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From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

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From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

Christmas

Thread 12 - hampergeddon

999 replies

Reastie · 07/11/2019 06:47

Couldn’t resist the title given the chatter about the hampers. Cross fingers they arrive and are fantastic or that refunds are fast and painless.

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Reastie · 07/11/2019 06:48

camel camel camel is a great page for price tracking amazon

Sockeatingmonster’s top tips for using aliexpress

Check reviews
Be wary of plastic toys. There have been concerns about toxic plastics from China, and I have binned plastic figures for having very unpleasant smells. I no longer buy any 'low-end' plastic items (UPDATE: I wouldn’t buy squishiest either, for the same reason) and only ever from sellers with lots of positive reviews
Aliexpress refund/complaints procedure is actually way more straightforward than eBay, and stacked in the buyer's favour
Beware of mains operated electricals, many of which are supplied without fused plugs. Always message the seller first if in doubt, don't rely on the photos
I don't trust dress up clothes to be flame retardant, although I don't believe this is UK law anyway?
Clothes can come up very small. Quality can be variable (excellent to awful). Photos are often of similar items, so take them with a pinch of salt and check the reviews.
Actually, all photos on Aliexpress should be taken with a pinch of salt. Again, check reviews (where buyers often post photos of the actual item received)
I wouldn't trust toys to meet UK safety standards and wouldn't buy anything that could pose a risk (e.g. Paint might not be safe for children to gum, there could be sharp edges/choking hazards, etc)
Lego alternatives don't tend to stick together as well as genuine Lego. Minifigures are still excellent value, but the odd one might benefit from a few drops of superglue.

10. Barbie and other doll clothes can be excellent value, but check reviews for fabric quality and finish (UPDATE: Type “18 inch doll” for clothes that will fit American Girl/Our Generation/Designafriend dolls. Shoes are particularly excellent value. Wash dark clothing first as dyes can stain dolls’ limbs)
11. Stationery is generally excellent value, although paper quality can be lower than expected. Type 'kawaii' into stationery and be prepared to spend a fortune!

Also to add I’ve seen a fair few posts from fb this year from small businesses where aliexpress have posted photos of their products and photos without permission, so be wary and be warned the photo might not be exactly what you get.

Wibbletooth has a great gift idea:

Best received grandparent/great aunt etc stocking filler that I’ve done has been a personalised glasses cleaning cloth, with a photo of the grandkids on.

I did it on eBay - was much cheaper than many other places - and the quality was great. Cost them was about £2.50, there seem to be 2 or 3 on there that are about £3 now so guessing it was one of them - didn’t recognise either of the listings. At the time it was cheaper to go through the eBay page than their website. There were two sizes - seem to think it was worth the extra 30p or similar to get the slightly bigger cloth - not much of a difference but enough to make it feel a bit more substantial.

They were all in awe as had never come across photos being printed on fabric. Also meant they always had a photo of the grandkids with them at all times without needing to carry photos with them as they always had their glasses and this glasses case with them and alwaûs had a cleaning cloth in the glasses case anyway.

Think I teamed them with a mini cleaning spritz and mini glasses screwdriver to get 3 related stocking presents.

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