Guide
Buying lighting from AliExpress
Lighting is where the price gap between a design store and a factory listing is at its widest — a fluted glass pendant is a simple object, and the markup on simple objects is where interiors retail makes its money. It's also the category that disappoints most often, and almost always for one of four reasons.
1. Voltage
Most fixtures listed on AliExpress are built for 220–240V, because that's what most of the world runs. If you're in North America, Japan, or anywhere else on ~110–120V, a 220V-only fixture will either underperform badly or not work at all.
Many listings offer a voltage option in a dropdown — often labelled "110V" or "US plug". Some don't. If the specification table lists only 220V and there is no selector, treat it as incompatible rather than assuming it'll be fine. For LED fixtures with an integrated driver this matters more, not less, because you cannot simply change the bulb to work around it.
2. Socket type
The common fittings you'll see are E27 (standard screw, the default on most of these), E14 (small screw), G9 (small two-pin, common in multi-arm fixtures) and GU10 (twist-lock spot). E26 is the North American equivalent of E27 and is close enough that E27 fixtures generally accept E26 bulbs and vice versa.
This is usually a non-issue as long as you read it — bulbs are cheap and universally available. It becomes an issue with integrated-LED fixtures, where there is no socket and no bulb: when the LED dies, the fixture dies. For anything you intend to keep for years, a replaceable-bulb fixture is the better buy even at the same price.
3. Scale — the real culprit
More returns trace to this than to voltage and fittings combined. Pendant lights are photographed from angles that imply mass. The specification table gives you a diameter and a height in centimetres, and that number is reliable.
Two rules of thumb worth holding against it: a pendant over a dining table generally wants to be roughly a third of the table's width, and the bottom of it wants to sit around 75–90cm above the table surface. A 20cm shade over a 160cm table will look like an accident. Check the drop length too — many listings ship with an adjustable cord, but some are fixed, and a fixed 40cm drop is useless in a room with high ceilings.
4. Certification, and being honest about it
Most of these fixtures do not carry UL, ETL, or CE marking that would satisfy an electrician or an insurer. Some listings claim CE; the claim is not always substantiated. This is a real consideration and worth stating plainly rather than skipping past:
- For a plug-in fixture — a table lamp, a floor lamp — the risk is contained and easy to inspect.
- For anything hard-wired into your ceiling, have an electrician fit it. They'll spot a bad earth or an underspecified cable immediately, the labour is modest, and it resolves the insurance question. Budget for it as part of the purchase price — it often still lands far below the design-store equivalent.
- If you rent, check your tenancy terms before changing a ceiling fixture at all.
Checklist
- Does it support your mains voltage? Is there a selector?
- Replaceable bulb, or integrated LED you can't service?
- Diameter and drop length against the actual room measurements.
- Hard-wired? Budget an electrician.