I remember when DealExtreme (DX.com) was popular. I complained that their search was broken and returned to many unrelated results. Their reply was that that boosted sales. That was when I started trying to avoid them. Not the are gone.
What about how AliExpress' search works? The first few listings will be prior viewed items, typically wildly unrelated to the current search-- just remarketing ads based on products visited. Then the things labeled as ads are even more outlandish and inappropriate (serums, pills, pseudo-scams)-- but I guess the ROI is there, else they wouldn't be running them. Similar to the old days of FB where any scammy rebill products were allowed, then once an advertiser base was built, they canned all of the exceptionally unscrupulous advertisers.
Before it became the insane high-volume low-profit fraud ridden race to the bottom it is now, I made spending money in university selling Wii accessories on both eBay and a simple online shop.
I was always up front about authenticity, long shipping times, and tested products myself first.
Then Amazon and Aliexpress came along (to the mainstream) so it’s no surprise they couldn’t remain viable.