Pro Tips On How To Buy The Best Hair On Ali Express

Ali Express has a wide selection of hair extensions and trying to find exactly what you need can seem a little overwhelming at first.

The broad selection of vendors means that you will most surely find exactly what you are looking for; the problem, however, is the finding part.

There are way too many tales of Ali Express nightmares, generally coming from newbies who don’t know how to navigate the workings of the site in order to take full advantage of the resources available.

I am ashamed to say I was one of them. Although I spent so much time searching for the full lace wig I eventually purchased, my inexperience caused me to order the wrong size wig cap.

To add insult to injury, when I received the hair, it had a different curl texture than what was pictured on the vendor website. Rather than return the wig for a full or partial refund, I tried to modify the wig (with scissors and thread) to no avail.

I essentially ruined the only chance I had to recoup some of my losses because I was ignorant of the extent of Ali Express’ buyer protection, and also due to the fact that I did not even know what size wig cap to get! This was a frustrating experience that could have totally been avoided.

So, to save yourself from experiencing the same heartache as I did, I’ve compiled a list of tips to help you navigate this infamous website like a pro.

Choose the Right Vendor

Ali Express uses a clear badge system to grade their vendors based on the quality and quantity of the feedback which each seller has received.

When you are first on the website, you might have no clue what each badge represents, or how important that is when making a purchase.

Let me stress that although I’m sure there are some fantastic new companies on Ali Express, it will be much harder to determine which ones they are due to the lack of available feedback to peruse and scrutinize when making your purchasing decision.

The lowest badge is a single, simple gold medal and a vendor can receive up to five gold medals representative of a total of at least 500 separate customer reviews. These are spread out among various product offerings, so each product might only have one or two pieces of customer feedback.

This makes these vendors the most risky investments, so unless you have a definite recommendation from a trusted friend, I would not suggest your first purchase from the website coming from any of these.

The second level is the diamond level. The majority of vendors fall into this category carrying between one and five diamonds representing anywhere from 600 up to 19,9999 customer reviews.

The highest level is the elusive crown level. These vendors are few and far between but they boast of 20,000 and more pieces of customer feedback. Their product pages are littered with hundreds of customer reviews making them the safest buys due to the quantity and quality of their feedback pages. Which brings me to my next tip:

Listen to Your Peers

Is there a single hair company website or even beauty shop that you know of with hundreds of women waiting inside to answer your questions or eliminate your doubts about a particular hair product? I don’t think so, and that’s what makes Ali Express so different.

Even if a vendor has five diamonds or one crown, still take the time to review what customers have said about the product quality, delivery speed, durability, and even more importantly the customer service.

This last part can decide whether or not you ever buy from a particular vendor again because if you receive hair, as I did, that is completely wrong, efficient and sincere customer service can quickly turn your nightmare back into the fairy tale you hoped it would be.

Plus, when there are hundreds of reviews on a particular product, the chances are higher that people will post real pictures of themselves with a fresh install or straight out of the packaging, allowing you the opportunity to see what the hair looks like, unedited and often, up close.

Seller is attentive and responds to each piece of feedback. Offers to recommend the correct color on next purchase if asked. Communication with the seller is key before purchase.

Know what to look for

You can spend time studying all the reviews you want, but if you don’t know what red flags you should be looking for, then what’s the point? Often the quality of hair from a high-rated vendor might depreciate over time due to the fact that as their popularity skyrockets, they have a harder time keeping up with the purchase orders.

The easiest way to be able to tell if you’re dealing with such a vendor is to look at the oldest comments and compare them to the newest ones. Another red flag to look for is poor customer service.

If a good handful of people are complaining about this, run for the high hills. This is one of the biggest advantages to using Ali Express to buy hair, so if the feedback from a vendor tells a different story, just know that if you choose to order hair and it does not arrive in the condition it was promised, you will be in for a fight to get your money back. Although Ali Express offers buyer protection, it is limited to you not receiving the product you ordered or not receiving the product at all.

For any other concerns about quality or condition of the product upon arrival, you have to go through the customer service of that particular vendor in order to work out a solution before then escalating the dispute to Ali Express. Save yourself the headache and frustration by working with a vendor that will value your satisfaction above your coins. The importance of good customer service cannot be understated.

RED FLAG: Product does not arrive as advertised. Seller does nothing to remedy the mistake. Instead, offers discount and gifts to customer who left positive feedback.

Personal customer service

Each vendor has at least one customer service representative who is assigned to answer potential customer questions. This is an invaluable service for any hair extensions provider. Most hair company websites expect you to rely on a handful (if any) customer reviews and offer a very limited number of pictures which, more often than not, don’t even include what the hair actually looks like on a human head.

On Ali Express not only can you ask questions about the quality, color, texture, length, and even sizing (for wigs), but you can actually ask these representatives to send you unaltered pictures of the hair extensions or wigs in their natural form; even pictures of the hair on happy customers!

Not only that but great vendors have representatives that follow up with you after you’ve received the hair to make sure that it was received without defects or issues, just to make sure you are satisfied with the product. Hair that is purchased in the wrong color, is delivered in poor shape, or wigs that aren’t the right size are not the end of the road for your hard earned money.

If you aren’t satisfied for any reason, a vendor with good customer service will try their best to make it right. This was the part I had no clue about, and most people with nightmare stories about Ali Express share a similar ignorance. That or they simply missed the red flags in the reviews about a particular seller’s not-so-nice customer service.

Put it in your cart

This little trick is reserved for those who have made an order on Ali Express and have created an account. What this does is keep track of a particular hair product that you would like and it notifies you by email when the price of the item has gone down.

On Ali Express most of the vendors have sales on their hair extensions, and they can range from a couple bucks to almost a hundred dollars off! If you put hair in your cart, or better yet create a wish list on your account you will receive those notifications any time there is a price change. It’s a good way to keep wanted items in queue until the right price comes along.

Bundle up

Most of the hair extensions on Ali Express are sold in bundles with closures in a variety of lengths, making your shopping experience more streamlined and cost-effective.

Of course, you are more than welcome to buy more hair wefts separately or to buy a frontal, for instance, alone. In that case I would recommend going directly to the seller’s store page and shopping there. This applies especially for frontals in order to guarantee that the hair piece you buy matches the texture of the hair in your bundles exactly.

Keeping in mind these tips and tricks, you should be able to avoid most of the common hair blunders of first time shoppers on Ali Express. Visit the website, save some dough, and give yourself the edge to get ahead of your friends in the hair game.

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