AliExpress – “things to see people to do” before 11.11 Sale.
This is their “Big One”.
Rivaled only by Black Friday, this is by far and away their biggest sales event of the year. And event is the right word to describe this. I’ve talked about the difference between regular sales and event sales on AliEx before, and this is an EVENT… this is THE EVENT 🙂
It’s a shopping marathon (runs from November 1st-12th) which will be filled with all the crazy deals, and wacky coupons AliEx is known for. Spend and Save, checkout codes, all kinds of seller specific discounts… and this is all on top of what already looks like the lowest prices of the year (so far).
So… let’s prepare.
Pages to visit:
Main Sale Landing Page
Shopping Guide
Coupon Center
Definitely make sure you drop by the Coupon Center and clip some of those 99% off coupons, as they are limited use and will run out.
Main 3D Printing Category
Same link i always post before a sale. Goes to main category for 3D Printing and Scanning, with the following already preselected – US Shipping, Sale, Spend and Save, Free Shipping. Check/Uncheck as needed. Uncheck US and Free Shipping for parts.
As you browse, and look at the prices, keep in mind – checkout codes are coming.
I’ll post them in a separate post (easier to find that way), but there will be – $7 off $50, $15 off $100, $30 off $200, $40 off $350. This is on top of Spend and Save ($9 off $90 max).
If you follow the link i posted, you’ll see them listing two prices – the current one is in black, while the upcoming sale price is in red. That red price is usually close to what the final price will be when the sale starts… before coupons, checkout codes, etc. It’s far from “precise”, but it’s most certainly “close enough” to make an educated guess of what to expect.
The three things you want to do while browsing the site before the sale are:
Follow the seller.
Add to favorites.
Add to cart.
Following the seller’s store continues to be the easiest “hack” to getting a great price on AliEx. Some send out coupons, some offer exclusive discounts where the price is auto adjusted lower for fans. Sometimes it’s minor, but sometimes it adds up. During one of the recent sales i posted an example of a printer that was $150 for “fans”, while $200 for “general public”. $50 for clicking a follow button, and then refreshing the page… yeah, there is a reason i keep calling it the easiest “hack” 🙂
Add to favorites and add to cart are nowhere near as effective in saving money, but serve their own unique and useful purposes.
Add to favorites will sometimes get you coupons from sellers, but it’s rare. AliEx’s algo loves favorites, and seem to give them quite a bit of weight when figuring out what stuff you like to see – aka what it shows you in “More to Love” and other sections of the site. Basically, favorites are great for “training” AliEx’s algo, which is something you want to do if you want the site to stop constantly showing you it’s “default” items – wigs, and booty shorts 🙂
Add to cart also will occasionally, but rarely, trigger a coupon. AliEx’s algo does seem to give some weight to items in cart, but favorites are much better for the purpose of “training”. Where add to cart really shines is “clarity” – you get to see the final price, with all the promos already showing, and none of the bullshit.
If you browse AliEx, you’ll quickly notice that the price you see in browse is often nowhere near the one you see on the page, especially after you select the option/model you like and include shipping, etc. Adding to cart before the sale starts avoids that problem. Once the sale begins, you can quickly check to see what the price is on the exact color/option/variation/model you picked out. As an added bonus, AliEx shows all the seller coupons and bonuses that apply to that listing, so there is no need to go back to the listing to see if you need to clip a coupon, etc – it’s all right there in one easy to read page. Makes things much clearer, and much easier to compare real/final prices between items/sellers etc.
Checkout codes, and teasers coming……
