We use the AliExpress Wish List on every account we run for product testing. At any given time, we have 200-300 items saved across multiple folders, sorted by product category. During the 11.11 sale last year, the wish list was the only reason we caught a legitimate 40% price drop on a set of USB-C hubs we had been watching for two months. The price history was right there; we could see the item had not been artificially inflated before the sale.
This guide covers everything the wish list does, how to set it up on desktop and mobile, and a few things most guides skip, like the default list limit problem and when to use the wish list instead of the cart.
Table of Contents
What the AliExpress wish list is
The wish list is a save-for-later feature built into every AliExpress account. It stores products you are interested in but not ready to buy. Each saved item shows its current price, seller name, and whether a price change has occurred since you added it.
It works across devices. Save something on your laptop and it appears in the mobile app, and vice versa. You need a registered AliExpress account to use it; guest browsing does not support the wish list.
The practical value is price monitoring. AliExpress tracks the prices of your saved items and can notify you when they drop. During sales events like 11.11, Black Friday, and Anniversary Sales, this makes it easy to see which deals are real and which are inflated.
How to add products to your wish list
The process takes one click on any device.
On desktop:
Open any product page and click the “Add to Wish List” button (heart icon). If you have created folders, a dropdown lets you pick which folder to save the item to.
On mobile app:
Tap the heart icon on the product page. The item saves instantly to your default wish list. The mobile app does not let you choose a folder at the time of saving; you move items to specific folders afterward.
| Action | Desktop | Mobile app |
|---|---|---|
| Save to wish list | Click heart icon | Tap heart icon |
| Choose folder while saving | Yes | No (saves to default) |
| Access wish list | Top menu → Wish List | Account → Heart icon (top left) |
Creating and organizing folders
AliExpress allows multiple folders inside the wish list. This is worth setting up early, especially if you browse often.
On desktop:
- Go to your Wish List
- Click “+ Create Wish List”
- Enter a folder name
- Choose Public or Private
On mobile app:
- Open your Wish List
- Tap “My Lists” at the top
- Tap the red “+” icon
- Enter a name and choose visibility
Folder name restrictions: AliExpress does not accept brackets, commas, or diacritical marks (accented characters) in folder names. Use plain English or your language without special characters.
Some folder ideas that work well for regular shoppers: product categories (electronics, clothing, home), price tiers (under $5, $5-20, over $20), or purpose-based labels (gifts, testing, sale watch).
Public vs. private wish lists
Every folder you create can be set to public or private.
| Setting | Who can see it | Can you share it | Use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private | Only you | No | Personal shopping, price tracking |
| Public | Any AliExpress member who finds or receives the link | Yes | Gift lists, sharing finds with friends |
You can change the visibility anytime. On desktop, click “Edit List” on the folder. On the mobile app, tap the settings icon in the top right corner of the list.
One thing to know about public lists: anyone with the link can see the products you saved, but they cannot purchase items on your behalf and have them shipped to your address. AliExpress wish lists do not work like Amazon wish lists in that way. If someone wants to buy you a product from your list, they need your shipping address separately.
Moving and removing products
Items do not disappear from your wish list automatically. Even if a product is delisted or a seller closes their store, the listing stays in your wish list (it just becomes unclickable). You need to clean your lists manually.
On desktop:
Open your Wish List, find the item, and use the “Move” or “Remove” button next to it.
On mobile:
Tap the three-dot menu next to the item and select “Move to another list” or “Remove.”
If you move items between lists on mobile, the page refreshes after each move. This means you need to scroll back down to continue organizing. It is tedious with large lists but there is no batch-move feature.
Price drop alerts and notifications
By default, AliExpress sends email notifications when wish list items drop in price. You can configure the frequency on desktop only.
To configure alerts: Go to your Wish List → Click “Configure Alerts”
| Alert frequency | What happens |
|---|---|
| Daily | One email per day listing all wish list price changes |
| Every 3 days | Summary email every 3 days |
| Never | No price drop emails |
To view discounted items: On desktop, scroll to the bottom of your Wish List and click “Items with price drops.” On mobile, open the Wish List and tap the “Discounted Products” tab.
A warning from our testing: these price drop alerts are not always reliable indicators of a good deal. We have seen sellers raise prices by 20-30% a week before a sale, then apply a “discount” that brings the price back to where it was or slightly below. If you added the item to your wish list before the price increase, you can compare the current price against what you originally saved it at. That comparison is the real value of the wish list during sales.
Sharing your wish list
Only public folders can be shared. Private wish lists have no share option.
On desktop:
Click on the wish list folder name, then click “Share.” AliExpress provides sharing options for social media platforms and a direct link you can copy.
On mobile:
Open the list and tap the share icon. The mobile app offers more sharing options than desktop, including messaging apps.
Sharing platforms available: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, VKontakte, and direct link. The direct link is the most practical option since it works in any messaging app or email.
Wish list limits
AliExpress has specific limits on how many items and lists you can create.
| Limit | Amount |
|---|---|
| Products per wish list | 1,000 |
| Total wish lists (folders) | 10 |
| Maximum total saved items | 10,000 (across all lists) |
For most shoppers, these limits are more than enough. But if you browse heavily or use AliExpress for product sourcing, you can hit the per-list cap of 1,000 items, especially on the default wish list.
The default wish list problem (and how to fix it)
This is something no competitor guide covers properly, but it is a real issue for active shoppers.
When you tap the heart icon on mobile without choosing a folder, items go to the “default wish list.” Over time, this default list fills up. The problem: on newer versions of the AliExpress app (after version 8.88.4), the default wish list is hidden from the folder view. You cannot see it, browse it, or delete items from it. But it still counts toward your 1,000-item limit.
The result: you suddenly cannot add anything to any wish list because the hidden default list is full.
How we dealt with this: We hit this problem on one of our testing accounts after about 8 months of heavy use. Items could not be added to any list, with no clear error message explaining why.
The fix options:
- Use desktop: The desktop browser version still shows the default wish list contents. Log in on a computer, find items in the default list, and move or delete them.
- Move items proactively: Get into the habit of moving items from the default list to named folders regularly, before the default list fills up.
- On mobile, check “All Items” view: Some app versions show all saved items across lists. Use this view to identify and remove old items you no longer need.
The simplest prevention: always create named folders and use them. On desktop, you can choose the folder at save time. On mobile, save to default, then immediately move to a folder and delete from default.
Wish list vs. cart: when to use which
The wish list and the shopping cart serve different purposes, and using the right one at the right time saves effort during checkout.
| Feature | Wish list | Cart |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Save for later, track prices | Ready to buy |
| Price tracking | Yes, with alerts | No alerts |
| Item limit | 1,000 per list | No published limit |
| Syncs across devices | Yes | Yes |
| Coupons applied | No | Yes, at checkout |
| Items expire | No (stays until removed) | Can be removed by seller/stock changes |
Use the wish list when:
Use the cart when:
One practical trick: before a sale like 11.11, add items to your wish list weeks in advance. Note the prices. When the sale starts, move the items you want to buy into the cart, apply coupons, and compare the sale price against what you recorded. This is the most reliable way to verify whether a discount is real.
How to use the wish list during sales events
The wish list becomes most useful during AliExpress sales like 11.11, Black Friday, Summer Sale, and Anniversary Sales. Here is how to get the most out of it:
2-4 weeks before the sale:
Add items you are considering to your wish list. Note the current prices (take screenshots if needed, as AliExpress does not show a formal price history in the wish list).
1 week before the sale:
Check your wish list for any price increases. Sellers sometimes inflate prices before a sale so the “discount” looks larger. If you see an item that was $15 when you saved it and is now $22, be skeptical of any sale price above $15.
During the sale:
Open the “Discounted Products” tab in your wish list to see which saved items have active discounts. Compare against your noted pre-sale prices. Move genuine deals to your cart and apply coupons at checkout.
After the sale
Keep items in your wish list even if you do not buy them. Prices often drop further in the week after a major sale when sellers clear remaining inventory.
Final thoughts
The wish list is a functional tool, not just a bookmark feature. We rely on it across all our testing accounts to track prices, catch real deals, and avoid fake discounts. The two things that make the biggest difference are setting up folders early (so you avoid the default list problem) and adding items to the wish list before sales so you have a price baseline to compare against.
If you shop on AliExpress more than a few times a year, spending 5 minutes organizing your wish list will save you time and money on every purchase after that.
FAQ
1. Is there a limit to how many items I can save in my AliExpress wish list?
Yes. Each wish list folder holds up to 1,000 items, and you can create up to 10 folders, giving you a maximum of 10,000 saved items across all lists.
2. Can someone buy a product from my wish list and have it shipped to me?
No. AliExpress wish lists do not work like Amazon wish lists. If someone wants to buy you a gift from your shared list, they need your shipping address separately and must place the order from their own account.
3. Why can I not add items to my wish list anymore?
Your default wish list is likely full. On newer app versions, the default list is hidden but still counts toward the 1,000-item limit. Log in on a desktop browser to view and clean out the default list.
4. Do price drop alerts show real discounts?
Not always. Some sellers raise prices before sales and then apply a “discount” back to the original price. Use the wish list to compare the current price against the price when you first saved the item.
5. What is the difference between the wish list and the cart on AliExpress?
The wish list is for saving and price-tracking items you are not ready to buy. The cart is for items you plan to purchase soon. Coupons can only be applied in the cart at checkout, not in the wish list.
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