#framefarme: ali express

If you’ve been around for awhile you know we purchased a lot of of our home stuff via Ali Express. Ali Express is a branch of Ali Baba which is basically a direct link to shop in China. They cut out the middle man and you buy right from them, saving a TON of money. I know people have fears and worries about factory conditions, quality etc. Ali Express is like Amazon in the sense that Ali represents thousands of smaller companies. Lots of which show you pictures of their factories right in their shop home page. There are reviews and write-ups on products which helps me decide how to shop as well. I love Ali for the price, but also they are ahead of trends here in the states. For instance my chandelier in the living room, I had favorited 2+ years ago. I JUST saw something similar at Lumens this Spring (for $3000.)Ali Express Home Finds - save $6000!

The number one issue with Ali is that everything takes 2-3 weeks to arrive. Even years later I still get anxiety about things arriving, but they always have and they’re very good about covering themselves. If you need to send things back often times they’ll just refund you and you keep the product because shipping is so tricky for them. Ali is VERY strict about their sellers and shuts down any funny business so keep your eye on sellers and products that have been around for awhile, and products that have lots of reviews!

I get asked weekly how these China purchases are holding up and here’s my honest review!

LIGHTS:

We bought 4 light fixtures from Ali and that was first and foremost because I couldn’t find anything I liked better. I worked with Lamps Plus on the rest of our light fixtures and got them donated, but couldn’t shake these! They are LED lights which might bother some, but I don’t mind it at all! This fixture over our tub was $180 the next size up has 20 ($320) lights and the largest has 32 ($475). I haven’t seen anything similar to compare it to, just products with similar amounts of material for about ($400) but it felt like a great deal. This light works for a pitched (slanted ceiling) roof as well which is harder to come by at times. We’ll say I SAVED $220Ali Express Chandelier - $120

These two sconces next to our master bed. I love the round opaque glass and the arms. The base is very small so make sure whoever is wiring it knows! Like 4″ diameter small. $50 each, $260+ elsewhere. SAVED $400Ali Express Sconce - $50

Our living room chandelier took my actual breath away when I spotted it at the beginning of our planning stage. Our ceilings are pretty tall so we’ve been waiting on the same exact wire to arrive so we can extend it down about 6 more feet. I haven’t shown it yet for that reason. But it looks the least well made, to me. I am fine with it because it’s not in anyone’s close range to look at but it still makes a huge statement! Similar option via Lumens $3000. SAVED $2200Ali Express Chandelier

CABINET HARDWARE: I knew I wanted finger pulls and my cabinet guy swore he could find them for the best price. He came back to me toward the end and said, “Order yours. I couldn’t beat them!” So I did! These are 5 inch pulls at $2.84 a piece and you can buy them online between $8-$13. I needed 100 of them so I SAVED $684$2.84 Black Matte Finger Pulls

BATHROOMS:

We used this faucet for all our sinks. Our double vanity, bathtub, 3 bathrooms and our laundry room sink. $90 each and amazing quality! Russ says you’d pay $400+ for this same set with the same quality. So happy with them and they were exactly what I wanted! SAVED $2170

Ali Express Faucet - $90$90 faucet Ali Express

We used this set – $223 for our basement bathroom tub/showers and this one for the master – $268.  It has the extra sprayer which we thought we might want since the shower head is hung so high but it’s so powerful we don’t need the sprayer! It’s honestly the best shower head I’ve ever had, and it’s just as good as the Grand’s or any 5 star hotel I’ve stayed at. It’s like a rainfall. You could find these for $450+ retail so SAVED $400.

This is our pot filler for the kitchen – $75. Same quality as the faucets, we haven’t installed it yet because our quartz guy has a death wish and hasn’t come to do our backsplash piece yet, but if there’s any issues with it after installation, I’ll update this! $260 for the same one here. SAVED $185. 

GRAND TOTAL SAVINGS: $6,175

3 Comments

  • Shauna
    September 18, 2018 at 9:50 pm

    Those are the exact faucets that I want for our bathroom remodels. I love an AliExpress deal but never thought about it for home stuff. Thanks for doing the research for us!

    Reply
  • Stephanie
    September 19, 2018 at 5:00 am

    Wow! Amazing deals and never thought to look at Ali for home items. Do you have a link to the drawer pulls? I’m in the middle of a home build and those look perfect! Not a huge fan of knobs and these may work just right!

    Reply
  • Samantha
    September 19, 2018 at 10:12 am

    Link to drawer pulls? Everything looks great!

    Reply

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