A few years ago, I had a terrible experience with AliExpress. I had ordered from maybe 10 different vendors, and got a notice that my order was upgraded to "consolidated shipping." Somehow in that process, my address got mangled in multiple ways. State wrong. Street name became city name. State became street name. In the end, I think my packages were going to 4 or 5 different addresses across the country. In the end, I think I received a third of what I ordered, about a third of my money was refunded and a third just gone. And my account was closed for "abusing the dispute process."
Recently, AliExpress has been advertising their "Dollar specials" – actually up to a few bucks and a limited number of items. I can't pass up a good deal. And I'm impressed. In 4 or 5 orders, I've received exactly what I was expecting in a timely manner. A completely different experience than a few years back.