Aliexpress is a marketplace rather than a single seller, so what's on offer is a mixture of OK and suspicious. A proportion of the deals are dodgy, but it seems the majority are OK.

UK consumer protection is unenforceable if a purchase goes wrong because this is buying from abroad. And the goods may be untaxed resulting in nasty extra charges when the parcel is checked. Goods may not meet UK safety standards etc. It's risky.

I prefer to buy from UK suppliers. When I buy abroad to get stuff not sold in the UK, I assume in advance that I will be whacked for customs duty, and that either nothing or rubbish will arrive. All smiles when the goods arrive as advertised, but no tears if it fouls up. I understood the risk and chose to take it.

If you don't mind a gamble, go for it!

Dave

Michael, double check that the unit price is not for a bulk order of say 500!

Paul

Ah I've got it now, when you open the 1tem it is showing £21.08 and there is a little photo of the wooden base with a red box round it.

Click the photo next to it for the 3cyl and prce is £750, click the one for the 2cyl and that is £550.

So question is do you want a bit of wood for £21

And to think that some members moan when us moderators remove links to these sites

Edited By JasonB on 24/08/2022 19:14:04

Does say it's Rosewood, hopefully that is just the colour of the stain as CITES may not be too happy

I received an email informing me that some beautiful Ukranian girls were just waiting to meet me and make my life even more wonderful than it ever could be with SWMBO. As I was going to be attending the Huddersfield Jazz Guitar Festival, which co-incidentally was being held at the Ukranian Centre in the town, I thought that I might just meet a couple of these beauties there and that they would be all over me like a rash. Unfortunately it didn't happen and I had to be satisfied by listening to some incredibly talented musicians and a jazz rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem. Sometimes I think that these emails may just be a scam although I am sure that in my case the beauties must have been delayed at the airport due to a shortage of baggage handlers. Of course, that must have been the reason, I should have thought about it at the time!

Edited By Chris Crew on 24/08/2022 22:09:43

Well, I thought I was because I would like to think that with the amount of 'grey matter' that exists in the model engineering fraternity no one would ever be taken in by this nonsense and I thought I might have raised a wry smile along the way. But you are right, maybe I should leave comedy to the professionals. I really must investigate the possibility of getting a humour by-pass operation on the NHS!

As regards topic drift, I don't think this comes anywhere near the course navigated by a previous post of mine regarding how much it would be costing me to operate in the workshop. I think we entered the realms of coal versus nuclear versus the environment with some very long treatises on the pros and cons by some obviously well informed and technically well-educated people. All very interesting reading but most of it didn't come close to answering the question.

Chris,

I don’t think that’s quite fair regarding your how much does it cost me question, there were several answers giving you ideas on how to measure your electricity usage in the shed. How much that energy actually costs you if you measure it is in your court depending on how much your supplier is charging you and if on variable rate at what time of day you use it. You can estimate it from the ratings of your machines and lights and time the usage or you can measure as suggested. I don’t think anyone could have reasonably been expected to give you a quantified answer in £’s and p’s?

Personally it’s down to cost benefit. How much enjoyment do I get from making stuff and can I afford it, if I can pay the bills I can afford it so I don’t care what it costs. If I can’t afford it then I have to find other savings to support or pack it in.

Paul.

If you do go this route, I'd suggest not using a "prime" email address. You *will* get daily spam from AliExpress which you *won't* be able to turn off.

A gmail address will do – gmail's spam filter is pretty good and if you flag it as such will reliably disappear it for you on an ongoing basis.

this type of scam is common on Chinese sites – check the advertisement VERY carefully before commiting to buy.

The low price is designed to reel you in and desire to 'get a bargain' clouds your judgement.

If it is too good to be true…………!!!!!!!!!

"When you do, the line is held open, so he can send you the recording of a dial tone, then ringing, and then he's back. Works because most people don't know how the phone system works, have hazy notions of banking methods in general, and probably no experience of bank security processes. Wait 10 minutes and then call someone else before dialling"

Dave, I stand to be corrected because I have been out of the telecoms industry for a few years now, but it is my recollection that forward call holding, which was a throwback to the old electro-mechanical exchanges, was eliminated several years ago. I think I know this because, although I had taken a voluntary redundancy from my employer of 38 years, I was requested to assist with the loading of a new build of software on to the exchanges of some OLO's (other licensed operators). I can't comment on the BT build uplift because I was not involved with that program. Although I was not privy to all the details of the uplift, it was my understanding that one of the issues the new build dealt with was that of the bank scam that relied, as you rightly point out, the line being held open by the caller for fake dial tone to be sent to the called party. I don't think this was ever any longer than 20 seconds in the case of System X switches but in any event it was eliminated around 6 or 7 years ago. As I say, I do stand to be corrected on this if someone is still in the industry and if the old narrow-band digital switches even exist anymore.

Dave, If your nephew is game for a laugh try this on him. I did it to a friend many years ago and he fell for it.

Phone your nephew and tell him you are writing out a new contacts directory and could he give you his number, you can't find it. It might work, but be ready for a great deal of swearing!