Review Has anyone bought from alibaba.com?

Aramex even cleared my phone case worth 2.4k by paying duty. The item was declared correctly as I never thought a phone case worth 2.4k will be charged customs duty that too at 42%, total I had to pay around 1.2k including Aramex handling charges.
 
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tech.addict said:
The item was declared correctly as I never thought a phone case worth 2.4k will be charged customs duty that too at 42%
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There is no such thing as min limit up to which no customs duty. If customs officer think the product is worth applying duty then even if it costs 500 rupees it doesn't matter.
 
@guest_999 no it doesnt work like that.
if the custom officer finds the bill fishy he will put the parcel on hold, the courier will be informed, I would be asked for bank statement and then it would be cleared.
but this is very rare 1 in 100.

@letmein Yes I paid 700+ 400 customs
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anmolbhard004 said:
@guest_999 no it doesnt work like that.
if the custom officer finds the bill fishy he will put the parcel on hold, the courier will be informed, I would be asked for bank statement and then it would be cleared.
but this is very rare 1 in 100.
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I meant that it all depends on customs officer discretion, if they decide to levy customs duty on a product then its value wouldn't matter but of course they may ask for some additional proof other than attached invoice to first determine its price & then decide if it is worth applying customs duty.
 
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nah they will apply customs on all I have tried by putting values as low as 200 and as high as 5000 all levied the same 40 % custom, there is no rule that exempts a parcel from customs
 
anmolbhard004 said:
nah they will apply customs on all I have tried by putting values as low as 200 and as high as 5000 all levied the same 40 % custom, there is no rule that exempts a parcel from customs
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I know but earlier they didn't apply customs on products they deemed as "small inexpensive items" (as per them not as per declared value/attached invoice though).
Futureized said:
I want to try order from alibaba
Any suggestions for firs time user ?
What should be max amount i should buy for
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Stick to 1-2k for first time purchase & don't buy more than 4-5k worth or any product which looks "big" in size or something sensitive like drone.
 
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guest_999 said:
I know but earlier they didn't apply customs on products they deemed as "small inexpensive items" (as per them not as per declared value/attached invoice though).
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I think that only applies to IndiaPost parcels. Even then, they only ignore what they think are small or low value parcels, probably because of the sheer volume they have to process.

I believe with Amraex/FedEx/DHL it's different, because it's their ass on the line if they do not follow the process. Which is why they submit each and every parcel for customs clearance, irrespective of declared amount.
 
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@Futureized yes you can ask your seller to ship directly but they usually quote between 50-80 USD [1kg parcel] to ship,
so its better to use SNS aramex.

@letmein absolutely correct

also delhi customs has 3 custodians/ [ consider it as 3 agents]
1. fedex
2. dhl
3. govt one
fedex and dhl have the lowest processing time for customs max is 8 hours, aramex has the longest because they depend on the govt custodians,

New Courier Terminal,Delhi Customs

delhicustoms.gov.in delhicustoms.gov.in
 

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Actually for faster clearance/shorter dwell time couriers like Dhl/FedEx/Aramex etc proactively pays duty on ALL shipments based on the value declared. They don't wait for customs assessment unless customs specifically wants to do so like the value is suspiciously low, then it's separate issue.
Indiapost is different, all consignments are submitted to customs, they picks some of them for checking. Others gets assessed based on value declared on invoice. There is no role of India post in customs assessment.
 
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dont ever include aramex they are the worst and too lazy , they will make you write up a invoice which they will submit to customs, all other courier do it themselves.
 
anmolbhard004 said:
@Futureized yes you can ask your seller to ship directly but they usually quote between 50-80 USD [1kg parcel] to ship,
so its better to use SNS aramex
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Thanks.
If I order 2 USD stuff from alibaba [to whom should I get that delivered = shipping address].

Who, how and from where will they pickup the stuff like sns or aramex?
I assume my India shipping address should be given to sns aramex?

Anything else or how this process works for layman, who never ordered from alibaba (shipping cost you gave is way too high)

Ordered stuff in past from Amazon US and Japan but shipping was less then 10% of the price of stuff.
 
that 2 usd product will get delivered to your SNS address in shanghai ,china from there onwards aramex handles all things it will reach india in 3-5 days, and once it reaches delhi delhivery takes over and it will deliver to your house.
even if you dont pay the delivery charges and customs it will be converted to cash on delivery.

the charges were increased by sns recently 25 USD FOR 1 KG PARCEL.
its cheaper to ship from HongKong , from hongkong there are 2 options SNS and buy and ship[ consider it amazon if sns is flipkart]
for usa I use myus.com and sns [ rarely]. SNS has a new york warehouse which attracts a sales tax if you order to them. myus is sales tax.
@Futureized

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rocking said:
shopandship have most of the products is in banned list. electronics with battery is what i order mainly.
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no matter if you use shop and ship or any freight forwarder in world if you choose ARAMEX then you cant ship battery a bit harsh but its the truth.
Use fedex or dhl for batteries.
I used Planet express recently to ship some battery products and it was shipped by DHL pretty cheap tbh considering it had batteries.
 
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anmolbhard004 said:
no matter if you use shop and ship or any freight forwarder in world if you choose ARAMEX then you cant ship battery a bit harsh but its the truth.
Use fedex or dhl for batteries.
I used Planet express recently to ship some battery products and it was shipped by DHL pretty cheap tbh considering it had batteries.
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Battery here means any battery like cmos battery cell in mobo/small Li batteries or batteries exceeding certain size/power limit like say a laptop 35w LiPo battery?
 
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