Buying rare semiconductors on AliExpress

[cleverdick]

Just a heads-up.

Several weeks ago, I ordered a pair of Pioneer PA3002B amplifier power output devices. From the photo, this was the genuine item (not the later type with metal tab and wider fixing holes).

The consignment never showed up. And now I'm to expect a refund, supposedly.

So in that time, somebody else has had my money and made interest on it, in return for supplying precisely nothing. (Quite a good business model if you think about it!)

I suppose one cannot blame the platform for the behaviour of the unscrupulous sellers that use it, but it's worth noting that AliExpress would appear to be no better-regulated than eBay - where vendors are allowed to advertise what they don't have and sell you hope instead of substance.

So beware.

 

[painttoad]

i suggest that next time you make a thread asking what the chances are that it's legit.

 

[swechsler]

Never attribute to maliciousness that which can be more adequately explained by incompetence.

That is, I doubt their aim was to make interest on your money (and realistically, how much interest could it be? On a $200 order at 4% interest (that's pretty high these days and most banks pay about 1%), that's $.67/month. Any company that doesn't fulfill its orders is not going to get a large number of customers, so that business model won't scale.

I think it's more likely that the company lists everything that its supplier has in their catalog, and then they try to order it, and fail. We all know these days that many things that claim to be available are no longer so (just watch some of the Youtube car repair channels for more examples of this).

But overall I agree with @painttoad, the odds of this being a legitimate device, no matter how it looks, are very low. Even if it claims to be NOS, and that's pretty rare on AE.

IMO, if it's been out of production well more than 10 years, your only hope of getting a real one is to buy used or from a confirmed NOS reseller. Not Ali Express.

 

[swechsler]

BTW, overall you're correct, in that

AliExpress would appear to be no better-regulated than eBay - where vendors are allowed to advertise what they don't have

Because both of them are just selling platforms, and have no way to verify what one of their sellers has in stock (unlike Amazon, who sell a large percentage of the merchandise on their platform, neither eBay nor Ali Express sell anything themselves). That would be unrealistic on even the best, most customer service-centered platform. That's why seller feedback exists, and it's at least more useful on eBay than on AliExpress, where buyers are highly encouraged to leave feedback as soon as an order is placed rather than after they receive the item.

 

[Lavane]

Personally I wouldn't trust ebay or aliexpress when buying rare parts.
Either your probably going to get a fake, or nothing at all.
I know shops like Little Diode can he expensive, but I've bought several hard to find parts from them even though they cost a lot because I knew I was getting the real deal, not Chinese fakes.

 

[cleverdick]

So here's the advert, clearly stating 'in stock'.
To me, this is fraud.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007650729304.html?spm=a2g0o.buyer-tracking.appTrackingRecommend.1.69c22e8cptVmtG&gps-id=appTrackingRecommend&scm=1007.30509.521268.0&scm_id=1007.30509.521268.0&scm-url=1007.30509.521268.0&pvid=ee1d790c-76bb-442b-8b22-04b4e89d5c2d&_t=gps-id%3AappTrackingRecommend%2Cscm-url%3A1007.30509.521268.0%2Cpvid%3Aee1d790c-76bb-442b-8b22-04b4e89d5c2d%2Ctpp_buckets%3A668%232846%238109%231935&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22order%22%3A%226%22%2C%22eval%22%3A%221%22%2C%22sceneId%22%3A%2220509%22%2C%22fromPage%22%3A%22recommend%22%7D&pdp_npi=6%40dis%21GBP%219.99%219.99%21%21%2185.97%2185.97%21%400b88489417907890992666183e103a%2112000041653906856%21rec%21UK%218446794493%21XZ%211%210%21n_tag%3A-29911%3Bd%3Ab73ae037%3Bm03_new_user%3A-29895&utparam-url=scene%3AappTrackingRecommend%7Cquery_from%3A%7Cx_object_id%3A1005007650729304%7C_p_origin_prod%3A

 

[absolon]

Probably not the best idea to buy "rare semiconductors" for a bargain price on a marketplace you aren't entirely comfortable or familiar with. Have you pursued it with Ali Express or the seller? Clearly states in the sidebar that money back if not received.

 

[painttoad]

From the photo, this was the genuine item

So here's the advert, clearly stating 'in stock'.
To me, this is fraud.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007650729304.html?spm=a2g0o.buyer-tracking.appTrackingRecommend.1.69c22e8cptVmtG&gps-id=appTrackingRecommend&scm=1007.30509.521268.0&scm_id=1007.30509.521268.0&scm-url=1007.30509.521268.0&pvid=ee1d790c-76bb-442b-8b22-04b4e89d5c2d&_t=gps-id%3AappTrackingRecommend%2Cscm-url%3A1007.30509.521268.0%2Cpvid%3Aee1d790c-76bb-442b-8b22-04b4e89d5c2d%2Ctpp_buckets%3A668%232846%238109%231935&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22order%22%3A%226%22%2C%22eval%22%3A%221%22%2C%22sceneId%22%3A%2220509%22%2C%22fromPage%22%3A%22recommend%22%7D&pdp_npi=6%40dis%21GBP%219.99%219.99%21%21%2185.97%2185.97%21%400b88489417907890992666183e103a%2112000041653906856%21rec%21UK%218446794493%21XZ%211%210%21n_tag%3A-29911%3Bd%3Ab73ae037%3Bm03_new_user%3A-29895&utparam-url=scene%3AappTrackingRecommend%7Cquery_from%3A%7Cx_object_id%3A1005007650729304%7C_p_origin_prod%3A

that item doesn't even look real.

 

[cleverdick]

Probably not the best idea to buy "rare semiconductors" for a bargain price on a marketplace you aren't entirely comfortable or familiar with. Have you pursued it with Ali Express or the seller? Clearly states in the sidebar that money back if not received.

Yes I now have a refund. But the time I've wasted waiting is the real issue. If I'd known straight away that they couldn't fulfil the order, I'd have kept looking.

 

[eiraved]

For grins, I decided to see if any were available and found a thread stating the PA3002B is the same chip as NEC uPC1188H and Hitachi HA1397 (with first two legs cut off - non connected). Looks like these are available as well as their datasheets.

help me for PA3002b pioneer IC

hi friends.my name is sadegh. i have an old circuit with PA3002b pioneer IC, and i can't find PA3002b datasheet. i want to use this circuit for my audio system.please help me for pinout this ic.

www.diyaudio.com

 

[petehall347]

So here's the advert, clearly stating 'in stock'.
To me, this is fraud.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007650729304.html?spm=a2g0o.buyer-tracking.appTrackingRecommend.1.69c22e8cptVmtG&gps-id=appTrackingRecommend&scm=1007.30509.521268.0&scm_id=1007.30509.521268.0&scm-url=1007.30509.521268.0&pvid=ee1d790c-76bb-442b-8b22-04b4e89d5c2d&_t=gps-id%3AappTrackingRecommend%2Cscm-url%3A1007.30509.521268.0%2Cpvid%3Aee1d790c-76bb-442b-8b22-04b4e89d5c2d%2Ctpp_buckets%3A668%232846%238109%231935&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22order%22%3A%226%22%2C%22eval%22%3A%221%22%2C%22sceneId%22%3A%2220509%22%2C%22fromPage%22%3A%22recommend%22%7D&pdp_npi=6%40dis%21GBP%219.99%219.99%21%21%2185.97%2185.97%21%400b88489417907890992666183e103a%2112000041653906856%21rec%21UK%218446794493%21XZ%211%210%21n_tag%3A-29911%3Bd%3Ab73ae037%3Bm03_new_user%3A-29895&utparam-url=scene%3AappTrackingRecommend%7Cquery_from%3A%7Cx_object_id%3A1005007650729304%7C_p_origin_prod%3A

 

[ConradH]

Friends don't let friends buy capacitors and semiconductors on eBay or AliExpress.

 

[chazix]

I'm going to pipe up that I'm uncomfortable with putting ebay into the same category as AliExpress. There are vendors who market on ebay that I regard as "first tier", while AliExpress is firmly in the "only if truly desperate tier".

 

[cleverdick]

For grins, I decided to see if any were available and found a thread stating the PA3002B is the same chip as NEC uPC1188H and Hitachi HA1397 (with first two legs cut off - non connected). Looks like these are available as well as their datasheets.

help me for PA3002b pioneer IC

hi friends.my name is sadegh. i have an old circuit with PA3002b pioneer IC, and i can't find PA3002b datasheet. i want to use this circuit for my audio system.please help me for pinout this ic.

www.diyaudio.com

Thanks - yes I had seen this already, but obviously preferred to get the real thing NOS if possible.
Normally I wouldn't dream of using AliExpress as a source of components.

 

[whoaru99]

IMO, the most like place for any stash of key NOS semiconductors isn't China, rather is an AKer house.

 

[whoaru99]

...while AliExpress is firmly in the "only if truly desperate tier".

FWIW, I've puchased several things off AliExpress without any issues at all, but those things weren't semiconductors nor rare/obscure items.

A recent example was a battery box and flexible bus bars to assemble a LiFePO4 battery. Appears to be exactly like the one I bought elsewhere, but at much lower cost. Came very well packaged, etc, etc.

 

[gadget73]

I'm going to pipe up that I'm uncomfortable with putting ebay into the same category as AliExpress. There are vendors who market on ebay that I regard as "first tier", while AliExpress is firmly in the "only if truly desperate tier".

true, but you have to be careful who you buy what from. There are plenty of vendors selling the same knockoff crap as can be found elsewhere mixed in with the folks selling high quality genuine items.

 

[eiraved]

Thanks - yes I had seen this already, but obviously preferred to get the real thing NOS if possible.
Normally I wouldn't dream of using AliExpress as a source of components.

The semiconductors mentioned are available in several locations, not just AliExpress.
I get it, i'd rather use original parts myself, but it's good to have an alternative part for repairing your unit. It's much better than having a boat anchor!

 

[AudioAvarice]

I wouldn't buy anything branded from AliExpress and expect it to be genuine. As others have said plenty of great quality OEM parts, and Chinese branded goods.

 

[tarior]

Legit Pioneer branded parts that have been NLA for decades? From Chinese Amazon? And you're surprised that it's fraudulent? C'mon, man!