DHGate, Alibaba, etc?

[Witrebel]

Hey guys,

I have been looking for a reliable way to procure used mining hardware.  So far my search has been confined to ebay, this forum, craigslist, and amazon.  Has anyone ever used alibaba or dhgate or anyone of those more wholesale type sites?  Large minimum order qty doesn't really bother me so long as it doesn't imply $100000 orders.  I am looking to establish a small-medium sized mine.   Just curious where everyone has been getting their stuff.  As for new it looks like everything is sold out now, unless someone other than bitmain is selling.  And the used market looks pretty flat too.  Thoughts?

[generalt]

I believe that Bitmain's own site pawns people over to DH Gate so I would imagine that they would be a little bit reliable.

[Gren]

I'm a newbie my self so what i say don't have too much weight to it, but this is my experience/thoughts

I have used Alli Express/ DH Gate, communications with vendors was very difficult/frustrating, and shipping is murder, but i usually got what i paid for. if you do by there, go with the ones with better rep and more sales, they usually describe their product better and have better customer service(better English)the smaller stores for me were very frustrating purchases. save $$ in price, but hours/Days of frustration with vendor... also a Time zone/ language barrier thing, A lot of Mining equipment listed is obscenely overpriced and their product description can be tricky. if in doubt ask vendor, if doubt the vendor, test their English, I had one that replied yes to everything, Walk away, lol

My advice, make friends with a someone that speaks Chinese fluently, and have him/her handle your transactions for you, its the only way i had things go smoothly!

I primarily buy Pirated automotive/Diesel/Industrial Diagnostic Hardware and software for myself and sometimes re-sell to local mechanics.

I buy miners every now and again if the shipping costs are somewhere close to reasonable, which they are usually not.

I swear every purchase i have made has a customs declaration of less than $20 and gift written on it, lol

But I would not recommend it for a large purchase. if you do, I really think you should find someone that you trust and speaks the language so things are absolutely clear. Leave nothing to chance. I suppose all this  Depends on where you are geographically, but the shipping costs have always been high for me.  If your going to do a huge order, customs may be an issue, so you need to be versed on that, i can see this actually being a good thing doing a huge order, if communication is good and cost savings of sending it on a shipping container vs airmail, but you need to know how to import stuff / clear customs , the vendor will sell it to you and send it, if you can't get it through customs they will say its your problem, not theirs, just the way it is. this happened to me trying to import some cheap diesel generators, but the motors were not epa approved and i lost a lot of $$$, didn't know what i was doing, lol, live and learn.

my 2¢