Online Shopping

Things to Remember while Purchasing from AliExpress

aliexpress logoAliExpress is the retail side of Alibaba and is a place to purchase goods in small quantities. AliExpress offers some sort of buyer protection which is very important when purchasing from another country and especially the Chinese goods which hardly carry any warranty. However, it is still a pretty risky place and you as a buyer must keep the following things in mind while purchasing from AliExpress.com

Tips to Stay Safe on AliExpress

If you are buying from AliExpress for the first time, the tips mentioned below would ensure a happy shopping experience for you.

1. Buy from Established Sellers

Always try to buy from sellers which are selling since a good time and have a good feedback. These sellers mostly care about their ratings and are happy to help you in case there is a problem with your order. Also look at the past feedback that they received on the same item. If it is also favorable, you’ve found a good seller to buy from. Your transaction should mostly be very pleasant with such sellers. On the product page take note of the following things:

aliexpress seller badge
Seller Details on AliExpress

Open (years) lists the number of years has the shop existed on AliExpress. The older, the better. For example, the shop (Foison Group) in the above example was established on December 9th 2012. The fact that the shop has existed for 3+ years speaks for itself that the seller is here to stay. Expensive items should be shopped from shops which have existed since long.

seller badge scores aliexpress
Seller Badge

Top Rated Seller is a badge given to sellers who have provided excellent service over a period of time. Aliexpress reviews the sellers monthly and only the best out of best are promoted as Top Rated Seller.

Feedback Score shows the number of 4 or 5 star ratings received by the seller (minus) the number of 1 or 2 star feedback received. Sellers with high feedback score are well established and are expected to provide good support around the clock.

Positive Feedback shows the percentage of positive feedback received by the seller during the past 6 months. The higher the positive feedback, the better. But do compare the Positive Feedback with Feedback Score as new sellers will also have close to 100% positive feedback because they haven’t sold enough and hence no real feedback from end users.

Number of product orders and feedback choosing a seller which has sold a good quantity of the product you wanna buy is a good idea. You’d also see buyer feedback related to the product making it easy for you to judge the quality.product feedback & orders aliexpress

Established sellers also have a dedicated sales & support team which is usually available around the clock and you can contact them for any issues that may have.

2. Read Complete Item Details/Description

Sometimes very useful information is included in the item details/description section. Do NOT place the order by just looking at the product title and photos, instead check the description as well and there might be certain explanations that seller has left for the buyers. For example, the seller may state the features, specifications, compatibility,  quality of the item and whether it is a replica or an original product. Shipping, refunds and support related questions are also generally answered in the item description.

Aliexpress Item Details Clarification
Example of seller’s clarification in description

3. Seller Guarantees

For many items, sellers offer their own set of guarantees. Others aside, one thing that you should definitely look for before buying expensive & branded items (…cough iPhones, Galaxies) is the Guaranteed Genuine tag. If a product that falls under this guarantee is found to be counterfeit, you will get a full refund (shipping costs included).

seller guarantees aliexpress
Seller Guarantees

Returns Extra is also a good choice to have. Under this, sellers agree to accept your items back if you do not like them for any reason. You surely need to pay return shipping costs, hence it only makes sense for expensive products.

These details can be found under Buyer Protection section of the product listing page or under Seller Guarantees tab.

4. Communicate with the Seller before Purchasing

Before making a purchase, do communicate with the seller using the Chat or Messaging system that is provided by AliExpress. Always clear your doubts and ask any item details, shipping or delivery questions you may have.

Some listings don’t mention the brand of the item and some others might have identical spelling to a branded product. These items can be knockoffs and do confirm with the seller if that is the case.

5. Think twice for items with a super low price

If you feel that the price of a particular item is much lower than its real value, it’s better to avoid it. These are most probably the Chinese knockoffs which look like a genuine product, but are not in reality.

6. Avoid Free Shipping for Expensive Items

Free shipping is usually sent via the National Post service and takes a long time to arrive. There is also an extended risk of items being delivered as broken or even never reaching the destination. So, while free shipping is okay for low priced goods, do choose some decent shipping service (DHL, EMS; etc) when buying items with high prices. Also ask for shipping insurance if the seller supports that.

7. Customs/Import Duties may be Charged

Low cost items usually get past the eyes of customs department, but there is a high chance that you’ll incur import duties for expensive products. So, do compare the price after accounting for customs with the regular price in your country before declaring that the xyz item can be purchased for a lower price from China.

Different countries have different rates at which duties are charged for imports. Duty Calculator is a good place to get an estimate, but it is not always correct. Depending on the customs inspector the actual customs imposed on your import can be higher or lesser than the one estimated by Duty Calculator. Also, please don’t ask your questions about how much customs will be charged, because we really can’t answer that.

8. Do not open a dispute before receiving the items

AliExpress allows you to dispute a transaction in case you are not satisfied with your purchased products or if you don’t receive it within the projected delivery date. You only get one chance of disputing a transaction and you should not waste it if the seller is talking a longer time in shipping the goods. That is an easy method adopted by a lot of sellers to keep them safe from disputes arising later on. Here’s an example:

You place an order on 20th of August. The seller has not provided shipping details (or they don’t work) till 23rd and out of frustration, you open a Not Shipped dispute against the seller. The seller would then ship the items within the next few days and deny your dispute by providing/updating the shipping details. Now that your issue for dispute is resolved, you would be required to accept the resolution and close the dispute.

Once you accept the seller’s resolution and close the dispute, the seller is super safe as you’ve lost the only chance of disputing the transaction that you get. If that’s not enough, you can’t even leave feedback for this transaction making the seller even safer.

So, please use your dispute carefully and try not to waste it on anything except for Undelivered or Damaged product received.

Update: AliExpress now lets buyers cancel an ongoing dispute. Cancelling does not close the dispute and you can open up a dispute again at a later stage before the purchase protection ends. This is important/useful if the seller is asking for more time (provided it is reasonable) or your question/query is answered in the communication. DO NOT ACCEPT the dispute unless you’re satisfied with what you have received and/or the proposal that seller has offered.

9. Use it before confirming receipt

When you receive the delivery of your product, don’t get too excited and confirm the receipt of the item. Do use it thoroughly for a day or two before confirming the receipt. If there is a problem with the item received, contact the seller and ask for resolution. If his replies are not helpful, chat with one of AliExpress’s support representative and discuss your problem. Open a dispute when they suggest you the same.

When all is done, do leave your feedback summing up your experience with the product and seller. Leave negative feedback (1-2 stars) if you’re not at all satisfied and  if you are satisfied with your received product, don’t just forget about it. Instead, show some generosity and leave positive feedback for the seller/item. This helps in keeping the buying and selling system healthy 🙂

Cool! Take me to AliExpress

Updates:

19 March 2015: Added a few additional points and fine tuned a few older ones with images which might prove helpful in identifying a good seller.
24 December 2015: Updated with changes made to seller badges.

1,142 Comments

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  • In the picture (just above point 2.) , it shows 54 orders on the right-hand side to the stars, what is it? Is it the how many ever times the item has been bought from the store?

    Is it a good indicator of a good store?

  • You should add a section on not paying and what to do when a seller messages you AFTER the order is placed asking for more money for the shipping. I encounter this often on Aliexpress buying for my business and it is super frustrating because if you do not pay there is about a 99% chance your items will not be shipped, the seller will just ask you to cancel the order and choose “other” as the reason which I’ve learned never to agree to do because it let’s them off the hook. I open a dispute with a photo of their message asking for more money and then I also contact customer service to report them which results in a message to the seller from Aliexpress warning them that this practice goes against seller policy and that they have zero tolerance for seller’s doing this . Usually after the dispute and the warning message my items are shipped.

    • There is a contact seller option on the product listing that you can use to talk to the seller and communicate with him.

  • I wonder: if I shared my aliexpresss wishlist with someone and the’ve bought me something, would my real name and adress be shown to them? Or would Aliepress keep this information for itself? Could someone buy stuf for me without knowing where I live and stuff?

  • Why has aliexpress made it so easy for Sellers to block buyers.This has allowed sellers to misbehave towards buyers.In my case for instance a seller blocked me because I have opened a dispute and the dispute has gone in my favour.Some blocked me when I confronted them because they were dishonest.I think this behaviour is not good for business so I will plead with aliexpress to make things difficult for this unscrupulous sellers.Another thing I am not happy about is the fact that the buyer bears the full cost of shipment when an item is returned to the seller.This has allowed sellers to send anything at all to buyers. Sometimes buyers are forced to keep the item because shipping cost is equal to or more than the cost of the item.I hope aliexpress will change this policy as soon as possible.

  • Aliexpress’s customer comments are almost always FAKE, and you will notice that no seller (that I have seen) will ever have a poor average rating. Don’t trust ANY info coming from China! They value the truth between themselves… but will lie without shame to non-Chinese people. Since I have never been to China, HOW do I know this? From Chinese people I know at home, that’s how. If they EVER buy anything from China, they ONLY do it when in China. But… they most often do not buy, because they call it “junk”. I doubt it’s all “junk”… but be VERY careful dealing with Chinese companies!!!

    • My reviews aren’t fake! I’ve only encountered lovely sellers. My business relies on AliExpress.

  • Please do not use AliExpress. Their buyer protection program is bogus. I had a seller who only sent me a part of my purchase and when I tried to get a refund for the missing item, their customer service had me wait months without any resolution. I ended up losing money on the product that was never received. You can’t get in touch with their customer service to resolve anything. You have to wait for their so called “Aliexpress Judgment Details” which keeps extending your wait time by weeks at a time with no end. The seller I dealt with knew the corrupt system and took full advantage of it. There is a hidden bureaucracy behind their inept website that is purposefully designed to keep the buyers in the dark. I would not recommend using this site.

    • Sorry to hear about that as i am still waiting for a package from AE. How long did you wait for the package to arrive?

  • i made a bulk purchase of 19 items from different sellers, i paid one payment through the shopping cart, now all my items show awaiting payment. any idea what could have happened? Did my payment not process or is it delayed? any way to look it up?

    • If it doesn’t show payment is being verified, then your payment was likely not successful. Are the funds debited from your card?

      • You should wait a while. If there is no update on your payment, you can contact the support desk of AliExpress or Alipay.

    • I ordered mulitiple items from Aliexpress from different vendors and after payment it went into “awaiting payment” im confused because I paid. It is a “pay now” option but I dont want to be double charged. What shoud l do? Also it hasnt reflected on my bank account yet.

  • there are a lot of scammer in aliexpress, i contacted seller & clearly stated my required spec. and upon purchasing, i reconfirmed again. when the item finally arrived, it is not as per spec & he ask to return it at my own cost. i asked for a prove that he has what i really wanted but he refused to do so. aliexpress customer service is a joke, they do not read the whole story & simply jump into conclusion that it was my fault. the never got your back but instead, will fuck your back instead. because of this, seller ignore my further request

  • I feel there are two important points missing from this article:

    First, quickly calculate how much it would cost to send the item back to China should you need so.

    I bought a pair of DDR2 RAM sticks for an older laptop, coast about $25 from a long-established seller, but since they never worked, aKa DOA. At the cheapest rate, back-shipping to China is $11. With tracking, as requested by seller, $50.

    NEVER make the same mistake as I did: ship back a laptop motherboard (also DOA) through untracked mail.

    And second, if you communicate with the seller, make sure he can properly communicate in English (unless you have a good mastery of Mandarin). That doesn’t mean you should shun a seller who makes a few grammatical mistakes here and there, but if his English skills are so low you’re not even sure what he’s writing about, then you will have much trouble trying to get a dispute settled if ever it’s needed.

    In the case above, I am still unsure whether the seller understands there’s no such thing as free shipping TO China.

    • hello sir i need some help
      i want to repair or or buy macbook air logic board what should i do because indian price is to much high

  • If you place an order with several different sellers and pay the total amount to aliexpress in one payment do the bank charges reflect this?
    Or, do you incur bank charges from each seller? ie. If I buy from five sellers will I incur five separate bank charges?

    • Bank charges are not fixed. They are variable. That’s about 3.5% of the transaction + 18% GST on the bank charges. So, it doesn’t make much difference if you pay as a single transaction or as separate transactions.
      If you pay for all items in a single transaction, then you’ll be charged bank charges on that particular transaction only.

    • A timer will be running within which the seller seeds to ship your item. You can check the same on the order status page. When the time lapses and the seller does not ship the product then you will be automatically given a full refund.

      • so when you conceal order do one automatically get a refund ,the problem is my supply has gone silent on me its been 4days since i paid and no shipping and his buyers are now raising issues on his page that they have not received their good

  • I’m shocked hide billed on Customs/Import Duties from ParcelForce £30.32 & Fedex £46.07 on large & heavy items when I order on AliExpress say ‘free shipping’ is not show up Import Fees Deposit like Amazon always show up.

    Any large or heavy items is not free shipping just charges/fess on import to UK

    • That’s pretty standard for every country. All imports are liable to customs duty based on the HS code and invoiced value. Some small items shipped using government registered post do skip past customs without attracting any duty.
      The actual difference is that in case of Amazon, you prepay your customs and Amazon arranges for the clearance of your purchase, so that you do not have to go through any further steps. In case of AliExpress, customs are directly paid by you and will be collected at the time of delivery or if it is a big amount, you might be needed to pay it upfront before the item is delivered.

  • never buy batteries.. since they always use ships because most air carrier has strict rules on batteries.. lithiums especially… my order was 2month ago.. and still not arrived.
    Never again on AliExpress. huhhbh

  • Hi Narender, I ordered some stuff from Several vendors in the past week. most of the orders are of products worth 1 to 5 dollars. The maximum order from one seller is coming to about $25 that is total of 7 products each around 3 dollars.
    I want to know what is the customs duty to be paid for these in India. The things are no electronic, but paper craft, stickers, ribbons, lace and craft material. No big high priced thing. They are sending everything by China post or Singapore post. Do let me know what is the procedure of paying the customs if any. and what is the limit for customs.

    Thank you

    • Unless you are extremely unlucky, you won’t be charged any customs. Just wait for 15-20 days and you’ll have the items delivered to you.
      However, if the items were shipped with ordinary post (and not registered post), then they are likely to go missing. And I do not expect them to be delivered at all.

  • Today I’ve placed my order for a winter coat on AliExpress and payed an advertised price of € 76,51, but hours later my card was charged for an extra € 94,02, so totally I was charged € 170,53 :/.
    After I’ve noticed it, I’ve cancelled my order and asked my bank to block my card. I hope I get my money back. I’ll never ever buy from AliExpress.

  • “Leave negative feedback (1-2 stars) if you’re not at all satisfied …”

    Well with my own experiences, I received products that totally different from the descriptions. After opened a case and only get 10% refund for something I couldn’t use. I gave 1 star rating with photo but my feedback was never showed up. After a week that product still have 5 stars – no negative feedback at all. Obviously Aliexpress CENSOR your feedback if you leave 1-2 stars rating.

    So my suggestion is leaving 3 stars with negative comments and photo. It will work

  • Be careful – dispute service has been degrading since some time – even while providing the correct proof on non conformity the seller get s the advantage..
    I would avoid AliExpress due to low quality, non conform delivery and a real degrading dispute service.
    As an regular customer compared to last year I had 2 x more non conform deliveries and is getting harder to obtain a correct dispute….

  • I need a suggestion.. I thought to buy a processor from aliexpress. The sellers ratings are high and also the product has 250+ orders. Now what should I do? They providing the goods almost in half price. Lack of money, I’m totally confused what to do. In that price, I could not buy a good processor, but the product of aliexpress is alluring.
    Please give me a suggestion what to do?

    Sorry for my bad English

  • I cannot buy from ali express. they keep locking my purchases and demand I send photo of my driving licence, and passport and supporting documents! plus bank statement! I feel this is unsafe and leaves me open to fraud! Has anyone else had this problem? I did ask customer services and they said “use another card to buy with” NOT helpful!

    • Yes, I have faced this as well. But they only asked me for an image of my card and the statement. I asked them further and they allowed me to hide the middle digits of the card. So, my card is all safe.
      Your billing address can be verified via your bank statement. Idk why they need your passport or DL. Are they asking for all of those documents, or just one of them maybe?

      • I just had this happen to me. I checkout out, with all my information entered. But before I was given a purchase confirmation, a window popped up telling me to to enter my card information again.

        The order wouldn’t go through. It still shows in my “your orders” tab, but when I click on it, it says I need to appeal because my payment method has been locked. To appeal, I must send a photo of my ID or passport, a photo of my credit card, and a copy of my bank statement. It makes me uncomfortable sending all that.

        • I just upload the id documents. and after that I am feeling that I shouldn’t. That leaves me exposed to identity thief isn´t it? Should I cancel my card and change my id.? any comments ? have someone done this?

          • Hi Ingrid, I myself was needed to do it in 2016. And it all went fine, I guess it is sometimes okay to verify that the actual card holder is making the transaction.
            I can only leave a few tips: The first thing I did was to watermark/sign my card statement and ID document, clearly mentioning that it is for payment verification at AliExpress and should not be considered for any other things. I also did hide/blur the middle digits of the card, leaving only the first four and last four visible.
            There are obvious risks if the data is leaked and fells in the hands of wrong people because that can be very easy to impersonate and pretend to be you. AliExpress does assure that the data is securely kept. But it is only secure until it is leaked, after which all they can offer are apologies.
            One thing to add is that I have added more card since the verification and they were not questioned. So, once your account is verified, you can try to cancel your card and get a new one to be on the safer side. It is likely that AliExpress will not ask for the same verification again. I’d also advise using cards with smaller limits so that only a small sum can be compromised if a theft happens.

  • Hi Narendar,
    I am new to Aliexpress….and so far all but two of my orders are perfect. I asked a vendor if they would offer a discount on a large order and they said yes, but I am confused about how to proceed. If I go to my cart, there are 43 items in it. When I click on it and scroll to the bottom the full amount is there. There is a Buy from this seller button, but I’m afraid to click on it…I’m afraid my credit card will be charged before they apply the discount. They keep saying to click on it but do not enter the password…and I’m not sure which password they are talking about. They have been in business for over 6 years and have very high ratings, so can you advise me on what to do? Thank you!

    • Okay, the way special discounts work there is that you create an order, but you do not pay for it yet. After placing the order, contact the seller and he will reduce the total amount (as agreed by both of you).
      What you have to do is to select the items you plan to purchase (from your cart) and then click on the ‘Buy from this seller button’. The next page will require you to choose the shipping address and also the mode of payment. Here, please select ‘Other payment methods’ and then finally click ‘Confirm and Pay’. Your order will be placed, but will stay as an unpaid order. The seller will be able to adjust the prices for these orders 🙂

      I’ve also created a short video to guide you through. You can find it HERE.
      Just do not proceed with your card selected as the payment method. Ideally, the system should ask you your AliPay PIN before charging the card, but sometimes it doesn’t. So better be safe 🙂 Yes, you will still be able to pay your order with your saved credit card when you retry the payment after the seller has adjusted the price.

      • I can not do that, only pay option is credit card and if it is not completed, no order is generated. I have read elsewhere that it can be done on Android phones, but not iOS. Comments???

    • Because the standard post services are slow. That is how they are so cheap.
      If you need faster delivery, you can choose from 3rd party carriers such as DHL or EMS which will deliver your packages within a week.

        • bear in mind that if you do go for a premium delivery option it will greatly incease the likelihood of additional customs charges, as it is a red flag to the customs inspectors to investigate the package. If you’re already assuming these charges will be incurred, dont worry about it 🙂

  • Hi everyone. I’m living in china and have my own company in china. I can provide you all those stuff you need from aliexpress or eBay or any platforms. I can deliver your product in few days with 100% guarantee rather than 30 days or more. Wechat or Whatsapp me on 008613884411074

  • I ordered a cellphone and a cover from Aliexpress. They shipped fairly quickly. But the package that I received only contained the phone cover.

    I opened a dispute on their platform. They asked for proof so I sent photos. I could even send postal documents, but I wrote them they have to wait for that until the office provides the documents.

    3 days later they closed the dispute, no refund. So I lost 200$ for nothing. The whole “dispute” service is just a smoke screen.

    In the closing email they asked for feedback and wrote “we hope you had a great shopping experience”.

    • I had a similar experience, ordered 10 of something but received only 5.

      In my case, I could prove it based on the package weight which was clearly stated on the shipping label.

  • I ordered a packet of knickers when they came there were a couple that were smaller than otheres and not the colours i ordered i opened dispute with seller they said manufacturing issue and would give me 10 % of next order . Really that was it you couldnt get it right first time why would i trust you again … i asked for refund or to send the proper size and colours but they refused i did leave feed back as i was left with knickers that were of no good even there size chart was wrong it stated size large would fit uk 12 when large came they would fit uk size 8 nothing more so all very decieving. They just didnt want to resolve issue i asked they send a packet of xl in the correct colours as compensation but they refused

  • Their should be a minus on the stars, I order items from AliExpress and I got some, but did not get other items after I placing a complaint and waiting over two 2 month
    there resolution is a scam, now I know how the owner is a billionaire he is scamming us from our money.
    Below is their resolution blocking my account and basically saying I am lying.

    We have noticed irregular activities being carried out by your account which violate the AliExpress Buyer Protection Program rules.

    Accordingly, we regret to inform you that we have terminated your account. You will still be able to access your account and ongoing order will stay remain, however the buying, dispute, feedback privileges has been taken out.

    So basically thanks for your money, and good by. I feel like an idiot for trusting AliExpress

  • Hello,

    i have just ordered a phone from ali express and now i am starting to get worried that whether i will have to pay any custom duties in Pakistan?

    are products delivered at home or at post office?

    • They should be delivered to your home, but we never know. Keep tracking and see if they deliver or not 🙂

      • that i will do. i read stuff on internet that custom officials dont let go of mobile phones and charge fees. That is why i asked

  • I had a truly horrible experience with AliExpress and will never use it again for a drop ship type of business. It simply is not worth the risk of what can happen. As a business owner I was double-victimized by a very bad seller who misrepresented his product and sent damaged merchandise to boot. Needless to say the customer I bought the item for was very unhappy with the situation and I don’t like having to make refunds for damaged and deceptively marketed merchandise. The AliExpress merchant was unwilling to provide any compensation for the cost of shipping back the bad merchandise. However I compensated the customer for it anyway even though I can’t get it from the horrible AliExpress merchant.

  • I ever bought from eBay and had bad experience so I never buy online for past few years. But recently I wanted to buy my wedding gown, my search brought me to aliexpress. When my eyes fell on that lovely dress I wanted, I just click buy!!! That was just a week ago. The seller said they can customized it to back laced for USD 10 and give me a free glove to go with it. This dress was shipped within a week. Now, after reading comments online, I started to worry. Are they really able to customized within a few days!! I did msg the seller to ask her if she has customized the dress and her reply was just a smiley icon!!! This is making me more nervous. So, I would like your expert opinion if I received the item and it was not customized, should I immediately open a dispute?

    • Hi May, if you’ve purchased from a reputed seller who is selling for a few years already, then you shouldn’t be worrying. On the other hand, if it’s a new seller, then it could be that the dress wasn’t customized and sent as it is.

      If the item you receive isn’t customized according to your instructions then you should first contact the seller to see if he offers some solution. If there’s no proper solution, then go ahead and open a dispute. Since it is an expensive item, you might be needed to return ship the goods back to the seller before a refund is issued to you. I’ll just hope that you get what you’ve ordered 🙂

      And congratulations on the upcoming wedding. May your lives continue to grow in love and happiness together!

      • Dear Narender Singh,
        Thank you for your reply and advice. After posting my comments, I went back to my order and discovered its a new seller (started in January 2017). Nothing can be done for now, except sit and wait for the gown to arrive, hoping it wont be a big disappoint (that is if it ever arrive at all). It was another huge carelessness on my part which cannot be undone and its a lesson to learn. I had message the seller a few times and she never replied.
        Thanks for your well wishes and advice. Love your webpage. Wished I had read it before I made my rush decision.

    • Hi May! Just wondering if you ever got your dress and if so how did it turn out. I just placed my first order on AliExpress today for something small to test the waters.
      Chris

  • AE will always side their seller.
    I had one experience on how they handle dispute..

    Seller gave wrong tracking no.
    Item status delivered..but local carrier states that item with that tracking no does not belong to me and address is also different.

    Submit evidence in dispute..but AE seems to protect their seller more than buyer..so much for their buyer protection policy…

    Yes..not all seller are bad..
    I am lucky the amount is not much..
    To actually weigh the risk.. i already conclude to stay away from AE..

    • The product description will have your answer. There are knockoffs as well as branded, fully authentic items.

  • Hey Tom

    This is not a reply but a concern. i am in South Africa and would love to order lots of product for my store but my fear is . what if this is a scam i pay and never get my products . what is the garrantee that this is legit.?

    • You don’t need to worry about the money. As until the product has not been delivered to you the seller won’t get the payment. It will be with AliExpress and can be refunded without hassle. So go on and buy things you want. (before buying, make sure that the item is covered under buyer protection. If yes the no issues.

      • That’s right, but there’s one issue there. If you buy too many items and then surprisingly all of them don’t arrive and you dispute all of them. Then there are high chances that AliExpress will suspend your account instead of reversing the money. They probably feel that you’re cheating by disputing all the transactions.
        So, buying too many items at the same time might not be a good idea especially if you’re a new customer with not enough existing feedback.

        • Their dispute service ist just a smoke screen. They did not even read what I wrote there. They just wait 3 days, close the dispute and release the money, whatever you say.

  • HI,

    I have bought a samsung note 2 motherboard, the shipment time is 29-40 days and it guarantees shipment delivery in 39 days. I bought the item on 19th jan and today is 31st., it’s been more than 10 days and the status that is showing is that supplier is processing your item. I am worried whether i will receive the item in time or not. I am thinking of opening a dispute regarding the same. Please advice, what should i do?

    • Can you check the order status and see how much processing time is still left? There’s a maximum number of days within which the seller needs to ship the item else the order will be auto-cancelled.

      • It says still 13 days time left. The supplier hasn’t replied to my message or mail. There are comments in the review that the supplier takes time to ship the item. Is there any way to scare him by doing a dispute so he becomes alert and can ship the item asap..?

        • You can open a dispute, but since he is still within his processing time, I doubt AliExpress will pay any heed to the dispute. If there are other sellers offering the same, you can request for order cancellation and purchase from some other seller.
          The seller is probably sourcing its products after receiving orders and that causes this delay.

          • Hi, thanks for the reply and sorry for replying late. The seller has shipped the item on saturday. the tracking number mentioned is RS527003534CN . I am not able to track the item.. i guess the number is still not active. Can you tell me how can i track the item and for how many days should i get the status, as the seller might have not shipped and just forwarded the tracking no. Thanks 🙂

            • Just checked it. The tracking currently only says that it received electronic data – track.aftership.com/china-post/RS527003534CN
              That means, a tracking number is generated, but there hasn’t been any action after that. So, it could very well be that the seller did mark the item as ready to ship, but hasn’t handed over the item to China Post yet.

              One of the items I purchased recently was marked as shipped on 11th. And it started tracking from 13th.

              In your case, the seller already took so long to ship the item. He probably still doesn’t have the item in stock and only added a tracking number because the processing time was nearing an end. All we can hope for is that he procures it and handles the package over to China Post in the next few days. Can’t do much other than hoping. You should dispute this transaction if there is no update on tracking even after a few more days.

  • Hi again, Narender,
    Quick question.
    How long should I wait to dispute a purchase if the seller has not marked it as shipped and provided tracking information?
    Thanks again, you’re amazing!
    Carissa

  • Thank you for your answer, it seems reasonable 🙂
    And yes, I thought it was more of an “ethical question” too.
    But it’s to bad that the seller should take all the blame and loss for slow shipping.

    I’ll wait for his answer, or maybe I’ll just order something from his store -and tell him NOT to ship it 😉
    Otherwise I’d asked 19.01.17 if he got an Paypal-account (most sellers on AE got one -I’d guess..), but I’v got no answer so far(?).
    Anyway, “Could you please repay the item?” is a pretty strange answer/question, since he didn’t include *how* 🙂
    But I’ll wait and see, and check out the item too (it’s a SkyRC B6AC v2 6A charger), and check if it’s working correctly, genuine etc..
    🙂

    • You’re right. Sometimes it is hard to determine what will be an ethically right thing to do. You’re not cheating the seller and the seller isn’t cheating you. I believe sellers are prepared for things like these and set their margins accordingly. It was just lost, but it somehow appeared again 😛

      I’ve faced something similar earlier and sellers just ask you to make a new order from their store and skip the payment. Then they reduce the price to match the agreed amount and you pay it. The seller doesn’t ship the item as agreed. That’s how he gets the money. While they do have PayPal, this seems easier or maybe they encounter lesser fees.

      I’m yet to come across an AliExpress seller who has a good command over English. They usually send these short replies where we need to fill the missing areas with guesses. However the slow response of the seller could be related to the Chinese new year stuff. I read it is a big thing for them.

  • Hello Mr. Narender SIngh
    I now had 148 orders from AE (by now 3363 AE reward points- and yes, I’m quite satisifed overall :).
    My question is:
    Close to this date I’v had an dispute AND a refund for an item, that was not delivered within the 60 days the seller guarantee.
    I got full refund, and the dispute is stated as “Finished”, and I then ordered the same item the same day -from another store/seller, (and even with a $6 better price :).
    Thing is, about 7 days later (68 days after the first order), the item I got full refund for -entered the local post office here in Norway 🙂
    I’v messaged the seller about this issue, and he respond with (in short):
    “Could you please repay the item?”
    It’s not an expensive item (just about $50), but I would like to compensate the seller a bit, but not with the full price, cause I really don’t need two of these items.
    Also, “sellers deliverytime guarantee” -do have to mean something -or what?

    Regards 🙂

    • Just to say, returning/shipping the item back to China, cost about $43 (1,1kg), so I’d guess that’s not an option 🙂

    • Hi Tom,
      I think this is the risk that the sellers have to accept in advance before starting to ship items globally. There will be lost or damaged parcels, denial by the country’s customs and various other reasons. With the settlement of the dispute, the seller did already accept his loss. So, if you’re willing to return him something, he should just accept it.

      The delivery time guarantee is kinda nothing, but an estimate. Because most items shipped via government post would arrive in 60-days, or at least show signs that it is just near. Sellers or even AliExpress otherwise has no control over when the item will get delivered. It is not their shipping service which they can control. 60-days is just a buyer protection protecting buyers from waiting forever to receive an item.

      There are only a rare few like you are honest to this extent. I’ve seen people going crazily happy after getting a refund for $5 item because it got delayed. What I’d do in this case would be to sell the second locally over at OLX or eBay and pay the money received back to the seller. I would not pay him unless I manage to sell it because I really do not need 2 of these 🙂 BTW, just don’t pay him anything at least until you receive the item and check that it functions normally.

  • i order a product around 75/- with free shipping but still not received till date from oct-16 month ..please give me a solution for this issue i paid payment from my debit card..if any costumer care no.so, please give……

  • Hello Mr. Narender SIngh,
    I am planning to buy my first produc “Xiaomi Mi Pad 2” from Aliexpress. I want to know about Customs in this case. The product costs about $164. Please hep me in making my first purchase. I am worried about warranty and customs.

    Regards,

    • Warranty will certainly be a problem as since the device is not launched here, there will be no spares available in case something happens to the device.
      Customs might or might not be charged. Registered post can sometimes pass without any customs, but it is quite unsafe for expensive items. 3rd party shipping services would usually clear customs for you and you’ll pay them at the time of delivery 🙂

  • 30 items in one visit for me to a mall / grocery store / online marketplace is common. The problem has nothing to do with the quantity though… In short the problem is this: Alibaba does not sell overseas / does not promote international shipping because sellers are not legally import / exporters and sellers also can not legally ship abroad items as individuals. However, AliExpress does very strongly promote that sellers do have ability to ship internationally to Germany. Additionally, on each seller page I ordered from – it specified shipping to Germany, giving the scheduled delivery date and costs. However, that is completely a scam. Ali Express sellers – just like Alibaba sellers – are in no way legally allowed to ship their items internationally to Germany. I did contact AliExpress customer service several times. I brought to attention the customs issues and provided the customs documentation as well as screenshots of the tracking from their own website showing rejection / return of items at destination country (Germany) entry points. Instead of reimbursing for all items (basic clothing / accessories – nothing at all exotic) involved, AliExpress closed my account. To this day, the website and all sellers I have seen on AliExpress still promote intl shipping to Germany. Its really outrageous and this practice should be stopped by sellers and the website itself.

  • A SEVERE WARNING….
    Do not use this company EVER!! I have had a problem that should have been sorted out , I wanted to send a item back because it was not compatible with what I needed it for, they would take the item back with a £80 loss plus I would have to pay for the postage and they want me to pay for there Country.s import Duty,s … and there is the main problem!! import Duty and the postage do NOT make or help you sending items back that are not as described, once you have brought something they make it so very hard to return anything without it costing you a lot of Money, I beg you please do not use them ,thay are a lousy bunch ,if you are tempted buy the prices (as I was) Think again……

  • Really informative article! Everything has been well explained.

    I’d like to ask a question. I have been thinking of ordering an electric guitar. The price would be around 280$. If the seller marks it as a gift, will it be exempted from customs duties?

    I live in Assam, India, by the way.

    • To my understanding, gifts are exempt to a maximum limit of Rs. 10,000. As such, if the customs officer assesses the value of the product, customs duties will be imposed even if it is supposed to be a gift.
      So, it is highly likely that customs will be charged. You do have the option to claim a refund for the duties paid after showing proper documents that it is a gift and its actual value is lesser than 10,000. However, this is a hit and miss case.

      • Thanks for the reply!

        But suppose I don’t mark it ask the seller to mark it as a gift, and instead ask them to write a lower price (say 180$), what would happen then?

        Obviously, I’d still have to pay duties, but still it would be a lot less.

        Can it be done?

        • Yes, that can be done. But I have my own doubts if the seller would be willing to mention a lower amount on the invoice. You should communicate with the seller to find the best way out 🙂
          I, however, do advise everybody to not buy large and expensive items from AliExpress.

  • AliExpress is Total Scam Site That Steals International Buyer’s Money For Products Not Delivered… I buy online a lot. After seeing that AliExpress promoted international shipping – I ordered about 30 items (mostly clothing) in August 2016 to be delivered to me in Berlin, Germany. Only 3 arrived. I was told to wait long after delivery times posted came / went – giving the missing items until December to show up. In December, I complained and started asking for refunds – with proof in the tracking showing the items never were even allowed in Germany and were returned to the sellers. So does AliExpress return the money for the all items I never received? No. Instead, they terminated my account so that I could no longer even be able to make a claim for refunds. They sited a policy that said nothing specifically other than accounts can be terminated on their whim / will. I did nothing but ask for refunds for items never received – which was backed up by the tracking info on the site itself which showed it denied entry to DE / returned to origin country. AliExpress may not have customs issues elsewhere – but it certainly should never falsely claim they can ship to (thus sell to) German buyers. I have never experienced such a scam website before. Never buy internationally from AliExpress – they are a scam.

    • Actually, buying such a quantity without an existing history of orders in AliExpress is already a bad decision. You see, even Amazon would block you if you try to apply for refunds for 95% of your orders. But they will refund you before doing that.
      Your concern, however, is legit and I hope they will provide assistance. It was more likely a security measure which caused your account to be blocked. Try contacting the AliPay Support. Email – [email protected] with as much information as possible. Do note that their support staff in China might not understand half of the English vocab, so keep your sentences short and use simpler words. Good Luck!

  • The supplier has has agreed to resend me a new product during dispute. I am required to pay a return shipping charge and cancel the dispute. Will the shipping charge get automatically deducted when I cancel the dispute?

    • No. The better alternative would be to:
      1. Create a new order for same item.
      2. Contact seller to reduce the price of the order to only account for the return shipping fees.
      3. Pay for that order.
      4. Ask the seller to extend your purchase protection time on the existing order as well.
      5. Wait for the new package to arrive.

      Cancelling the dispute with no protection is something I don’t advise. Who knows the seller doesn’t ship the item at all after the dispute is cancelled?

  • Hi, I’m currently looking for some advice and tips for buying via AliExpress as a Canadian customer. I’m looking to purchase a Xiaomi cell phone on the official Xiaomi Online Store on AliExpress. Should I select regular free shipping or DHL? Also, how do customs and tracking work? Thanks.

    • I’d suggest using DHL or EMS, but yes, the regular post (as long as it is registered) is delivered well too. You can save some money by choosing free shipping provided you are willing to wait for over a month.
      Yes, tracking works fine on all shipping methods other than the ‘Small Packet’ or ‘ordinary’ mail. I won’t have a say on the customs because I don’t know how it works there. Most likely the customs duty (if any imposed) will be collected at the time of delivery.

  • I don’t want my purchase information to be appearing under the ‘Transaction history’ after I buy an item. Though, only a partial name and flag of a country appears, I still feel its embarrassing sometimes. How do I hide my transaction history?

  • How can i hide my purchase history (the one shows on the evaluation on aliexpress.com)?

    There are some products that i do not want anybody (publicly) to know that i have purchased, even with my name partially written.

    • Are you talking about the reviews? You can not completely hide the name, but with partially hidden name, I don’t think it is possible for anybody to guess who purchased it. Maybe edit your name in profile and be anonymous?

  • Sir,
    I have ordered a motorcycle jacket costing Usd 48. Will there be any import duty on it. Should I ask the seller to mark it as gift to avoid any duty?

  • I am looking to order some trophy cups. It says free deliver and has two options. I am living in Ireland. Can you tell me whats the best or whats the difference between the two. The options are:

    – AliExpress Standard Shipping 17-25 days

    – China Post Registered Air Mail 24-35 days

    Thanks

    • Both are more or less the same. I however have more faith on the China Post REGISTERED mail because it is traceable end to end. At least in India, I can track it to my place. In standard shipping, it might get shipped using small packet regular mail which might not be traceable when it enteres your country. So, go registered post if both are free.

  • Hi Narender: Can I do a gift receipt on purchases from AliExpress. I would like to send an item directly to someone as a gift, but I don’t want them to know the price.

    Thanks

    • You sure can do that. Please talk to the seller if he can hide the price. But I kinda feel that it won’t work out since it is necessary to declare the price for customs valuation. The seller would still be the best person to answer your query 🙂

  • Hey, can any one help me out what to do fir this order as its not getting updated since many days

    [Guangzhou] [] Guangzhou exchange bureau has sent letters (domestic transit)
    2016-10-26 16:50:07
    [Guangzhou] [] Guangzhou office of exchange has been opened for
    2016-10-26 13:44:29
    [Zhongshan] [Zhongshan City Post philatelic letter direct mail advertising company] has sent letters (domestic transit)
    2016-10-22 20:50:00
    [Zhongshan City Post letter philatelic Direct Mail advertising company] has acceptance (domestic transit)
    2016-10-22 16:31:40
    Successful departure from warehouse
    2016-10-22 16:29:58
    Normal storage
    2016-10-22 14:07:18
    Successful package pick-up
    2016-10-22 13:13:07
    [China] Receive item from customer (Otb)
    2016-10-22 13:13:00
    Your address is not within the scope of the city Lanshou, if you need delivery in the city, your own delivery concerns (recommended EMS) to No. 35 West Post Office letter Fuhua Road Zhongshan Lai received 0760-23325695
    2016-10-21 15:53:58
    Electronic information has been received
    2016-10-21 10:58:01
    Seller shipped
    2016-10-21 10:51:40

    • Hi, if it was shipped using the regular small packet mail, you cannot track it after it departs from China. If it was registered post, please contact the seller.

  • Hello
    nice article, really cleared my doubts.
    Just one thing i need to ask that will a mobile spare part (13$ Screen) attract customs?

    also read on some sites that importing as a gift or sample may avoid customs, is it true?

    • No. Unless the seller sends it in an exceptionally large box, the package shouldn’t attract customs.
      Customs authorities no longer honor the gift excuse these days because of abuse. Just don’t worry, your package will be cleared easily with nothing to be paid 🙂

  • I want product description on a package to be named differently than the actual one. How can I suggest my own product description to be written by a seller on a product package?

  • hi, i am using aliexpress for about 2 years and i have more than 100 orders there. Almost very satisfied i never had big problems because when i had a complain with a seller we always ended up on good agreement. 3 weeks ago i ordered and payed from 3 sellers( good sellers) , and after that, the next day i found that Ali Express closed my orders. I was very dissapointed and i did what they ask you to do for ,, security reasons”. I sent copy of my identity card( now i really feel anxiouse because after i sent my identity documents, i read in many forums that people who have the same issue they never do that because is dangerouse).About my payment card picture, this can be complicate. I always pay my purchased using VPRECA( i live in Japan). is a prepaid service you can use it like a credit card at visa affiliated online stires, so actually i never had a card. you buy from convenience store , a printed form document who contain a serial code number , you go home and open an account on vpreca website and regiser the serial code number there. and you have a online visa card with the amount of money you bought( the limit is 100 dolars, sometimes i buy only 20 dolars card). Is obviouse i always throw to garbage the paper cause i dont need it anymore after registering online. So i have no card picture to send to ali express. The only prove i had it was a photo screen of my pc showing the card online with the payment i did on some of the closed orders. is really frustrating now even more, cause i still wait a refund they are already 3 weeks since i payed the orders. will i ever get my money back? look like the most dangerous here is not the seller but the website we must be carefull with

    • If you’re aware of credit cards system, what they charged is the authorization on your Visa card. This authorization locks funds into your account, and you will be unable to re-use them anywhere. But they actually don’t move out of your account.
      Since they closed the orders, the authorization will be canceled, and your card will not be charged. The authorization is removed quickly for real credit cards, but for prepaid/debit cards, it can take over 30-35 days.
      You should contact your card issuer regarding this and make them aware that there is an authorization still pending cancellation. They will be able to help you out 🙂 As for AliExpress, most likely they didn’t take your money.
      As part of their security process, they do ask users to verify their cards and when this happens with you, usually all of your future orders will be blocked as they will ask for verification whenever you use a new card.

  • Ali express has many dealers especially postal corporations who deliver products to customers. For me I too get my products from local post office. I am worried if people who work in local post office would know the type of products I am buying. Sometimes, seller print different names on product packages than the original name. This is good for buyers. My question is will the middleman such as postal people not know the kind of products I am buying? Will they have all the description of products on their system even though the seller may be printed by different names on a package ?

    • No. They can only check the information provided by the seller during customs declaration, and as such, they cannot figure out what is in the package if the seller has stated it incorrectly.
      However, yes, the customs department CAN pass your parcel through a Xray Machine to get an idea of what’s inside. However, this still does not provide any information to the normal delivery staff.

  • Hi,

    When you need to return a good to a seller, that was already disputed and agreed to, what is the best method of shipping to ensure that it costs minimum and arrives to the seller soon? (Shipment from Thailand to China).

    Also, what’s that mean when AliExpress says I need to return the good back to the Seller within 9 days or a payment will be deducted from my credit card? Does it mean it needs to arrive back to Seller within 9 days or just means I need to have date stamp on the package that is within the next 9 days.

    Thanks any one for responding.

  • Hi I was just wondering if I get every package at the same time even if the sellers are different.
    So that makes me buying a lot of stuffs from different buyers but does it deliver only once at the same time? or do I have to receive hundreds of them each.

    • Hundreds of them each, because even if you place the orders at the same time, shipping will depend on the seller and there can be a good difference in the times when they ship. Then they are shipped using different portal services (China post, Singapore post and others).
      You’ll receive a few packages together when the postman receives them. But not all will be delivered together.

        • Could be, or if you can make some arrangement with the postman, he can hold and then deliver all of them together 🙂
          However, it is not advisable to have hundreds of open orders at AliExpress. Since if you open a lot of disputes in short period of time, your AliExpress account will be disabled.

            • It’s more like the ratio of disputes vs successful orders. Even if you order once a month and dispute every order that you make, they do not want you as a customer. If you have enough orders and dispute a few of them for legitimate reasons, then it is all good. So, before ordering too many items, start small, build your reputation, understand the sellers; etc.

  • My brother ordered a Watch from california and shipped it to my address on bangalore…its status shows that the item is in mumbai airport sorting office..how much time wil lit take to reach to bangalore??

      • 2016-10-10 17:31 India, MUMBAI AIR, Transfer from office of exchange (Inb), Air, CED BANGALORE
        2016-10-10 09:18 India, MUMBAI AIR, Receive item at office of exchange (Inb), Air, MUMBAI AIRPORT SORTING OFFICE
        2016-10-03 18:45 Malaysia, KUALA LUMPUR B, Send item abroad (EDI-received), Air, MUMBAI AIRPORT SORTING OFFICE
        2016-09-29 13:49 Malaysia, KUALA LUMPUR B, Insert item into bag (Otb), Air, MUMBAI AIRPORT SORTING OFFICE
        2016-09-29 06:29Malaysia, KUALA LUMPUR B, Receive item from customer (Otb), Air, MUMBAI AIRPORT SORTING OFFICE
        Origin Country – Cache Time: 2016-10-13 17:11

          • The latest update is that the package has left Mumbai. The package is being sent to Customs Department in Bangalore where it will be evaluated for customs and it will then be forwarded to your local post office for final delivery.
            And yes, the customs department can impose some customs on your import. Depends on their evaluation 🙂

            • but my order is of just $21…on that also they will impose duties..and how much time will it take to reach the local post office

              • About a week, I guess 🙂 Govt post services can’t be trusted on timnelines. Sometimes they are extremely fast, other times they are extremely slow.

  • my concern is when i paid 38 usd it was not just 38 usd will be deducted to my account there is transaction fee in bank to cnvert one currency USD, will i get compensated for time wasted?

  • do ali express have damage fee? i ordered item and its free delivery via dhl, then when i already paid the item they ask for more 40usd bcoz my area is remote, my concern is they alrady cnfirm the price and i already paid for it then they tell me they wont ship out or cancel my order! so rude ,, they are 3 yrs in service take note, they are shenzen elech-tech store.

    • The delivery via Registered Post differs from case to case. 15 – 30 days is the most common timeframe, but it can take longer.

  • well !!!! what the documents are !! ?
    as i registered on alipay and waiting for confirmation
    i’ve provided copy for my passport
    what can be else ?
    now am waiting for some security stuff they check to confirm it and it’ll take around 7 days

    • They asked for identity proof? They usually ask for a copy of the card statement and a picture of the card to confirm that you’re the actual owner of the card.

  • Please help me !!!!

    I’ve shopped through aliexpress and once I completed the payment and waiting the confirmation they sent me a message that my order was closed !!!
    I wanna buy those items !!!!
    I know I will get my funds back but they closed the items for security reasons so what can I do ??

    • You will be needed to provide the documents they have asked for and then they will unblock the card for use on your AliPay account.

    • In Pakistan it takes 20-25 days when ordered via registered post. It may be faster due to cpec project. Time shouldn’t vary much form it in case of air parcel (registered post)

      • Asad tell me . How your order came ? I am from multan and I also ordered from aliexpress . What things I should keep it my mind ?

  • Hi! I recently purchased a dress in Aliexpress, didn’t cost much approximately $8 just for testing. Seller sent it July 21, 2016 & it arrived PH August 5, 2016 but until now I haven’t heard or received anything. On the tracking status, it shows “enroute to delivery office” dated Aug 9, 2016. Do you think it’s better if I can go to our Post Office to check if my package is there? Thanks!

  • I bought on aliexpress n was told my goods have been shipped only to get another notification it was cancelled because I didn’t pay before. I already paid n was debited. Please what necessary steps do I take? Thanks

    • Who said that you haven’t paid? Please check the order status from the My Orders section in your AliExpress account. If the order is successfully paid, it will reflect the same under order status. Else it will be marked as awaiting payment.

  • i have order the 360 degree rotating tablet stand for bed on aug 1st week for $8.00….my order status shows me “IN TRANSIST”…….can any one help me how long it will take it to deliver me at this status? please reply…its my first experience shopping on ali express…….as m cool after listening to my few close friends saying its safe dont worry..and they are frequent buyer from ali express….but i cant hold it longer…

    • You will receive your refund if the item doesn’t reach you with the delivery timelines, but still, have you tried checking the actual post website using the tracking number provided? There might be additional information available there.

  • Okay so customs seized the package, I opened a dispute, and seller is only offering half my money back. They also threatened me and put me on customs blacklist… I don’t want this Ahole getting my $120 bucks for something I didn’t even receive… What do I do? I opened the dispute but I’m literally losing sleep over this…

  • Hey .! I’m quite confused about shipping time they are saying 21-40 days . Why don’t they give exact date or you have any idea that will it come on 21st day or 40th day or in between

    • Because they are shipped using the standard registered post or small packet mail. These government postal services are cheap, but they do take a long time to arrive, and you can’t guarantee timelines for them. Customs clearance, the activity of a post office, the distance from the port, the willingness of mail carrier and a lot of other things affect the delivery.

  • I LOVE Aliexpress. I never have a problem receiving my items. I understand my orders are coming from China, therefore, I understand I won’t be receiving my item until a month or so. I’m always surprised when some of my items arrive in about a week! Customer service has always been friendly and extremely accommodating. I once received a broken item, and after discussing it with the seller, the item was replaced, free of charge!

  • Hi. Im planning to buy this one art material in AE and it cost 2k+ . Will I most likely be charged by customs with the amount of this item?

  • Can you tell me more about how the shipping in China works? The seller says that the item was shipped and provided a tracking number however, for the last few weeks aliexpress has been saying “item shipped and tracking is unavailable” for the item. Going onto the shipping company’s site is unhelpful as everything is in Chinese characters. In such a case is the item just sitting around waiting to be sorted? I am only hoping that a tracking number means that the item really was shipped and that the seller was not untrue

    • The ordinary post sometimes takes longer to track and at times does not track at all? What carrier did the seller use to ship it?
      You should be better off sending a message to the seller asking for the status. He will provide additional information.

      • Thanks. I have been in contact with the seller from the moment I noticed there was a delay. However, the only info I got was that China Post is the shipper and that resulted from my own investigations. Otherwise the seller hasn’t provided anything in terms of workable information. I’ve now ask Aliexpress to step in.

  • despite all this even some of the sellers still send fake product just like one i received few months back but the information you stated above will help me next time when buying
    thanks for that piece of information

  • What is the best and safest way of payment? They accept Western Union. How do you pay for the taxes/customs? When do you find out how much that is? Thanks

    • the safest way of payment is by using paypal and visa or credit card , do not use western union , use it with only with people you trust , donot send you personal banking info , use the trusted domainwebsite from here https://goo.gl/TGg8jS , don’t buy from new seller on aliexpress , that is the most important points when u want to buy from aliexpress

  • Hi Narender. This particular article was quite insightful and eye opening. Considering the fact that I am a beginner when it comes to online shopping using AliExpress, I just wanted to enquire from you whether the quantity (say 15 – 30) of an item such as mobile phone cases incur additional charges here in Kenya (import duty and all)?

    • Thank you, Hadassah.. About your question, it is highly likely that customs authorities will love to levy duty on your import. But that depends, sometimes it gets past them easily other times they are quick to detect.

      • Contact me at [email protected] if you don’t mind, please.
        My acc was disabled several days ago, though I made all the right disputes. And now it’s come a TERRIBLE monofin which wasted my money (damaged good) and I can’t do nothing with the product.
        They might be happy for sending me a bad wrong thing like this, and Aliexpress protected them, screwed me up,
        I contacted the customer service many times ! They haven’t helped ! They refused to re-activate my acc ! Why !?
        I gave a lot of “Perfect” comments to sellers.
        I purchased a lot from there and they are now still pending !

      • NO. It’s fake as hell . You don’t have so-called Buyer Protection . That is a joke . Aliexpress blocks you when you have > 5 disputes or so =)) but all the items from 1 seller went bad quality to me.

        • If you open so many disputes in a short period of time, then yes, they do that. This is unfair and I hope they change and at least offer refunds to the buyer before locking him/her out.

  • Hi I bought an item on Aliexpress, but i never received it also my protection period expired. So my question is that can I still open the dispute? Thanks in advance!!

    • Probably not. Open your AliExpress account and see if there is still a dispute button available.

  • hey Narender, I have ordered few items from aliexpress. I am from Pune, Maharashtra. while paying for the order they have mentioned to cut 1000 rs. but they charged me upto 3000 rs., also they have saved my card details. so I just want to know if Is there any chance if they can misuse my card ? because nowadays we can’t trust anyone, right? one more thing I wann ask, approximately how many days will they take to deliver my parcel ??? please reply 🙂

    • Hey Anjali, I’m sorry your message was caught in spam for some reason. As about the charge, you might have had more than 1-items in your shopping cart and the consolidated amount was charged to your card or maybe you weren’t looking at the additional shipping costs. If you still find it inappropriate, please get in touch with the AliPay support team.
      The delivery can take any where from 15 to 45 days. Registered post (especially Singapore post) delivers pretty fast in around 20 days whereas standard small packet mail can delay as long as 45 days or not arrive at all, because it cannot be tracked.

  • Hey guys, I personally never shop on ALIEXP (But ) some same ass get my Chequeing ACCOUNT and shop on this site with it ….which I have no money left in my ACCOUNT the bank are doing a investing thats matter. .. I hope they find this person and put he or she in jail.

  • I ordered two products worth Rs276(total) and they hav closed the product and are asking for my card’s number for some security purpose,the card number is highly confidential now what to do? And how do I cancel the order?

    • They are asking card number? No. They should be asking for a copy of the card and you can hide middle digits of the card in such a case. Closed orders are cancelled anyways.

  • Hi Narendra. I read all the valuable informations posted by you and also the comments. I also done some research in the aliexpress app for android. So my point is that is there any easy way to find the best seller for any item i have searched? Because finding one by one seller is a little difficult one. Please reply. Thanks.

    • Best way is to search for the item and then sort results by number of orders or rating. Sellers with high number of orders and good feedback are easier to trust 🙂

  • I recently ordered and the seller closed the store and had not shipped my order and won’t reply should I be worried I won’t get my order

  • I have ordered an item from one of the seller Hua Sheng , who dznt respond , my products have been saying that Orders are being processed while other stores that I bought from aftr have already shipped my items what do I do ? can I get my refund

    • Give him the time since AliExpress automatically closes the orders if they are not shipped within the promised processing time.

  • Hi
    I tried to purchase my first item from aliexpress but whenever I press buy it says
    “For system security reasons we need to varify your identity…….please check your email within 24 hours…..”

    It’s had been one week and I have not received any mail for verification. Please help

    • Which email platform are you using? Can you try gmail or Yahoo since Hotmail is known to be too aggressive at times on spam prevention. Also don’t forget to check the junk folder.

  • My Axis bank credit card was rejected and “order closed due to security reasons”. Can’t use that same card again without supplying aliexpress with ID proof.

    Which Indian bank cards or other payment methods work on aliexpress?

  • I’m planning to order a cellphone case worth $2.07. That’s less than 100 when converted to PHP. And I plan to have it shipped for free. Would I be charged for a big amount of money?

    • No. You should only be charged for the cover’s cost. No import duties should be charged for such a small order.

    • Yes, unless your card is in USD, your bank will charge a currency conversion markup which is usually 3-4% of your transaction amount and some service tax (if applicable) will be charged on this commission amount.

  • I brought a item on ali express but the shipping number doesn’t seem to work , it tells me item not found ? .

  • I’ve been purchasing from aliexpress since December & I’ve not received many items. So I open disputes after 3 months or so & get the refund. But recently, my account has been disabled because I’ve opened “too many” disputes. I messaged the customer care and they always copy paste the same answer that they are looking into the matter as “priority”. I made a new account but today it got disabled as well.Is this common? Will I get my account back ever??

    • Same problem here, but I’ve opened many disputes. And it’s very fucked up because I got a lot of orders right now and I’d need to open even more disputes, because a lot of products on AliExpress have something wrong with them or don’t have real photos. There was no warning before closing my account and this is very annoying, you have to be very careful with AliExpress, don’t buy too much in a short period of time. The good thing is I’ve never bought anything over 23 dollars, if I had expensive orders the problem would be huge.

      Another problem is that you can’t really contact customer service! Apparently there’s only some intelligent robots that answer your questions. Anyone knows the email of the customer service or how to contact them? :/

      Another thing worth mentioning about Ali is that if your clothing has stains on it, you only have 3 days to report it.

  • THERE IS NO CUSTOMER SERVICE PERIOD. SOME ORDERS GO THROUGH, SOME ARE IN “VERIFYING PAYMENT” FOR WEEKS….DESPITE ME SENDING ALL THEY REQUEST, AND MY CREDIT CARD SAYING “PAYMENT PENDING”. I JUST CANCELLED ALMOST A THOUSAND DOLLARS IN PURCHASES. WHEN I’M ASKED TO CHECK A REASON WHY, I’M GIVEN A CHOICE OF MY FAULT OR THE SELLER’S FAULT. THE FAULT IS WITH ALIEXPRESS. ALIBABA IS HORRIBLE TOO. CHINA DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO SELL IN THE U.S. WON’T BE BACK.

  • First of all some people are seriously lacking the most basic common sense and social skills, that it is shocking how they go through life. Get informed about your own country laws and regulations! This is crucial before ordering something from another country.

    – Customs have nothing to do with the seller. What gets an import tax, why and how much depends from the country you are living in. Get informed. I suppose when US or EU citizens are ordering from a seller from the same country on ebay are not familiar with this (they are taking online ordering for granted) and are quite shocked to find out that importing from another country can be taxed. Well it can.

    – Aliexpress is just like ebay. The main difference is that most (if not all) sellers are located in China. China by itself is huge and when ordering something (whether it be a paperclip or a motorcycle) can take a really long time to arrive in most western countries and the Americas. You can’t receive your item in 1 weak if you live in the US, unless you pay expedited shipping (DHL, TNT, FedEx). Out of the cheap options, never accept “China Post Small Packet Plus”. This is the snail mail option and will travel by sea, has no tracking number and can easily become lost (or stolen). ALWAYS pay the 1.5-2$ fee for registered AIR MAIL. That way, you will know exactly where your package is or is it held by customs.

    – Batteries can be shipped by a handful of post offices in China. Singapore post is one of them, always pay extra for tracking! Post NL has a special arrangement in some of the cities (Shenzhen for example), so if you are living in EU, make sure you tick Post NL whenever you can. Post NL has a courier service that expressly transfers a group of package from the source by their own airplanes (from Shenzhen for example) to Netherlands, from where it continues its journey.

    – Aliexpress is a daughter company of the famous alibaba. They do not take accusations lightly. I never had an argument remain open after filing a claim (dispute). The consequences for the seller are huge and they know this. I have been ordering from AE since 2012 and by this date I received 957 packages. Of course not all of them are perfect and some were lost in the mail, but I never had an argument remain unsettled. If the item is incomplete, the seller may offer partial refund, store credit or to resend the item. Think about what feels the right move and go with that.

    – If you order more expensive stuff (mobile phones, computer parts etc.) make sure you record the unboxing with your cell phone or camera. This will help you speed up the dispute process greatly and provide a solid proof that you didn’t damage the goods after unpacking them.

    – If the tracking number the seller provided is invalid, contact him by sending him a message directly. Do not open dispute at this point. Some sellers are shipping 1000’s of items daily and mistakes can be made.

    Aliexpress stuff regularly checks for fraudulent sellers, scams and other suspicious stores. If they notice a suspicious activity, even if you ordered from that seller, they will automatically refund your payment and close the store. Happened to me on 2 occasions where some goods were unbelievably cheap and I decided to take the risk. I got full refund for both orders.

  • Hi
    I want to purchase tecsun radio coast 110$ . my confusion is where to pay custom duty? At airport or pay to courier – post person ?

  • Hello, I ordered an item, and it is already shipped, but I haven’t get it yet. I just noticed the store is closed, when/if I get my item and after confirming received item, will the seller be able to get my payment, or is it Aliexpress who keep it? I also wonder why the store closed, the seller was very polite and communicative. Thanks!

  • Hello, I just purchased an item from a seller and now the sellers store no longer exsists, however, the seller is messaging me and saying he hasn’t sent my order to manufacturers. The product was quite expensive. What do i do? Should I cancel the order because alarm bells are ringing? How do I get my money back is what am more concerned about.

      • You should wait up and give seller the time to ship it. The store unavailable can happen for variety of reasons. Let’s just give him time. If he ships it, let’s wait to see what comes 🙂

        • I’m in almost the same exact boat as flowers. I made several orders on aliexpress last Thursday. Two of sellers’ stores that I placed orders with now show that they have 0 items available and when I click on the link for the specific items I ordered from them, it also says “item is unavailable”. The orders were still being processed when this happened. Now both stores have shipped the orders but the tracking number is invalid and identical for orders from two different sellers. One tracking number for two different stores! This of course leads me to believe this is the same seller with another shop under a different name. Is that not allowed on aliexpress? I’m wondering if maybe that’s why both shops got shut down. Both shops are well established with high ratings and I’ve successfully received items from both of them before. I wouldn’t be all that worried if it wasn’t for the fake identical tracking number. Do you think I should be worried? Thanks ahead of time!

          • Hi Nicole,
            It has happened with me only once. I ordered a product and added in a stylus (around $0.5). It was surprising that both came out of the same package which I wasn’t expecting. I did not check if the stores were still functional back then, but who knows. Many of the sellers at AliExpress are only doing shipment forwarding by taking orders and then passing them on to the primary supplier, who then packages and ships the item to the address provided. The AliExpress seller takes his cut and he’s off with his responsibility. In such a case, the shipments from different sellers can get consolidated at times.
            AliExpress does verify the business details of the sellers, hence a single seller maintaining 2 accounts is a hard sell, but there surely are ways to get around this. Is it really that the store is unavailable now or just the item? AliExpres and buyers as well are known to take down listings and then list them separately again. I just think so should not get extremely worried and give some time for the item to start tracking (depending on the shipping method).

            • Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! I really appreciate it! The stores are still there but the product list is completely empty for both now. I’ve placed over 100 separate orders on aliexpress without a problem so I’m just going to remind myself that even if I don’t receive my orders it should be pretty easy to get my money back. Taking the info you provided into account really eases my mind too. So thanks again for your help! ✌☺

            • Hi Narndar thanks for sharing your experience here. I am planning to buy a headphone at 7 dollar, do i need to pay any custom charges? Do you recommend to buy one from aliexpresss?

  • Hi Narender, I am thinking of buying a Laptop Battery (Lithum Ion type). The price is 39$ + free shipping. Is it safe to buy? Are batteries allowed via post as they are inflammable? Also, do I have to pay any custom duties? The seller looks reliable as he has good ratings, comments and product specification are mentioned correctly.. Please let me know

    • Batteries can be shipped, but as they say, batteries should be disconnected so that they are not powering any device while they are in transit. Customs are expected to be avoided for such an item if you get it shipped via registered post. But it still depends on the situation. Sometimes they are too strict and impose customs on just anything.

      • Hi, the seller said that he will send it by PostNL or Netherlands Post. Is it registered post?? (I want to buy this battery because, in India, it is available for min. 7200, I am getting on AliExpress for only $39).

        • Yes that is the Netherlands registered post and is actually faster than China Post Registered post. So it should be a good choice 🙂

  • Hi Pradeep pl advise me i want to order 10 different items in qty 01 or two costing inr appx 12000, whether custom duty will be charged from me.

  • Thank you for this post. I want to shop AliExpress and now am trying to make sure I don’t get scammed but I keep worrying I will. What if the person closes their store, can you still get refunded somehow? Can you get refunded if you use your visa gift card? Thanks. 🙂

    • Yes, if the person closes his store and you don’t get your promised product, you will get refunded. The key here is patience as it takes really long for orders to reach destination and sometimes you need to wait for the deadline to approach even when you’re confident that the seller hasn’t shipped the item.
      As for the second question, please contact Visa support regarding how long the gift card stays valid and accepts reversals/payments to the card.

      The TOS quote – “If you are entitled to a refund for any reason for goods or services obtained with your Card, you agree to accept credits to your Card for such refunds to the extent allowed by law. It may take up to seven (7) days for the amount of the refund to be credited to your Card unless otherwise required by applicable law.”

  • Hello… I want to ask what is the average time taken by the product to deliver on Mumbai address … I want to buy mobile cover and matte glass..but after reading the reviews there are more things to be concerned about than just delivery time… To shop or not to shop?

  • Hello

    Is there any limit to shop from such sites. Like how much can you shop in a year, so that you don’t face any income tax problems. Like 50000 or 1lac or may be more in a year.

    • Depends on how much taxable income you intend to show. Anything you spend here will be traceable since it is charged from your bank.

  • hi
    i am nishant and i want to buy a pair of replica shoes worth 75 usd. ai wanted to know whether i would get in any probkem with the customs? i checked about the seller and the seller is quite reputable as many people from around the world. the seller has even got many reviews on youtube. so would i get in any problem with customs?

  • purchased a quick charger worth 840 rupees , delivery time frame was 40 days but stuck in customes and delivery time was about to lapse and i opened dispute before 4 days of purchase protection end, simply said that I have not received my order and i want full refund , never mentioned where it is stuck or anything. after 8 days of opening and escalating dispute aliexpress refunded my full amount and i also received the product on 46 th day,

  • Had major difficulties in getting a refund for an item that was seized by Latvian customs authorities and destroyed under EU regulations on counterfeit goods.

    Since I had ordered and received goods from that source before, and in case of larger purchases DHL delivered them fast as per Article 6 here, I thought little of other risks. And then came the day when I got burned. A friend asked me to buy a pair of sports shoes (a replica of Nike) that his daughter had seen there, too lazy to create an account of his own, It took a month before the goods were dispatched at all. Then came an official notice from the local customs: seized and will be destroyed. I opened a complaint and now it took Aliexpress 6 weeks (!) to resolve the issue. Communication with chat operators varied from ‘no progress’ to hanging up on me, to several operators stating they were buyers themselves and ‘dear, I understand you very well’. You can get no postal or email addresses from them. In dealing with the case, the Aliexpress case management team sent me 2 unsigned emails basically disregarding the evidence (the customs notice) that I had uploaded in the original language. When, at a point, I asked one chat operator if they would have a problem with having it translated, he said no problem, they would have it done. Towards the end, another chat operator from the customer service said, however, that they could not use it because it was an image file in Latvian. No one bothered to ask me to provide an official translation into English. In my communication I stated the facts about the fate of the item at the customs and the grounds for it, however. The shop has not been closed down. Its page contains feedback from customers who note how fine the goods are and how difficult it is to tell them from the original product, despite Aliexpress claiming they will not tolerate sellers of counterfeit goods or a record of bad consumer handling. After waiting for 5 weeks Aliexpress disregarded my evidence, despite understanding what the problem roughly was, in that they still wrote they’d ask the seller to provide information so that I could clear the item at the customs. What the heck? The item was seized and has been destroyed. Their case handling is done by an automated system apparently.

    I agree with the article in that no communication from the seller is a bad sign of the way customers are or will be treated.

    Keep it in mind that low production costs invariably enable these sellers to offer sending the goods again instead of a refund when the latter option is actually the only one that may suit you best in the circumstances.

    I’m going to remove my account as a result. One bad experience is enough.

  • I want to buy lcd screen for my mobile from aliexpress?
    Should i order it .. is it safe??
    And please tell me procedure to buy it safely,
    Thanks

  • I placed an order and paid immediately. The seller sent a message asking me to pay for my order which I had already done. Few days later the seller sent a message saying that the color which I chose is out of stock (though it was on display when I placed the order and even later the seller confirmed by saying to make the payment. I said I did not want any other color and wanted my money back. The seller said they would refund. After a few weeks, I inquired about the refund and the seller is saying to open a dispute and mark the item “not fitting”, promissing to refund afterwards. What can I do? It seems like a scam…

    • You should open a dispute for the exact reason of your issue. Sellers do this because there is a chance for them to get unlisted from AliExpress if they have too many complaints against them. Complaints like ‘Not Shipped’ or ‘No Stock’ hurt them more than the ‘not fitting’ one. You just open the dispute with the reason that most closely connects with yours 🙂

  • hi

    i want to order fashion items like dresses and shoes from alie express. does any one here know or can recommend a good seller and provide me with tips

    • Reputation is not enough. It’s nearly the last thing to check. First you must understand that to get a Size M article you’ll need to order one that is labeled as XXL. Mind-boggling, made in China for the local market and body sizes.

  • Any fucking god damn company that comes out of India has got to be bad. I should have known but took a chance. We are all fucked….

    • Who is this idiot? Aliexpress is Chinese….people are so stupid they make comments without knowing even basic information.

    • HAHAHAHAHAHA —- you got PfHucked by a tiny chineese cock AND thought it was an INDIAN SCHLONG…. If you were PfHucked by an IndIAN sCHLONG dONG you wouldn’t live to tell the tale,,,,,,,HIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIIHIHIHI

  • Never buy electronics there –LED bulbs dead very soon, battery changed shape after three charge… Tolerate long shipping time. Can accept 60 days then found it can not arrive at all. Expecting stay at home and save several bucks comparing Dollar store. Then you are safe to go.

  • i scam the crap out of people using AliExpress. Muahaha! I pretend to be a chineee and got the order set up to look like I am gook…but tricky trickee! I really round eye Flim Flam Artist! Here Heee!!!

  • Hey i have one question, as we know items from China are poor quality but also they are cheap, but if i always Open Dispute no matter if i am satisfied or not , to take some money back(i mean why not) will i get banned or something like that?

    • Most probable answer would be a yes. If you start opening many disputes, they will be auto closed in the favor of the seller.

  • I ordered a xiaomi phone from aliexpress on 21 Feb, 2016 and now today is April 3, 2016, it says it is still in transit and last update was on march 16. When I can open a dispute?

    • What is the last location recorded for the item? You can try contacting the seller if he has an answer for your query.

  • Hello dear ,,, i had a dispute and escalated it on aliexpress ,, attached a video with my escalat but the system keeps asking for respond of both me and the seller and we did respond,,, i did few times but it just keep asking me to respond again and again and i dont know why or what to do ,,, if you know anything about such situation please help me cuz its too annoying

  • Hi Narender Singh, My Purchase Protection will end in next 9 days. I have contacted seller three times to increase the limit and to track the order, but there is no response from his side. Should i open dispute or wait.

  • I purchased some items from a supplier, it was listed as free shipping. When it came there was a 23 dollars charge and the intitial order total was 35 dollars. So I put in a dispute with the supplier, The supplier told me the free shipping was from Aliexpress so it had to be handled through them. i put in a dispute, it took over a month for them to get back to me. At that point they told me it was a charge for duty. I checked when i signed for the parcel and paid, and the delivery person as well as the person i checked with at Canada Post told me it was a forwarded charge from the Sender. Aliepxress then told me that they would give me a coupon to offset my loses. They never gave it to me, And the customer service people i talked to 5 times told me the same story every time, “we are so sorry, don’t worry it will be fixed , someone will be in touch in 2 to 3 days” Never heard back and can’t talk to a supervisor. So I say stay away, use Ebay where you have recourse.

  • I want to buy dress for my daughter. They have good collection of it. Is that safe place to buy?please help me

    • Well, since you cannot touch the item and know the actual feel of the dress its only rational that you buy just one or two from maybe different sellers then when they arive you check for yourself wheather the item really matches the description.

      Speaking from experience, I wanted to buy maximum quantity of a very nice looking shirt which the seller wrote on description that its 100% cotton. Instinctively I just felt I needed to buy just a single item and check the quality before placing bulk order. The item arrived and to my surprise its just about 2% cotton. Looks very light weight and too silky.The dress can attract a lot of heat if worn under sunny warm weather condition.

      SO I SAY WHEN BUYING FROM ALIIEXPRESS, JUST DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU SEE ON SCREEN JUST YET AND AFTER FOLLOWING ALL THE STEPS AND ADVICE OUTLINED BY THIS techmesto WEBSITE, THE LAST STEP FROM ME IS ” BE INSTINCTIVE”. I NOW BUY MORE OF WATCHES AND BRACELET WATCHES FROM ALIEXPRES AND SO FAR 80-90% OK BUT EVEN THAT SOME SELLERS TRY TO ADD ONE OR TWO FAULTY ITEMS WHICH I ALWAYS GET MY MONEY BACK AFTER OPENING DISPUTE.

      WHEN ALL IS DONE THEY COMEBACK BEGGING FOR 5STAR RATING AND POSITIVE FEEDBACK. i HAD INSTANCE WHERE A SELLER WANTED TO PAY ME A FEW DOLLARS TO GIVE HIM 5STAR RATING EVEN AFTER I RAISED CONCERNS ABOUT QUALITY OF SERVICE AND PRODUCT.

    • Sushma yes it is safe. Be careful to buy only from trusted sellers.
      Chinese sizes are different from indian size, so buy one size larger.

    • I havr been buying from ali express for months I havr purchased 100 of items…mainly clothes for my children and the clothes that I have recipient the quality us outstanding.. I have just ordered a wedding dress…the payment is on hold..the seller hasn’t taken payment as we are in discussions at tge moment. As they are custom making it…as they want to get the size right…I see this as a good point as they haven’t took payment until they know all my measurements…I have only ever opend a dispute one time as…I ordered a top for my self and the stitching was puckered…and guess what I got a full refund straight away off the seller…it’s not all that bad to shop on there…just make communication with the seller’s always look at there feed back and ratings as a seller and u will he ok

  • Hi friend i have ordered some ipad air case from a seller, after i receive the order i have seen that it is a ipad mini case.
    So i decide to check the item from the store, and from my order list.
    To my suprise i find out that the discription is changed.
    I think the seller changed the discription after i placed the order.
    Is this possible ?

    • Hmm.. When you check My Orders and open the item from there, the page shows a snapshot of the item title and description of the page just how it was at the time of placing the order. If you see iPad Mini there, then it is just you who placed a wrong order. Otherwise the seller has changed the item listing.

  • aliexpress is gang of thieves and fradulent sellers with chinese standard of customer service?
    I ordered a sports camera EKEN h9, I received a fake camera and no resolution even no applogy from seller and aliexpress. Recommend not to shop in this website and save hassle and money

  • I’m ready to order a htc one m8 on Ali express seller is summer technologies. Will I be charged by customs (India)

    • Have you got the item. I’m also interested in buying htc one m8 from aliexpress as its cheaper. Which seller did you buy from!? Please reply

    • brother… some time imported phone wont work in India due to IMEI registration … Avoid buying it

  • In India, i learnt few things about aliexpress, first thing is before you buy any item, communicate with seller first about shipping method and delivery. i ordered 5 various products from aliexpress, seller send 2 iteams from registered post, that we can track through india post website and received me within 25 days. Other seller shipped my 3 irems with seller shiping method, this method can be any courier service usually ‘Yenwan’ which i cant track once it reaches in india. this 3 items never reaches to me. so always ask seller for registered post shipping while you buying product from aliexpress.

  • I ordered jeweler from the seller FennyFenny. Seller kept promising me that he has shipped the products and gave me a fake tracking number, regularly saying that the product has been shipped.. During 66 days of wait i chatted with the seller, he gave me various excuses like…..chianise holidays is delaying the order, china festival is going on etc etc.

    After 66 days i raised the dispute, Aliexpress has refunded the money, but my two months got wasted. Such seller should be penalized by aliexpress. If seller was not to ship the product, why did he make the customer wait for two months.

    While making a payment to Aliexpress through credit card, they do not ask for OTP number or pin number, which my banker says is not safe to shop with, chances are your credit cards details can be misused. Aliexpress should make a secure gateway for payment.

  • Don’t trust alliexpress…. They tell you no shipping but they charge you with shipping and some sellers take your money but they don’t send you the products ….some of the sellers are cheaters ….

  • Since making an order last week on AliExpress, the store where I made the purchase has conveniently shut down, as if it never even existed.

    Also, the tracking number I was given appears to be fake.

    This is the first time I’ve ever used AliExpress. And I made a point of only purchasing from a seller who had very good feedback but, it would appear, despite my best efforts to avoid being scammed, my worst fears materialized regardless.

    Avoid at all costs.

  • Hi . I have ordered a power bank on Jan 1 2016 and it shows send to customs on feb 2. Since I was running out of purchase protection I opened the dispute status and mentioned that it’s with customs and I’m not aware how to proceed further so to cancel the order . Still I have not received any update . If a product is held with custom how to proceed further .

    • Since you already indicated that its with customs, aliexpress will assume you are aware that the item is shipped and with time will get to you. They will only expect that you wait a little longer and the seller will try to remind you that free shipping method is usually between 30-90 days. I suggest that next time when opening dispute just tell them what you are not happy about and like say if the item was purchasd and its taking more time than usuall like say 2months and over just write in the dispute that you have purchased the item since two months and have still not received it. Then you take snap shots of the tracking info as well as date of purchase and maybe your chat with the seller. Then file your case. Am sure thats a better aprproach. I have never lost any of my 4 dispute cases since I provide honest and true evidence. In most cases I find out that some sellers try to take advantage of the distance between where I live and china and they just try to be smart.

        • Oh I can help in that I also suffered from OTP problem Its all about ur Debit card may be u have changed ur sim Card,n find the mobile number that u have registered when you were applying your ATM Card So to sort it out just go to the bank write a application about changing your mobile number which has been registered before n write the current mobile number you are using nowadays n after few days ur register debit no. Will b change n then again do the same process of ordering n then they will send you OTP in your current mobile number which u gave for registration

    • I should have read this shit before I wasted my money on this site. Now I got to go through some Hell for a refund….

    • You may need to contact customs. Sometimes if the value is not declared on the parcel you will have to send a copy of the invoice before they will release it from customs.

  • pls can I cancel my order before they are shipped by the seller plus will my money be refund since I cancelled the order before the seller was able to ship my order?
    Thanks.

  • Hi Narender I have a doubt I jus wanna place an order of flip cover for my mobile which costs around 275rs ..it s free shipping and my question is how many days will it take to reach india and do I have to pay any extra money as duties or anything else..bcoz I gave to pay thru my debit card so I m worried

    • Hi Fathima. It’s Chinese new year celebration in China and that can impact the shipping speed. The fastest I received an item sent via free shipping is 20 days. So, 20-30 days are normal. If you are closer to Delhi/Mumbai, you might get it a few days earlier.
      For the worse case, it can even take as long as 60 days for the items to reach. Don’t buy if you can’t wait 🙂
      For such a small item, you will not be needed to pay anything additional as duties, but do remember that banks charge around 2-3% currency conversion commission when you purchase from AliExpress because they accept payments in USD only.

  • Hi,
    I need some help, it’s my first time ordering on Aliexpress, but after researching and contacting the sellers. I dont’ think I will place an order. The prices are converted to US dollars why? If I choose my currency? Don’t understand, also the duties it’s gonna cost me more that what I paid for the item. I guess I will have to shop elsewhere.

  • I want to purchase an indoor playground from Aliexpress for about $8000.00. On the website page it has the price and the shipping cost of the item which you can buy with your credit card. Also listed on the page in read letters says do not send money until confirming shipping with me will not send the item. So when I contact them they always say I cannot ship through Aliexpress and they want me to purchase through them via Paypal but will not take a credit card and they want to ship by sea not by air like aliexpress does. What is going on here?

  • Thank you dear, now am stuck with two orders one has been finished as ‘ suspicious order ‘ and I don’t know if that means they will refund my money or not even it was an open dispute before they label it as suspicious, and the one I told you about sent to another address on my country I already opend a dispute and waiting the sellers response but even if he refused it as a wrong address I can modify it to not received but sure the lady who will receive it will make it as received so don’t know if that will effect my dispute hope not any way thank you so much for your great help you are kind to give others you time and knowledge for that I thank you so much , ?

  • Hi,i want to purchase from aliexpress a birthday present,but i dont have the international visa debit card.is there any other option i can do the shopping?i contacted my bank,they want the swift code and companies address.Could u please give me a genuine company details(bank name,address,swift code) where the transactions have been successful.

    • AliExpress does not accept a direct bank deposit so I don’t think there is a feasible way to pay for your order as AliExpress does not provide payment sending facility in India.

  • dear thank you for you advise I’ll let you know what will happen , by the way i Have more than 30 orders on AE that’s why I have many disputes .
    Thank you again thanks a lot for your time and responds ?

    • That’s a big bunch of orders. I wish you best of luck. Hopefully majority of your orders will be satisfactory to you 🙂

  • Hello dear the order I sent to you about the frozen dispute have been finished as ‘ order finished due to suspicious seller so I don’t know if that means they would refund but I hope so ,

    but dear now I have a new issue with another item , seems the seller sent it to some one else in lebanon with the same tracking number because on the post office they say it have someone else details as name and address so they’ll send it to them ,
    so I opend dispute but I have no avidance for that as pics or videos so do you know if aliexpress is able to know the exact address the seller sent the parcel to ?so they refund my money and know that he is a fraud ??

    • Oh dear.. Why are you so prompt at opening disputes? For the first dispute, that should get you a refund because the dispute ended in your favor (that’s what it seems like from what you said).
      As about second, assuming that you didn’t escalate it yet, I’d recommend cancelling the dispute (not accepting) because what you wanna say cannot be proven in any way. When you’re certain that it is not coming to your address, just leave the order as it is and open a ‘Not Received’ dispute when the purchase protection approaches the end. No, AliExpress cannot check the address to which your item was shipped.
      You can place a new order of the ditto item from some other seller.

  • Hey I am first time purchasing from AE. I wanted to know how much days it takes to deliver in India ? Have purchased 5 products from different sellers. I am little bit worried so reading the comments thought to ask u 🙂

    • It depends on the shipping method that you’ve chosen. For free shipping, it can take anywhere till 60 days before the items reach you. The average is around 25 days for me here in north India.

      • Ohk thankyou. Yes I have taken free shipping and m from Mumbai, but the order comes before expiration of Purchasing protection time ?

  • Hello again dear sorry for too many questions but the order I told you about that I opened a dispute on because the tracking says it’s been shipped to Australia so when I checked it it was frozen so I waited till it closes on the 5th day on my proposal but the 5 days ended and the days counting disappeard on it and it still says waiting for the seller accepting for it and I can’t escalate it or do anything in it am wondering what would happen,
    Thank you so much for helping and explaining ??

  • Thank you so much , I’ll escalate it and hope I’ll get my money back , by the way i Forget to tell you all the items on the seller page have disappeard. And by the way yesterday I received from AE a parcel I didn’t order for but I didn’t check the tracking Nu on it before opening it because I was expecting a parcel so the parcel wasn’t mine I didn’t order it but it have my name my address and my phone number but the tracking number isn’t one of my parcels that am expecting, so I contacted the post office to ask them what to do she said I can retake it to the nearest post office so if any one called asking for it can take it , but to be honest I didn’t take it first I didn’t went out second I opened it and on the website of the post office it says its delivered so any one on the post office can take it , so now am hoping the seller would contact me when he discovere that he puted my addres instead of the right address to resend it back to the one payed for it . ?

    • Now what I’m feeling here is that.. Your item got packed and sent to that Australian address and the item which that Australian wanted to order has been sent to your address. In this case, I guess there’s no point telling the seller about this because the return shipping cost would be more than the actual item cost. These sellers have bulk arrangements and hence somehow manage to send them for lower shipping cost. Good luck about the dispute though 🙂

  • Hello dear wish you can help me ,
    I bought a shoes on AE and the tracking status said it have been sent to Australia and am living in another country and my address on AE is on my country not Australia
    so I sent few msgs to the seller asking about that but didn’t answer me ,
    so I opened a dispute asking for full refund because he sent it to a wrong address even i still have around a month on buyer protection,
    so the seller refused my dispute and asked me to wait about a months and said that he sent my parcel,
    I didn’t accept his solution because I know if I closed the dispute I can’t open it again , and am waiting till the dispute automatically escalated to AE team , am hoping when it escalate by it self AE team will give me full refund , so dear do you advise me to wait the 13 days that it takes the dispute to be automatically escalated? Or to escalate it now ??
    Thank you so much

    • Sometimes in rare cases, the tracking can be wrong so it is always best to contact the sellers before disputing. I see that he wasn’t helpful in your case.
      So, only real reason of that could be that the package is being forwarded through Australia, but going Lebanon via Australia doesn’t make much sense. Something fishy and hence it makes all the sense to dispute. It is still advisable to not dispute till like 30 days have passed since order shipment to be on the safer side.
      Now that seller has declined it once, I don’t think there is need for you to wait for an update from the seller. So escalate it to AE unless you’re still hoping that the item will somehow arrive in the coming 13 days. If I was at your place, I’d escalate it already.

  • Hello,

    I want to ask you about delivery time. I’ve ordered my product on 27/11/2015 , and it has been shippet on date 02/12/2015. My purchase protection ended on date 27/01/2016 with Aliexpress time count, but the seller has extended 10 days more, but should i open dispute now when 60 days ended, or to wait 60 days after he has shipped , till 02.02.2016 ?

    • Are you able to check the tracking details? If the item has reached your country, maybe it will be delivered during this time. If it has not, maybe going the dispute route would be good.

  • I bought an item, the seller is contacting with me, and asked to extend the time till the shoes are ready, that’s why I wonder if I would not like to have that shoes, the refund will be automatically in that case? Thsnk you

    • Unless he actually ships them or marks the item as shipped by entering a fake shipping number, your order will be auto-cancelled when the processing time expires. Yes, the refund will be processed automatically then 🙂

  • Hi tell me please what will happen if I dont extand the processing time , there is written that the order automatically will be canceled, but I wonder after that will I receive my money back? Thsnk you

    • Is it the processing time or the purchase protection that you’re talking about? If the seller fails to ship during the processing time, the order will be refunded back to you.

  • Hi Narender. My parcel was listed to be delevered at my local post office on the 07/01/2016 but my local post office did not receive it.what do I do?

  • Hai Narender,

    i have ordered a fishing rod on 6th January and the seller said to ship it with in 2-3 days but nothing happened. when i contacted he said there was an issue with the seller and will ship it with in 1- 2 days again he didnt. By the time when the order was about to auto cancel he put some tracking information that too of something delivered in another country on last December !!! .

    Now when i asked him to refund he wants me to open a dispute. But when i try to open a dispute it always shows an error you are not authorised to log in this account. what should i do now?.

    Already tried the customer care and they said they have escalated the issue but nothing happened yet.

    • “you are not authorized to log in” are you sure this is what you really see? Because it sounds strange. Maybe it says that you can’t open a dispute yet? This is the first time I’m seeing this, and maybe customer service are the only ones who can help. They are very slow to respond though.

      • Thanks for the reply Narender…

        Yes it is the same error. May be you are right coz it is only 5 days after they have shown the bogus tracking number. I will wait for 5 more days and try to open a dispute again. will update the status afterwards and thanks for the insight.

        • Probably AliExpress doesn’t allow sellers to cancel the orders because it is already marked as shipped?

          • Hai Narender,

            you were right, today i was able to open the dispute and straightaway seller approved it and refund processed. How much time it will take to get credited in my card?.

            • Hmm.. That’s good, buddy! The refund can take anywhere from 3 to 15 days depending on the bank. But you will receive a slightly lesser amount than what you paid, because a commission on currency conversion + service tax will be deducted by the bank.

  • Heya
    I ordered almost 10 items through Aliexpress.. Now when I try to track them , It says arrived in India on xyz date.. All the dates are like a month ago, But i havent received anything till noww..
    P.s they all are cosmetic items , none greater than 2 dollar..

    • How were they shipped? Yanwen or some other post who only tracks till the items arrive in India? Or some which tracks it further?

  • Vi China Mail which is free one
    If I order a product which is less then 1 kg do i have to pay duty ?
    If yes do i have to go to the airport custom office to collect the product and pay the duty charges OR it will be COD

  • Hi again Narender, that was an very very fast reaction, thank you so much. I also appreciate your advices, very helpfull. Thank you so much and wishing you all the best. Andy.

  • Hi Narender, I just recieved my gloves for skiing. They smell incredible after fungus/mold. I tryed to wash them four times already, but it is not helpfull at all. What to do, how do I provide smell, My second and last order on Aliexpress. Very unhappy. First order – boots for 80 USD plus EU taxes and clearance 35 USD. Boots are just four EU sizes bigger, I am waiting for new pair, seller promised me to ship new one for free…don¨t trust him. But I closed dispute already. Now he wants me to confirm goods delivery and give him a good feedback. What to do in this case. Never happend to me on EBay in duration of years. To everyone – stay away from dealing on Ali.

    • Ah Andy. That’s sad. About the shoes, you closed the dispute so you are not getting anything anymore. The AliExpress system is really unhygenic for buyers at times and disputing should be used very carefully else you end up losing your money.
      In your case, I’d recommend contacting the seller (don’t tell him that it’s just the smell, but that they are damaged or something which you’d be able to produce on a video) and disputing the transaction if his replies are unhelpful.

  • Why is there an exchange difference in rate of dollar, coz the current exchange rate for dollar (as I am writing) is 67.23, but aliexpress charges 69.81 ? I confirmed the exchange rate from multiple websites. Can anyone explain this ?

    • Banks charge an additional currency conversion commission of 2.5-3.5% when you purchase USD. Service tax is also levied on such currency conversion commission.

  • Hi Neranda! Must i pay through Ali Pay? Am having issues with them now.They are saying that they are sorry they cannot process ma order.

  • I placed an order, the seller first put a not working tracing number, later seller said they don,t have the collor i want, and ask if i don,t want another collor. I said no, the seller said wait for some times ….
    Ok i wait for more then one mouth, in this time the status of my order was like its allready send, and the buyer purchase protection was still counting, when the item was not send yet…
    5 days ago when the buyer protection was left 15 days, the seller inform me that they send the item now…. So now i have only 10 days buyer purchase protection left, what shall i do now ?

    • As the buyer protection approaches an end, like 5 days left, contact the seller to extend the purchase protection. If he still doesn’t by the time 2 days are left for it to end, open up a dispute and ask for your money back, nothing else.

  • Hello Narender, I haven’t seen anyone here with the issues I’m having.
    I paid for some clothes on aliexpress from different sellers but I’ve been having issues with one seller. When I tracked it, it says product not found and the tracking update by the seller ends in ‘unsuccessful item delivery attempt’. This was on the 4th of January. The seller rating is high but hasn’t replied any of my messages. Also buyer protection ends in 27days. I’m very angry the seller isn’t even replying me since the beginning of January. Is it okay to open dispute since all other goods I bought from other sellers have arrived?

    • When was the order placed? If he ain’t replying, he probably isn’t active on AliExpress anymore an hence won’t reply to any disputes either. Or he could be just out for some holidays. IDK, if it’s already been long since you placed the order, go the dispute way.
      Also, contacting the courier/post office can shed some additional light on the unsuccessful attempt part. Maybe you were unavailable when the delivery was attempted?

  • I made an order in 24/11 today the seller send me an e-mail to inform that my goods lost in the shipping company so he asked me to re send the goods or refund
    I need the goods so the better to do refund and make a new order or let him re send the goods

    In case he resend the goods he will open a new order with new protraction period? or not

    I need your advise ASAP

    • You can do the either. If you ask the seller to resend the goods, he should extend the purchase protection so as to accommodate for the new time that it would take to deliver the item.
      If he’s a good seller and he has the goods, its better to ask him to resend, because if you refund, you won’t receive the exact amount that you paid. Currency conversion and related commission and taxes will be deducted from the amount.

  • Thanks so much for replying. I’m not sure what the issue is. There is not https and if I try to add it, it just reloads the page as it was, still unsecured. When I click on the area where the verified symbol would be, it says instead that “the identity of this website has not been verified” and “Your connection to shoppingcart.aliexpress.com is not encrypted.” I’ve tried on a few computers but no luck, they all say the same. I checked the firewall and that doesn’t seem to be an issue. Chrome also recommended trying to turn off antivirus apps while using the site which doesn’t sound completely safe either. Ideas?

    Would using a credit card (Visa) gift card work? That way I could pay for the items with a credit card but it would have a limited balance and wouldn’t be linked to my info. Has anyone tried that?

    Thanks very much!

    • Okay. I got you.
      So, yes the regular AliExpress website is all un-encrypted, from the homepage to the cart, but when you place order (orders are placed before you, but not processed until payment is cleared) and proceed to the payment, you’ll reach an HTTPS secured and encrypted page. You only enter your Card Information on this secured page. And all payments are processed by AliPay (https://alipay.com). So, I don’t think there’s something to worry there. I however do advise not to save your card information in AliPay and better enter it every time you shop.
      Using Visa gift card should work, but in case there is an issue and AliPay team wants to investigate, it would be hard for you to present a picture of your gift card and its statement. If that is achievable, I think there’s nothing wrong with using the gift card 🙂

      • Can someone ‘steal’ the login information (i.e user name and password) when the login page is un-encrypted? I don;t find it safe to login without seeing the secured lock logo in front of https on the aliexpress login page.

  • Hi there. I have tried to shop on AliExpress but I never go through with the purchase because I can’t get a secure connection for checkout. Any way to do that? I won’t risk it otherwise. Any way to pay with PayPal? Thanks!

    • No. You can’t pay with PayPal.
      As for the secure connection, do you face some error, or just that the HTTPS label is not green and comes with an exclamation mark?

  • hi, i recently places two small orders a mobile case with free shipping via china air mail nd swedan post worth 3.71 pounds and table mats worth 13.47 from uk with indian shipping address which is a small district – for my parents not know about the customs amount !!thinking that it’ll be delivered at my door .now I’m worries if my parents have to pay extra ammount during collection and if the collection point is my local post office rather than to my home. ..can you plz clarify this?

    • For small orders such as yours, you do not need to worry about customs. And depending on the will of the postman, the package will get delivered, else it will be needed to be collected from the PostOffice. You know very well how good India Post is 😛

  • I recently purchased two watches from aliexpress.com, the seller has positive feedback and a lot of orders to their name. It’s been about a week’s or so since the purchase has been made and the watches still haven’t been shipped. When I click on the item that was purchased, it says no longer available. Does that mean i won’t receive my watches or not? …

    • It can be that the seller has actually gone out of stock or AliExpress team has taken down the listing due to a number of orders pending shipment. You should try contacting the seller and see if he has an answer to why it is not shipped so far.

      • Yes it is possible via most of Indian Debit Cards which are international. You do not have a last name added in your bank account? You may try using a generic name, a last name that you’d usually use. If there’s none, just enter your nickname there because if I’m not wrong, the name that you enter there is not matched with the real name you have on your account.

  • Hi, I bought some products on Ali express .. I have also been emailed that the goods have been shipped, I really don’t know what to do next, cos this is actually my first time shopping with them and usually when I order from other online shopping site they give me a date for it to be delivered.. Ps help wah do I do next

    • If you’ve choose free shipping, it takes anywhere between 30-60 days for the items to reach you. Because there is no certainty, you don’t get an estimate delivery in free shipping.
      You should be able to partially track the location using the tracking number, but because it moves slowly, it make take up to 10 days for the tracking number to even start tracking.

  • can someone provide me with ups tracking website link or something…..none of the links available on the net are working. i need to email them to ask about a missing order….regards

  • Hi,
    Thanks for a great guide.! I have purchased a Wifi Router of MI (Cost : ~27 USD). It was shipped on 15th November only but it is stuck at customs now from last 1 week .. 🙁
    As per the current status :Location – CUSTOM EXAM MUMBAI – Retention reason : Awaiting presentation to customs commission

    Now i m worried about the custom duty and other charges..

  • I am thinking to buy a dainese jacket from aliexpress which of around 5k so will i have to pay any custom, btw this is the 1st time i a m.thinking to buy from aliexpress. Should i or shouldn’t..? Because dainese jacket is quite cheap on aliexpress.

    • It might attract customs, but there’s no way to guarantee whether they will be imposed or not. AliExpress is good and it is bad as well. Just be sure that you choose a reputed seller or else you might feel cheated.

  • if i order something of rs800 how much custom i have to pay i have readed many rereviews in all reviews they say u dont have to pay custom for such small amount bt still i wany know that how much% they charge….. for order worth rs800 plzzz tell me

    • Others are right on that. Low value items generally don’t attract customs. And customs are firstly dependent on the item category and then the price because the customs charge is charged differently on different items. I cannot help you much with this because estimating customs is not an easy task.

  • I live in Canada and would like to order from aliexpress but have the order sent/mailed to my daughter who lives in Wuhan China rather than to Canada. Is this possible?

    If not, can you recommend websites where it is possible. I want to send her Christmas gifts. So I would like to buy from China, pay from Canada, but mail in China. This way I hope to avoid expensive shipping costs.

    • Unfortunately, it is not possible via AliExpress as they do not deliver within China (govt restrictions?). Same goes for the English version of jd.com. Any website that would ship to within China will not be in English and I also doubt that it will accept an International card for payment. I’ll still try to search around and will let you know if I come across some website suiting your needs.

        • Hi Robin.I can help you with that. Just send me the link of that product you want. I can buy the gift for you in China and send to your daughter for you. There won’t be any expensive shipping cost coz I live here in China. I can get the present for you and send to your daughter directly.

          • Not trying to be a detective, but I do wonder why you visited this page, for while living in China, you wouldn’t be searching for AliExpress, would you? Helping is good though and I appreciate that. Let Robin decide 🙂

            • No, I am not the detective. But I am about to open my shop on Aliexpress. Therefore, I must know enough about the market to see if it is worth doing the business. The reason I came to visited this page was that I just wanted to know how to solve customers’ issues such as the problems you guys talked about. That was my thought. To be honest, I’m native Chinese. I really want to offer help, and also I want to get help. for instance, if I want to buy something from Ebay in the future, I would ask for help if any of you can offer, I’d appreciate very much at that time. Of course, Robin can make a decision himself on where to buy. We have several online shop platforms to buy from. Taobao.com, Amazon.com and jd.com are the most popular platforms for domestic market. They only ship within China. That was why I said I could offer help. As to Aliexpress, of course, I need to do more searches on it. By the way, you have offered us a lot of useful information, Narender Singh. In my opinion, the most important thing before buying is to contact the seller and get everything confirmed.

              • If you can find and buy a product on Aliexpress so can I find and buy it on Taobao.com, Amazon.com and jd.com. That’s the point.

                • Thank you Narender and James for your help. It seems like ordering from these sites is not a safe nor viable option for me at this time. Perhaps if the trade rules change down the road, I may be able to do so in the future. I will do something else for my daughter instead.

                  If something changes, please contact me….I know
                  there are many other parents who have adult children working and living abroad who would like to buy/send this way …..
                  ……Your help is very much appreciated.
                  Thank you

              • Wonderful! Rarely do I see people like you and when I do, it makes me feel happy 🙂 AliExpress, if I’m not wrong, has grown up to be a big big marketplace and if you have something attractive with an even attractive price tag, the world is willing to buy it from you. I wouldn’t call that all sellers on AliExpress are playing fraudent, but some are. Others are forced to play around the buyers because the items didn’t reach to the buyers because of shipping company’s faults, customs issues; etc, but the sellers did ship them and refunding at this stage means a loss to them. So who doesn’t want to save himself?
                Judging by your willingness, with the amount of help you’re wishing to throw in, I’m certain that customers would want to do repeat purchases from your shop 🙂 Good luck for the plans and I’d be willing to offer any help you may need 🙂
                BTW, your IP address says you’re in Japan, last time it was US (using a Linode server?) 😐 😐 VPN, Proxy or whatever, IDK, I don’t want to doubt you 😛

                • Yeah indeed, many factors would affect the transactions. I’ll let you know when I start the business. Vpn, Sometimes it changes the Ip itself. Due to our country’s condition, and for some reasons sometimes I have to use it. Hope you could understand.

  • I am planning for purchasing cloths of about 10K from aliexpress.. I Live in India, how much should I pay to get faster delivery (rate in INR) please.

  • Hey i just want to know about shipping those written amount is what you pay after to get yr product or you pay it before

  • What will be estimated custom duty on Mi Pad 2 16 GB Gold worth 187.29$ and is it reliable to buy with seller having rating 97% positive rating.Is Ali express standard shipping is good??Please do reply my doubts.Thanks in advance.

  • hello frnd..i purchase 2.60 dollar watch from aliexpress.com..i am from india..how much import duty and tax for that sir….please say that

  • Please respond

    I have been thinking to order from that site but was confused lately as they don’t accept INR.
    Can we pay through credit/debit card in INR. How was your experience, were there any extra processing fee for currency exchange? Is it safe?

    It may sound stupid but making a payment in foreign currency, can it lead to unwanted attention from custom or tax department?

    • They do not support INR and hence your currency will be converted from INR to USD and you will be needed to pay the currency conversion charge + the conversion commission (which is usually 2-2.5%).
      It shouldn’t leave to any attention from tax department unless you’re making some extremely high value purchases. I’ve gone as far as 30,000 in a single USD purchase and there were no issues, other than the bank’s fraud protection team calling to verify whether I myself did the transaction or my card was lost.

    • If the protection comes close to end before the delivery has happened, the seller can extend the protection further.

  • I have thinking to order from that site but was confused lately as they don’t accept INR.
    Can we pay through credit/debit card in INR. How was your experience, were there any extra processing fee for currency exchange? Is it safe?

    It may sound stupid but making a payment in foreign currency, can it lead to unwanted attention from custom or tax department?

  • Hey, great guide/info!
    I have some questions..

    I’m trying to buy one of those two-wheels smart balancing scooters…
    there are lots of results but most of them have really expensive shipping cost..
    Now, I’ve found some of the have DHL/UPS shippings that are FREE..
    now that’s something I hardly believe because other sellers with DHL/UPS charge like double the cost of the product, which is insane..
    but free?? thats even harder to believe.. because, well, the package isn’t small at all nor light… (it weighs 12kgs)

    So.. do you know if there are really FREE DHL/UPS shipping?
    also, I’ve heard DHL/UPS is like 100% pass through customs.. what are the custom fees for these kind of products? (%)

    • No shipping is free, it is just that who bears the cost of packing and shipping the items. For free shipping items, sellers bear it, otherwise they pass on to the buyers.
      Sorry, but I don’t have any idea about the customs.

      • So then if, for example, a sellers put “free shipping” means he/she bears with the shipping and I don’t pay anything for the shipping?
        or is it like “I don’t know how much it will be, so you bear with it”?

        Btw, thanks for replying.

        • For items marked as Free Shipping, the seller bears the cost of the shipping and you don’t need to pay anything on top of the product price. But for most of these cases, the seller will ship using the regular government post (China Post, Sweden Post, Singapore Post; etc) which have a very slow delivery speed and can take upto 2 months to deliver in some cases.
          If the seller does mention that free shipping is done via DHL/EMS, then that’s another story. I don’t see many sellers offering free shipping via DHL though. Probably some do for expensive items.

  • thats crazy,but it is like selling on ebay right?the seller doesnt get the money until its confirmed received by the buyer right this is my 1st time buying from there so im just making sure i got most of the policy down.

    • Yes, that’s right. But the buyer protection is not so solid as what eBay/PayPal has. But it’s better than nothing 🙂

    • Eh! That’s what happens when you do premature disputing. You just need to wait now. Good if it eventually shows up, if it doesn’t you cannot do anything. Forget it 🙁

  • It has been 42 days and I have not received my order when I tried to contact the seller (Edward Chen) he didn’t replied.. what to do now my money gone all waste……. 🙁

  • but unless he was lying he had it with him even before the label was made because he said they had to test it and make sure it was working right before they shipped it,he extended my buyer protection time around the time the label was made without me asking.hopefully its just taking a long time. idk

    • Sorry to say that they do lie a lot of times, so anything can happen. Let’s still hope for the best. At least it should start moving in tracking by Wednesday.

  • i have what i believe is a problem heres my story and let me know if i maybe over reacting…on november 11th i purchased one of those new little hover boards everybodys getting now.it said 5 days to process and 3-7 business days for the actual delivery on the items page…so after processing for about 4 days it then said seller shipped your item on nov 17th…they left me a tracking problem is every since the 17th the UPS tracking hasnt changed at ALL it just says”order processed waiting for UPS” its now the 28th.so from the label being created on nov.17th thru today its no new status..this is already way longer than their shipping info said it would take.i contacted them they responded saying dont worry were professional we guarantee you get your item blah blah but im getting antsy now because its been 11 days since it “shipped” i would think thats atleast long enough to have an update showing its in the U.S BY NOW right??

    • Yes. Your worries are certainly legit. They are not only missing timelines, but the fact that the tracking information is not updated at all for so many days makes it a troublesome situation.
      I wouldn’t call it over-reacting, but lets give them a few more days. Maybe wait till end of November (its almost here) and send in a few more messages to the seller. Tell them that you’re going to dispute if it does not start tracking soon. Don’t actually file a dispute yet though (read point 6 in the post).
      Also, does the tracking number work on the UPS website (if you’re only checking the tracking on AliExpress website)? And how about sending an email or calling UPS directly. It is uncommon, but there can be some bug in the tracking system and hence the information not getting displayed?

      • the tracking does work on the UPS site problem is just no update which the site help tells me the package isnt physically with UPS carriers just yet it just tells me my seller has printed the shipping label and it says processed…been stuck on that stage since the 1st day i was given tracking info on november 17th.ill give them until mid next week around wednesday if i dont HAVE IT IN MY POSSESION by then im gonna start looking to settle this,everytime i write the seller he says dont worry smh.they have like a 92.6% rating and there 3 individual ratings all showed slightly above average for shipping,product as described.they were replying to me quickly when i first started pushing the issue but now for the last 2 days they havent responded as if their annoyed i keep asking..should i ask for a partial refund due to the extra delayed arrival because thats false advertisement.i wouldnve ordered it if i was told up front it would take the better part of a month to receive…worse case scenario was supposed to be 2 weeks max smh

        • So, the seller probably does not have the product physically with him and hence couldn’t ship even though he generated the shipping label. And he’s just waiting for some of his supplier to deliver it to him so that he can ship it to you.
          The other possibility could be that he wants to lure you into disputing (for not shipped) and then handle the item to UPS so that you’re forced to accept the dispute resolution thereby closing the dispute and seller receiving his money. You can’t dispute again.

          Asking for partial refund would only make sense when the item is delivered to you (or at least starts moving), but here it is not. If you ask a partial refund here, the seller might just approve that and not handle the package to UPS at all. I know the disputes system at AliExpress sucks, but that’s all we have, better than no protection at all.

          Waiting till Wednesday would be good. As it will remove the doubt that the seller is probably not replying because of the weekend. File a dispute on Wednesday and if ever the seller will have the willingness to ship it, it can be shipped and delivered during the standard dispute processing days (almost a week before it is automatically escalated to AliExpress staff for a resolution to be determined). If he doesn’t you take your full refund 🙂

          • he actually just wrote me back a couple hours ago,saying something about it has left the “shipway” and its flying to the country now idk.just gonna wait til wednesday because whenever i ask them they basically give me the same response in different words..

      • When the order reaches india then thru which courier agency the product is shipped..
        And if there is any custom duty charges how can I pay it…

        • If it is free shipping, the delivery in India will mostly be done by India Post. Unless the customs amount is too high or the item gets held by customs due to invalid declaration, you should be able to pay customs charge to the person at the time of delivery.

    • Did you place two orders? Or had the item quantity set to 2? If not, contacting AliExpress support will be a good idea.

  • I purchased 40 phone covers from Ali express . It’s worth 82 $ . Will it get held at customs or I can pay the custom charges at delivery time ??

  • Dear sir,
    What will be the custom duty fees for importing a mobile phone worth 445$ to india Gujarat from aliexpress?(via EMS for 27$).
    Thank you in advance.

    • i had buy camear on 11/11/2015 for aliexpress

      seller had ship the item of 24 n it rech to india of 27

      from 2/12/2015 it is in custom office

      pls help me

      wht i do to get my camear

      • Dear dhaval,
        Just search a foreign post office in your city,
        Simply just call them & tell them your tracking order id ,
        He will tell a id number then will tell you to goto custom office to get the package by giving them that id& sure they will say you to pay the custom duties tax
        I don’t know how much but u will have to pay that money.

    • Yes it is. But I’ll advise against saving the number there. Plus, don’t enter your details on a shared/public computer.

  • Hello,
    my order is two days short of “automatically being cancelled if the seller does not ship it within” 2 day.
    Just now I received a message from the seller saying that it is out of stock, and he requests me to cancel the order on my side, saying that I don’t like it.
    doesn’t sound like good trading to me.. What should I do: not do anything and wait for the order to be cancelled within 2 days, or cancel it stating that the Seller requested me to do so??
    Please advise..
    Thank you!

    • He’s just ding that because it affects their reputation when they fail to ship the item for whatever reason. I’d leave it to you on however you wanna decide.

      • Thank you for your quick answer!
        If I indeed cancel the order (on which account should I really do that?), then does it affect any of my parameters in anyway?
        thanks a bunch!

        • AFAIK, it doesn’t affect your parameters. Buyer freedom, eh? Buyers are allowed to cancel orders when they want. Seller does the same and they are penalized.
          Normally you can leave it to the seller to cancel it as well. I really don’t wanna force my opinion here. Everything is fine.

  • Hey I live in Ahmedabad Gujarat,I want to buy some shoes nd clothes from aliexpress but very confuse to try Bcz of not trusted site..hv been ordered 2 tops from eBay.com last year nd still haven’t received them..nd if aliexpress ships is that any extra charges to custome? Or do they ship within 60 days as they mention
    Thanks

  • I purchased the xaiomi yi action can during the 11:11 sale and paid for it using my Cc. Since my bank is in India I had to pay dollar conversion charge which I’m OK with.

    The issue here is that the seller is now asking me to pay $5 extra stating they had the wrong price up and if I Dont want to pay I should cancle the order using option buyer does not want the product.

    I have told them that I will not cancel the order and I need it at the price it was advertised at. But they keep sending the same reply. I have 2 days before the system cancels my order.

    What should I do.?

    • This happens, but yep, it is up to the seller to whether ship it or not. Can’t really do anything about that. If you’re okay with paying more, do it. Else let it be cancelled.

  • Have ordered 2 watches from Ali Express on 16 oct ,As per China Post Mail it has reached Mumbai.

    By when speed post will delivered the ordered.

    • Please continue to track it and it should be delivered in a few days. BTW, don’t expect Speed Post for this. It will be delivered in the regular registered post which moves slow.

  • Can you help me please…!

    I have ordered my wedding invitation cards from a top rated seller with TNT post to Iran. After 5 days processing time they updated my shipping data with Fedex instead of TNT….? But Fedex has not delivery to Iran. I told to them that I ordered with TNT but you change to Fedex and it has not delivery to my country. She said don’t worry I will change it to Aramex…!
    I don’t know why they changed the post company…?! From yesterday my order still shows Fedex track number and still they did not give me the Aramex track number?
    Anyhow my order has 7 days full refund guarantee, I don’t know if until next week I did not received any shipment can I claim for full refund or not? For that product they had around 50 orders and many people were happy with them, even people showed pictures of their shipments and they were very happy. Really I don’t know what can I do?

    • Hello Khor
      It’s strange, but mistakes do happen. If Fedex does not have delivery in your country, it wouldn’t even accept the item for shipping, if it does, it will hopefully deliver the same to you. Did you check what Fedex website responds to that tracking number? Have they received it or still non-trackable? And in some cases, couriers themselves have alternative arrangements and it might happen that the item changes mid-way from Fedex to Aramex or some local carrier for you.
      Sellers do sometimes make chances to the shipping services depending on the scenario, so that’s not new. You should contact the seller and if in the case of these issues, they wanna take a few extra days to deliver the same via an alternate courier. If not, you sure can file for a dispute before the purchase protection ends.

  • Yeah I just used up my dispute today. Ordered an item, received it, but it was a wrong color than what was advertised. Contacted the seller and sent a photo of what I got, and they told me that it was the wrong color and asked is there no way I can use the color they sent. I said no there isn’t because I don’t even really like that color, and asked if they could send me the correct color, then got told sorry but now the product is out of stock. I looked through their store and saw another active listing with the same product and asked then what about that listing. I get a reply that it’s out of stock too, and when I went to check again they had changed the listing to out of stock.
    THEN when I asked for a partial refund since they sent the wrong color, I suddenly get told that they have it back in stock now and will send me the right color. Now is the point I start getting a little suspicious. I follow up with a request to extend the purchase protection so it can cover the correct one they’ll be sending, and I hear nothing back after around 2 days, even though until now they’ve been responding in less than 24 hours. Which brings it to today with 5 hours left in the protection, so decided to file the dispute and told them I’d close it once the protection has been extended., but I typed in the partial refund I want anyways (which is half the cost of the item), in case they just do that to get it over with.

    And now that I’ve read this, I may have screwed myself anyways. They could extend the protection and just not actually send it, then I have no recourse. Do you have any advice?

    • Once a dispute is opened, it is opened. You don’t get a second dispute. There is no more purchase protection after the dispute and the dispute result finishes the transaction. So, in case the seller promises you that he’ll send again and get you protection, remember that it is just to get that dispute closed in their favor.

      • Do you know what it means when you have a crossed out tracking number on your order details? The tracking number they just gave me for the new item they’re shipping out is the same as a tracking number that is crossed out on my order.

        • Actually looking at it again the 2nd letter is different, and everything else is the same. That seems kind of unlikely they would have such a similar number to I guess the old crossed out one. But does that crossed out tracking mean that it was an old number?

          • Crossed out would only mean that a new one is added after that and the previous one no longer stays the present shipping reference number. Actually they can have similar tracking numbers if the post is giving them the shipping labels in bulk, but it will still be kind of crazy that the number has only shifted 1 digit after so much time between your orders. I’d actually not trust a seller when he offers options to close the dispute in their favor unless you really know that he/she is a good person.

            • Ah okay. Thank you so much for answering.
              I asked them why the new tracking number was the same as original one crossed out on my order (I left out the part about the 2nd letter being the only difference and acted like I thought it was the exact same). They said sorry it’s a wrong number and gave me a completely different number and asked again for me to close the dispute. At this point I’m 80% sure I’m not going to close it.

              After thinking awhile I wrote them back telling them that I’m not comfortable closing the dispute now, brought up all the suspicious things that’s been going on since I contacted them (told item is out of stock when I ask for a correct item to be sent but suddenly in stock again the second I ask for a partial refund, still no listing being in their store since it’s apparently ‘in stock’ now, and the tracking number business), and said I’d close it once the new number they gave me shows up on the Chinese tracking site that it’s been received and on it’s way. I’m hoping this is the right steps to take and the right decision.

              If they try to throw me another tracking number again the dispute is 100% staying open. It was from a shop with 4 diamonds, so I didn’t figure all this suspicious stuff would be going on.

              • You’re getting it right 😀
                I’d understand their position as well as they are a business which runs for profit. They aren’t gonna send you another for the price of one (unless they are cutting enough margin). It’s just their stupidity that they’ve sent you the wrong color. Maybe they thought that you’re gonna accept it after a few arguments which ain’t a good business practice.
                I’d just recommend you to not accept the dispute resolution that they are providing unless you actually receive the replacement. It’s not hard for them to throw the tracking number of another item which is going your way. It would track as arriving in your county, but will go to somebody else (not your item eh! 😛 ). Maybe the tracking number you just received is going to do the same as well.

                Let me sense what’s gonna happen next. You won’t agree on anything and the seller will throw another card. He’ll ask for a promise that you won’t leave negative feedback for him in return of him approving your dispute and giving you the partial refund. You, out of mercy will agree to that (as you lose nothing there) and give them positive feedback. Result – Yay! Another positive feedback on the seller’s shop! It’s okay to do that (if you wanna) but hopefully you won’t write positive feedback for him either and let it be how it is.

                • I like what you suggested about waiting for me to get it. I need to reply back to them that when I said on it’s way, I mean also showing as in my state.

                  • I keep posting a lot here. Sorry about that.
                    They’ve responded now that in order to make me feel more comfortable they’ve contacted the post office to have the item brought back and want to offer me only half of the refund I typed in (which was already only half the cost of the item). New battle now is telling them I prefer the original half I requested since it’s the wrong color that they sent. My money is on that they never shipped anything anything, that both tracking numbers were in fact fake, and me going one step higher in saying I’ll wait until the tracking starts showing made them realize they’d be caught in a lie and lose the dispute.

                    I guess after this refund amount business is settled I should close the dispute right? Won’t be leaving positive feedback though, probably won’t leave any to be honest.

                    • eh! that’s perfectly fine and you’re always welcome here 🙂
                      I’ll tell you something. The post office ain’t going to collect the item back. You can wait, wait and wait.. Who’s paying the return shipping fees? The seller? Does the post even have an online payment system? Nah! Just a dirty trick to lure you in and settle you with half of the half of what you’ve paid.
                      This one seems like a tough seller, trying just everything to somehow get you to settle the dispute for nothing or at least less. Just clearly tell them that you’re not convinced with all that they have offered and that you’re going to stay with the original proposal you made while opening the dispute (refund 50% of the item cost). If they are unwilling, let AliExpress support step in and close the dispute in your favor. In this case, tell them that you’re leaving a big and long negative feedback for them.

                      When you settle the refund amount and seller approves it (or you do, if the amount is changed from what it is proposed now), the dispute will automatically closer. Initially I’d have wanted to not leave any negative, but the way this seller keeps dragging the comforter to cover up the mistake that he has made, I’d end up leaving a harsh negative :3

                      *** You’d probably not be able to reply to this comment cause the thread reached its max limit of 10 levels. You can start a new one though 🙂 ***

            • I’ll reply to one of you prior posts. And thank you for all you answers and advice.
              More on the refund drama, they’ve now told me that they don’t have the profit to afford to give me a 50% refund (which is only $6 I need to add. They want to give me $3 from a $12.99 purchase), and accompanied it with a crying emoti-face. I know the total purchase wasn’t expensive, but I’m not trying to let them give me barely anything for a wrong color product I won’t use. And I don’t think $3 is fair. They’re just trying to push me off while giving back as little as possible.
              So I told them half was the fair refund for them sending a wrong color, that I believed the tracking numbers were fake but if they weren’t then they were willing to send out $12.99 of product and be out that amount, then they can pay $6 partial refund, and that I can’t close unless it’s the fair amount of $6.

              I also added into the message that is unless they were never actually planning on sending out the correct pair of tights so that they wouldn’t have to give out a partial refund nor send out the tights. Which I may or may not should have added. I don’t know.

              If they still refuse the 50% and the dispute runs it’s course, will Aliexpress give me the $6 I requested, or is there a chance I’d wind up getting nothing back?

              • So there it is. They’ve already made it clear that they cannot afford anything. Probably he’s just some re-seller sourcing items from somewhere. cutting a small margin of 1-2$ and selling it on. The only problem is that they didn’t care to talk to you about the unavailability of the selected color and just shipped out whatever they had.

                My past experiences gave me refunds for all the orders where I opened a dispute. Honestly speaking, no seller was this tough on the refund. When they were told of the problematic product, they only had two options – Refund or Replacement. I chose refund and it’s resolved within a few days. Because for businesses, Customer is the King, I believe AliExpress support will close it to your favor favor. That’s still less amount to for a product which you probably end up throwing in trash. If AliExpress Claims team won’t approve the proposed amount, it will go with what seller has proposed. So in no case are you getting lesser than $3.

                If it is 3 days already since you opened the dispute, you should escalate it to the Claims team already and let’s see how they handle it.

                • They’ve accepted the refund in the amount I want, and my refund says it’s in progress. Maybe they wanted to be done with it, or realized the stupidness of saying you can’t afford $6 when you can afford $12.99. But they want me to leave 5 star positive feedback and then went into a story about wanting to better their business, how feedback is important and decides their life and death, and calling me a responsible and kind person….. I’m leaving nothing, or negative if I feel like it.

                  Thanks for your help and advice along the way! It helped me from making some mistakes with them.

                  • That’s a satisfactory ending. I was confident that it would just be accepted after some arguments. Noted that they have little margins, noted they can’t afford anything extra than what they have sent, but in that process if they do mis-practices, luring the buyer into closing the dispute without giving back anything was a way too unprofessional. One more thing, if your bank account ain’t in USD, you’ll receive an amount lesser than expected owing to currency conversion and commissions.
                    Sure, they got trapped in their own words here, but I’m certain a lot of buyers would fall into their words and close disputes in their favor. I’ve forgiven sellers as well, leaving no feedback, but maybe there’s a point after which you actually need to give out bad feedback, because if you don’t other buyers would be affected after seeing the row of good feedback. It’s an individual decision after all.

                    I’m happy that my responses have helped you. Hopefully your next shopping experience at AliExpress will be good one. Take care 🙂

  • I had purchased one action camera from Aliexpress. The seller never shipped it and provided a fake tracking ID. So immediately I opened a dispute and brought it to their notice ( I had contacted the seller first but he/she never responded.) The seller agreed for a complete refund but the Refund Status has been stuck at “Refund Processing” for 3 days. Anyone has a clue how long it takes for it to complete the processing?

  • Hi was thinking of purchasing a number of items from ali express as my teenage kids are very impressed with items some of their friends got ! Although I know it says free shipping would you recommend I go with a courier. .? I will have to pay courier exps on all individual items as they come from different sellers won’t i ? The other issue that concerns me is customs duty from China to ireland … Any ideas on how much ? Does it depend on the amount spent or weight .?

    • You can decide for the private courier, but the couriers generally have a higher chance of getting flagged by the customs and hence a customs charge being applied to them. Yes, you will be needed to pay the shipping separately for the items that you purchase from different sellers. You can however try asking the seller if he can somehow procure (and list) the other items so that you can purchase from him.
      The customs are determined on the basis of invoiced value. Sellers do generally undervalue the items, but customs have all the right to unbox the package to inspect the item and charge customs as appropriate.

  • can u help me on this

    Your payment failed because your card issuer declined your payment. We suggest trying this payment again under card issuers authorization process which requires to verify your identity.

    • Hello abhinandan
      Sorry for the delayed reply. That means that the bank didn’t authorize your card to be used there. Make sure you have international usage activated on your card.

  • Hi I’m looking to order a product from ali and I’m not able to get it from anywhere but the Chinese market, I wanted to know are my card details safe ? Thanks very much & also the price I see will that be the only price I pay, for a cheap item. I always use PayPal and never usually use unknown sources but it’s an electrical part I’m unable to get elsewhere . any info appreciated thanks very much. Joe. U.K.

    • Hello Joe
      AliExpress uses an encrypted connection and promises to safely store the card details entered into their system. I’m shopping with them from quite sometime and it always met my expectations except for the long time that free-shipping orders take to arrive.
      About the card, I’d recommend not to save it in AliPay wallet when it asks you to. Because in case AliPay gets compromised, your card details can be made available to some 3rd parties.

    • Customs might be applicable to your order depending on what you’re importing. For small and cheap items, there generally are no customs.

  • I shopped on aliexpress for the first time on the 11.11 sales, then I didn’t know all these safety precautions. I remember struggling with the payment last night trying to pay with my UBA atm card which was blocked then I used my GTB card and it was successful, now the problem is a day later I couldn’t use both of my card anymore, it keeps declining and I don’t receive alerts… what should I do? Thanks.

    • Probably your bank’s safety system is declining the transactions. Contacting them should give you additional information.

  • I had bought some flower bulbs. Now my parcel is stuck for so many days at Kolkata CED . It was sent via China Post RF102680555CN. and I see no hope of it reaching me. Should I inform the seller about it and ask for a refund or shall i make a dispute?

    Kindly guide me Narender

    • The tracking system says ‘Held by Customs’. If the item does not move in the next few days, it is held by customs due to wrong declaration on the invoice or packaging. You need to contact the customs office for any further details.

      • How to contact the Kolkata customs dept? via mail or call? Can you please provide the email id or phone number please.

        Thank you so much

        • I have 13 days of protection time left. I have little hope that customs will release my consignment, which has got flower bulbs(plants). How shall i make a dispute with the seller..and how to proceed to get my money back, which is a 48$. Please guide me through

            • I got the parcel yesterday.. I didnt know that the seller has splitted the plant bulbs in two parcels..I just received one parcel yesterday. Lets see if i get the other one or not. Delivery time was 25 days.

              Now i have one more thing to ask Narender ji, I had ordered a binocular which was sent using AliExpress Standard Shipping (http://global.cainiao.com) with tracking number 25007236862G. On tracking i found that its showing failure to export customs clearance–returned from customs. Does it mean that i should proceed with the refund?

              • You should contact the seller regarding that notice. Maybe he has additional information.
                For now, it seems like the China customs authorities have not allowed for that product to be exported to India and it has bounced back.

                • Here are the details: Do you think problem is at china or its the indian custom doing the blocking?

                  2015.11.19 18:03 (GMT-7): failure to export customs clearance–returned from customs
                  2015.11.01 00:00 (GMT-7): In transit (shipped by air)
                  2015.10.31 09:00 (GMT-7): Aviation security success or pick up successfully by postal

                  2015.10.29 18:28 (GMT-7): Departure from Warehouse
                  2015.10.29 15:01 (GMT-7): Arrival at Warehouse
                  2015.10.29 03:28 (GMT-7): Successful departure from warehouse
                  2015.10.29 00:01 (GMT-7): Warehouse processing complete
                  2015.10.28 10:37 (GMT-7): Warehouses has signed
                  2015.10.27 19:37 (GMT-7): Package received by warehouse
                  2015.10.25 19:52 (GMT-7): Order fulfillment complete
                  2015.10.25 19:52 (GMT-7): Order information received by carrier

                  • It’s China. You see the package never arrived in India.
                    It says ‘Failure to export customs’. It is an export for China. For India, it is an import. So export customs designate the customs authorities of China.

                    • Thank you Narender ji, as it was showing In transit (shipped by air), so i thought it may already left China. I have contacted the seller, he was saying.. wait for few more days.. what should i do in that case? i have got 32 days of buyer protection time

  • I have bought clothes and accessories from AliExpress, and have had a great shopping experience. I’ve had a couple of beautiful wool dresses for a fraction of the price of what I would have expected to pay here – if I could buy them here, which I wouldn’t have been able to, because the styles are quite distinctive. The quality is truly superb, and luckily the fit is great, too. I’ve also had some nice accessories for a few pounds, which have been good quality and exactly like the picture. Important to note, however, that these are NOT knockoffs of Western designers, but unique designs from Chinese designers. I also used an established seller with an excellent rating. They did take a long time to arrive, but were worth it when they came!

    You are, of course, taking a risk that the items may not be suitable; but that doesn’t matter too much if they are cheap enough. I have also had another dress which didn’t fit, so I just re-ordered it in a different size.

        • Also, for some reason there have been no customs charges, even though I would have expected them. I don’t know why. The most recent dress I ordered appeared to have been posted from within the UK (where I live), even though it came from China really, so I guess they must have sent it via a UK consolidator, and paid any import charges themselves. I’m not complaining! I can’t guarantee you won’t get import taxes, of course; but I haven’t.

      • I’ve not had any problem with customs clearance, and everything I’ve ordered has arrived within two months I think. If you need something urgently, best to contact the seller first, though, to make sure it will arrive in time.

  • Hi, I ordered a product from Aliexpress on 17th October but it is not delivered yet and purchase protection was ending so I choose the option of DISPUTE… Do they deliver the product or they will refund money after DISPUTE… Any idea????

    • Depends on the direction your dispute goes in. I’d say that was a premature dispute decision. You should’ve contacted the seller first.
      They cannot call the goods back, so if they are moving properly, they will be delivered over time.

  • Hi I am thinking to buy some cloths on this website , will there be any add charges like currency exchange etc…
    please let me know …

  • 🙂 Thnx a lot … I read the replies.!! Ohhh I save maah money. Just I placed the order and try to checkout about this site.. .

    Nisha…

  • Hey 🙂 I placed few orders in Aliexpress more than a month back to India with free shipping facility. And I haven’t received any of the products yet -_- The product protection for one of them is ending in two more days. ‘I just wanted to know if I will be able to open a dispute after the product protection ends or should I claim it before the protection period ends ?’

    • The shipping charges are different for every seller and hence you should check the appropriate listing to find out the various shipping modes offered on the ame.

  • are you people stupid? buying expensive phone for half of their prices?? there HAS to be something wrong about it. THINK.

  • I purchased many Household items from getone APP,Its transportation speed only need 7 to 17 days ,So fast. And each piece of products needs $9.99,and It works well.Very nice I love Getone. This app is awesome, easy to use, and very user friendly.

  • I purchased two Samsung S6 phones July 2. They arrived July 7. None of the chargers worked. One phone stopped working after a day. The Seller agreed to replace the phone and suggested a 4G LTE upgrade for $10.00. I had to ship the phone back ($18.00) The day after I shipped the phone the 2nd phone stopped working. I notified the seller and decided to wait till the new phone arrived. Three weeks later the new phone arrived. That phone would not recognize the SIM. Contacted seller and AliExpress. Seller would not return emails or Skype. AliExpress to me to follow their complaint process, which I did. In the process of trying to work this out. My carrier said that my phone was stolen and shut off my service. It took two days to get my other phones unblocked. As of today, AliExpress told me that the Seller was out of business and there was nothing that they could do at this point. If you look deep into their structure, there is no way to contact them directly. Only means is through their CRS and they are worthless is resolving issues. I am out $421.00, all due to AliExpress failures to protect their buyers. DO NOT purchase anything through AliExpress. There is a very good chance you will lose your money and own a worthless piece of trash .

    • Hi Jozo bubnjar, Same thing happen to me in india. I have ordered the product on 1st week of Aug 2015 (almost 70days back) and till yet i have not received it . I contacted the seller for any information regarding the product. There reply was ‘The parcel may be lost in the shipping,you can open a dispute’. I have open the dispute for refund but what about time i have wasted to wait for that product. Worst customer service experience.

      • Please check at your nearest post office. Generally small packets are Sent by ordinary post not by registered post (registered post have tracking) and there is chances to stolen by postmen itself because it is ordinary post shiping and it very good for postmen for stolen.

        My one order of watch was stolen by postmen, he broken the packet take out watch and empty packet put inside the letter box.

        Enquire at post office about your parcel is not received, provide the detail.

  • Delivery on-time for Chinese sellers, to Europe, is highly SF. So, I made 2 orders from Chinese and never ever again. Guarantee On-time delivery said 39 days. It’s passed 60 days and nothing, Aliexpress give a fuck for this problem, complete method of buyer protection iz null (so, not zero, because zero have value too, but one big fcking NULL, NOTHING). For 60 days, by walk I would arrive in china. Works sellers I ever meet.

  • Hey! I want to order a product from Aliexpress. And it has free delivery to India.
    My question is while they charge extra? When it reaches the customes??

  • Hi !
    I wanna know that after an accepted dispute, if the seller can refund me on my credit card without asking for my card information like full name, address biling??

  • I ordered clothes from aliexpress. The tracking says that the item arrived mumbai on 7th Sept. However, i still haven’t received my order. What do i do?

      • Thanks Narendra. The seller has been very prompt with his replies. He said the order might have been held by the customs. What should I do in that case?

  • Hello, I purchased a product from the seller on October 8th, and it shipped October 10th. I went to check the persons store I ordered From, and it says “page not found” should I be worried that I got scammed??

    • Could be, but there’s also a possibility that the seller has shipped your order correctly is a possibility too. Recommend you to wait for the item to arrive before going ahead on disputing it.

  • Hi, i want to buy “Bluedio T2 T2+ Turbo Wireless ” headphones which is around US $31.66 / piece Approximately Rs. 2,136.27 / piece, so if i go for free shipping, will there be any charges for customs? If yes, possibly how much could it be? This is the first time i would be buying from aliexpress.

    Also if i am ordering a bluetooth speaker which is around 35$, should i order it separately for custom duty to low?

    • Yes buy both product separately as they will be 2 small packets, when package is big there are chances of Custom Duty.

      • Thanks for the reply Prashant, i am still not sure if there will be some custom duty for headphones. Hope they dnt charge for that again.

  • do anybody have Experience of Aliexpress Standard shipping service??? i had ordered some item and seller had sent it through it.

  • Hi, I want to purchase an engagement ring from Aliexpress from a top rated seller with good reviews and have it shippedvia DHL. I contacted the buyer and heresponded fast. However i am a bit scared after reading all these stories. The ring is about 600USD.

    Here it is : http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Genuine-14K-White-Gold-1-85-Carat-ct-G-H-Center-8mm-TEST-POSITIVE-Moissanite-Engagement/504197_32374660308.html

    What would you recommend i look out for? I am a little scared.

    Thank you

    • I’d recommend you to avoid it because it is a risky investment. You’re paying so much by just looking at the images with nobody to complain if the ring doesn’t meet your expectations. The item can get lost/damaged during transit. The customs department might hold it for a longer duration and can also charge you a hefty customs charge. Not to mention that fitting issues might just ruin the excitement and a return/replacement (if ever the seller agrees) would cost you a lot again. So, best is to get it made locally in your country.

      I wish you a very happy engagement!

  • i bought an mobile signal repeater on 10th sep product was shipped using ali express standard shipping i see no updates past ” In transit (shipped by air)” last update was on 4th sep nothing after that i am bit worried 🙁

    • You’re worrying too early as it takes a long time for free shipping to arrive. Just hold on and continue waiting unless your purchase protection is ending soon.

  • Hi
    On aliaxpress One seller have 200+ order 125+ wish list and 2000+ products in his shop but their have no feedback..and don’t give Ripley…. I am feeling some thing wrong…
    And i paid for my order.. So what i want to do…?
    How to get my full money..?

          • Dear kumarbhai Padhiyar,
            We have suspended this seller’s account because we detected unsafe trading activities. All of your pending orders with this seller have been frozen for your security.
            We have asked this supplier to provide supporting evidence, such as shipping documents and qualification certificates. If the supplier is unable to provide the evidence or if the evidence is insufficient, we will close the order and process the refund for you within 5 business days (In case of certain circumstance, the processing period may be extended).
            We apologize for this inconvenience. At AliExpress we are committed to ensuring you enjoy a safe shopping experience. We will continue striving to improve. Your understanding and cooperation are highly appreciated, if you have any question or suggestion, please click here
            Your understanding and cooperation are highly appreciated.

            Sincerely,
            AliExpress Trade  Security Department
            2015.10.09 02:35
            “Finally we are right… Narendra…”

        • hi,dear friend, thanks your order.
          can you comfirmed the order recevied now ?
          because i have many many orders every days.
          but i have not enouth money for shipping the orders now.
          if you agree comfirmed the order now.
          i will send one Mystery gifts for you.
          hope you help me now.. thank you very much…
          seller :- Li zhi..
          I send this copy to Aliaxpress… And now reaction…

          • Haha! He might be truthful, but yeah business is business. If he doesn’t have money to buy and ship, he shouldn’t be selling that much. Accepting would’ve been too risky.
            Nicely tackled, buddy 😀

  • I’m about to order some items on sale that also offers free shipping and I live in Nigeria. 1) is this advisable? 2) as it is free shipping and considering the distance, would they deliver to my door, or do I have to clear the goods and settle customs myself?

  • Hi,

    I ordered a product from Ali Express on 23rd August (It said that the product will reach me in 39 days and it already has been more than that) . The order was shipped in the next few days but it has not reached me yet. When I tried to track my order it says that it on 3rd september it was on the beijing terminal, nothing after that. What should I do? Should I raise a dispute or wait for my items? Also my buyer protection ends in 10 days.

  • What is ment by free shipping. If I purchased a product for Rs.1500/- with free shipping, do I also need to pay custom import taxes and extra costs ?

    OR

    The total cost of the product remains Rs.1500/- till it reaches my hands ?

    Can you please explain the process you purchased from Aliexpress, that will be helpful for us.

    • Unless the customs department flags your shipment and imposes customs, 1500 (+/- currency conversion fees) is all that you need to pay.

  • Hi Narender, following my earlier post, I hv indicated to seller of my intention to cancel. They accepted dispute almost immediately. AliExpress sent email I shld be getting refund within 3 to 15 working days.
    Thks so much again. Very useful forum.

    • Good to hear that. And replying to your previous questions, see AliExpress protects you against the original promise/agreement between you and the seller. When you dispute and accept on something else (partial refund, replacement, full refund, additional waiting; etc) that drags you away from the original promise for which AliExpress was supposed to protect you.
      In your case, if replacement was to be done, it should have happened before you disputed the transaction. Say it didn’t reach you in 2 weeks, you contact the seller and he agrees to send a replacement. Then he ships it, updates the tracking number and extends your protection period by another 2 weeks (or as needed). That is why I mentioned in the post to use dispute very carefully and only as the last resort.

      About the ratings, it so happens in a lot of cases that the sellers take promise from the buyers that they will leave positive feedback (at least not negative) in return for them accepting their dispute. While they will still be needed to accept the dispute, they play this game to earn positive ratings even from unhappy buyers. Happened a few times with me as well (I promised a no rating rather than leaving positive)! However, yes, there are definitely a lot of happy buyers who receive their items as described and on time.

      Refund should be in your bank within 15 days. Only downside of the refund is that it ain’t a clear reversal of transaction and you’ll be paying commission for the currency conversion again. So unless your card is in USD, you’ll be getting a little less than what you paid.

      Have a good Sunday 🙂

        • I wouldn’t recommend buying expensive products from AliExpress because of warranty and service restrictions. Still, if you want to get it, use a premium courier service like DHL or EMS.

  • Hi Narender, thanks so much for yr advice. So even with the seller extending shipping period by 30 days, that will not be protected by AliExpress huh?
    Interestingly the supplier has 99% good ratings with many buyers stating they received their items ( similar to my order) fast.
    The status of my dispute states “Awaiting the seller’s dispute approval” & I hv 1 calendar days 2 hrs before it will be closed in my favour. Can the seller not approved this?
    How fast do I usually get the refund?
    Thank you so much in advance.

  • Hi Narenger! When I see the status of my product in ‘China trading post’, it says: delivered to: me (in green color), but i haven’t got anything yet… Should I wait a little more?

    Thanks for this information!

  • Seller had indicated they shipped items & gave tracking num. But check with FEDEX showed no such num & after 3 weeks no items received. When queried seller admitted did not ship coz no stock. I opened dispute & upon renegotiation we agreed on alternative similar items to be shipped.
    Do I cancel the dispute?
    Seller agreed to extend delivery date & hence protection period by 30 days. If they fail to ship again, does that mean I hv no further recourse any more? Thank you.

    • Don’t accept those terms. Just deny for any alternate the seller offers you and ask for a refund. That’s because the last time I disputed, I only got one chance. When the dispute was closed (as I accepted the resolution provided) the order was marked completed and I had no further course of action to dispute it or even leave negative feedback for the seller.
      If the seller had no stock during all these 3 full weeks, he probably still doesn’t have it. He’ll just get the dispute in his favor with the alternate offering and you’ll probably never get anything. That’s however a normal case scenario and I don’t claim that all sellers do like that. It’s better to reach alternative agreements with sellers from whom you’ve purchased in the past and have a trust factor. Her’s a screenshot from AliExpress support:

      AliExpress Chat

    • In general cases, your parcel is delivered by India Post and customs are collected at the time of delivery.

  • Is aliexpress is good online shopping or not did anybody got what they ordered product did they give warranty or.grantee on products

  • I need to know that if i am ordering a product from aliexpress then do i have to pay extra as tax if i live in India?

  • I ORDERD MY SON , AN ELECTRIC SCOOTER ON AUGUST 30TH, THE TRACKING NUMBER NEVER WORKED, I’V BEEN CHECKING IT FOR ALMOST A MONTH NOTHING, EVERY TIME I CHECK IT SAYS Tracking number C****482057CN was not found!

  • i’ve been cheated twice on aliexpress with defective products. my advice: don’t order things there, specially things which are out production. in my case, i had ordered a phone which has gone out of the market years back. what i got was a cheap chinese fake model which did not work at all. if you can get the same product wherever you live for a little more money than it costs in aliexpress, but it locally rather than ordering it online from aliexpress. you will save a lot of time, money and free from anxiety waiting weeks for your products.

  • This is really an interesting post. But I will like to know more about the total numbers of days the purchased goods gets to Nigeria and how much is usually the shipping cost. Thank you

  • hi narender , I have ordered a product on 12th aug which was shipped on 16th aug . Its already been 40 days and now since last 3 days I cannot open the product page as its saying page not found. I asked the seller about it ,he just replied —(Pls have some patience.Hope you can get it soon.) My protection limit will end after 20 days . Should i be worried as the product page is no longer there.

    • haai nisha, what are the items that u have ordered from aliexpress, because i am waiting to order some adult products, if u have ordered that, please share ur experience

    • You shouldn’t be worried because products which are no longer offered should be taken down. Do you have the tracking details? If so, try tracking it and hopefully it’ll give an idea about the location of package.
      If it still doesn’t reach you in the next 15 days, you should open a dispute with the seller and ask for full refund.

      • Hi narender , Thanks for your reply.
        As i have opted for free shipping , there was no tracking number given. The page is no longer active but the seller is replying to my queries. Hope i get it in next 15 days.

        Thanks

    • You can ask to extend the protection date. Indian postal service is absolutely lethargic. I had a similar situation. When I went to the local post office to track the package I saw piles and piles of undelivered magazines, and all kinds of letters littering the floor.

  • Please help.
    I’ve ordered an item from Ali express.
    All the items taking shows that it has left to India. But no update on taking after that. What to do? Please help.

  • Hi Narender, it was ordered on 5th of this month and shipped on 7th. But I do not see any update after that. I have asked the seller 3 times if he has any information regarding the shipping. I don’t get any response from him.

    • If it is not traceable and the seller is not replying, I’d advise you to leave it like that and file a dispute when the delivery deadline is about to expire.
      For now, you can simply go and order from some other seller.

    • IPS Tracking site is barely usable. Even after receiving the item in perfect condition, often times it still shows as lying at the min foreign post office of the state.

    • I’m not able to place my order on aliexpress . Is there something else I have to do? It says page down. Does this happen often?

  • i buy thing on aliexpress and shipping with ems with 28 dollars, but i want to buy other thing and shipp8ng with ems, do i pay twice for ems shipping ?or i can get two thing this with 28 dollar?

  • Hi i ordered some jewellery from aliexpress , its like my first buy to experiment with aliexpress i just wanted to know how much do they charge on customs ? Its been like 3 weeks still didnt get either one of them? Besides one of the bag i ordered looks way too bigger than the dimensions written… didnt pay much attention back then juz relazied it few days ago…. the bag didnt reach yet but i want to return it so how do i return it ?would the give me a refund ? Do i have to pay extra charges for returning it ?

  • if we trimmed down value rather than marking as a gift entirely if possible they(custom inspector) tell me to send them credit card statement for that purchase then

  • Hi I ordered a watch worth just 200 rs through Ali express on 26th August it reached India on the 6th September it is the 20th today and I haven’t received it yet, is any custom duty or tax applicable on just a basic watch and any idea how do I track it in India

  • HI There Narender….
    I have a lot of things i’ld love to order from AliExpress, though there’s been too many controversies as to why AliExpress shouldn’t be trusted….
    I haven’t ordered anything online before so I’m a lot worried about shopping online,
    I live in Nigeria, and I will be going for the FREE SHIPPING method, so I was wondering how to go about my order stress free and everything a first time buyer should know about payments, custom, tracking, delivery, postal, exchange rates, time frame, discounts and …infactinfact absolutely EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW about shopping online internationally especialAliExpressxpress…
    I’ll be shopping clothes, jewelries, embellishment for clothes and maybe some hair extensions…
    Thanks Narender, and I’m open to honest replies from Buyers with experience…

  • Hi Narender
    I made an order yesterday, payment has been done but uptill now i haven’t got any order confirmation message or mail.”No tracking info is available”. It’s the first time i am going to purchase something from this site so i am worried that is it safe to order any product from this site?? In how many days the products will reach to me??
    What should i do??

    • You should try accessing your AliExpress account and check the My Orders section for details about your order.
      The delivery speed entirely depends on your shipping medium and if you chose Free Shipping, it should reach you in around 30-40 days.

  • I have ordered three jerseys so far and have 5 more on the way. I have nothing but positive things to say about this website and the seller I.use. all my friends have started buying jerseys off of this website as well once they saw mine. The free shipping is perfect the longest I have waited is 3 weeks. One seller got me my full France Paul pogba kit in 11 days. I love ordering jerseys from this website. One of my jerseys did come stained and loose threads but my mom knitted it up and hand washed the jersey to get stains out. Other than that perfect !!

  • Hello friends,
    I have placed a lot of orders from Ali express recently. Unfortunately, most of them have still not reached me. They were small home decore items, like artificial flowers etc..less than $5.00 also. The seller used regular china post for those orders.. most of them were ordered since June 2015. But there is still no tracking information available for them since early July, when they still had not left China.

    I had to open disputes and get refunds for those items “No tracking info. available” But I am wondering, WHERE THE HELL ARE THE PRODUCTS ANYWAY? The sellers have shipped them, asking me to repay when I get them,, but I don’t where have more than 9-10 orders of mine got stuck. I am in a fix since they were not sent by registered china post.l

    CAN ANYONE GUIDE ME HOW DOES THIS UNREGISTERED CHINA POST SYSTEM WORKS?

    Thanks a bunch in advance,
    Annie

    • From your later comments, I see you already know all that you asked here. Unregistered is just as how it is. There is no priority given to it and no real liability if it gets lost. Generally the post office staff moves them at the end or they may decide to not move them at all because they aren’t traceable and no liability on the Post Office for the same not getting delivered. They usually do that to lessen their burden.
      Some items would reach you extremely late while others will just go lost. I recommend going with Registered China Post or Registered SG Post as the bare minimum. Yanwen, Unregistered and all are a big mess. For unregistered, don’t order something that you can’t live without. You order and you forget. Good if it comes, else take that money back and chill.

  • I want to Order Some Clothes from Aliexpress.com near 2000Rs
    Do I need to pay any Hidden charge or Custom duty bcoz Aliexpress.com Says its a Free Shipping

    • Dear Archi,

      If you have still not received the item yet, first ask the seller to extend the consumer protection as soon as possible. Then open dispute if you feel there’s no tracking information available or some reason like that.

      In future, make sure you get the consumer protection extended while there’s still another 10 days remaining, to avoid any sudden lapses.

    • Sounds like a steal, but the seller is very new and not really reliable. Sometimes the low price is because the seller wants to gain some reputation and hence bearing some loss. I can’t say much, but I doubt if he will really ship via DHL.

  • I want to start a page where i can sell stuffs but is it save like quality to purchase from aliexpress n how many days its take to ship to mumbai india

  • Hii narender,
    I want to order minions from all express and I live in India,Mumbai. And is the money transaction safe on aliexpress and will the minion arrive to me in good condition as I would be choosing the free shipping option. I even wanted to know that is the site a safe place to buy products from.
    Thank You,
    First time buyer

    • Free shipping offered by Ali express is a very tricky thing.. if its thru registered china post, you can still keep tracking the item most of the stages. But if its through seller’s ship method, well, then you’re in for a surprise!

      The delivery time can range from anywhere between 15 days to 3 months +, plus without much valid tracking information. Their biggest problem is, the seller’s shipping method allows them to use cheap shipping services, which move items out of China quickly compared to regular post, BUT, once the item leaves China border, then its a wait in TOTAL dark. Its just a waiting game then. After that, even the seller will start pasting you scripted replies to wait till 90 days of delivery, coz even he wouldn’t know about the location of the order.

      SO its a choice one has to make, of taking such a risk or not. Though buyer protection will protect your money always.

  • I ordered P8max from AliExpress and it was shipped thru Fedex and was supposed to be delivered within 8 days. Buyer shipped it within 3 days but it is now stuck in customs for the past 10 days. Have been contacting Fedex, they initially asked for KYC doc saying it is mandatory now and having submitted that, there is still no update. They have been replying the same thing (update within 24 to 48 hrs) for past 5 days without any update. Has anyone gone thru this experience?

    Phone was bought @ $500 but invoice was raised @ $180 to prevent paying excess duty or penalty.

  • i has started new enterprise and i am imported items from alliexpress sites from china presently in very small quanitity of value 2000 or max 5000 , and items i am receiving are of free shipping and no coustoms are paid by me.
    Now i am selling these items on ecommerce websites. so want to know is all these things leagal or not. or where i have to pay tax and how

  • Hi Narendra
    I ordered s*x toy its 30 day paased but not any information.
    Is it leagal to order.?
    What shoud i do!
    Please reply

    • LOL!! Its is perfectly normal to order it. track it first. If its not delivered for a long time, it could possibly be stuck for appraisal at customs, or maybe it contains batteries etc. These are novelties, so they tend to be stuck for a longer time.. 2+ months time is normal for such items ( Out of experience).

  • I’m buying a photo frame. The seller has replied properly. But since this is my first purchase from aliexpress, I want to know if I buy a product for say $10 and pay through net banking or credit card, will I end up paying $10 what was on that date (say Rs. 64) or will I be charged conversion fee also? If yes then by whom all and how much?

    Also I have read that to save custom duty we can ask seller to mention it as Gift in invoice. But does that mean if due to valid reason we open a dispute with seller then we won’t get any refund as it is shipped as a gift!??

    Thank you.

    • 1. Credit Card would be the only means of payment and banks charge 2.5-3% of commission on currency conversion. Also, the BUY/SELL prices indicated by the RBI aren’t exactly the same you’ll get in a bank owing to service tax, cess and other reasons (which my bank didn’t tell 😛 ).
      2. Customs department is clever these days and because the gifting clause is abused often, the department is known to charge you customs on gifted items as well (because you have the right to customs refund by presenting valid documents and reasons). It is better to mention a trimmed down value rather than marking as a gift entirely.
      3. Marking as gift would not affect your option to dispute and take refund.

  • Hi. I made a purchase of baby clothes and swimsuits from Aliexpress to be delivered to South Africa. Does anyone know if I will pay import duties on these? I also want to know, I chose the free shipping method and gave my house address as the delivery address. Will my goods be delivered to my door or will it go to the post office. I never gave a postal address? I don’t know how the free shipping works. 1st time buyer. Thanks.

    • For clothes, chances of customs are rare unless the package becomes overly big and hence causes confusion. If you gave the complete address up to the street and house number, it should reach your door step, but as it is free, it is going to take long (a month is very normal).

  • hi Narender,
    i have order somme artificial jewelery from aliexpress. cost around rs.4500. did i need to pay any custom fee for it. please tell

  • Can anybody predict how much time it will take to arrive in bhopal, madhyapradesh

    Any approximation because my purchased protection will end in 9 days

  • Can anybody help me to figure it out what happen to my percel please

    RI493398447CN this is tracking number of my aliexpress order hiw to track further

    • India, KOLKATA FOREIGN LCAO, Send item to customs (Inb), Air, CED MUMBAI : you will get in few days.. its enroute…

      RI493398447CN

    • Destination Country – Tracking Consuming: 1125 ms
      2015-08-31 19:08
      India, KOLKATA FOREIGN LCAO, Send item to customs (Inb), Air, CED MUMBAI
      2015-08-31 16:16
      India, KOLKATA FOREIGN LCAO, Receive item at office of exchange (Inb), Air, KOLKATA AIRPORT SORTING OFFICE
      2015-08-24 08:02
      China, BEIJING, Send item abroad (EDI-received), Air
      2015-08-23 13:47
      China, BEIJING, Insert item into bag (Otb), Air
      2015-07-31 00:04
      China, 528032, Receive item from customer (Otb), Air

  • I have placed an order but forgotten to mention the house number,hav mentioned my area my cel number bt forgotten to mention my house number so wil I get cal ??

  • i like a watch on this site and its quite cheap but i am still confused of placing the order . i have read a lot of negative remarks of this site. so will it be advisable to buy from this site ?

  • Hi Narendra,
    i am about to buy a thing on ali express which is going to ship through Singapore post, so just let me know that if i need to pay extra custom duty apart from the purchase amount, And the purchase amount is 32 USD ?
    Reply ASAP.

    • There is no sure shot formula to conclude whether or not customs will be imposed. Smaller and cheaper the item, lesser chances of any customs being imposed. I’ve received goods upto $50 without actually paying any customs, so more chances of it not attracting any customs, but the inspecting officer makes the final decision.

      • thank you for ur reply to my query. can you tell me aprox. how much time it will take to get deliver. i made order on 31/8/15

    • in my case, the product was worth 34$ and i didnt have to pay customs. the invoice mentioned only 10$ as the price and categorized it as a gift. hopefully you won’t have to pay customs. do track the item regularly though.

  • hi
    i have been trying to pay for my order on aliexpress through my visa debit card of UCO bank but, the the transaction is failing again and again. what is the best method to pay without having to pay any extra charges

  • Hi Narender, well when I track my order it came as held by customs at Kolkata airport. I am in Himachal do you think I will receive my order ?

    What this custom people will do with it ?

    • Well that depends. What was in the package? If the package is really held, they will possibly send you a postal letter demanding customs payment before releasing your item.

  • How to track shipments sent through Yanwen express ? Its website shows tracking only till destination country.How to tack further ? any help appreciated. thanks.

    • Yanwen is only trackable till it reaches the destination country. Internal movement within the country cannot be tracked.

  • Hi narender,

    In China post registered package, its showing
    Showing received in my city EDI etc and then its showing sent to customs MUMBAI. WHY IS IT SENT TO MUMBAI WHEN ALREADY RECEIVED IN MY CITY . IS THERE SOMETHING TO WORRY??
    I HAVE BEEN REGULARLY RECEIVE ING AT MY CITY BUT NEVER SENT TO MUMBAI.

    please help friend

  • Hi Narender,
    Kindly tell me on which website we can track AliExpress order.

    As I have bought shoes from AliExpress and sent via china post registered mail.

    Can you please reply..

  • Hi, please help me how to know my order number? There’s no confirmation through email or txt about my Order number. I already paid through credit card and alrady reflected to my credit card bill. I need to know what is my order number. Please help! 🙁

    • Login to your AliExpress account and check the My orders section. Your order will be listed there together with other details and shipping information.

  • 8/20/2015 11:04:16 AM India DWARKA SEC-6 Unsuccessful item delivery attempt (Inb) Air CHENNAI AIRPORT SORTING OFFICE.

    the delivery has not come yet. does it mean the package has been sent back to chennai? if so, i don’t understand why they would do that. please help me clarify if someone knows. pathetic india post, no postman, no one from the post office contacted me.

    • Not sure what is happening there. Could be that the seller has not typed in the complete address or that the writing has scratched off.
      Can you not contact the post office at Sec-6?

      • I tried contacting, the number don.t work. Called the international delivery customer care, the lady on the phone was clueless. I think I should visit the post office today. Btw, for how many days does the post office retain the parcel in these types of cases? In case the delivery never happens, what happens to it? Does it go back to the seller? Thanks narender.

        • I don’t see any point of any international parcel being diverted back so fast. Even private couriers tend to keep the undelivered packages for 3-4 days before redirecting them back to the origin and they’d definitely try calling you. Either it is some staff member who has stolen your package or else they have really gone stupid.

      • hi narender, i visited sec-6 post office (supposedly post code-110075). the postman told me to visit another post office (post code- 110077) which i visited too. there the postman told me that ultimately the parcel is redirected to there post office for delivery and that maybe the parcel has now moved on to some sorting office (satai office is how he described it). he told me to wait for a few days for delivery. not really satisfied with their replies and they seemed to be doing guesswork. so it’s really uncertain. i don’t what else to do now.

        • Maybe your best bet is to just wait. I know the tracking systems of India Post is not always trustworthy and there isn’t much that you can do besides waiting for the item.

          • HI narender, thanks a ton for all your prompt replies. they really helped me in alleviating my anxieties about aliexpress. keep up the good work. you would be glad to know that i received my package in reasonably good condition. But PHEW! what an anxious wait it was. perhaps i can emphatise with other people who are still waiting for their packages. here are things that i learnt:

            1. The seller: was very prompt in replying to my queries, shipped the item alright. however, one should be very careful before making purchases, specially the shipping part (which shipping company, customs duties, domestic delivery in india etc.). in my case, the product was worth 36$ and i paid shipping charges for EMS which promised very speedy delivery. but the seller used singapore post which is slower and charged another 38$ for shipping via EMS, saying. he’s promised to refund me the extra shipping fees. hopefully i’ll get it back.

            2. INDIA POST: from my experience, what i noted was that their tracking system is very unreliable. one day, the status could be unsuccessful delivery attempt when there was no attempt at all, the next day, to my pleasant surprise, the package was on its right path and moving towards me for delivery. so for other customers, remember, not to lose hope but also to be vigilant and contact the people from India Post if you are in doubt. their customer care service is pathetic and the person on the line is usually clueless or unhelpful. so please contact your local post office, which in my case were very helpful. P.S> the correct PIN code is really important because an incorrect PIN code could mean your package going round in circles from one office to the other before it reaches your local post office.

            3. I’m not sure if i’m going to make another purchase from aliexpress. I can understand why people would shop there. the ‘hard to believe’ prices, unique or vintage items available on the website. however, as for me, i don’t think the anxiety, uncertainty and wait for delivery is not worth it.

            • Thank you, buddy. Glad that you finally received your package.
              Please be sure to contact him and ask for the refund of the shipping fees and tell him that you’ll only confirm the received goods when that happens.
              I understand the problems with India Post, but I won’t blame them 100%. They have a lot of load and these packages are sent via regular registered post which is sure to face delays as it is not the first priority. Priority is give to Speed post and it does come with better tracking, reliability and mostly on-time delivery. We need to accept the delays and slow movement when we pay barely anything for the shipping.

              I’m just glad that the end of story was good and you got what you ordered. Take care and enjoy!

  • Hi narender ,

    In 1 tracking its showing sent items to domestic location- TD and in another NON TD.

    WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO TD AND NON TD??

  • i had placed order on aliexpress on 20 july, but not received product, it was stuck in kolkatta ed office since 5 aug, what should i do ?

  • Hi narender ,
    Few days ago i have purchased some electronic parts for my Qaudcopter like motors and some other small electronic small parts in indian currency it cost me around 5700 but after talking to seller i request them to give declaration of 10$ of whole and they did that so how much custom did i need to pay and how

    ……….. and another question my percel is coming through china air mail courier service so when it will arrive at india how will i get the tracking number of indiapost to track my percel in india

    • Customs process is very confusing and because they CAN get specific packages opened to inspect the contents, I won’t be able to say anything about the customs.
      When the package arrives in India and passes customs, it will be sent to India Post and provided the staff there scans your package, the same tracking number will start working on IndiaPost website for local tracking.

  • Dear Narender,
    I have paid for an order in aliexpress on 18 august on 11:57am. And then I have been sent a tracking number. At that time and even now that I track the number in chinapost, it doesnt show and show it as invalid number..I also read an article that till 48 hours it is ok. it is my first payment in aliexpress .The seller has a good rank also..i asked seller and she told parcel is in transit.
    in your idea what should I do?

    Thanks in advance

  • Hi I was going to buy a rc car from Aliexpress but now I am not sure of what to do
    Is safe to buy from there or not
    And would it be better that if I pay for the shipping
    It is the only site where this product is available
    It is too expensive on eBay as compared to the original price (in dollars) but on Aliexpress is is around the same price converted into Rs

    • So please help me
      I had been saving money for this product
      It is around 6000rs so I really want to be sure that I am buying a legit product

  • Hi !! Just wanted to order some clothes and earrings from aliexpress.. Do I need to pay custom for these items too.. If yes how much can it be , if my order is for 2000 bucks.. n 1 more thing lets say I buy an earring from different seller and a blazer from other , would that be a single cart checkout or different for different sellers..

  • Hi,

    I am from delhi, recently visit aliexpress for purchasing items, but there comes bank unauthorised transaction error while payment through debit card jst after sumitting OTP. (Payment failed)

    I have a RBS premium debit card, kindly help how I can make payment.

  • Dear Narender,

    Thanks alot for your useful article.
    I wanted to know is there any way that we can first order good and after receiving and getting sure that the good is ok then pay for our order?

    Thanks ,
    Nafis

  • I haven’t received my items (worth ~5$) and it’s been about 2 months. The seller has extended buyer protection once and now time is running out once again. What happens if buyer protection isn’t extended once more? Can I open disputes even after this?

    Tracking website shows it has entered India, but stuck in Kolkata.

  • Hi narender , I buy from aliexpres. Do you have any idea that forex rate ie interbank rate for usd inr is same across bank or it differs ? Also which bank is giving lowest usd inr rate as per your knowledge and which bank were you using to buy from aliexpres????

    • I’m not sure, because only a handful of cards will work on AliExpress and they all have kinda unified prices. A minor difference in commissions and i don’t think it matters much.

  • hi, i want to buy something from aliexpress. i want to konw about other charges. like custom duty, bank charges..
    thanks in advance…

  • Hi, I have purchased a tee and cap around 900 inr, so do I have to pay custom? is there any limit ? please advise me custom rules.

  • I am Akash Chavan, i have receive my parcel today
    -tracking **Number (Registered): RF342364407SG. postman said according to
    custom duty Rs. 2105 payable for me. but this parcel is send as a GIFT. and
    its cost 21 USD . so how can i payable for Rs. 2105 custom duty?*
    *I am Art Collage student , and i importing this gift for my Important
    study project. And Tax is too high , and higher than actual cost of
    product*

    • And just now you said its cost is 72 USD. I believe the seller did not mark it as gift at the first place, even if it did, the customs department can levy customs because the gifts clause is abused a lot by the people.
      All you can do is – provide supportive documentations to the customs department and get a refund for customs paid by you.

  • I ordered a action cam from ali express worth Rs. 4800 (72$)
    I received my order yesterday and the custom duty of my cam is Rs. 2100(32$)
    I didn’t take parcel from postman and returned it without open it
    I immediately contact to the seller and they send me invoice worth Rs. 1300(21$)
    They send me can not as a gift
    What can I do for getting my cam without or less custom tax?
    I have invoice from the seller but it is too cheap as per the product
    Pls somebody help me …….

    • The standard process that I am aware of is that you fist need to pay the customs imposed on your item and then if it is in excess, apply for a refund by filling up the proper refund application forms. Unless you pay the full customs at first place, you cannot get the item. You might want to ask the seller to provide an invoice with slightly higher value.
      Whether or not to refund is a final decision left on the Customs Department. You can go top consumer forum under a denial, provided the customs are actually wrongly imposed.

        • That’s what I said. My knowledge says that you need to first pay the imposed customs and then get the refund (if it is accepted). You cannot just simply get it reduced and pay less on delivery. Pay full and then get the refund.

  • hello sir ..

    kya shipping charge ke alawa mujhe koi or charges bhi pay krne padenge agar me aliexpress se koi product buy kr rha hu

  • Hi Narender,

    m meenal from pakistan n i m intrested to buy many items from aliexpress but here m confused suppose i order itom worth 3 dollar , how much aliexpress will charge their transaction rates? this m asking coz wana buy product and sold out on profit m intresed to start small buisness , what you think if its a good choice to buy products from aliexpress?

  • Dear narender I am new to this website.. I found your replies really helpful.

    If you could plz give me the link were you answered all query regarding aliexpres it will be great help.
    Thanks a lot in advance

    • I only answer the comments here, but only the ones I can. You can browse through the comment pages and maybe some of them will be helpful?

  • Dear sir , I purchase a lot from aliexpres. I am currently buying from international debit card and I am charged 3.5% mark up. IS THERE ANY OTHER CHEAPER PAYMENT OPTION WERE I CAN SAVE 3.5%. ?
    ALSO BANK CHARGING / DEBITING my account in the form pur adjustment . what is this ??? I had a talk with them and they say it is charged by the merchant ie aliexpres Is this true???? Also sometimtimes pur is being debited and sometimes credited to my account, if aliexpres was charging it why will it credit to my account??? Please help me out sir.Regards.

    • 3.5% is the currency conversion commission that the banks charge. Probably a better option would be to opt for a card in USD. That will make sense if you’ve a lot pf orders to make otherwise will just be an unneeded liability.
      I’m not sure about the extra charges, but as it says ‘pur adjustment’, I believe they are the variations due to the fluctuation in the currency rates. Can happen sometimes if you make purchases when the forex market is closed. Just a guess though.

      • 2015-08-17 13:03
        India, CHENNAI (MADARS) AIR, Send item to domestic location (Inb), Air, DIMC NEW DELHI 110002
        2015-08-17 11:36
        India, CHENNAI (MADARS) AIR, Receive item at office of exchange (Inb), Air, CHENNAI AIRPORT SORTING OFFICE
        2015-08-15 09:15
        Singapore, SINGAPORE S05, Send item abroad (EDI-received), Air, CHENNAI AIRPORT SORTING OFFICE
        2015-08-14 13:13
        Singapore, SINGAPORE S05, Insert item into bag (Otb), Air, CHENNAI AIRPORT SORTING OFFICE
        THe above is the tracking info provided by the seller. what do you think narender? any idea what DIMC is? i’ve read a lot of complaints in some forums about DIMC

        • Whoa. That tracking has really moved fast! Not sure about the current location because the tags aren’t mentioned. So not sure if the Item is sent from Delhi for local destination or the item has reached Delhi.
          BTW, DIMC is the Delhi International Mail Center. If it has moved out of Delhi, you should be able to track it locally soon via the India Post website.

          • well, i stay in delhi at a place called dwarka sector-22. this is the latest info i got from a site called IPS Web Tracking:
            Local Date and Time Country Location Event Type Mail Category Next Office Extra Information
            8/14/2015 1:13:00 PM Singapore SINGAPORE S05 Insert item into bag (Otb) Air CHENNAI AIRPORT SORTING OFFICE
            8/15/2015 9:15:00 AM Singapore SINGAPORE S05 Send item abroad (EDI-received) Air CHENNAI AIRPORT SORTINGOFFICE
            8/17/2015 11:36:52 AM India CHENNAI (MADARS) AIR Receive item at office of exchange (Inb) Air CHENNAI AIRPORT SORTING OFFICE
            8/17/2015 1:03:09 PM India CHENNAI (MADARS) AIR Send item to domestic location (Inb) Air DIMC NEW DELHI 110002
            8/18/2015 6:06:33 PM India DIMC NEW DELHI 110002 Send item to domestic location (Inb) Air DWARKA SEC-6.

            PS- Sorry for the jumbled text.

            • As it says next office is DWARKA SEC-6 in the latest update, you’re hopefully gonna receive your package by the end of this week (fingers crossed). You should be able to track it on the central India Post website (not the IPS tracking) soon (if it doesn’t work already). It will show you more accurate location info as long as the Post Office guys scan the package at every step.

  • hi narender, thanks for the reply. really appreciate it. BTW, my order cost 36$ and i had opted for EMS post which increased the total cost to 73.82 $. however, in the tracking information, i’ve found that the seller has shipped via singapore post with the Singpost tracking number. have i been cheated in the courier choice? and how long is the delivery time of singpost? again thanks a bunch. your’re helping so many clueless people like me here.

    • Yes. Seems like it. Majority of the sellers use ChinaPost or SingaporePost as part of their Free Shipping option. They take extremely long to deliver. And unless what you’ve got is a premium counterpart of the SingaporePost service, I believe you’re all cheated. Would you please contact the seller and see what he replies with?

        • It used to arrive within those timelines a few months before. My last experience has been sad. It took it 2.5 months for the delivery. Anyways, if you’re charged for EMS, it should be delivered within 15 days. Else you’re all cheated. That’s the best I can say.

      • Hi narender, i contacted the seller and this is the response: Dear, according to our experience, packages from China to India in EMS will probably get caught by custom and you’ll have to pay lots of money as tax . So we just sent the phone to you in Singapore Post Air Mail and this is much safer ( but a littler slower ) . And we will return the $36.84 shipping cost back to you . Thank you !

        • It is okay if they are going to return the shipping fees. Yep, it is true about the customs, but it is not that Singapore post will surely save you from customs. There are just more chances of avoiding them. It all depends on whether your item gets flagged by the customs department or not.
          Wish you good luck for that. Hope you avoid the customs and get the product cheap 🙂

      • hi narender, i just checked the delivery status at singapore post and it says, ‘arrival at destination (IN)’. any idea what does it mean? i mean is it stuck at customs for clearance or what? i know i’m getting really impatient but really anxious to know. thanks a ton again.

        • Oh really? Is it that fast? All imports do pass through the customs, so you need to wait and watch if customs are imposed on it or not.

          • well yeah. that’s what the status at singapore website says. anyways, it’s wait and watch i guess. fingers crossed.

      • latest update is now available on the india post tracking: 20/08/2015 13:28:52 DWARKA SEC-6 Article Bagged to CRC DELHI. What does article bagged to CRC mean?

        • Bagged to – Inserted in the Bag which will be sent to CRC (generally sent at night). Could be some type of Regional Center as I’m not sure 😛

          • Date Time Office Event
            20/08/2015 13:28:52 DWARKA SEC-6 Article Bagged to CRC DELHI
            20/08/2015 11:04:16 DWARKA SEC-6 Article Undelivered : [OTHER]

            Latest status. this is like reading greek. no idea what these updates mean. perhaps these terms were not coined for the layman to understand. but then so many things of govt. offices in india is hardly understandable.

          • 20/08/2015 13:28:52 DWARKA SEC-6 Article Bagged to CRC DELHI
            20/08/2015 11:04:16 DWARKA SEC-6 Article Undelivered : [OTHER]
            I saw this on the india post tracking, and then the following in ips web tracking.
            8/18/2015 6:06:33 PM India DIMC NEW DELHI 110002 Send item to domestic location (Inb) Air DWARKA SEC-6
            8/20/2015 11:04:16 AM India DWARKA SEC-6 Unsuccessful item delivery attempt (Inb) Air CHENNAI AIRPORT SORTING OFFICE.

            the delivery has not come yet. does it mean the package has been sent back to chennai? if so, i don’t understand why they would do that. please help me clarify if someone knows.

  • hi, do the order reach directly to my doorstep or do i have to collect it from somewhere? I’m asking this because someone in the post mentioned about paying the customs agent. if i do need to pay customs, where do i pay. i have ordered a phone ericsson t28. and i’m from delhi. i’m kinda ignorant of these details. a little clarification would be really great. thanks in advance.

    • 99% chance that your phone will be delivered to your doorstep and customs (if any imposed) will be collected by the delivery person. If that does not happen, you’ll receive a letter from the customs department for the payment and instructions for the same and the item will be cleared post payment.

      • i ordered 3 products from aliexpress on june 29th.. i still havent received them..it was free shipping..now the sellers are asking me to collect it from the local post office..how will i know whether it has reached my local post office? and what are the documents that i should show them to collect it? i am confused

        • it happend with me as well.. postman will come at your doorstep and deliver.. if you are not available at ur place.. then u have to collect it from the post office

      • Hey Narender I bought shoes from aloes express and the shipping company that was provided is China air mail. I was just wondering if it was a legitimate shipping company thanks.

  • Hello narener sir,
    Thanks for helping us in aliexpress buying

    Today’s my question is about china post, i ordered a bag for my sister of around 13$ which was about 822INR charged from my Card, on 30-07-2015. Seller shipped it,
    Now on 07-08-2015 date the tracking details is Send Item abroad, (EDI Received), Kolkata sorting office.
    And still today also the tracking deails are same no change in it tikk today my question is, How much time it will take for china post to depature from Beijing and Tell me about Kolkata sorting office, because alot of reviews i Read on Google that at the same condition as my tracking details there are alot, alot of consumers who face te problem of not receiving the Product for more than 6 months, What is the issue about that? Does Kolkata Customs take that much time to Clear the Customs?

    • I can’t say much other than the fact that even two of my packages are facing the same situation. During the last 2-3 months, the China Post delivery in India has suffered. Where it used to only take around 15-20 days for my items to reach me, I’m waiting for roughly 2 months now and still untraceable. So, I do have my doubts if the item will ever reach me or you (in your case). The new government is surely playing a role in the worsening situation.

  • Hi..

    I have recently purchased some baking related stuff from aliexpress. Its all small items that cost around 200-400 each. total amount comes to around Rs. 8000. But the items are from 23 different sellers. WIll i have to pay customs duty? If so, how? please help me out.

    Thanks in advance.

  • hello Narender ,

    I have purchased a sony xperia z3 from aliexpress that cost me around Rs 23000. Seller asked me, weather to declare it as a toy of 20 dollar or the actual cost of the phone that is Rs 23000. Suggest me which one will be good. If I declare it as toy , r this custom guys ..will open my parcel?? What would be the Custom charges for Rs23000.
    please reply

  • Hi,

    I have ordered for the watch last month.
    It’s been long time not received any update nor the product fro them.
    Last date to open the dispute is 29th Aug, should I go ahead and open a dispute or should I wait for some more days. Please help me with the same.

      • Hi Narender,

        Thanks.Yep tried contacting seller via mail and also in the chat, but still no response.
        Is there other which will help me?

        • If you left a message, please give him a day or two for a reply. I know it adds to a bad experience, but you should wait.

  • Hey man, 1st of all thanks for helping out everyone. I am going to do a purchase of around Rs 4000 from aliexpress, if i will pay by my hdfc credit card than how much extra charge on international transaction i have to pay? If you dont know exact than please give me approx. amount as per your purchase experience.

    Thanks

  • Hye i have ordered elephone p7000 from china(Etotalk.com) it cost is about 185$ including delivery (Through DHL EXPRESS )charges can anyone tell me what will be the approximate custom duty fee i have to paid with this price on my phone ??

  • Whenever I try to pay from my union bank atm card on aliexpress, It shows that I can’t make the payment. And on other site I always make payment from that card. What to do.

  • hii narendra… i want to purchase a sony mobile phone.. the cost is the phone is $55.. i talked to seller about the custom tax.. he is ready to declare that as toy phone and gift and mark the value $22 … after that will i have to pay custom.?. if yes then how much .. and will they open that parcel?!!!!. pls. advice me

    • Sorry, but really can’t advise on customs. Never managed to understand how they implemented them.

  • Anyone here have any idea about customs on purchase of small lightning wires (known as EL wire)? Do I have to pay any? My order will be of about 10k. My seller is a reputed seller. But Im ordering from AliEx for the first time. Thank You.

  • Hi man please help me here Im in bit confusion… i wanted to order w995 from aliexpress refurbished… about 3k-4k Rs at the time… but don’t know how what will be the custom duty…..

    So far i have purchased many small things from 200-500 from aliexpress and ram of 5000rs and it didn’t cost me anything extra but i guess its just because the chip was simply bubble rapped and hence didn’t attracted any attention…

    but the w995 will….. for sure….. but how much tax needs to be paid……any idea…. and plz do reply

  • i want to buy touch screen for redmi note 3g frm aliexpress
    i hav to pay any custom charges and also tell me how tbe transection will be in $ dollars is there any hidden or extra charges the cost of screen is $24

  • Thanks, I am in contact with seller. Will see what is his reply. do you know how much will be the partial refund (percentage)

  • I have purchased a car DVD from Ali Express, the seller was reputed as per the rating. It was received very quick via FedEx and paid 2600 customs duty as well. However, the product is faulty and would not turn on. Can you help me with the options to return the product and get a refund or replacement.

    Will the replacement again will attract customs ?

    Which courier is cheapest to send it back?

    Should I go for refund (not yet confirmed the item receipt ) or replacement ?

    Thanks in advance.

    • Your first step should be to communicate with the seller. I guess he will ask you to send it back which will be costly again, so do try for a refund, but if he denies, maybe a partial refund will be better than sending it back.

  • Hi Mr. Singh I have ordered a Car Perfume from Aliexpress and the seller sounds genuine to me. (I Hope he is) Can you tell me about the custom charges? Am i liable to pay any custom charges to custom department? Please Help! (PS: This is my first ever international purchase)

    • Whilst every import should attract customs, I believe you will not be charged anything for a small order.

  • Hi man please help me here Im in bit confusion… i wanted to order w995 from aliexpress refurbished… about 3k-4k Rs at the time… but don’t know how what will be the custom duty…..

    So far i have purchased many small things from 200-500 from aliexpress and ram of 5000rs and it didn’t cost me anything extra but i guess its just because the chip was simply bubble rapped and hence didn’t attracted any attention…

    but the w995 will….. for sure….. but how much tax needs to be paid……any idea…. and plz do reply

    • Seems original, but yes, most probably you will be charged customs which will make the deal a lot bitter because they can charge high customs. On top of that, lack of warranty makes me unwilling to purchase from there.

  • Dear Narender sir
    I have purchased some bulbs and holder for them from Aliexpress. My shipment has been held to by mumbai customs. My seller sent me invoice of $20(instead of sending bill of ₹7000 to lower down value) I sent it to customs. They are asking e my credit card details. What should I do? Kindly help
    Regards
    Sushill

    • Why do they ask for card details? Whatever happens, you shouldn’t provide full card details. Just provide a scan of it with half of the digits hidden. That’s the most appropriate thing to do. Maybe they are asking for your card statement which shows a payment of $20 to the seller. You might be able to alter it :p

  • i hve ordered a tennis racket for rs 2700 via china post …..any custom duty i hve to pay ……how i will pay the duty ……….how i will get to know duty………..

    • They are legal, but I’d advise to take caution as you won’t get any warranty for these devices.

  • Hi i have ordered cellphone through ems and paid the charges of ems of . now custom duty involved in India is rs 7000. Please tell me what should i do. should i raise dispute and let it go back to aliexpress or i should accept it

    • You should’ve looked at the customs aspect before ordering. Anyways, you need to pay the customs to get your item now. AliExpress will barely be helpful and might refund partially when the item goes back to them.

  • I am thinking to buy a mobile from aliexpress worth 100$ and shipping 30$ DHL plz tell me something about customs and duties in india?

    • Generally mobiles attract a customs close to 15%. But because there are different HS codes and the sellers can declare lesser value on Invoice, it is impossible to predict exact value for the customs that will be charged.

  • I have ordered lenovo S920 touchscreen from aliexpress on 24th July and have made the payment, However in my orders payment is showing as pending. Can i know the reason pls???? How much it will take ???

  • I found following post from some other website, which is very helpful i guess,
    Check it out.

    ——————————————————————————————–
    Rohit Vadehra, Wanderer
    I have ordered some stuff from Ali Express , including Pendrives , couple of Diesel Jeans , Some Perfumes , Cow leather Wallet etc

    Their is no problem whatsoever , I chose the free delivery which though takes around 20-22 days and gets delivered to you via local Post Office , No Customs Involved if the item ordered is less than 25000/- INR . You can be rest assured about it .

    Though the quality in clothing is decent , Peen drives (Dont buy too good to be true deals , they are mostly fake)

    Yes , You can sell by abiding to the local state laws applicable . Although If you are ordering quantity then I would advise you to Contact the seller and negotiate on the pricing more than the listed BULK prices.

    They might do it.

    hope it helps

    • While I agree on the rest, the stance about no customs to a value as high as 25000 is not true. Either he wanted to write 1200 and added a zero by mistake or he does not know what he is talking about. He shopped clothing and pen drives, so clearly he didn’t shop for something expensive and doesn’t know the situation.
      Any doubts? Use Google and research on Indian customs.

      • I checked on google, on many sites they have mentioned that for electronics goods like computer and tablets they wont charge any custom duty in india.(for single quantity ofcouse).
        My item is coming by singapore post, do you have any experience with their service?

        • They will charge customs if the inspecting officer gets to know what’s inside and I have been charged myself. Some chinese sellers mention lesser value on the packaging and hence they sometimes let the item move without determining customs duty on them. I’d like to repeat again – There are high chances of you being charged import duty. If it doesn’t you’re simply lucky.
          Singapore Post works marginally faster than China Post so you’ll get your item sooner 🙂

          • What if the seller determines the item as lower value?
            viz. for a phone that is priced at 200$-300$-400$ these ranges after being marked by the seller at a significantly lower value such as at or b/w 25$-50$, SO Will i still be charged by the customs? OR Will the inspecting officer takes the liberty TO OPEN MY Package?

            FYI i will only be ordering one or two items per transaction only!

            Please enlighten me asap!

            • As customs are charged as per the item of the value, lower the value, lower should be your customs, but if the inspecting officer feels doubtful, he can get your package opened and inspected and in this case, you can be charged a fine for evasion of taxes.

              • One more thing, so in that case, will requesting the seller to replace the invoice for a lower invoice solve the problem?
                Just asking so as even when its being opened the inspecting officer gets the real (undervalued bill in precise) proof of a spoofed value convince him in that way?

                since the seller agrees to do just that!

                Thanks for you reply

                • Not really. The customs process is very confusing. So when an item gets doubtful and opened, the authorities generally take the current market value of a similar commodity in account in case they find that the item is undervalued deliberately to avoid customs. In one of my parcels, it was a gift and hence there was no value mentioned on the invoice. In fact, it was a product directly being gifted by the company and not available in the market. I was still charged 3k in customs 😛

                  Similarly, if you declare on packaging that there’s X commodity inside, but the value or the box size makes the authorities believe that there’s some issue, they can declare customs as per what they find fit.

                  You do have an option to challenge the customs and get a refund for over-charge, but that’s a lengthily process and happens only after you’ve paid them. You cannot challenge before paying.

    • Hai friend..
      i like to buy car bulb from aliexpress..but stuck in payment via debit.its showing fund is low.but i have enough on it .what to do.how you purchased.

      • Only the debit cards from a limited number of banks are accepted. Also, do check your international spending limit.

  • Hi Narender,
    Just now I bought Windows tablet from aliexpress for $334(this is my first time buying from aliexpress).
    As you mentioned in some of above posts that Custom will be Applied on expensive products, So my question is how to pay this custom duty?
    And when do I get to know how much custom duty they have charged me?

    • For lower amounts, they instruct India Post or (whoever the delivering partner is) to collect the customs charge upon delivery before handling the item to the recipient. If the customs are more than a few thousands, the customs department will usually send you a postal letter to pay the customs and get the item released. Then it happens via a Demand Draft unless you want to go to the customs department and pay cash. The postal letter would have all the details in that case.

  • HI narender … i recently bought a nike mercurial football boot which cost me 59$ is there any chances that with this purchase price and the box i will charged any customs? Thank you

    • Yes there are chances and you’d be lucky if it slips past the customs authorities without any customs being imposed 😛

  • Hello Narender & all My Friends.. Why you are asking to narender about Customs.He comments many times about it.He said that Custom will be Applied only on expensive products and on wholesale purchase,Not For single product..
    and i want to ask you narendee, My products are arrived in india.How much time it will take to come to my location.My location is Pune,Maharashtra. Thanks

    • Hehe thanks for the nice comment.
      It takes it about 2 weeks to reach me when the shipment is coming with China Post. But my recent purchases are hugely delayed and still somewhere on the way. If you’re lucky, you’d be able to track the package on India Post website once it clears the customs.

  • i have bought a tshirt worth $4 today will it charge any custom duties regarding this small package ???

  • I am planning to purchase a smartphone from Aliexpress for 111$ and i have chosen china post. So i would like to know if i will be charged any customs for china post or singapore post?

  • gona order backcase which is not available in india so i opt for aliexpress
    may i know how long it takes? and is it sure we will get the delivery done as scheduled??

    • If shipped using China Post or other cheap logistics, expect a blind delivery as it can take any number of days from 15 to sometimes reaching 60 days. If you choose expensive shipping providers, you generally get items as scheduled.

  • hi i purchased some.products from Aliexpress when the time of purchase my visa card info is saved so now i want to delete my card info.
    so please let me know how to delete…

  • i ordered oem badminton racket from aliexpress…it cost me 25$.can u tell me how much money i have to give as import duty and custom tax

    • Sorry, but I can’t. Please wait for the item to arrive and you’ll get to know if they’ve imposed any customs on your item or not.

  • Fraud and cheating by AliExpress, their fraudulent Chinese online shops, but also Alipay!

    AliExpress is really the greatest cheating website on earth, all due to the allowance of fraudulent online shops.
    And… the order number which is ‘out of stock’, in fact not existing, remain published in AliExpress, even if I did mention this to be fraudulent advertising.
    We are cured and will no longer trust AliExpress, nor any of your advertisers, because it is FRAUDE OF THE PUREST CLASS!
    Due to your fraudulent web pages I loose not only the banking transfer to the AliExpress account, fees USD 40.- but also a USD 15.- fee charged by AliPay to refund and not primarily listed on their website.
    It seems he AliExpress founder Jack Ma became one of the richest persons of China… as I experience by corruption!
    Be sure this will not be without reply… a fierce reply is what AliExpress and their fraudulent Chinese bunch of sellers and AliPay deserve!

  • Hello sir,

    I bought shoes yesterday from a seller in Aliexpress and few hours later discovered that his shop is closed (or at least all the content is gone). There were quite a lot of good feedbacks in his store so I assumed that he is reliable.

    Does it mean that there is a high probability that this is a deception and I will not get the product? I have to say that the price was suspiciously low comparing to other vendors but I took my chance and now might have paid a price for that 🙁

    • Depends here. If the seller still marks it as shipped in AliExpress, you will be needed to wait at least till the purchase protection is about to expire before disputing and asking for a refund (unless it somehow gets delivered). If the seller does not dispatch it within the normal dispatch times, AliExpress staff will probably step in and refund you already.

  • Hi Narendra, I am planning to buy a projector from Aliexpress costing aroud $328, I’ve checked the seller’s rating and product reviews and it all looks good. Seller will send the item via DHL can you please guide me on how much custom charges/tax I’ll have to pay. Also will it be safe to buy it from Aliexpress.

    • I’m sorry, but I’ve never managed to understand how do they define customs on individual items as when you import the same item multiple times, they will charge different each time. So, I’d say that it depends on your luck.
      If the seller is established, it should be good to do. But don’t forget that there is no warranty. If it gets faulty, you’re done with it.

  • I have ordered toys 10 dollars each how much is custom charge since I have ordered 2 toys three times from different sellers

  • Sir, I have bought small items in and around $2 each all through free shipping. Some items were bought 2 months ago and I did not receive them yet. The buyer has increased protection but I am unable to track any of them properly. Can you suggest what may I do next?

  • I purchase a product of $113 from aliexpress, will they charge huge customs charge it had been shipped through DHL they are saying it will cost us around $ 20 that to on the assessed value not invoice value

  • I wish to buy sony xperia c3 dual in ali express it costs 149$ .Pls tell How much amount i have to pay for customs ???

  • hey, i have been taking guidance from your article before purchasing on aliexpress. however, one thing which i completely forgot about was customs duties. i have ordered a bunch of stuff from different sellers and the total order rounded off to about 14$ for 13items. the highest costing product is atound 2$. i’m really confused about how much duty it might get charged. i live in kolkata. could you please get back to me on this?

    • If they all come in small little packets, I don’t expect any customs to be charged on them. That said, it all depends on the officer who clears your import. Some pass without any charge while others get charged more than the value of the item. just keep your fingers crossed and wait for them to arrive. Only time can tell 😛

  • I am going to order an usb flap cover for my xpeira zr costs $5.49. Will they charge customs for this item in India? If Yes, How much will they charge???

  • is purchasing mobile like Note 3 / Note 4 safe from aliexpress ? if it shows arround $450-520 , how much will I have to pay as custom charges ??

  • Hi,
    I’ve been trying to find the rate at which mobile accessories are taxed(customs). Can you help me out? And how will the customs be collected? will the courier service pay on our behalf and later collect from us?

    Thanks in advance

  • Sir i can’t buy item from aliexpress by master debit card.it said that your bank doesn’t authorized
    Help me

  • I contacted the vendor and he has extended the protection by another 30 days he was very apologetic about the delay an said he will check with the courier guys. Yes, it is being delivered by china post but i have paid a dollar an 50 cents as courier charges.

    • That’s something which all of those vendors do as a first step. I hope it reaches to you soon. BTW, if it is really China Post, it should be traceable inside India as well. Did you try?

      • I have been using ipswebtracking site.RK222727949CN i can see only part of the tracking. No further details after 3rd June. Is there any other way to check?

        • Yep that’s sad. Probably the package is lost/damaged or they failed to scan it and hence online tracking wasn’t updated. Let’s wait for another week or two and then you should dispute it.

  • I ordered for baby sling carrier. Been over a month now. I am able to track until China after that no information. Any idea how much longer it will take to be delivered to Bangalore.

    • It generally takes only about a month, but you better wait unless you’re running out of purchase protection. Was it shipped using China Post?

  • I am going to buy one gionee elife e7 phone which costs150$ in aliexpress i will select through Dhl for shipping to vijayawada,andhra pradesh.will it safely reach me?

  • I have purchase 3 shirt it says it is in china post airmail when it will get reached to Bangalore or India in Delhi

  • My purchase protection is about to end in 18 hours. Item is already shipped but seller is not responding. I contacted Aliexpress and they asked me to raise a dispute. What do I do?

    • hello,i wanted to know how u paid for the items..i’m currently in india but everytime it’s not acceping the payment..i’ve actually opened even new bank account fr this however of no use..same card i’ve tried for indian online shopping without any prob….

    • urgent….
      it’s regarding payment

      hello,i wanted to know how u paid for the items..i’m currently in india but everytime it’s not acceping the payment..i’ve actually opened even new bank account fr this however of no use..same card i’ve tried for indian online shopping without any prob….

  • DHL taxed me USD 29 for a USD 12 item. I didn’t accept the package and threw a fit. Philippine Customs is the worst department and the most corrupt!!!

    • Oh buddy. Believe me our Indian are the worse. Sad encounters with customs keeps on happening and unfortunately there’s no easy way to get refunds for the money you once pay to the customs even when it is easy to prove that the value being charged is inappropriate. I hope you manage to get a refund from AliExpress though and not end up wasting your money.

  • My 2 parcels ($40) with bedsheets are stuck in kolkata from 45 days.

    tracking RK216623437CN but it is still not delivered.

    How can i contact Kolkata sorting office? is there anyway to reach them by phone?

    I already open a dispute and seller has extended purchase protection.

    but i need my parcel.

    • Most probably it is lost or if you’re located at a remote area, it is best to contact your local post office if they have received any such package.

      • I am from Ahmedabad , (Gujarat), They say in Kolkata sorting office it is regular problem.
        and it is showing parcel still not recieved till kolkata sorting office. as tracking number say.
        so they cannot register complain.
        is there any way to reach kolkata sorting office by phone?

  • I want to order a mobile phone battery to Hyderabad. Costs $9.5. Since I have no urgency, I’m ordering using Free China post shipping.

    Need to know:

    1. Is China post reliable? Do they ship properly without damaging the product?

    2. Would I need to pay anything more.. like duty, etc?

  • Hi,

    I want to purchase different items from different sellers,then the problem is they will be delivered separately and in that case some orders will not be coming because I have faced this issue earlier also.

    So can you suggest something that all my 20 something order come together in one go,when purchased from different sellers.

  • i won’t payment to ali express from my sbi master debit card. . pls help me . how can i pay to ali express

  • Hi Narender,

    I purchased a selfie stick from Ali Express on June 3rd. On the order details page it shows that the Purchase protection will end in 5 days. I tracked my order and it says “Destination Country Arrive at Airport-(Steed’s Track End)” for date 13th June. Since there are only 5 days left for my Purchase protection to end, should I open a dispute? Does this mean that if I open a dispute I’ll get a refund but my order will be cancelled or is it just that I’ll be refunded and I shall also receive my order? What will happen if I don’t receive my order within the purchase protection time frame? Should I wait till it expires (not sure if I can open a dispute after the expiry time) or should I extend the purchase protection time? Could you please suggest what should I do now?
    Sorry for so many questions but this is my first purchase on this site and it’s all really confusing to me! 🙁 Hoping for your help here! Thanks!

    • Hello Sharvari as the packages sometimes take longer than expected, you should contact the seller and he’ll probably extend the purchase protection or offer you a replacement. After you’ve communicated with the seller you can decide if you want to wait some more or open a dispute. If disputing be sure to do it soon before the Purchase Protection ends unless you agree on the extension.

    • Hello. I’m confused. Is that a real vehicle that you’re looking to purchase? I don’t really know the reason behind purchasing one from AliExpress. If you can travel closer, that will be better I think.

  • Hi Narender,

    I have just order 2 products from 2 different sellers and the transaction is done just after i enter my credit card cvv pin. It did nor ask for my visa security password confirmation. All other Online Shopping site ask for my visa security password before transaction get executed. Should i be worried. This is my first time shopping from aliexpress site.

    • Nah, you shouldn’t be. 3D security is compulsory in India, but in other countries it isn’t. Sites which have not yet enabled 3D security features for their payment gateways are able to debit a card without any additional authentication. For this reason, please make sure your card information stays safe and its better to lower down the max daily international spend limit and increase it as and when needed. This keeps the risk down.

  • Hello Narender Singh I need a answer from you. I am a business man now I am thinking to buy Toyota mini van from this website to ship to Haiti. Do you think it’s safe? Or travel to Japanese to do it. I don’t have any problems to travel there.

    • The answer will differ from seller to seller. Good sellers are selling originals, unless stated otherwise in the listing.

  • I’m thinking of purchasing an iPhone 5s from aliExpress., How much would I have to pay for customs… Will it be retained by them ?in which case can I claim for my full amount to be refunded???? Also do they sell original iphones or clones 🙁

  • Sir I want to buy some wholesale Badminton racket is it OK to buy from alieexpres is it would be orginal..

  • hey friend i failed to buy product from aliexpress,, the saying my card is not valid, but my card is SBI GLOBAL VISA CARD,,, still why it’s happening ???

    • That entirely depends on the customs authorities and the HS code. Mobile phones attract about 16% in customs, if I’m not wrong.

  • Hi,
    I want to buy shoes & digital wristband in bulk qty. is there anyway where i can save the custom duties ?

    Thank you !!! 🙂

  • Hi friend .
    I won’t plan to buying Sam product on aliexpress . I am planning to buying lady’s wallet so you say me what is the custom duty for that items ? Lady’s bags & wallet ?

  • Hi all,
    Here is a warning story for anyone willing to purchase from Aliexpress.
    I’ve purchased a cell phone screen digitizer+lcd at 90$US from an established Aliexpress seller, and given my bad experience I wish and advise everyone to avoid this webstore for such items because in case the item is defective returns are on your expense and the smallest parcel with tracking option costs 53$ with Canada Post !
    It was my first purchase from Aliexpress and while the seller kindly offer to send another one, upon return of defective item ; I didn’t know tracking option is mandatory, so I’ve sent the item back with Canada Post International Air small parcel which costs about 12$ and would normally deliver in 5 to 7 open days !!! Imagine two months later the seller claims he never received the parcel and will not refund without tracking details ; I’ve opened dispute in vain since I fail to provide tracking details (but I did upload a snapshot of my Canada Post receipt).

    There is no human customer service, only a robot providing links based on key words in your question!!!

    So, I’ve ended paying a defective item which I’ve returned on my expense, all in vain !
    Such a big scam !!!

    • That’s a very bad experience. And I can understand your situation. Parcels without a tracking information may tend to be left undelivered (happens a lot in India) because nobody is checking on them if they are delivered or not. The customer service would also not help in such a case as the happening has made your dispute case much weaker. Unfortunately for items like that, AliExprees tends to be the best source and maybe you should’ve communicated with the seller a bit more and agreed on something else like a video showing the components connected, but still not functioning or at least cleared the details regarding return shipping.

  • Hi,
    I am planning to buy an automatic wrist watch from the same website cost USD 35 only. what is the custom duty for the same. Is it safe to buy something like this.
    Muveen

    • Aliexpress is a reliable company. So you shouldn’t be worried about your card details being misused.

  • Actually I have ordered tablet costing $208 and EMS shipping $10. So what’s your guess how much custom duty I have to pay and chances of retaining it by custom or it will be cleared. I have so much tension about custom please clear my doubt.

  • Hello

    I have a little problem. I bought on Aliexpress 2 dresses for my daughter (Ice Queen) and they were retained by the customs. The seller told me to contact the customs, which i did and they said they would detroy the dresses because of disney licence problems..Is there anything i can do to get the dresses or do I have to claim a full refund?

    Thanks for your answers!

    • As customs authorities there seem strict about the issue, I don’t think you’ll be getting your items anymore. Contact the seller and ask for a refund.

  • Hi Guys…i would agree with the dispute thing, You only get one chance to dispute…

    Here is one example …i bought a polo shirt..and on the listing it says FULL REFUND IF NOT DELIVERED 50 DAYS..after not getting any tracking info for the first month i complained to seller , who extended the purchase protection…Then after 55 days, i mailed the seller and asked for my refund..He refused…so i then escalated to Ali…They then claimed that my package was in Customs and sent a link to the tracking website in Chinese to try and justify their claim…..I went to said link and what it said in Chinese was exactly what it said in my own countries postal tracking site…II explained my case perfectly , but they didn’t bother looking at my explaination

    THEY LIED to avoid refunding me..the items eventually arrived but the arbitrator actually LIED!!!!!!

    I may have had a stronger case if i had of waited for purchase protection to be almost all used up and received the goods before complaining…That way they could not not blame it on the non existent customs delay…

  • Sir
    I purchased a watch of usd 50. i choosed dhl for shipping considering it to be safe.so i paid usd20 for shipping. for around 8 days my product was with the seller.Then he gave it to Dhl and updated me with no.the docet then took 4 more days to get ypdated any show that the parcel has started from hong kong for kolkata. atoday dhl called me and said i have to pay iinr2000 as duty. i was shoch. its aroind usd30
    watch price 48usd
    dhl charge 20usd
    now i have to pay 2000 rs tax for a product of 4000 rs.am not buying a high value product.how can they put duty on such a low amt product and tht too so much duty.
    i wrote to dhl customer care.they told first it was declarrd as below usd50 product and a duty of rs.500 was cgarged.thn customs hv thought the price of product is 50000 so they have increased the duty.i viewed the customs copy of duty charges.Among those there’s handling charges of rs 500 which i blv is being charged by dhl.i am really helpless.please suggest me wut to do.can i stop accepting the parcel or any way if the seller or specially Aliexpress can help me.the fault lies with the custom officer who took the price of my product atleast 20 times of its original price.i feel unethicallt abd baselessly am being charged and am upset about this.Waiting eagerly for ur suggestion

      • Thanks for your reply, I’m quite new to AliExpress, also wanted to know how does one pay for customs, do you pay the courier service guy?

  • some told me if I buy lots product in 1 package it would be cheaper, but when I go into the cost estimate the cost is increase. What is express fee? Is that true that I can order any products n then it ship only in 1 package? Else is I’m not clear with shipping price!

    • When you shop from multiple sellers, they are most probably to come in different packages.

  • Im thinking to buy tablet about 120 us dollars through ems service…is custom duty is applicable on it…..or there is any way to save custom charges

  • I have been shopping on aliexpress for like 6months now when I was in the uk(milton keynes), I had no problems n all my goods were delivered safely n promptly, but when I got to Nigeria if I want to purshase ny goods n I click on the buy now box it won’t move at all. Does that mean I can’t shop from Nigeria or what, and can’t I shop on aliexpress with my mobile? Its a little bit confusing. I need an anser to all my questions. I love shopping on aliexpress but now don’t know what to do.thanks as I await your response. Cheers

    • Olayemi,

      I believe you need to update your profile on Aliexpress.

      Align the country you are shopping from and your new delivery address, if any…to your purchases.

      Good luck.

  • Hello Sir,
    I am thinking of buying Aouye I474A+ desoldering station from an aliexpress Vendor (free shipping thro’ Fedex to Goa) .166 USD. There is no problem in paying customs/duties as applicable (after fedex pays them) .
    My query- Is Fedex going to charge me for doing legwork of paying customs duties? Or any other charges?
    (i have seen a post in google that Fedex/dhl charge brokerage fee-is this true?)
    I have asked the vendor how much he is paying fedex, if he has a contract with fedex and if he can show me such a contract.I do not expect a complete reply from the vendor for my queries. hence my query here.
    Thanks

  • hi narender.
    im planning on ordering a bicycle frame.
    in your opinion do u thing im going to have a lot of trouble with customs?
    the seller seems legit but the item i’m looking at doesnt seem to have any previous orders.
    any idea if i should go ahead with this?

    thanks a tonne for any help 🙂 🙂

    • Customs is all about luck, but generally the bigger and heavier a package would get the more the chances of it being charged customs duty. These days customs ain’t a trouble as the delivery guy collects it, but sometimes you end up paying more as customs than what you paid for the item. You can get a customs refund by showing necessary documents and invoices, but that is a lengthy and boring step.
      AliExpress’s dispute policy has improved lately and I’m sure you’ll be able to get a refund if the item doesn’t reach you or is defective. But for items not suiting your preference, it’ll get a bit harder.

    • This advise might be too late, but what you can do is ask your seller very nicely, at the time of ordering the product, to state the value of the product below whatever amount your country’s custom will tax. For example, if the product you bought is US$200 and you know that anything above US$100 will get taxed by custom, you can ask the seller to state the value of the shipped item in the manifest as US$100 or less. Usually the Chinese sellers will agree as they want your business, and it’s not their country’s custom anyway so they won’t get in trouble (and neither will you, as technically you weren’t the one that falsified the manifest).

      Of course, there’s only so much you can do with this strategy. If you are buying a $1,000 60 inch 4K TV and ask the seller to put the value of the product at US$100, most likely your custom (if they have any common sense) will not believe the seller’s manifest, open up the box and then come up with their own valuation (usually something outrageous to punish you). So in the case of very expense items, what you can do instead is ask the seller to state 50% of the real value (say $500 in the case of 4K TV) and get taxed only half of what you’re supposed to get taxed. It’s better than nothing!

      • That’s a nice advice, but my experience with customs is that they randomly open packages. Some packages with correct value stated are opened up as well and they charge as high customs as the cost of actual item. However, you do have the option to claim back the excess via proper documentation and declaration forms.

    • my boyfriend just orderd some things on this site from the app on his phone and the transaction went true very fast but that was friday and he is still being charged more and more as days go buy like USD $5.99 under that has loads of numbers then 35.52 then another 5.80 this is a joke why are they taking so much

      • Probably the card is compromised. Did he save his card in AliExpress? And what does the Card statement show? Are all purchases happening on AliExpress?

    • Hi
      I have purchased goods from Ali express and order got cancelled….but till now dint got refund and my credit card payment is due…pls help me with the matter…

  • Hi, I’m looking to buy fake shoes on aliexpress, but I’ve noticed that seller’s products often just disappear after a few days (the sellers have good ratings). If this happens after I place the order, am I guaranteed to receive the product?

  • Hey sir,
    Actuall I am new at online shopping. And I aproximately 56 dollars cost things in my cart at Alibaba, so will it safe to order this big amount at my first time or should I order some cheap thing first and look further for deliver and bills. because I am really worried for my debit card’s security, like you know I have heard about the chinese hackers, who hack all amount from your card and i also heard some really bas things about Alibaba’s seller like – they are thieves and too much things . So I’m really worried about my debit card number’s safety, please explain the safety system of alibaba.com.
    Thank you

  • Dear Sir,

    You are doing a great job by helping all us with this discussion page.

    Well, Im planning to buy some of fashion products individually, which includes wallets, jeans, shirts, t shirts , Jewelry, bags, mobile cases and so on. So, do you have any idea about customs on this products?

    Thanks. 🙂

  • sir,
    i hv ordrd a bag from aliexpress of $23.. i m concernd about the custom duty… around how much they can charge .

  • hi sir..how r u?. very satisfying it is to gt sm one in these situations, .

    Sir plz rply as I hv a doubt on importing airgun scope above 5k frm ali express. .tax starts frm what price tag of products.

    Plz rply n oblige.

  • hi sir..how r u?. very satisfying it is to gt sm on bad situations.
    Dear sir.. plz tell me the application of tax starts frm what price tag of products..coz I am willing to buy an airgun scope above 5k Indian rupee. N also sm bluetooth below 3k Indian rupee. Will there b any problem. ?Please rply n oblige. .

  • Hello friend I have ordered two mobile in aliexpress with the rate of $169 and $115 how much will I have to pay the costum duty charge

  • Hi Narender, I have recently bought two items ( an MP4 player ($18) and a bluetooth speaker with tf slots, audio in etc. (~$15)). Both were shipped through China Post. When I saw the tracking website, the status of MP4 shows as “Send item to customs (Inb)” on “4/16/2015” and “Return item from customs (Inb)” on “4/17/2015” and “Send item to domestic location (Inb)” on “4/17/2015”. Where as for the BT Speaker, the status is “Send item to customs (Inb)” on “4/11/2015” and does not have any progress from thereon.

    Can you please clarify the statuses of both??? Am I in any trouble as the item BT Speaker does not have any progress ????

    P.S.: The Q&A in the comment section are awesome. They did answer some of my unanswered questions. Thanks again ….

    • It has happened to me many times that I received my products while the tracking was still showing ‘Sent to Customs’. So, I’d keep all hopes that they’ll both be delivered at the same time. They sometimes kinda forget to update tracking or they just don’t scan them before forwarding.

      Oh checked your next comment and I see the MP3 Player is in fact delivered to you already. I still wouldn’t worry and wait patiently for at least a week more before getting worried. It can be that the customs department has held your item and/or has put it aside for additional verification. Wait some more time and hopefully the outcome will be positive.

      • That was relieving :). I didn’t get any of my packages still. Anyways ll wait for another week as you have suggested.

        Thank you for the quick response …

        • But it is really said to have been delivered. Check this screenshot. I’d recommend contacting the Post Office if it is nearby you. They really shouldn’t call it delivered if you haven’t received it.
          However, you gotta wait if OGGIAMTHURAIPAKKAM isn’t the Post Office that serves your location.

          • I used my office address as the shipping address. Maybe the delivery could have been made before I received the item from my reception…. 🙂

            Can you please share the tracking URL you used Narender???? What I searched for was very generic and does not give an actual status. Your screenshot seems to be more specific.

            Thanks again Narender

            • Actually, I tracked it at India Post website only as the packages are delivered by India Post once they come out of customs clearance. The job of foreign govt post is to deliver it to the Airport from where they are sent to customs for inspection by the authorities.
              Unfortunately, your other package is not yet received by India Post or else they failed to scan it and hence there is no tracking info available. You gotta wait 🙂

              • Finally got the second package. But I had to pay Rs. 1275 for the product as the customs had assessed the item to be of worth Rs. 3000. I actually paid only 1100 for the product. Asked the postman about this. He told that we can call the customs office regarding this and if lucky, may get a refund.

                Is it true, that I could get a refund ???? If yes, what are the procedures to be followed …. ????

                Thanks ….

                • Yes, you can and in fact that’s how things work. Similar to what happens if you get a high value electricity bill or when you pay advance tax. You can show them the purchase receipts and invoices together with a formal complaint and depending on their will, they will or will not refund your money.
                  I only know that you need to send them the correct documents proving the item to be of lesser value that what they have accounted it for. DHL told me this for one of my orders and I never tried proceeding with it, so not sure where you need to send them or how. Forgive me about this. You got to research 😛

                  • Forget it. Narender, you already have helped me out a lot 🙂 Also I have lost the customs paper that was wrapped around the parcel. So, I may not proceed with the process.

                    • Mention not, buddy. You’re always welcome. Next time when I get charged excessively by customs, I’ll make sure that I proceed with the refund steps and then I’ll be able to help somebody like you 🙂

      • I just got my MP3 package… 🙂 Little disappointment for the expectations I had :). But for the price paid, only this should have been expected. Awaiting next package 🙂

        • Sad that they mark it as delivered sooner than the actual delivery. Hoping you get your 2nd product soon as well 🙂

  • Hi I ordered favors 2 weeks ago and they still didn’t come in. I need them in 5 days and they aren’t here yet! I need some help please, any number I can call? I tried tracking it but it’s not working.

    • What carrier was it shipped using? You should be able to partially track it provided you have a tracking number. Can you also leave your tracking number here and maybe I’ll be able to track it partially?
      That said, items shipped using free shipping do take a good time to arrive and hence free shipping is not recommended when you have a deadline to meet. In India, I receive my goods in 15-20 days. US should receive it faster, but anything can happen.

  • sir i ordered a product on 7th march 2015, from aliexpress.
    order no. YC204407679YW (yanwen post)
    I tacked it says arrived in India on 15th march.
    And till today i am just waiting for the parcel to arrive. to me.
    In INDIA i cant even contact any one to track my parcel.
    its been more than a month now.
    i contacted the seller she everytime says pls be patient it will arrive.
    But no hope.
    Pls help

    • Its quite some time. How about contacting your local post office (India Post) and see if it is just lying there somewhere? Sometimes they are not interested in delivering small packets.
      If it ain’t there, just wait as the deadline comes closer and file a refund request because it wasn’t delivered at all.

    • HDFC international chip based debit/credit card will work. But you’ll be needed to activate international usage if you haven’t previously.

  • Sir, I ordered few items and they are shown to have reached India. It has been over a month. Whom do i need to contact in India for it. Please Help

    • What carrier brought them to India? Did you try entering the same tracking number at IndiaPost website if it brings out some results?

  • i i was tracking my order on yanwen but now it says the end with last update as arrived in india
    how do i track my earphone now?
    seller says will be contacted by india post be assured

  • What if your seller has been replying to your messages, but you sent a couple more to clarify things and they won’t answer?
    And can you in anyway speed up the shipping?

    • Probably too many messages and no orders is frustrating them or it could be because of the weekend? The communication with these sellers is not something you’d like if you’ve communicated with the sellers of matured portals like Amazon.com
      There wouldn’t really be a way to speed things up other than placing the order soon and leaving a note asking them to ship fast.

      • hello sir..
        I was trying to buy a flip cover for HTC desire 500 cell phone.in aliexpress site the cost is Us $5.09
        but while placing the order through my sbi debit card.iit showed tht the amount is exceedin mmy daily transaction limit..why is tht?dibi require an international debit card?plzz ull sir

        • Yes you need an international card to buy from AliExpress and my experience says that SBI card will not work there. IDK if the the things have changed now.

  • i purchase a item from ali express.and Recd. in india. but custom duty deparment give me a notice. and say that present persnolly or give a letter with requried document.but i don’t know what kind of document ?please help

  • Hi, on March 10th I bought some dresses for my store from Aliexpress. I live in Omaha re Nebraska. Today is March 25th and I have not received the items that I ordered. How long does it takes for them to deliver the items. I

    • Wait a couple more weeks. From my many experiences with purchases from China, items can take up to an entire month to arrive! Be patient 🙂
      We’re April 8th today so if you haven’t recieved your package, it should be arriving soon enough!
      I would suggest to contact the seller if you have not recieved it by the 25th at the latest.
      Good luck!

  • please I ordered a product from aliexpress I was debited, at first I was able to see what I ordered for (my order details) in my order link but now can’t find any order what is wrong can’t even confirm.

  • Hi, I’m new here and I’m happy with ur feedbacks. Please I need ur advice, I’m planning of buying some stuff from aliepress worth $100 from different sellers with free shipping. And my questions are, is it possible to ship all to Nigeria at once through DHL? and will dey send them to my door step?

    • No. You cannot combine shipping through different sellers. You need to contact the sellers if they have contacts in other shop and buy and combine them for you.

  • hey i m planning to order watches around $150 nd seller promised me to send it with free DHL shipping .
    Should i need to pay any extra custom duty on my order?

    • I ordered so far 2 product one was a $6 delivered thru China post which took almost 30 days to receive and the other one $50Andriod TV Box and thru FedEx overall it coated me $102. When the Courier guy came he showed me a receipt of Rs 1471 which is customs charges which I had to pay FedEx. Can someone tell how the custom charges are calculated and what basis.

      • Nobody has managed to understand how Indian authorities sometimes charge high customs on an item and then lesser on a similar item.
        Generally, it is based on the invoiced value and the flat taxation rate suiting the HS code relevant to the item.

  • Hi I tried paying with my SBI debit card but its not accepting. Which debit card should I use to ensure successful and hassle free payment? Plz lemme know asap

  • Yeah it said xiaomi piston
    Hopefully I don’t get some cheap knock offs
    At least something respectable for the sum of 250/-
    And yes I have a moto e
    Running your website in chrome
    The link you provided does appear to be smoother then this !

    • Wouldn’t say anything. Fingers crossed that you receive a satisfactory product.

      I’ll try implementing a mobile version of the website which will be minimalistic and perform as smooth as one may expect. Thanks for bringing this to notice. Appreciated!

  • Hey
    I checked with the customer support
    It appears to be an error in the mobile app
    I logged on the website from a PC
    The quantity is 2
    The customer support haa dropped a mail to the seller to share contact deatils with seller,etc

    Offtopic- narender your site is so laggy on my moto on chrome pls do something ?

    • Aha! That’s awesome. But you mentioned you ordered 2 headphones of Mi? Is that Xiaomi Pistons? Sounds like a way too cheap in that case. Hopefully you’ll have a remarkable shopping experience.

      I’m aware of the website issues on Chrome on low to mid range Android devices. I faced them on my Moto E, but then since I switched, I wasn’t actually able to do much about them. Strangely, Windows Phone devices with specifications even lower than the Moto E scroll and browse it perfectly. I own a low end Windows and a mid-to-high end Android, so I’m not able to properly test at this time. Also, there’s nothing much that I can do here. Improving the performance would require a new theme which will break a lot of theme specific shortcodes that I’m using here. Just if you can help, can you check if http://demo.woothemes.com/canvas/ performs any better, because that’s the theme being used here? If it does, reverting to uncustomized theme will bring the website a certain performance boost.

  • Hey its me again
    Okay I encountered one more barrier
    So I had ordered 2 headphones mi
    The payment it showed 3.91*2
    Even now in order awaiting shipping it shows in payment 3.91 *2
    But below in quantity it shows only 1
    And when I had ordered the price was $3.91 which has increased to $6 now
    I have messaged the seller
    Kindly assist

    • Probably the price of item has increased? Sorry, but only the seller can answer. Orders are generally not editable after they are placed, so IDK what happened. consider asking AliExpress support as well.

  • Man you didn’t replied to me…. please tell me if i ordered a refurbished iphone.. the seller said he will mark it as gift and 20$ price… Is this going to be enough to get it without duty ??

    • Depends all on who is the accessing officer inspecting your import. Sometimes it may go past easily and you won’t be charged any customs, but when they do catch it, you may find them charging excessive duty and possibly a penalty for wrong declaration of value and contents on the package.
      I really cannot advice you much on the customs side. Just make sure that the value is not listed a way too low which may cause somebody to look more deeply. Don’t forget that the authorities have every right to open the package and inspect the contents if they are not satisfied with what’s printed on the invoice/packaging/shipping label. Also, I’m not sure if they pass the packages through X-RAY, but if they do, make sure it is at least declared as a cellphone, low value, but a cellphone.

    • No one can’t predict how much they will charge as Custom Duty, i bought nearly 5 to 6 Android tablets to me and my friends in different period of time, but Custom duty is not charged for me, then i bought a Android phone (Star V1277) with no Custom Duty, then again i bought the same for my friend but they charged 8,000/- INR, again i bought one other same phone for my other friend but this time they have not charged me. with in 2 weeks differences i bought these phones.

      Till now i used to buy few products from Aliexpress but they have not charged anything for me, Only once i Paid Rs 8,000/-
      so its upto your luck and Custom officers Mood.

      All the Best for Buying.

  • Hey I ordered two earphones from aliexpress today total cost $7.82
    While paying for the same I used my bank of Baroda visa debit card
    To my shock it didn’t ask for a password
    Only card name no expiry ccv that’s it..
    What did happen can you enlighten a bit????

    • Yes. That is normal as AliExpress (and a lot of international sites inc. PayPal, Amazon and Google Play) have not yet implemented Verified by Visa or 3D secure authentication. Hence a 3D auth code is not prompted. On sites which have implemented the 3D authentication, a 3D secure code will always be prompted and cannot be skipped.
      Implementing 3D secure code is compulsory for Indian shopping sites, but as you can see, it is not the case all over the world. I’d advice you to either keep international usage on your card turned off or reduce the daily limit so that you don’t risk too much in case a mishap happens.

      • Thanks
        My order is still in payment awaiting confirmation
        Though the amounts been deducted..
        Let’s wait n see they say it takes 6 hrs it’s been more m waiting.. Hopefully ..

        • Should be all done when you check tomorrow morning. That happens with me, but I didn’t check actually how long they take to verify. BTW, if it is okay, can you tell what Debit/Credit card you used? I’m compiling a list of the rare few cards which work without the 3D secure/VBV/MSC authentication. Have ICICI, Axis, HDFC and Baroda on my list already 🙂

    • hey as it is international payment (may be in usd) it never asks for password but sometimes asks for cvv and exp date

      • International gateways which have 3D codes implemented will ask for the same. The ones that don’t will either work without the 3D code or decline your payment altogether.

  • Hey ,
    I have found aliExpress really good and I am really looking forward to shop from it as I am new and I want to start online shopping I have some queries it would be great if you answer all of it …
    1 – if suppose I order 5 clothes and 3 pants then do I have to add all the cost of respective clothes and do we have to add the delivery charges too ?
    2 – within how many days delivery is possible?
    3 – are all the clothes new and branded
    4 – according to you whatwill be the shipping + delivery charges to mumbai ?
    5 – after I am done shopping will they show be the final bill with shipping and delivery charges in mobile itself
    6 – is cod available , is there any other charges we are suppose to pay to the courier
    7 – what is the charges goes upto 1K or 2k
    8 – is aliexpress expensive at all
    I look forward to your answer …
    Hope you help me …
    Thankyou and the article was helpful tho

    • 1. The item and delivery charges are different for each seller. Some would combine your purchase, others wouldn’t. Contact the seller directly about such a query.
      2. Depends on the shipping carrier and your country. Carriers such as DHL will generally deliver in 7-10 days whereas carriers like China Post will take anywhere from 15 to 54 days or even longer. Need to be patient.
      3. They should be. But that’s something only the seller can answer. He knows what he is selling, not me or anybody else.
      4. DHL would generally cost around $40-50, but different sellers charge different rates for shipping so you need to contact the seller only. AliExpress does mention the shipping options and their respective costs on the product pages.
      5. You can check the full order details on MY Orders page once the order in placed.
      6. COD is not available. But you might be charged Customs depending on the cost of item, and the inspecting officer. You need to research yourself about Customs.
      7. Couldn’t get that. But yes, Sometimes customs are incorrectly charged and you might end up paying more than the cost of item. You need to experience it to find out.
      8. There are cheaper items and expensive as well. All depends on what you’re looking for.

  • Hi man,,

    I just found this website very useful… i am going to buy an iphone from there…. firstly is it safe as the seller is top rated with a 79 5star feedbacks….

    Also if i order so which will cost 327$=21K….. how much duty i need to pay… and how i will pay duty ????

  • Hey Narendar.

    Great Article.

    This is my 1st purchase from ali express. The jacket worth 20 dollars has been shipped and it has arrived at Kolkata customs on 16/03/2015. The status reads held at customs. Should I get in touch with them or wait for a weeks time. The buyers protection is ending in 4 days time. What hould i do??

    Thank you in advance.

    • Try reaching out to customs authorities if it is possible for you. The seller would not generally provide support for the items with such a status, but still, do contact the seller already to extend the buyer protection period because in some cases the customs authorities send the package back instead of sending for delivery.

  • Hello narender..great article, but I had a query , if I pay using a credit or a debit card, wont I charged by the bank as it is a transaction to a foreign merchant. If I wil charged, what kind of charge should I be aware of? Can u please help As u hav made a purchase already..

    • Banks (or the card issuer) generally charges a 2.5-3.5% commission on currency conversion, except if you have a card with same base currency that the merchant is accepting. Besides that, bank may charge some nominal tip charges.

      • so lets say i am from India and merchant is from china and he is accepting USD, then i wil be charged rite? but my prices are in Rupees, since i converted from the options and it shows in rupees, still i wil be charged?

        • AFAIK, it just shows an estimated conversion to your local currency. Final charges are charged in USD on the name of AliExpress, London. You will be charged in USD and hence the commission and tip charges.

          • Thank you very much for the prompt reply 🙂 was very helpful..after buying I found tat the bank charges around 3% conversion + 12.6% service tax on the amount spent..it maybe of help to others.

  • Hello there.

    I am hesitant to buy in aliexpress. I have noticed that some posts are up for a while and then when I go back to look at it later, it doesn’t exist anymore. Is that a red flag not to buy from those individuals? I am interested in buying some asics shoes but when I put it on my wishlist. 30 minutes later the posting disappears. Any advice? Thanks

    • Haven’t seen that happening with anything that I ordered. It could be that the seller only carries a limited stock and the listing is temporarily stopped because there are no more goods in stock to sell. However, try looking for a seller with good number of orders and a healthy feedback.

  • i bought a iPhone 5c refurbished from aliexpress.It was shipped by EMS on 12th march 2015.How many days it will take to reach in india?

  • Please answer. I made a purchase on aliexpress and wanted to cancel the order after seeing the bad reviews. But now I am seeing that if you request a refund it would take very long for you to get your money back. What should I do? Do people actually get their money back from aliexpress? Please advise

    • Yes. It doesn’t take that long too. It should be in your bank within 6-10 days of initiating the refund. Got mine due to a damaged item received in less than a week.

  • I ordered from ali express a mobile of around 15$ .. They shipped the item and tracking no is RS…..NL
    It seems like from netherlands how it will be delivered to me in india and by which courier and is there is any possibility of customs???

  • i’ve tried to buy using my sbi debit card, the transaction denied. can you suggest meany other paying method form india?

  • So does it take up to 15 days to process and then up to another 15 to ship or is it just 15 all together. Also will they contact me for anything or just go about the process.

    • That’s the max time they are allowed to process (procure goods) and ship them and provide a tracking number (depending on the shipping carrier chosen).
      They generally don’t contact you, but in case if any problem or if they need additions information, you’ll be contacted.

  • Hi i wnt to buy clothes worth 4000rs frm aliexpress to india in nasik city..so how much will b d custom duty and courier charges?

    • Please don’t drop the queries about customs here. I’m no customs officer who can provide you with such information. Kindly contact the seller and search for the appropriate HS code.

  • Hi I was wondering how I would find out if the seller id like to buy a prom dress from is reliable. I tried messaging him/her but got no response yet. And the product seems to be reasonably priced.

  • I have bought some items from aliexpress. On proudct listing they have mentioned that they will ship the items using China Post registered air mail, but they sent the items using yanwen courier service. This service do not give status after the items reach India. I have contacted the sellers also. They suggested Patience. Some have extended protection period also. What shall be done in such cases.

    • To maintain a hygienic buying and selling environment, I’d recommend waiting for the appropriate time period before growing some frustration and filing a dispute.
      Yanwen packets are delivered by India Post only, but are unfortunately non-trackable. Give it a week more than the average time China Post parcels take to reach you and then proceed the way you wanna.

  • If I make an order, should I have it shipped to a different location than the house that I live in or it doesn’t really matter either way.

    • I couldn’t get why you’d want to ship it to a location other than your own. Doesn’t matter, but its your choice.
      Delivery persons can sometimes ask for a residential proof before handling the items to you and in that case, you won’t have the proof of residence for that accommodation.

  • Very helpful article. Thank you!

    I’ve been buying on AliExpress for a couple of years, and I got so frustrated, I struck up a relationship with one of the really good sellers on there; and I exclusively just buy from her store….person to person, not through AliExpress. I send her WU funds, and she ships my articles same day she receives the funds. I don’t recommend this to anybody, because even though this arrangement has really worked for me in the last couple of years, and I’ve never had any reason not to trust my seller in China, one is still basically taking a risk.

    Anyway, I wanted something that she doesn’t have in her store, so a couple of days ago I bought it from another seller through AliExpress. Well, this seller now says she has shipped my order, and the DHL tracking number she provided is for a shipment that has been delivered to the Netherlands since January 2015. I am in the USA.

    Mr. or Ms Singh, do I wait for a few days before contacting the seller, or should I contact the seller right away, and open a dispute?

    Thank you in advance for your answer and help.

    • Hey Keisha

      It’s really a big satisfaction that there is still some trust and goodness available in this modernized world. Apparently there are persons who aren’t even able to trust their near and dear ones, but you’ve trusted someone residing that far (that too a business person). Hats off to you and her for keeping the trust on each other. But yep, this isn’t something that everyone must try, for there are some buyers which are trying to get goods and then dispute for no reason and at the same time there are certain sellers which play unfair by sending defective goods.

      Coming to your issue, I’d recommend contacting the seller for now and asking him/her about the wrong AWB number. It might be simply that he made a mistake while entering it into the system, or else he is actuating you to open a dispute before he updates the correct AWB number and saving himself from any disputes which you might want to raise due to non delivery or unsatisfactory product received.

      My advice will be to not to open a dispute unless you have enough evidence that the seller is trying to play fraudulent. Contact him right away and raise your concern and he’ll either update the AWB, or provide a reason or won’t reply at all. If he updates and it is correct, sit back and relax. If he makes excuses, stress and ask for the correct AWB and if he doesn’t reply at all, do send a coupler more messages, wait for at least a week and then you can head over to disputing the transaction.
      If I were you, I’d never accept any solutions that the seller may offer after the dispute has been opened and would stress on getting a refund. That’s because you can only dispute once and once you accept the dispute, the money is immediately released to the seller by AliExpress.

      • Thank you very much for your response!! I think you’re awesome taking your time in helping people navigate through the hassles and headaches of buying/purchasing on AliExpress. AliExpress on its own does VERY POOR JOB of customer servicing, and there are a few number of crooked sellers on AliExpress.

        Thanks again!

        Best.

  • Thank you for this article! Very clear and well organized. Also you have the patience of an angel for answering everyone’s questions.

    Thank you.

  • Hello sir
    Mene aliexpress se 58 doler ka elektronic itam book kiya h or free shipping h with china ragister mail
    Too muje yis per kitna tax pay karna hoga

  • Hi
    how can i buy in ali express and get it delivered to my hotel in shanghai or to my friends place.
    I am not able to select a shanghai/China delivery option
    is there no provision to buy and get delivered to china address for Indian citizens?
    thanks for your reply

    • AliExpress does not support delivering to China (mainland), however, Honk Kong can be supported by many sellers. For shopping in China, try – 1688.com

  • Hi,
    I wanted to know that are the items purchased from ali express delivered directly to our home adress or upto the customs port. Also, is the custom duty if applicable to be paid to the delivery person or at customs office?

    • In most cases, they reach your home and customs duty is collected there only. However, under some cases, such as inaccurate HS Code or incorrect value on invoice, items can be held by the offices asking for clarification from you.
      Also, sometimes IndiaPost would first require you to clear customs before t would start delivering the item.

  • hello sir,
    i had purchsed a lot of spare ic at $31.8. that is about 2000 indian rupees…whether it shoud attarct any coustums duty to me.. and if so … how will i go for this

  • The seller told me that he shipped my order out but it doesn’t say confirm goods what should I do

  • Is there custom duty on mobile cases when purchasing from aliexpress?
    Also if yes then please let me know how much duty will be effective if i buy from aliexpress…. Suppose i buy a product wid the price tag of $5 then how much duty should i expect
    Thankyou

  • I found this article only after finalizing my order couple of hours before,now I am little sacred regarding the aliexpress.fingers crossed :X

    • Don’t worry, Pratik. In case of any problem, make a good use of your ability to dispute 🙂

  • I Oder my prom dress on Aliexpress and it still haven’t been shipped out, so what do I do. How can I get them to ship it out my prom is coming up.

  • Hello,
    Thanks for the info… .. Got a few questions

    I want to purchase a bag worth 35 dollars, what will be the duty be charged by the Indian customs?

  • Hey. I have purchased a readymade jacket for 25$. Could u pls tell me how much customs duty Wil be charged for the same..

    • Hi sudhir,

      I’m Planning to purchase a jacket and bottom Through Aliexpress can you pls through some light. Regarding the delivery and security.

      Thanks,
      Jay

  • sir. i want to buy mobiles below usd 50 .it has custom duty charges or not.. if above 50usd how much the charges would be

  • Hi. If I buy from aliexpress any customs duty charged in India. I need tile levelling system. Answer asap. Thanks biigg Thanks

    • As a standard rule, anything imported to India is bound to customs and it will be charged on the basis of the prevalent rate for that HS code.
      You’d be needed to check with the seller as to what HS code the commodity belongs to.

  • I’m trying to communicate with aliexpress just to give me an explanation of Porq to receive the credit card account are uploaded prices a little, but not the q give me the page to make the purchase.
    Excuse me but the English translation Spanish to English in google jejejje.

    Estoy tratando de comunicarme con aliexpress solo para que me de una explicación de porq al recibir la cuenta en la tarjeta credito vienen subidos los precios un poquito, pero no es el q me dan en la pagina al hacer la compra.
    gracias.

  • Hey

    Thanks for writing this article. I wasn’t sure about aliexpress after reading all the bad reviews.
    I’m good now though, pretty sure that I chose the right seller.

    You are very kind as you are patiently answering so many questions that are pouring in.
    The information you have provided is very helpful.
    Keep up the good work and thanks again.

  • hi
    i want to buy a smartphone from ali express which costs about 129$ .
    is there any way to avoid custom duty ?
    which type of post is better for shipping?
    thanks

  • sir, i am intend to purchase from ali express

    company name 1. “shenzhen yojia technology” OR 2. “Times technology (shenzhen) a product :sateleite TV recceiver “open box V8 combo (free to air set top box).

    price: company 1 .62.99$
    company 2. 62.00$
    free postage china post
    kindly advise me proceed further…..

  • Hey, I build rc planes and quadcopters. I want to buy a system Rlink Uhf 16-channel for my new quadcopter to increase my transmitter’s range. Its price on Aliexpress is around $140. What customs and other taxes will I be charged with if I order it? Also shipping via DHL -$42. Shipping option can be changed depending on the net tax to be paid!!
    LINK – http://www.aliexpress.com/item/subject/32266253524.html

  • Dear Narender,

    Can you please tell about how the custom duty is collected. I mean is it collected at delivery or I may be called to be present before authorities.

    Thanks

    • Govt post used to collect before delivery while couriers like DHL collected it at the time of delivery. Idk if things have changed now.

  • I am from Delhi and recently, i ordered a HTC One M7 Mobile from Aliexpress and it was marked and shipped as a Gift by the Seller probably as an under valued product. The Custom office in Chennai returned the product back to origin. I was more then happy to pay the Custom duties however they did not process the package for delivery and instead returned it back to the Seller. This never happened to me before and i have been ordering products through sites like Ali Express and Deal Extreme for a long time now.

    Anyone here can explain why they returned the product back to origin?

    In my personal experience if you can find a reliable seller who is providing shipping through Singapore Post the product will most likely arrive within 15 days once shipped. China Post takes almost 30-60 days to arrive and is the worst.

  • i am planning to buy an oliver peoples spectacles from aliexpress it is of $ 35 will they include extra cost in it?

  • Hey there! I placed an order for some youqine mascara. I placed it back in January. The 5th. Still have not gotten my order I see on my tracking it say “item processed” it has been processed since the 18th of January. I see nothing. I’m so upset. Any advice ?

    • Was it shipped via China Post? And are you checking the tracking within AliExpress? Consider checking it on that post’s own website.

  • I want to Order some hair from Aliexpress and I noticed how the processing time changed from 3 to 5 to 15 but it still says that it takes 3-5 days getting to me .. Im confused whether that mines it comes im 3-5 days using DHL or that The 3-5 days starts after the 15 days of processing ..Pleasee helpp

    • Due to Chinese new year, the processing time is indeed increased. It won’t take long for DHL to deliver to you, but because of the holiday season, they (sellers) will not be able to forward to the courier immediately after you place the order. Communicate with the seller if he assures you that he will ship faster. To what I know, all orders will be shipped after the new year celebrations.

    • Seems like it. If you order, be sure to use it thoroughly before confirming receipt and if there’s an issue, communicate with the seller.

  • hi narende i am a buyer of aliexpress and dhgate since one year . i see that usually when i receives products by sweden post the chance of custom duty in india is less. when i receives good by china post , custom duty is heavy in india. why? also pl tell me tip to avoid custom duty. on what item custom duty is nill???
    regards
    ajay
    amravati
    india

  • I placed an order for 5 items of Wc about 4 of them are free shipping to Nigeria, i paid via credit card on 22 jan, bt notin yet. Is it fraud or it wil take a year before it gets to me

    • Did you even read the estimated arrival days quoted by the seller? Item shipped via Government post services move pretty slowly and take a long time to arrive. 20-30 days is a normal time frame under which you shouldn’t even worry about your order. If it takes longer, then start worrying a bit. In certain cases, it can take up to 40 days for your order to arrive.

  • Hello Narender,
    I have had only good experiences purchasing on AliExpress, although I was very cautious testing this site out first with just a couple of low cost items. They were shipped properly, the items were exactly as represented by photos on the sellers page. Everything was fine. I was not charged any taxes or duties as the purchases were only a few dollars.
    After reading your comments about importing, I now wonder if I should reconsider making a large purchase.
    I will be in the market for a rather expensive and extremely heavy bank of batteries and other equipment for an alternative power system for my boat. It sounds like there could be considerable duties etc attached to this purchase.
    How would I start to calculate how much duty and taxes will be to decide whether it’s worth it?

    • Hello Deb
      I don’t know a lot about import duties and taxes (esp. for the United States), hence I won’t be able to help you a lot. But you should get a basic idea about the customs for your product category and a good starting point would be this online calculator – http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/
      I’ll however point here that critics do advise on not buying high valued products from AliExpress due to unavailability of support services. As with any electronic equipment, defects may arise (they do, even if it’s an Apple product). So after calculating duties, unless you see a major difference in local & AliExpress prices, go with buying locally only.

  • Hi! Narender, its great to see they way you are helping everyone. Great effort!

    I also have a query, I want to order some decorations for my kids birthday like Mickey theme balloons, caps, plates sets and few similar items for the party. I am checking feedback of each seller, their shipping details and refund policy(which same i guess from all of them).

    My worries are one, next to shipping time i.e. 15-38 days, there is also column which mentions Processing Time say 7 days to some saying 50 days. What does that mean?
    Secondly, using expensive DHL or other courier service guarantees delivery on time?
    Third, doest it really take minimum 15 days with free shipping from China Post Registered Air Mail?

    I have max to max 15-17 days left to host the party, should I go ahead and order?

    • Refund policy is generally same for all the sellers, so I’ll just skip that. As about processing time, it is the time during which the seller would process and ship your order and provide a tracking number if possible. It is usually 2-7 days for most sellers, but those who have it extended to 50 days or so are probably trying to keep themselves safe so as to avoid any claims arising due to the non-delivery.
      But unfortunately, your timing ain’t really good here. Chinese New year is just around the corner and you’re sure to face processing and shipping delays during this period. If I’m not wrong, China Post will be dysfunctional for about 15 days. Your only option will be DHL or EMS as even if China Post works, it takes about 20 days after order placing on the minimum side. Because DHL might cost you more than the cost of the items, I’ll recommend buying whatever you need locally only.
      Using DHL won’t guarantee a timely delivery, but they generally do arrive in the projected time frame provided there were no unexpected delays such as customs clearance and processing.

      • Thanks for quick reply.

        I checked the same stuff online in India, it will cost me 5 times more! 🙁
        Is there any market in Delhi which sells the same chinese products that im looking for and are also not as expensive as online products?

        • I’m not sure, but Delhi is definitely known for its cheaper markets from where products are sold all over India. Unfortunately, you’ll be needed to find that out yourself.
          Or else go ahead and order with AliExpress. Free shipping won’t help though. My last order was placed on 23rd of Jan and I haven’t received it yet. I landed in India (Calcutta) on 6th.

  • Hey Narender!
    I tumbled upon these extremely amazing neckpieces on AliExpress. I have added them to my cart and they cost me around 14 dollars (that’s a little less than 1k). Would I be entitled to pay any duty charges when it arrives to India?

    • If you choose free shipping, hardly a chance of any customs being charged. Just go ahead and order 🙂

    • Hi Narender!

      I ordered a few neckpieces on AliExpress and most of them have reached the Indian Airport. How do you further track them in the Indian base?

      • What post were they sent via? If they were shipped via China post, you can track it still on the China Post website and then finally when they are handed over to IndiaPost for delivery, you can track on the India Post website using the same tracking number.

    • Depends on the seller. On the product page you’ll see if that particular seller ships to India or not.

  • I am buying 3 jerseys from AliExpress and they are shipping to the province of Ontario in Canada. I was wondering whether they are good sellers to buy from and what the approximate customs and taxes would be. Here are the links to the jerseys,

    http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Zach-Randolph-Mike-Conley-Basketball-Shirt-Basketball-Jersey-Number-11-50-Memphis-Basketball-Jersey/1826012372.html

    http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Real-Madrid-Black-2015-Jersey-Camesita-Futbol-Real-Madrid-Home-Soccer-Jersey-2014-15-Jacket-Tracksuit/2042518696.html

    http://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32273977519.html

    • The 2nd one seems to be a established seller. Depending on your liking of that Jersey, you should go with it. As about customs, don’t think you’ll be needed to pay any for this low priced item 🙂

  • Hi Narender,
    Thanks for the great article.
    I have ordered 2 blazers from Aliexpress which was received without any custom charges.
    I want to order 20 more pieces. Then can I split order into 10 orders via China Post Mail? Is IEC is required for this? Or it’s safe to order in 10 spli. I’m worried about custom seizing my product / asking question regarding this as I want to order 20 blazers.
    Waiting for your response.
    Thanks.

  • hi.i went online to check the best deals and found great discounts ans cheaper deals on aliexpress.i am thinking to buy but have no idea as to how everything should be done…i am used to flipkart etc but hesitate in buying from aliexpress as it has been criticized everywhere i read.what should i do?.i have been attracted by many clothing items and wish to buy 1 piece only.should i buy from there or leave it?if i should buy then how and what are the pros and cons?my amount will not be exceeding 10$.

  • Hello Narender,
    i ordered mobile covers worth 113 USD from a good supplier on Aliexpress . i was charged 10 USD for delivery via FEDEX or DHL. How do i avoid customs if any ?
    i have ordered 70 pcs of phone covers
    How much will be the customs if charged any?
    I am having a periodic conversation with the supplier as well, i want the products to delivered in 10 to 15 days max

    • I was able to find this:
      MFN Duty 10%
      Landing charges (1% CIF)
      Countervailing duty (12% (CIFD + Landing charges))
      CESS (3% (Duty + Countervailing duty))
      Additional Countervailing Duty (4% (CIFD + Landing charges + Countervailing duty + CESS))

      The above is for the HS Code 39269099. As it is coming via DHL or FedEx, there is a high chance of being charged customs, but depending on the Customs Officer and the description on the packaging, it can be more or less. You just need to wait for DHL to deliver your package. Only then you’ll come to know what you’ve been charged. You will be needed to pay it, but if you find it to be in excess of the flat rate you can later file a claim (with valid proof) to claim a refund,

  • I have ordered two scarves ($5 each) via free shipping to bangladesh. Do you know if I have to pay any tax! If yes, then how much. They said they would mark it as ‘gift’ or ‘ sample’

  • Hi Narender

    I am planning to buy surveillance cameras from aliexpress for $100 each, How much customs duties will I have to pay (Chennai, India). Should I undervalue them? and if so what value will be appropriate for the authorities to agree. Should I buy one piece each time or 15 nos in one shot?

    • Basic customs under HS Code 85258090 (which seems relevant) are at 10%. Adding up all the duties and CESS , you’ll be charged about 1750 on an invoiced value of Rs. 6000 (rough USD to INR conversion). Remainder of it depends on the description and CIF on the packaging/invoice.
      Being a good resident, I wouldn’t advise on undervaluing your items to avoid customs, but as a general rule, sellers from China always send them after undervaluing and marking them as gift. You can talk to the seller as how much you want to mention on the invoice, but do note that the customs officer has every right to get the package opened and inspected if what he sees does not seem relevant to the invoiced value. Good enough to mark the value equal to the cheapest/very generic similar surveillance system that one can buy and leave the rest to customs officer. Sometimes it goes past them unnoticed, while at other times they want to inspect it.
      Some of my goods arrived from the US and they were gifts (they seriously were gifts 😛 ), hence had a 0 value invoice. Those products aren’t available in the market (pre-sales samples) and hence you cannot even account for how much they cost. I was still charged 2400 as import duty. I don’t know on what basis the officer decided to charge it, but I was required to pay 🙂

  • I was charged 29.29 off my card from aliexpress and I didn’t order anything of that value? I don’t know what to do!! 🙁

    • If you didn’t order anything or entered your card details on AliExpress, it seems to be a case of fraud. Consider contacting your bank and the AliExpress support team.
      Also, do ask in your family if somebody else used it there.

  • I have been cheated by Aliexpress and their suppliers £90.54. Do not trust Aliexpress. This is doggie company. I did the mistake trusting them. The product price looks very attactive but either you will get faulty product or no product. If you will complain then after wasting months they will regect your complain

  • Thank you Narender for such an informative article. I myself have never used AliExpress before but am planning to. At the moment i am currently interesting in getting a Daniel Wellington watch. The average price for a watch like this on this site is roughly $40, but a genuine watch is around $200. I’m fully aware the watches must be a replica of the legitimate watches but that doesn’t really deter me from buying them ( they look so darn aesthetic ). I am looking at 2 suppliers, one whose rating on that specific product is 93.8% satisfied and they’ve sold i believe more than 50 watches.

    http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2014-news-DW-watches-quartz-watch-classic-canvas-band-International-brand-watch-free-shipping/2052065044.html

    On the other hand another supplier seems to have started quite recently with 100% satisfaction but with only a few purchases.

    http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Top-Brands-Daniel-Wellington-Elegant-DW-Men-Watch-Look-high-quality/32247931472.html

    Are they both trustworthy to buy from? Should i even consider buying from this site given the amount of money I’m paying and also is it fishy that they’re offering free shipping on products over $20 in value? I am from Australia as well and was wondering if customs would seize these items or charge any taxes or any fees on it entering the country.

    A response would be greatly appreciated , and thank you once again for making such a superb article!!

    Thanks 🙂

    • Hey John
      Apologies that I’m replying this late, just haven’t logged in to the panel for a few days. Coming to the watches, if I was you, I’d choose from an established seller. Firstly because they’re there for quite some time, secondly they want to stay there. For a new seller, it would be easy for him/her to setup a new account as he won’t be loosing any solid feedback profile. Although AliExpress would not credit the seller unless you confirm the receipt of item or the delivery deadline expires, the chances of getting proper, timely and satisfactory support is more from an established seller.
      Customs, I guess you shouldn’t worry about that unless the authorities there are very strict. These sellers from China declare very less value on the packaging (A $20 thing is easily mentioned as Documents & $1 value) and carry a pretty basic packaging as well. Unless opened, it generally feels like a set of documents for which there is no chances of any customs duty. Not to mention that they also mark them as gift 😛

      Be sure to be patient and not open a dispute. Free shipping does pretty long time with little to no tracking information available.

  • i wanted to buy a holuns watch , priced at 140$.. will i be charged custom duty for it, or it will be handled by aliexpress and watch will be at my doorstep for just mentioned amount…

    • Good changes of some customs duty being charged. Most probably, you’ll be asked to pay the charge at the time of delivery.

  • I’m gonna order some things engine collectible railways for my nephew from them as we don’t get these diecast engines in India. They’re $3 per piece. I’m gonna order about 20 such engines which will go over the $20 limit. Is it a good idea to split the order into two invoices to avoid duty? Thanks! 🙂

    • Yep that should be a better idea. The bigger it gets, the greater are the chances of being charged customs. The only issue would be that they probably won’t be delivered at the same time.

  • me jab online payment making karta hu to server error aati he aur phone pe message aata he ke ” dear customer your txn at atm 0000000 declined as the requested amount exceeds your daily withdrawal limit” .
    yeh debit card (mastero) he. jab balance bhi he limit bhi he.
    plz help me to making payment on aliexpress

  • is there any extra cost when i’ll buy product from aliexpress and is required to make payment through credit card, i have Axis credit card, better to buy debit card or credit card.

  • I want to purchase bulk of garment products for selling purpose through free shipping to decrease my investment cost what all things including custom fees, import license etc i need to take care off. Is free shipping is safe for delivering unbreakable goods. Delivery time upto 45 days is not an issue . ppz tell me about about surety of doorstep delivery,

    Thanks and regards,
    Brijesh

  • I received my item but the item isn’t like the picture…..I’m highly dissatisfied. Do I have to confirm order received before opening a dispute….because I don’t need to be charged for this transaction

  • Wanted to buy a coat.but it comes with sizes L/.XL; etc.how do i know which size to buy.i wanna know the size in inches

  • Hi..
    Trying to order a few things on Aliexpress..
    Was not able to with the traditional SBI Silver International card.
    Goy it blocked and got a new sbi global card with emv.
    Still the payment fails. Haven’t done any registration of the new card with 3D secure or what so ever. What’s going wrong?
    Do I need to do any kind of registration for using the EMV? Any chip and pin thing I am missing?

    Note-Its SBI Global debit card. From MasterCard with EMV

    • SBI Debit Cards don’t work on sites which do not support VBV/MSC. Be it standard international debit card or some gold, silver, platinum, whatever. You should read this post.

  • I want to buy a jacket cost 38 usd and i lives in delhi.so
    I want to know in delhi where i received my order and whether the how much tax i have to pay.

  • Hi Friends,

    Please let me know your order reached your door step on free delivery from Aliexpress.

    Thanks in advance,
    Ashok S

    • I’ve ordered 6-7 items (but they were small and cheap around 15-20USD) and they reached me successfully, well within the projected delivery deadline.

  • i have some questions about aliexpress

    refund
    product service centeres iindia
    what if i cheated
    in how many day in can claim for exchange or refund.
    can i start business from goods i odered. is it legel.

    • 1. Majority of the goods will not have any service center in India, unless they are branded.
      2. If you’re cheated, you can file a claim under the Aliexpress policies.
      3. It is specified on the relevant product page. For more details, contact the seller directly.
      4. Yes you can if you follow the government regulations and provide proper service to the customers.

  • Hi,
    I just wanted to share my experience to help prospective buyers. I have now ordered many items from Aliexpress to Mumbai and have a very good experience so far. I have only ordered items less than 1000 Rs. so far and with free shipping. In free shipping, the items take a long time (30-45 days) to come and there is little or no tracking. But the packaging is good and I have not yet had any complaints about the item delivered. Choose sellers with higher ratings and items with higher number of orders against them and the probability of disappointment drops to nil. I have not yet paid a single paisa custom duty (perhaps due to a combination of ordering via free shipping and low value of items).
    Aliexpress is good for ordering items which are anyways made in China – toys, plastic items, gift items,accessories etc. I am not yet confident of ordering cellphones or big electronics via the site.

    Thanks. Happy and safe shopping !!

    • helo.
      i hve to buy a wireless mouse costs nearly 330 rs with free shiping can u tell that itll reaches at my door step with out paying any other amount like any hidden charges

      • Yep. That’s the final cost as I don’t expect any customs to be charged for a low value item like this.

  • I m going to order a jacket of $6 and I live in Jammu .so how much time they take to reach me.and is it safe shopping from aliexpress.I have read to much reviews that they don’t get there product.help me

    • The delivery takes long long time and because tracking is very limited, sometimes users just get fed up. I’ve received all that I ordered, so no bad experience here except that some electronics were fakes 😛 You can contact the seller if it does not reach before the dispute timeline is about to expire, communicate with the seller and if he gives no satisfactory response, open a dispute.

  • i want to buy sony xperia SL fron`Aliexpress` to india..i contacted seller, he told me that, its 100% original mobile and invoice is 98$, and he also said that we send a phone as a gift..
    so can you suggest me its orginal or not, can i buy this phone or not…………….and what is the better option for buy this phone…..????

  • Just I have checked my credit card statement they have deducted the amount. My doubt is how they deduct from my account with out my secure payment confirmation. And hence further they have any option to deduct any amount from my account.

    • See? That was expected as otherwise your order would’ve failed already. Aliexpress and many other international websites have not yet enabled the Verified by Visa/ Mastercard SecureCode authentication. Hence, they are able to charge your card without separate authentication in term of OTP or static password..
      For the rest, don’t worry. These companies have rigid guidelines to follow and you won’t b charged again for the same. They only deduct what you agree to and what is reflected on the order confirmation page. If ever you see that the provider has deducted more, you can simply file a Claim with the customer support of your bank and they will be able to reverse the money back to your card.

  • Dear sir this is for the first time I m buying from aliexpress.i have ordered some sex toys and cloths wich are below 20$ each..I hav ordered some 6…7 items..pls advice me buying these toys hav got any issues …and how much custom duty I need to pay for a toy …say lik 10$.pls advice me I m really confused.?????

  • I ordered some seeds which cost 1usd I selected China register post which cost of 2 usd , for this I have to pay any duty. Then one more que. While I purchase I used credit card but once i entered All the detail it does entered in the secure mode to confirm the payment. I. Checked my account they don’t dedect from my account. How they will collect the amount from me?

    • Low priced goods such as that should hot have any type of duty, but still, depending on the customs officer, you maybe be charged according to the HS code the seeds fall in.
      Credit card charge may not immediately reflect in your bank account. Have you tried checking the credit card statement? It should be there. If not, check at aliexpress if it shows a payment failure message or something that’s not expected.

  • i want to buy a tablet worth 12k from aliexpress to india.what would be the official customs and duty charges on it.How much would it cost me finally?

    • Exact details will only be known by the custom authorities. But, on a 12k worth tablet, it should be around 2100 INR. Again, this is just my basic calculation and actually duties imposed on the item may be lesser or more depending on the customs officer’s decision.

  • hi..
    i want to buy one phone on `Aliexpress` to india..i contacted seller..he told me that..he will mention `that phone as a GIFT,AND PRICE 20$ IN INVOICE..so..custom duty will reduce.
    and their will not be any real amount receipt with phone box..
    is that ok..or am i doing any wrong thing…

    • Marking an item as gift does not save you from customs anymore as custom officials are already aware of exploitation of the gift clause by various international sellers. Depending on the accessing officer, your package may be opened to access the correct value.
      All basically depends on the officer with bigger packages with low value invoices gaining more suspicion. Also be aware that you can be penalized for under-stating the value of your imports. If you wanna proceed, go ahead 🙂

  • I would like to buy 2.1 speakers of either logitech or bose listed at USD 12, which are priced in India at Rs. 8K and 31K. What will be the extra cost in the shape of duty etc? and will china post deliever it to my home at Jabalpur M.P.?

    • You shouldn’t trust their listings as they are most probably cheap replicas of the original products. Be very careful and do communicate with the seller in advance.
      Generally they won’t charge customs, but if they do, it will be either collected at delivery or you will be sent a letter asking for the payment of customs before delivery.

  • Hi, I want to order a 20k Inr priced health equipment from Aliexpress but I have no credit card, can I purchased this from bank account transfer from ICICI bank.

  • can anyone pls post detailed payment and shipping process for india via aliexpress, especially how does the customs duty payments work in detail. please.

    • For small items, they are generally left from any customs. For bigger ones, couriers such as DHL can handle your customs clearance and basically every individual experience differs. Also checkout this video from c4etech. Gives some info to first time shoppers.

  • Are we supposed to get a confirmation number or something of the sort? Whenever I pay things online, I always get a confirmation number. This is my first time shopping online and also my first time using AliExpress. I’m kind of sketchy about the website since I’ve seen bad reviews.

    • You receive an order id when you place an order (before paying) and everything else gets recorded under it. When you make a payment, a confirmation email is sent to you, however there is no special payment id in that mail. Each addition is notified via emails, such as when the seller sends a message or ships the items.

  • Is there a way to get it delivered quickly but without paying 30-50 USD for the purchase made on Ali Express? Kindly help.

      • free shipping option choose kre to item pahuch jata h destination pe…m ek lower purchase krna chahta hu aur uska price 700 rs h…to kya free shipping option choose kru???

        • Yep generally it reaches, but will take like 30 days to reach most locations in India. For far off areas, it may take even longer. If you don’t receive it before the protection expires, file a claim 🙂

          • Hi, its my first time to purchase on Aliexpress. I chose China Post as my shipping method, my question is do i have to pay customs fee at the customs office or it will directly arrive at my doorstep? Please enlighten me. Im from the Philippines. Thanks.

            • Well, it totally depends on the cost of the commodity. For low value items and small packages, the customs authorities should just ignore the, . For bigger, there’s a 50-50 situation and that wholly depends on the customs officer. Also, i feel the Philippines is developed enough that in case customs are accessible on your product, they’ll collect the extra charge at the time of delivery. Hoping for the best.
              Here in India, I’ve ordered a max of $20 via China Post and they didn’t charge me any customs. For bigger items, I’ve chosen DHL and there they do charge customs, but as it is DHL, they collect it at the time of delivery.

              • hello narender china post took how many days to deliver a product is it reliable ??
                am frm india chennai pls tel me bro

                • The most recent order was a cover/case for the Asus T100 tablet. It was shipped on 9th Jan (ordered on 8th Jan) and I’ve received it today. Well packed and reliable product.
                  As you’re in Chennai, you should be getting it in 15-20 days for sure. 25 days was my longest wait to get one of my products delivered.

  • Good insight though the transaction with Ali express, though i’ve not bought through them, provides clear steps about the purchase steps and after it too. How costly is the shipping charges? are they at par with ishop and com gateway?

    • AliExpress is basically for buying from china, so there’s quite some difference with what you get from ComGateway and AliExpress. There is hardly any presence of International Brands besides a few which are popular in China.
      The shipping prices do vary from seller to seller and average for DHL is around 30-50$. Meanwhile most of the sellers also offer free shipping (or for $1-2) which is shipped via China Post or Singapore Post, but these take over 30 days to arrive. Free shipping is best for low priced items like Phone Cases/Spares and because the customs authorities have a feeling that expensive items are not shipped via these services, there are hardly any custom duties.

      • So I bought the other day a (car)radio with big touch screen,dvd,gps,android on Aliexpress: FelloStar AutoRadio Store it replaces my old carradio with casette.
        After a few weeks the packet arrived. Never got it to work, it came with a broken fuse already, after buying an other cable in the same store still nothing. Lost 200$ never got a refund. after 30 days e-mail with the store owner, my refund time was over. my fault ofcourse. 🙁
        Never buy from china again.

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