AliExpress runs sales constantly in the small sense — a rotating stream of "SuperDeals" and flash promos, similar to the one we flagged in our smart home roundup. But three events a year are actually worth planning a purchase around. Dates shift by a few days year to year, so treat the windows below as the pattern to expect, and confirm exact dates once you're close.
In this guide
11.11 — the big one
11.11, also called Singles' Day or the Global Shopping Festival, is the single largest shopping event on AliExpress — bigger than Black Friday or Cyber Monday on this platform specifically. It typically runs a warm-up period in the days before November 11, where you can browse deals and collect coupons ahead of time, with the main event running from the 11th through roughly the 19th. Discounts across the platform can reach steep levels on a wide range of products during this window, more consistently than at any other point in the year.
Anniversary Sale
AliExpress runs an Anniversary Sale in March, marking the platform's own founding. It's smaller in scale than 11.11 but still a genuine discount event rather than a marketing-only promotion, and it's the main sale that falls outside the November–December cluster — useful if you don't want to wait until year-end for a real price drop.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday
These run late November, close enough to 11.11 that the two events blend together on the platform somewhat. In practice, 11.11 tends to be the deeper and more consistent discount event of the two here — Black Friday on AliExpress specifically doesn't carry quite the same weight it does on US-based retailers. If you're only planning around one date, prioritize 11.11.
How to actually shop these well
- Verify the discount is real. A price-history browser extension or tool shows you what an item actually cost in the weeks before the sale — a "50% off" badge means nothing if the original price was inflated first.
- Add to a wishlist early. Sellers frequently offer wishlist-specific coupons in the run-up to a big sale, so items you've saved ahead of time sometimes get cheaper than ones you discover on the day itself.
- Don't let the countdown timer rush you. Scarcity messaging is a sales tactic here like anywhere else — if you're not sure about an item, it'll very likely still exist (and often still be discounted) tomorrow.
- Factor in shipping timing. Order volume spikes hard during these windows, which stretches delivery times — see our shipping guide for what to actually expect, and don't order something you need by a specific date during peak sale periods without paying for an upgraded shipping line.
Frequently asked questions
When is AliExpress's biggest sale of the year?
11.11, also called Singles' Day or the Global Shopping Festival, running November 11 through roughly the 19th with a warm-up period starting a few days earlier. It's the single largest shopping event on the platform — bigger than Black Friday or Cyber Monday there.
Is AliExpress Black Friday actually worth waiting for separately from 11.11?
It runs close enough to 11.11 (late November) that the two events blend together somewhat, and 11.11 is generally the deeper discount of the two on this specific platform. If you're planning around one date, 11.11 is the one to prioritize.
Are AliExpress sale discounts real, or is the "was" price inflated first?
Both happen, and it varies by seller. Check a price-history tool or browser extension before trusting a strikethrough discount at face value, and compare the sale price against what the same item cost from the same seller a few weeks earlier rather than assuming the percentage off is accurate.
Whenever you do buy, our under-$15 roundup and category picks are a good starting list of things we've actually verified are worth the money, sale or not.
