Aliexpress.com - Feedback Thread

[eternoMind]

I signed up for SnS after reading your OG post about it on the prev page. Contacted the seller on Alibaba with the forwarding address for a quote on the order. Let's see how this goes.

Anything I should watch out for? The product value should be ~USD125 (shipping extra to local SnS address). Pondering about asking the seller to undervalue it by 30% to bring it under USD100.

So my first order with Aramex SnS came a cropper because of this regulation the company follows. Those who want to try the company, please beware of this.

Was trying to buy such an item via Alibaba but the Aramex warehouse folks refused to accept 'live' products, even if the seller bundled in the requisite certificates/reports of their fitness/safety for shipping. Shame as it was a pretty good deal but had to go for a refund.

EDIT: Even Alibaba's logistics refused to ship the product directly because of it being 'live'.

 

[eternoMind]

So my first order with Aramex SnS came a cropper because of this regulation the company follows. Those who want to try the company, please beware of this.

View attachment 151902

Was trying to buy such an item via Alibaba but the Aramex warehouse folks refused to accept 'live' products, even if the seller bundled in the requisite certificates/reports of their fitness/safety for shipping. Shame as it was a pretty good deal but had to go for a refund.

EDIT: Even Alibaba's logistics refused to ship the product directly because of it being 'live'.

Managed to find a seller on Alibaba who agreed to ship directly via a private courier - named 4PX something - with a tracking number. Seller said the courier will handle customs and will contact me for payment. Let's see how this pans out.

 

[blr_p]

Okay.
Hope it is reasonable if charged. You maybe lucky and no charges also. so hope for the best and expect customs as high as close to 70%

Customs duty is based on landed cost. So Cost of the goods + shipping. If shipping is more then that max bracket of 42% will appear more.

Otherwise where does this 70% come from? based on mood is strange. They have a table for what it should cost. If they charge more then that is a fine for some reason.

 

[cellar_door]

Is Aliexpress working now? Site seems to work without VPN and most items say they will ship to India. Anyone tried it?

 

[tapankunu]

Is Aliexpress working now? Site seems to work without VPN and most items say they will ship to India. Anyone tried it?

if yes then it ll be delivered with corona for free

 

[FXGalvatron]

Anyone here uses DHGate or something? Banggood? Recently learnt Shoppee was also banned. ;-;

 

[vaibhavyagnik]

Is Aliexpress working now? Site seems to work without VPN and most items say they will ship to India. Anyone tried it?

Right at the payment stage, order placement is denied sighting logistics problem

 

[eternoMind]

Managed to find a seller on Alibaba who agreed to ship directly via a private courier - named 4PX something - with a tracking number. Seller said the courier will handle customs and will contact me for payment. Let's see how this pans out.

Custom duty on an item costing Rs 10,087 (product cost+shipping cost) came to Rs 4,274.

Break-up of Rs 4,274 = BCD @10% (Rs 1,009) + Social Welfare Surcharge (Rs 101) + IGST @28% (Rs 3,135) + Postal Fee (Rs 30)

Funny thing was the postman calling me up and asking 'if' I'd be willing to pay the custom duty. I replied in the affirmative and upon delivery, asked him about the 'if'. He said that most who buy such stuff for personal use refuse to pay the duty and leave IndiaPost with no choice but to return the item to origin. So, he wanted to save the trip to my place carrying the parcel if I didn't intend to pay either.

Alibaba works, you just have to find a seller who's willing to ship via post or couriers such as DHL Express and be ready to pay customs should assessable value be over Rs 5,000. Moreover, you can also get wholesale pricing compared to AliExpress's retail price.

 

[JMP]

IGST @28% (Rs 3,135)

May I ask if 28% GST is actually applicable for the item? Very few items like cars attract that amount.
The amount you are charged falls conveniently close to the 42% customs many courier companies blindly levy on 'personal' category imports.

 

[eternoMind]

May I ask if 28% GST is actually applicable for the item? Very few items like cars attract that amount.
The amount you are charged falls conveniently close to the 42% customs many courier companies blindly levy on 'personal' category imports.

I don't know, tbh. Even I've seen that 42% figure bandied about. I had no issues paying that fee either. I've also confirmed from others that should the assessable value be under Rs 5k, customs duty is not levied.

 

[eternoMind]

Custom duty on an item costing Rs 10,087 (product cost+shipping cost) came to Rs 4,274.

Break-up of Rs 4,274 = BCD @10% (Rs 1,009) + Social Welfare Surcharge (Rs 101) + IGST @28% (Rs 3,135) + Postal Fee (Rs 30)

Funny thing was the postman calling me up and asking 'if' I'd be willing to pay the custom duty. I replied in the affirmative and upon delivery, asked him about the 'if'. He said that most who buy such stuff for personal use refuse to pay the duty and leave IndiaPost with no choice but to return the item to origin. So, he wanted to save the trip to my place carrying the parcel if I didn't intend to pay either.

Alibaba works, you just have to find a seller who's willing to ship via post or couriers such as DHL Express and be ready to pay customs should assessable value be over Rs 5,000. Moreover, you can also get wholesale pricing compared to AliExpress's retail price.

Ordered the same product along with a couple of cheap other accessories (related to the product) from the same seller, for a friend.

BCD was levied at 35%. As you'd know, this bumps the surcharge and IGST accordingly. No idea why it was 10% in the previous instance and 35% now. Googling shows the BCD has a range of 0-100% depending upon the product's type, source country, and most importantly, the levying officer's interpretation of these 'guidelines'.

Perhaps another difference was that the product was this time shipped via DHL Express, which charged almost 50% more than in the previous instance where the seller used post. Moreover, DHL also added handling feels totalling up to just about Rs 1k to the customs bill.

As a percentage of the total product+shipping cost, the final amount came to 77%. If you add DHL's handling fee to this mix, this figure comes to 98% of the product+shipping cost. With the desire to get the product safely, we paid up the amount via DHL's site.

You win some, you lose some.

 

[JMP]

BCD was levied at 35%. As you'd know, this bumps the surcharge and IGST accordingly. No idea why it was 10% in the previous instance and 35% now. Googling shows the BCD has a range of 0-100% depending upon the product's type, source country, and most importantly, the levying officer's interpretation of these 'guidelines'.

Each product has a specific HSN code, you need to figure out under what HSN businesses import that product and tell the courier agency to mention that HSN code in their customs documentation.
One can fight back to an extent. Did you know the HSN code of your product?

 

[eternoMind]

Each product has a specific HSN code, you need to figure out under what HSN businesses import that product and tell the courier agency to mention that HSN code in their customs documentation.
One can fight back to an extent. Did you know the HSN code of your product?

Yes, I have the HS code for the product. It's mentioned by the seller on the invoice.

As for fighting it, you're right except that you have to pay it first and then try for a refund. It's ultimately up to the assessing officer to judge what BCD to apply. They can even go by the market price of the product to apply the BCD, if they feel the package is undervalued or not sure what's the right value.

Lesson for me here is to insist during future transactions on the seller using post. Will at least be assured of a lower shipping cost. We needed the product faster this time (product should reach me tomorrow, it left China via HK on the 9th while post took 15 days the last time), another reason why we decided against fighting. As it's an electronic product, the concern is getting it safe and sound.