Topic: The utterly baffling world of wish and other Chinese shops

[Sebastian Cobb]

Please don't give these drop-shipping bastards your money. Just look for one on Ebay that comes without the plates/bulletproof material, you'll find one at the same sort of price.

Get a job as a Morrisons security guard and they'll give you one. Basically a full imitation police uniform but it says security.

They used to look like they worked for British Rail.

[Dex Sawash]

I bought a pair of these half price about two years ago when John Lewis wear obviously stopping selling them. Wear them most days and although the soles have obviously worn a bit they look almost new. I love 'em.



I had a couple of pairs of Campers before and although the uppers remained almost as new the soles wore out really quickly. They were half price too, they're fucking expensive.

[Mister Six]

My shoes last for ages regardless of how cheap. It's not just about the quality of materials etc. the gait of the person makes a big difference. People who's shoes wear out really quickly tend to walk in a way where a particular spot or side gets more wear than the rest and so gets damaged. I've had plenty of cheap or lightweight trainers last for 4 years or so before they get damaged enough to stop wearing.

Lucky bastard (or bastardess). I've got an ever-growing pile of wonkily shorn shoes AND a bad back through shit-gaited walking.

Looking for women's shoes in size 9 can't be fun though. I don't wear high heels because I can't walk in them and I thankfully have a job where I wouldn't be allowed to wear them anyway.

Heels aren't in fashion at the mo - it's all trainers and boots now. I know this because I had to edit 2,000 fucking words on the topic last week. So take solace in my suffering and know that you are now on the cutting edge of fashion (so long as you're prepared to drop half a grand on a pair of bloody trainers).

[Sonny_Jim]

I buy random electronic crap from AliExpress all the time, nothing over 60-70 quid though.  Takes fookin' ages to get here, but it's about 1/4 the price of buying locally.  Bought about 200m of individually addressable LEDs so Christmas is going to be full Griswold.

Also I am enjoying the shoe talk.  Sad to hear DMs are shite now, I remember everyone losing their shit over the rainbow stitched ones

[Sebastian Cobb]

I buy random electronic crap from AliExpress all the time, nothing over 60-70 quid though.  Takes fookin' ages to get here, but it's about 1/4 the price of buying locally.  Bought about 200m of individually addressable LEDs so Christmas is going to be full Griswold.

I do this, good if you have little electronics projects etc. Just yesterday I had a mini glue gun arrive £3. It can also be cheap for tools as well, I bought a cheap 20mm flat drill bit that's sharp and well made. I doubt it's Bosch quality, but if I'm only drilling a few holes in a shitty wooden enclosure I'm not bothered.

I did get a power supply with a mains cable that came with an unfused moulded "british" plug with flex far too thin for its claimed 10a rating though.

[MojoJojo]

I did get a power supply with a mains cable that came with an unfused moulded "british" plug with flex far too thin for its claimed 10a rating though.

The flex is the fuse, silly.

[Sebastian Cobb]

The flex is the fuse, silly.

Ha! For the power brick it's connected to, it's not up to any proper standards but probably fine, but what bothers me is it's an IEC lead so someone could easily use it on a far more inappropriate load, like a kettle.

I forgot to add aliexpress is great for innovative battery stuff as well (although I wouldn't trust a lot of the claimed ratings). I've got a cracking AA battery that's actually a li-on cell with a mini usb port for charging it that I use in a wireless mouse that's been in there since the start of july and I just bought a similar 9v battery for £1.50 more than an alkaline PP3 as I left my multimeter on and flattened it (again).


And if you think those purchases are fucking boring, I took delivery of a gallon of hand soap this morning.

[Gurke and Hare]

Is it legal to supply unfused plugs? Obviously there aren't anything like enough customs inspectors to keep up with the mountains of crap being shipped in from China, but this seems dodgy as fuck.

[steveh]

No. The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994.

Could possibly be legal in other territories that use the same plugs, though in Hong Kong they aren't legal.

[Sebastian Cobb]

It's not legal to sell in the uk, but aliexpress is like going to a massive foreign warehouse market so that's the risk.

Apparently they can make their way to the UK sometimes, sometimes in reputable kit where people have outsourced the power supplies to third parties etc.

[Hand Solo]

It's not legal to sell in the uk

Fuck off, Beardy says it is if it's not in a shop!

[Gurke and Hare]

Fuck off, Beardy says it is if it's not in a shop!

Joe Wilkinson's not let himself go that much actually.