Admittedly it's probably not perfect to compare Amazon returns to Ali Express returns, because I too have received refunds without having to ship the product back. I have had significantly fewer products I've had to dispute through Amazon than Ali Express though.
I don't know where you live, but I don't think receiving an item from Ali Express in 1 week or less is normal, unless maybe you live in mainland China. I'm in the US and I really think I've never received something quicker than 2 weeks.
You said you have received things in a week or less. What do you think the average is though?
I just don't believe that Amazon does not generally provide cheap products conveniently. There are outliers, as with everything, but I think it's the norm that the prices for the majority of products are competitive, and the user experience is convenient.
> I don't know where you live, but I don't think receiving an item from Ali Express in 1 week or less is normal, unless maybe you live in mainland China. I'm in the US and I really think I've never received something quicker than 2 weeks.
Shipping options and delivery estimates are displayed in both search results and each item's page.
A good percentage of items do have delivery estimates that exceed two weeks, however either faster paid shipping options are available or other suppliers will offer the same item with a shorter delivery estimate.
You can also sort by the country an item ships from. There are increasingly more distributors in North America than there were a couple of years ago.
> I just don't believe that Amazon does not generally provide cheap products conveniently. There are outliers, as with everything, but I think it's the norm that the prices for the majority of products are competitive, and the user experience is convenient.
That hasn't been my experience, unfortunately. I used to use Amazon for the majority of my online purchases because they consistently had lower prices. Eventually, they became my supplier even for goods I'd buy in person.
However, as of last month, Walmart will ship the last item I regularly bought in bulk from Amazon at a lower individual retail price.
My returns with AliExpress have all been full refunds without having to reship the items back to the supplier.
One of my refunds was for a $100+ item, as well.
> Ali Express is 2 weeks minimum.
I've received items in a week or less.
> Shopping on Amazon is still cheap and convenient.
As of late, this hasn't been true. AliExpress, Walmart and even Best Buy have had better deals than Amazon.