/CSG/ - Chinese Shit General Information v0.7
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Websites to buy cheap shit:
 - aliexpress.com
 - alibaba.com
 - banggood.com
 - dhgate.com
 - dx.com
 - ebay.com
 - gearbest.com
 - geekbuying.com
 - pandawill.com

Things that we recommend you DO NOT buy:
 - Sunglasses, though there are many good fakes, many do not have UV coatings.
 - US/German/etc - branded headphones. They will be fake.
 - Memory cards and USB sticks can be bought with caution, but many don't have their advertised capacity. Run h2testw or a similar program to make sure you get what you're paying for.
 - Anything that goes in your ass.
 - Anything that goes on your dick or vagina.
 (Anon's remark: Actually, properly shaped silicone / pyrex / steel is safe enough, but /g/ doesn't really need to know about yours.)
 - "Cool" and "Trendy" asian fashion clothes. EG. Yesstyle clothes. You'll look like a faggot.

General Buying Tips:
 IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, then it very well could be. Ask in the thread for feedback.
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 - Payment: Use Paypal when you can, or purchase with a prepaid Visa. Find out when your money back deadline is so you can always request a refund if things go bad.
            Alipay on Aliexpress should be safe enough, too. Preferable for sellers (and in turn, buyers) due to lower / no fees.
 - Buying clothes: Chinese clothes sizes are different to US sizes, and are usually smaller. Be cautions if there are no measurements on clothing to judge its true size.


Notable brands that are known to be reliable:
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Portable Items / Every Day Carry:
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Battery Banks:
Buying too cheap might result in very hot lithium housefires & most don't have anywhere near their advertised capacity. Stick to the one brand that is known to use great batteries and electronics:
 - Xiaomi

Camera Bag:
Bags & backpacks in general are very affordable from China. For camera use, the National Geographic & Lowepro bags in particular have great design.
 - National Geographic
 - Lowepro

Flashlights/Torches:
Focus on Cree LEDs with a single chip, especially their Q5 and XM-L2 series. They have long battery life / super strong output, respectively. Do not pay too much attention to usually bogus lumen ratings.
 - SK68-type (many have fake Cree Q5 that are actually LatticeBright, don't bother finding genuine ones though)
 - Convoy C8 & S2+ (Red / Blue variants on the latter have a nicer strap, but may cost extra vs gray)
 - Eagle eye
 - Nitecore
 - Olight

Headphones/IEMs:
 - KZ-HDS1, ATE, ED3, ED9, DT3
 - Superlux HD661, HD668B
 - Takstar Hi2050, Pro80
 - Xiaomi Pistons 2 & 3, Dual Drivers

Knives:
Specific models are up to your own taste, but these brands are good:
 - Enlan Bee
 - Ganzo
 - Sanrenmu

Pens:
 Fountain:
  - Jinhao
  - Baoer
  - Hero

Phones:
Chinese phones can be had for a fraction of the price of the big brand name phones with all the power you need.
 - Xiaomi phones
 - Meizu phones
 - OnePlus phones (don't put up with invite-only nonsense, though)
 - Previous generation refurbished flagships

Electronic and Computer Goods:
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Amateur radio:
 - Baofeng

Battery chargers (for either or both of NiMh and Lithium rechargeables):
 - Miller ML-102 v8
 - Xtar MC1
 - Nitecore i2 and i4 (d2 and d4 if you like to additionally have a display or LiFePO4 charging)
 - Klarus C2 (also can be used as power bank)
 - Opus BT-C3100 (preferably v2.2+)
 - Skyrc MC3000

Batteries:
 NiMh AA/AAA:
  - Hobbyking's Turnigy (Eneloop alternatives, high-end, check which warehouse you buy from!)
  - GP ReCyko (Ikea Ladda alternatives, low-end)
 Lithium rechargeables:
  - Buy LG / Sanyo / Panasonic. Not necessarily Chinese in origin, but Chinese resellers are often the cheapest way to get smaller quantities shipped.

Bicycle computers:
 - BoGeer YT-816, YT-833

Drawing Tablets / Digitizers:
 - Huion

Drones / Quadcopters:
 - Cheerson
 - Floureon H101

Electrical DIY:
 - Aoyue and Yihua 936 soldering station (double check ground)
 - A-BF GS60 and GS90 soldering irons (GS120 uses hard to find larger tips that are expensive & harder to find, better avoid that one)
 - All-sun multimeters
 - KCX-045 USB voltage meter
 - Uni-T (anything, official spec sheets are correct)

Gaymur Gear:
 - Clone headsets

Google "Cardboard" VR Glasses:
 - BoboVR II and III
 - VR Box II

Microphones:
 - BM-800
 - SF-666

Music / MP3 Player:
 - AGPTeK (alias for RuiZu)
 - RuiZu X02

Networking:
 - Xiaomi Mini Router

Sports cameras:
 - Mobius Actioncam
 - SJCam
 - Xiaomi Yicam

Tablets:
 - Cube tablets
 - Chuwi tablets
 - Onda tablets
 - Teclast X98 Pro

Universal Programmers:
 - MiniPRO TL866xx series programmers (works on Linux and Windows)

USB chargers:
 - Orico
 - Tronsmart
 - Xiaomi's power rail (the version that has USB ports)

Other Knicknacks:
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 - Screwdrivers
 - Panties
 - Controllers
 - Android devices
 - Cables
 - Adapters
 - ExpressPort cards
 - Borescope cameras