I've never had success ordering on Aliexpress. The orders always get canceled. I made an account specifically to order RISCV boards and none have gone through.
I buy a lot of small electrical components from AliExpress and have had a near perfect success rate here in Canada (not bulk, maybe 1-5 of each to have spares). Just lots of soldering accessories (and my TS100 soldering iron).
Only board I've ordered has been an Orange Pi, and it claims to have arrived in my mailbox (I've been away from home).
I've used AliExpress off and on since maybe 2015 without incident. I tend to avoid ordering things between November and mid February due to the western holiday shipping crunch followed by the Chinese new year. Other than that my experience has been pretty good.
I haven't ordered computer boards, but I did order a Peltier laptop cooler similar to this one[0] with a silicone aluminum pad rather than gel, and it came exactly as pictured. It could be stronger but it's pretty much what I expected. I thought at worst it's a nice portable aluminum stand and I can replace the cooling unit if necessary.
Yes, but a good laptop cooler fan is better. The Peltier cooler also has a fan so isn't silent but certainly quieter. I use it propped up at a high angle (with external keyboard) which has a good display height and natural convection cooling.
Only board I've ordered has been an Orange Pi, and it claims to have arrived in my mailbox (I've been away from home).