Is AliExpress safe?
Safe to use with care: AliExpress is a real marketplace with buyer protection, but the EU fined it €550 million for not doing enough about illegal and counterfeit products.
AliExpress is a genuine marketplace where independent sellers, many in China, sell to buyers worldwide. Its Buyer Protection refunds items that don’t arrive in the promised time, or that arrive damaged or not as described, if you claim in time.
The risk is the sellers. In July 2026 the European Commission fined AliExpress €550 million, finding its checks against illegal, unsafe and counterfeit products did not work well enough. South Korea also fined it in 2024 for passing buyers’ details to overseas sellers without proper notice.
AliExpress is part of the Alibaba group, and the companies that contract with buyers are registered in Singapore. Its privacy policy says US buyers’ data is stored in the US and Singapore, EU buyers’ data in Germany and Singapore.[1][2]
The real risks
What AliExpress itself says it collects, what regulators and courts have found, its security record and the scams that borrow its name. Each line links to the page it comes from.
What it collects
From AliExpress’s own privacy policy:
- Account and profile details, delivery addresses, order and shipping records, and payment information.[1]
- ID documents when needed for customs or after-sales, and optional body measurements for sizing.[1]
- Complaints, messages with sellers and customer service, and photos you upload for reviews or complaints.[1]
- IP address, device identifiers, browser details, browsing patterns and country or city-level location, plus preferences it infers from what you do.[1]
- Contacts from your phone’s address book, but only if you choose to upload or import them.[1]
- Information from social media accounts you sign in with, identity and compliance checks, and delivery updates from logistics firms.[1]
App store label. AliExpress’s Apple App Store label says identifiers are used to track you across other companies’ apps. Data linked to you includes payment info, precise and coarse location, contact info, photos or videos, search history and user and device IDs. Rated 16+.[2]
Regulators and courts
Fines, orders, investigations and lawsuits, newest first. A lawsuit is what the side bringing it alleges until a court decides.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| The European Commission fined AliExpress €550 million under the Digital Services Act. It found weak product detection, poor enforcement against rule-breaking traders and an ineffective system against counterfeits. AliExpress had to submit an action plan by 20 October 2026.[3] | |
| The European Commission made AliExpress’s commitments on advertising and recommendation transparency legally binding, and preliminarily found it had breached its duty to assess and reduce the spread of illegal products.[4] | |
| South Korea’s privacy regulator (PIPC) imposed a KRW 1.978 billion penalty for passing Korean buyers’ data to overseas sellers without telling users where it went, and for making account deletion hard to find.[5] | |
| The European Commission opened formal proceedings into AliExpress covering risk management, content moderation, complaint handling, advertising and recommendation transparency, trader traceability and researchers’ access to data.[6] |
Scams that use AliExpress
- Anyone asking for your password
- AliExpress says its staff are told never to ask for your password. A message or call asking for it, even one using the AliExpress name, is a scam.[1]
Shopping for a deal? How to check a shop before you pay covers fake shops and what to do if you already paid.
What to do
In order, with the place to find each one in AliExpress or on its site.
- Turn off personalised ads and suggestions.In the app, go to Settings → Privacy setting and switch off personalised recommendations and advertising.[1]
- Set your cookie choices.On the website, open the Cookie Preferences page and turn off cookies you don’t want, such as advertising cookies.[1]
- Use the Privacy Center for your data.At privacy.aliexpress.com you can set advertising preferences and ask to correct or delete your personal information.[1]
- Contact the seller first.If something is wrong, open the order and use “Contact seller” to describe the problem and look for a fix.[7]
- Claim within 15 days of delivery.Go to My orders → order detail → Return/refund, pick the items and reason, add photos and submit. Damaged or not-as-described claims must be made within 15 days of receiving the item.[7]
- Keep your password private.Keep your password to yourself, don’t save it on shared computers, and sign out after each session, as AliExpress’s policy advises.[1]
When not to use it
- Buying branded goods at prices that look too good: the EU found AliExpress’s system against counterfeits did not work effectively.[3]
- Waiting to check a delivery: claims for damaged or wrong items close 15 days after you receive them.[7]
- Letting a child shop on it: AliExpress says users must be over 18, and its App Store rating is 16+.[1][2]
What HARD couldn’t verify
Claims you may see elsewhere that HARD couldn’t confirm from a primary source on 7 Nov 2026, so they aren’t in the record above.
- HARD did not find an AliExpress page describing scams that use its name, so only its own password warning is listed here.
Questions
Is AliExpress legit?
Yes. AliExpress is a genuine marketplace run by Alibaba group companies, and orders are covered by its Buyer Protection. Products come from many independent sellers, and the EU has fined AliExpress for not doing enough to stop illegal and counterfeit listings.
Is AliExpress safe to buy from?
Usually, if you pay through AliExpress and check your delivery quickly. Buyer Protection refunds items that don’t arrive in the promised time or arrive damaged or not as described, but you must claim within 15 days of receiving them.
Does AliExpress sell my data?
Its privacy policy says it does not sell personal data for money, but it shares identifiers, usage data and inferences with ad networks for targeted ads, which some US state laws count as a sale. You can opt out in Cookie Preferences.
Is AliExpress Chinese?
AliExpress is part of the Alibaba group, which runs it in mainland China through a Hangzhou company, and many sellers are in China. The companies that contract with buyers are registered in Singapore, and data for US buyers is stored in the US and Singapore.
Is AliExpress safe for kids?
No. AliExpress says users must be over 18, and its App Store rating is 16+. It says it does not run targeted ads for users it identifies as minors.
Shopping apps on HARD: Is Temu safe?, Is Shein safe?, Is TikTok Shop safe?, Is DHgate safe?. All of them: Is it safe?
References
Primary sources only: AliExpress’s own pages, regulators, courts and app stores. Each was checked on 7 Nov 2026.
- AliExpress. AliExpress.com Privacy Policy, 30 Jul 2026. terms.alicdn.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
- Apple App Store. AliExpress Shopping App. apps.apple.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
- European Commission. Commission fines AliExpress €550 million for breaching the Digital Services Act, 20 Jul 2026. digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu, checked 7 Nov 2026
- European Commission. Commission accepts commitments offered by AliExpress under the Digital Services Act and takes further steps, 18 Jun 2025. digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu, checked 7 Nov 2026
- Personal Information Protection Commission (South Korea). PIPC Sanctions AliExpress for Violating PIPA, Imposing Penalty Surcharge of 1.978 billion KRW, 26 Jul 2024. pipc.go.kr, checked 7 Nov 2026
- European Commission. Commission opens formal proceedings against AliExpress under the Digital Services Act, 14 Mar 2024. digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu, checked 7 Nov 2026
- AliExpress. AliExpress Buyer Protection. aliexpress.com, checked 7 Nov 2026