Some of you may be wondering how ordering on aliexpress.com might compare with ordering on ebay or amazon. Aliexpress is an organized collection of vendors, mainly located in mainland china. Aliexpress is searchable ie "Swim briefs", "skinny jeans", "mens thong underwear" in much the same way ebay or amazon is searchable. Vendors are responsible for their Web pages and how the goods are presented. Each one has different rules with regard to shipping. Often it is free with the cost built into the price of the good, but you need to check that for each vendor, as some list a very low price and then make that back in charging for shipping. So, pay close attention. SOME ebay and Amazon vendors ship from China, or more often Hong Kong, too.
Packages normally are transported out of China via epacket, which apparently is a very cheap shipping method. I've gotten swim briefs, Skinny jeans, and now the shiny Lycra pants. I often have wondered how these work their way through customs, but US customs has not delayed the epackets or tried to charge me an import fee on any of the packages I have ordered. None of the epackets I had shipped were valued at more than $50. If you are in a non-US country, I cannot guarantee that this will work as smoothly for you as it has for me. I am told that how rapidly an epacklet gets out of China depends on how full the planes are and whether the space on the next plane out is full. Things seem to get a little slower as the winter holidays are coming up. The longest this has taken for me was a down jacket I ordered, but that was partly because the vendor was slow shipping them out.
In the US, the e-packet plane typically lands in Chicago (tho sometimes elsewhere) , and the e-packet is then transferred to the US Postal service. I get the e-packet in my regular mail delivery. You can keep track of where the shipped package is from the aliexpress site in China, but then on the USPS tracking site. I knew exactly when my Lycra pants were going to show up in my mailbox fom the USPS site.
You put in a credit card number for a standard credit card. Aliexpress now charges you card when the order is placed, but does not give the money to the vendor until you verify that you have received the order, goods are ok with you. If things are not right you can open a dispute with the vendor but I have never had to do this. You need to be careful on sizing and remember Asian sizes are sometimes run smaller than sizing in other countries. Having said that, I have been ordering jeans with 29 and 30 inch waists on the site and they fit me "like a glove" Part of the reason I buy on Aliexpress is that the goods fit me snugger than what I can normally get in the US. I ordered the Down jacket in what was said on the site was a Medium. The vendor contacted me and said the Medium was way small and I really needed an XXL. I thought that would be way too big for me and we settled on an XL. I can wear the XL I got but the vendor really was right on that. So, pay attention to what your vendor tells you on sizing suggestions and you should be fine.
Expect that the swim briefs and Lycra pants are going to be low-slung in the rear, showing a bit of butt crack. Its the Asian style! If this bugs you I would suggest ordering a size (or two) larger. It's a lot of trouble to try and return goods for wrong sizing, so you can start by ordering a bit larger than you think you could wear.
Generally the jeans I have ordered are made of lighter-weight denim than we are used to seeing in US-made jeans. But the light-weight denim goes hand- in-hand with the really snug fit. The material normally has some Lycra in it which means you get a really slender leg and sill get into and out of the jeans without a problem. We have talked at length as to how the Aqux branded swim briefs fit in the butt. The Asians seem to be perfectly fine showing a little butt crack as part of the style.
For us Caucasians, the whole Asian look and style for guys comes off as being a bit different from what we are used to, but keep in mind that most Asians are smaller in weight and stature than we are. Part of the reason these clothes are seldom seen in US stores is because the average American male is probably taller and weighs more.
But for me, duplicating the Asian look is part of the fun.
My most recent Aliexpress order took only 9 days from when I placed the order. This has been as long as 30 days (the Down Jacket). The jeans and swim brief orders have taken typically 20 days. I have never had reason to return anything!
I am 5'10 and 149 lbs, so not too much bigger than the typical Asian guy. You might not want to pursue this if you are 6'5 and 250 lbs!
Sebbie