Ordering a phone Ali Express

[loginwith]

Hi all,

 

I am thinking about ordering a phone on Ali from China ... The price is $220. Shipping is "Ali Express shipping". Does anybody know, how much would be the total price including fees at the "border"?

 

Thanks!

[dddave]

Do not select FedEx or DHL as that almost guarantees duty charges.  Use whatever post service they provide.  usually takes 14 to 21 days.  I've never had duty charged on an item sent by post.

Make sure the seller has a good rating.  Also, check the price for the same phone with Gearbest.com   They are very dependable and ship 10 to 14 days. 

[wgdanson]

And do not forget, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR !   Nothing but hassle with Gearbest, do not answer emails, RMA etc.

 

I don't know which phone you are going for, but $220 is Bht 7262 for which you could buy, for example, a Huawei Y9 from here, guaranteed, immediately, no waiting.

[loginwith]

In case of additional "fees". How much are they usually? 15%?

 

 

PS Price on gearbest is the same

 

[daocat555]

I am interested to know which phone model you are considering for $220 from AliExpress?  For 6,590 baht ($200.15) you can get a Realme 2 Pro from Lazada, which should get to you in about 4 days and you don't have to worry about additional duty charges.

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/realme-2-pro-464gb-i265436667-s412888312.html?spm=a2o4m.my_wishlist.price_observing.23.778a6108ayvib5&mp=3

 

This phone has many favorable reviews on the web with a detailed review by gsmarena.

 

https://www.gsmarena.com/oppo_realme_2_pro-review-1828.php

 

[Langsuan Man]

I use Ali Express only for items unavailable from Lazada, and there are plenty of phones available without the worry of extra fees, customs duties, or surprise "handling" charges (not to mention free delivery from Lazada)

 

Ali Express sources from small vendors who normally sell wholesale but make exceptions for Ali customers.  I prefer working with retailers who deal with individual customers   

[Henryford]

Unless the AE deal is very good i would buy from Lazada here in Thailand. You will get the phone quickly, COD and with no surprises.

[scubascuba3]

I use Ali Express only for items unavailable from Lazada, and there are plenty of phones available without the worry of extra fees, customs duties, or surprise "handling" charges (not to mention free delivery from Lazada)
 
Ali Express sources from small vendors who normally sell wholesale but make exceptions for Ali customers.  I prefer working with retailers who deal with individual customers   

Yeah i only use Aliexpress for low priced items, i don't want to risk an expensive item going missing or the unknown import tax. I wouldn't buy a phone using them as good choices in Thailand

[2008bangkok]

I have ordered at least 30 seperate items from Aliexpress including phones, android boxes, bluetooth speakers and every one had arrived safely without any extra duty to pay.  I ordered one football shirt from UK and got taxed about 40% that was shipped by DHL.

 

Also take a look at the Honor 8x 7200 baht great looking phone.

[daocat555]

I like the Honor 8X for people interested in a nice mid-range big screen phone.  I just wish loginwith would post what $220 phone he is interested in so we will know what style of phone he is looking at (compact? big screen? etc).

 

How about sharing, please, loginwith.

[Ks45672]

6 hours ago, 2008bangkok said:

I have ordered at least 30 seperate items from Aliexpress including phones, android boxes, bluetooth speakers and every one had arrived safely without any extra duty to pay.  I ordered one football shirt from UK and got taxed about 40% that was shipped by DHL.

 

Also take a look at the Honor 8x 7200 baht great looking phone.

8x is nice for the money

They also have an 8x max with 7.12"

Fairly cheap on ali

[2008bangkok]

8x is nice for the money
They also have an 8x max with 7.12"
Fairly cheap on ali

The 8x Max was going to be my first choice, bigger screen, bigger battery but I've been watching some YouTube reviews where they say the camera isn't as good as the 8x especially in low light..plus the 7.12 screen is hard to hold they say. I think 6.5 is big enough.
I would buy it tomorrow but I currently have a black view p10000 which gets around 16hrs screen on time, only needs charging every 3days when won't moderate to heavy use so going from that down to about 6hrs would hurt.

[BestB]

I am something like Titanium buyer, ie buy a lot.

 

If its shipped with regular post, chances of being stopped or taxed are very little, but if with couriers like Fedex, EMS, DHL etc then 100% guaranteed to get hit with some fees.

 

However note, being a big buyer that i am, i have slowed down as Aliexpress has turned into a bit of a scam land.

 

Just as an example for you, last month i placed 10 orders from 10 different sellers and i received 0 orders.

 

Not because orders were lost, but because sellers never posted, even though provided fake tracking numbers.

 

You open dispute and get your money back, but seller gets to keep your money for at least 2 weeks.

 

So chose wisely, and check their feedback

[Ks45672]

1 hour ago, BestB said:

I am something like Titanium buyer, ie buy a lot.

 

If its shipped with regular post, chances of being stopped or taxed are very little, but if with couriers like Fedex, EMS, DHL etc then 100% guaranteed to get hit with some fees.

 

However note, being a big buyer that i am, i have slowed down as Aliexpress has turned into a bit of a scam land.

 

Just as an example for you, last month i placed 10 orders from 10 different sellers and i received 0 orders.

 

Not because orders were lost, but because sellers never posted, even though provided fake tracking numbers.

 

You open dispute and get your money back, but seller gets to keep your money for at least 2 weeks.

 

So chose wisely, and check their feedback

Why would a seller destroy his reputation by doing that? 

It's easy to see the good sellers

From their thousands of feedback

[BestB]

2 minutes ago, Ks45672 said:

Why would a seller destroy his reputation by doing that? 

It's easy to see the good sellers

From their thousands of feedback

I have no idea, but lately this has been the case with most of my purchases.

 

NO idea what their reasons or excuses are. Aliexpress could not care less, as they get their commissions.

 

They do not even have a system in place to report fraud. Basically seller provides fake tracking number, you have to wait for 10 days to open the dispute, Ali then refunds money stating "irregular shipping) and case closed.

 

Some just do not post at all and if you cancel the transaction, and seller agrees, you can not leave feedback.

 

If seller does not post at all, and you wait it out, order cancelled automatically and once again you can not leave any feedback

[loginwith]

On 11/29/2018 at 11:27 PM, daocat555 said:

I like the Honor 8X for people interested in a nice mid-range big screen phone.  I just wish loginwith would post what $220 phone he is interested in so we will know what style of phone he is looking at (compact? big screen? etc).

 

How about sharing, please, loginwith.

The phone was not relevant to my question :-)

 

Anyway, in the end I purchased a Mi Max 3. Nice phone, very good battery life, good price (9000). But also - very important - rootable with Magisk and has a decent "xda" community. I also looked at the Poco F1, but the notch was too big (and in my test the scrolling performance in Firefox was better in the Mi Max 3, despite the 636 in the Max 3 vs 845 in the Poco F1). Only downside so far: It is not stock Android, so it feels a bit more bloated. The Mi A2 (Android One) is very nice phone, but the battery ...

[Ks45672]

16 hours ago, loginwith said:

The phone was not relevant to my question ????

 

Anyway, in the end I purchased a Mi Max 3. Nice phone, very good battery life, good price (9000). But also - very important - rootable with Magisk and has a decent "xda" community. I also looked at the Poco F1, but the notch was too big (and in my test the scrolling performance in Firefox was better in the Mi Max 3, despite the 636 in the Max 3 vs 845 in the Poco F1). Only downside so far: It is not stock Android, so it feels a bit more bloated. The Mi A2 (Android One) is very nice phone, but the battery ...

I've been looking at the mi max 3, honor 8x max and the mate 20 X  but i would also appreciate being able to root the phone and debloat everything or install custom software to get it the way i like it

 

Huawei are very difficult if not impossible to get the bootloader unlock codes these days but i might have to consider it because they're isn't much available in those screen sizes (~7") with flagship spec internals and the mate 20 x blows everything away by quite a bit, especially in the camera department