I order via email, that way you interact with a sales rep. If you ask 20 questions, back and forth, get an invoice and so on, it feels to me like you're more of a customer than via AliExpress
Caveat is pricing. AliExpress runs so many promo periods with so many codes that it may cost you less that way. They also subsidize/ have incredible shipping rates.
One of the questions I ask is always warranty. These companies typically offer 1 year. Via AliExpress things can get tricky past 60 days or so