Today I want to talk about an app that I have used and my impression of it is quite mixed. I think when you hear my point of view, you’ll see my dilemma. Some of you may have heard of this app and some of you may haven’t. The app is called Ali2BD. I have included the website here but they also have an app version.
Yes, you guessed it right, this is an app that has an affiliation with Aliexpress. And not just Aliexpress, but also Amazon.in and Flipkart. Sounds amazing, right? It is actually. When you’re trying to get products from outside the country, this single application helps you get items from 3 different applications. You can also see the price differences among the apps and can decide from which one you want to order your items. Please bear it in mind that it will need time to ship and deliver.
You’ll also find tutorials of Ali2BD on Youtube and you can also find their Facebook page And I almost forgot to mention that Ali2Bd has also started another app that is MoveOn which basically helps with shipping items. But more about that later. Oh one more thing, during the lockdown I couldn’t order from Amazon.in or Flipkart so all of my views are based on ordering from Aliexpress through Ali2BD. Today I’ll write about a few things that I have personally faced.
Price
Well yes, price is oftentimes an issue. Sometimes you find a product and it’s a little bit out of your budget. And believe me, even I have doubted myself a lot whether I’ll get it at a cheaper rate at a local store. But for now, I will compare it with other local apps. Often times I find it cheaper than the other apps and sometimes I find it more expensive. Yes, there’s no guarantee that you’ll always find the product cheaper over there. Like for example, I have attached a picture of a set of bracelets (5 Pcs) that had cost me 150TK only. Yes, the whole set 150TK. And it looks pretty good as well.
3 apps in 1
Yes, that is something I’m content about. I can basically order from Aliexpress, Amazon.in, and Flipkart. Each app has different carts and you can store up to 20 items in each of them. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, Amazon.in and Flipkart was shut down for a while and will reopen again soon. So it basically helps you order from different outlets. This is something I'm looking forward to as I want to order from the other 2 apps and see how it works for me.
Ordering
Well for this I want to compare it with Daraz. While Daraz has different vendors, Ali2bd is all-vendors-in-one. When you order from different vendors at the Daraz app, you have to pay shipping charges to all the vendors you’re ordering from, whereas in Ali2BD, the shipping charges are related to where the shipment is coming from rather than a “different vendor” issue. So when you’ll place your order, you’ll see that they’ve already calculated the shipping charges. And I have mentioned before that there are some fluctuations (which I’ll discuss further as I go on) but to help with this situation they have introduced another app that is MoveOn. I cannot tell much about this app as I haven’t tried it yet. But if I do however try it, I’ll write about my experience as well.
Payment Options
This is going to be short and brief. There's no 'cash on delivery' system. You have to either pay through debit/credit cards or bkash/rocket app. For example, I'm using a bkash app to order from here and you have to pay for the items first and get the items later at a set date.
Delivery Time
Now there’s no guarantee of how long it will take. They basically tell you about a 90 days time frame. Well, so far I have received an order in 40 days and another has been in waiting for almost 2 months now as a few times are still in transit and haven’t reached yet. So, you have to be really flexible and patient with the delivery date.
Shipping charges
Yes, shipping charges provide both joy and frustration. Sometimes you’ll see that there’s just the free shipping cost, maybe less than 20Tk charges, and sometimes the shipping charges are outrageous. So as I have been able to order a few items that I liked with basically less than 10TK it made me really happy. And a few times I found that same product at a 200 to 300 TK higher price at Daraz than Ali2bd. Yea now you can feel my excitement. Then I have also seen a few items that I liked where the shipping charges are maddeningly high. Thousands in shipping charges on a product that is less than 500 TK, can you imagine my frustration (It was a beautiful pair of earrings). So overall I have mixed feelings about this whole situation.
Customer Service
What to say about customer service. Basically, I don't have any issues with them. The times are tough, the products get stuck at transit and customs, not their fault. They're quite helpful, to be honest. They're doing their best to provide the best service at these tough times. I guess ordering after lockdown would be a more wise decision but then I won't have been able to give you my point of view at this tough time.
Even though I’m having feeling quite a lot of mixed feelings about Ali2BD, I still intend to give it a few more tries. I haven’t been able to order from Amazon.in or Flipkart so I’ll try those and give all of you updates later. If you have tried this app then please let me know about your experience. Oh, I forgot to mention, you can find Ali2BD at Google Playstore.
Thank you so much everyone for your support.
