to be cheaper than it would be to buy the item from the manufacturer/distributors at current exchange rates.
5 : it’s fake and isn’t actually the same item
6 : it’s a locally produced item which is a well made copy of an original design from the western world, and you’re paying much less because labor is much cheaper overseas, other business costs are lower, and the company selling it to you didn’t actually do the work to design and market the item originally.
7 : it’s a locally produced item which is a poor quality copy, so in addition to lower costs it’s actually not the same quality.
8 : it’s a locally produced commodity item which really doesn’t require any design, isn’t a copy of anything specific, and is cheaper simply because labor and materials and other overhead are less.
9 : it’s a locally designed and produced item, not a copy or a fake, benefitting from all the same lower costs as above.

personally, i’m not comfortable with most of the above except 1,4,8 and 9, and am pretty convinced the long term effect of people making these choices is a poorer, more unhappy, more unequal world, even if you saved a few bucks here and there. the other big problem is you really have no idea which one it is most of the time!