There is a dispute process just like any other e-commerce website. Basically, you are dealing directly with Chinese factories in order to get cheap products that normally have to pass through an intermediary to get to the United States. The prices can be legitimately much lower for the same low-mid tier products that you encounter every day already, but there is no floor for how bad the quality of a product can be (although you should never expect miracles from something costing $2 or less).

I recently bought some $5 "Pzsr" (sic) leather watch straps and was surprised to find out that they were totally comparable in quality to my $25 Barton Leather strap, but I knew that there would be some luck of the draw involved. This is attractive to a lot of punters like myself who are thrilled to find good bargains and don't mind occasionally spending $20 on something that sucks.

If you just follow the recommendations of other hobbyists, you will avoid most of the risk while enjoying some heavy cost savings on mod parts, straps, interesting small brands, and so on.

Unfortunately I'm not really in a position to make that kind of choice right now (the clasp stuck closed after I put it on).

There is no real point to this post, I just hope I don't manage to break 19 consecutive Swatches while ripping out plaster in this house.

Since you collect Soviet kitsch you have to get the Merkur - one of the very few AliExpress brands that legitimately has its own aesthetic sensibility. Totally drenched in Chinese nationalism, it's campy but you have to admit it's 100% authentic. I have one of their pink cross dial watches and I quite like it (although I don't wear it much - my intention from the start was to save it for those special occasions that call for pink).

Oh yeah, plus you get an in-house movement :^)

Nice!! I used to order free road maps from tourism agencies - I believe I got 47/50 states eventually.

A really good leather band will be $50+, otherwise I find that $25 from Barton or Crown & Buckle is about the same quality as $5 - $10 on AliExpress. (Makes sense, you would expect most "American" budget brands to just be selling rebadged crap.)

I just bought an assortment of 5 $10 AliExpress straps based on random Reddit comments and all five of them were winners. In particular, a $5 fake alligator print strap feels almost identical to Barton's $30 alternative. The buckles are often lacking in quality, but with the money saved you can buy replacements and switch them out with the spring bar tool you already own. I am never looking back because I've been really disappointed by Barton and C&B products either falling apart or having bad hardware.

If you are looking into good leather straps you apparently get the best quality for cheap from Vietnam, this brand gets consistently recommended although I've never bought from them - https://ziczacleather.com

I'm a proud leftist 🫡👈