Aliexpress.com - Feedback Thread

Right, so I finally received my "11/11 AliExpress Sale" Shipment today. I had placed the order on the 12th of November. The item was a Headphone Amplifier.

The item got shipped on the 12th only and arrived in India on the 21st of November. On the 22nd it got sent for Customs Clearance at Kolkata Customs LCAO where it got stuck with the status "CN 22/ 23 Missing or Inappropriate" status on the 25th.

I emailed Kolkata Customs on the 27th with the following:

- A cover letter (email body)
- AliExpress Invoice showing the payment
- My Bank Details showing the exact amount of the transaction in INR.
- A screenshot of the tracking update clearly mentioning the Tracking Number of the shipment.

I sent that email at 10:47AM on the the 27th of November and immediately got a reply on email from Kolkata Customs Department at 11:55AM which read as follows:

Customs-Email.jpg


I should mention here that I have emailed them before when my shipments have got stuck but never received a reply, this was a definite first! This email was sent to me by their site admin supposedly (not sharing his name here). So, it can be proven now that they do indeed check emails.

Following this, the shipment was released on the 4th of December and I received the shipment yesterday (05/12/2019). The complete Tracking Status is as follows:

Tracking-Status.jpg


I paid Rs.2540.92/- for the item on AliExpress and today had to to pay an additional Rs.1099/- as Customs Duty.

The local postman came with the shipment and collected the Duty after handing me the shipment.
The Customs Duty slip attached on the parcel is this:

20191205-131202.jpg


So, I paid approximately 44% Customs Duty.

As you can see below, the parcel clearly mentioned the contents being an "Amplifier" (bold letters) and this I'm sure made the Customs Babu's get very interested:

20191205-165652.jpg

(Seller also undervalued shipment value to $16 as can be seen above).

The box was big as well, measuring:
Length - 10 inches
W: 8.5 inches

This was actually the only thing I ordered on the 11/11 Sale this year. I usually order a watch but skipped this year because I already got one a couple of months back while traveling. A Seagull 1963 Chronograph had caught my attention but I think I'm actually glad I didn't end up pulling the trigger on it because if that would have been held by Customs I would have had to easily shell out 5-6k as Duty. Next time maybe.

Cheers and I hope everyone here who ordered items on the 11/11 Sale receives them soon and prefererably without duties being slammed on! :)
 
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Received 2/6 shipments so far. The one to Gurgaon seemed to have been stuck in customs forever. Filter for a lens. and Some boxers got delivered today to Mumbai.
 
I placed an order for earbuds on 11/26 and got on 12/5. That is 9 days flat. The fastest ever. That is probably because the item is very small and valued at $5. The item went from Singapore (11/26) --> Chennai (12/2)--> Mumbai (12/3) --> Hyderabad (12/5).
 
Black_Hawk said:
Right, so I finally received my "11/11 AliExpress Sale" Shipment today. I had placed the order on the 12th of November. The item was a Headphone Amplifier.

The item got shipped on the 12th only and arrived in India on the 21st of November. On the 22nd it got sent for Customs Clearance at Kolkata Customs LCAO where it got stuck with the status "CN 22/ 23 Missing or Inappropriate" status on the 25th.

I emailed Kolkata Customs on the 27th with the following:

- A cover letter (email body)
- AliExpress Invoice showing the payment
- My Bank Details showing the exact amount of the transaction in INR.
- A screenshot of the tracking update clearly mentioning the Tracking Number of the shipment.

I sent that email at 10:47AM on the the 27th of November and immediately got a reply on email from Kolkata Customs Department at 11:55AM which read as follows:

Customs-Email.jpg


I should mention here that I have emailed them before when my shipments have got stuck but never received a reply, this was a definite first! This email was sent to me by their site admin supposedly (not sharing his name here). So, it can be proven now that they do indeed check emails.

Following this, the shipment was released on the 4th of December and I received the shipment yesterday (05/12/2019). The complete Tracking Status is as follows:

Tracking-Status.jpg


I paid Rs.2540.92/- for the item on AliExpress and today had to to pay an additional Rs.1099/- as Customs Duty.

The local postman came with the shipment and collected the Duty after handing me the shipment.
The Customs Duty slip attached on the parcel is this:

20191205-131202.jpg


So, I paid approximately 44% Customs Duty.

As you can see below, the parcel clearly mentioned the contents being an "Amplifier" (bold letters) and this I'm sure made the Customs Babu's get very interested:

20191205-165652.jpg

(Seller also undervalued shipment value to $16 as can be seen above).

The box was big as well, measuring:
Length - 10 inches
W: 8.5 inches

This was actually the only thing I ordered on the 11/11 Sale this year. I usually order a watch but skipped this year because I already got one a couple of months back while traveling. A Seagull 1963 Chronograph had caught my attention but I think I'm actually glad I didn't end up pulling the trigger on it because if that would have been held by Customs I would have had to easily shell out 5-6k as Duty. Next time maybe.

Cheers and I hope everyone here who ordered items on the 11/11 Sale receives them soon and prefererably without duties being slammed on! :)
Click to expand...

1. Please let me know what kind of headphone amp it is?
2. Also, Aliexpress Invoice means what?
3. Is this seller sent you upon requesting or the screenshot of the AE order page?

Thank You for the feedback......It looks like the scope of ordering from AE decreasing day by day. 2504.92/- is below the permissible level which is 5k I believe. Custom Dept behave like Traffic Cops in Kolkata - They are stopping almost every car and bike in the name of Green Tribunal.
 
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dissel said:
1. Please let me know what kind of headphone amp it is?
2. Also, Aliexpress Invoice means what?
3. Is this seller sent you upon requesting or the screenshot of the AE order page?

Thank You for the feedback......It looks like the scope of ordering from AE decreasing day by day. 2504.92/- is below the permissible level which is 5k I believe. Custom Dept behave like Traffic Cops in Kolkata - They are stopping almost every car and bike in the name of Green Tribunal.
Click to expand...

It's just a simple tube amplifier (SUCA 6K4 Tube NE5532) for one of my headphones. Ordered it for fun and in the end had to cough up Duty for it, sigh.

I didn't ask the seller for any Invoice. All I did was go to my Orders > Chose the Order > View Details > Under Order and Financial tabs you will find details regarding your payment.

I took screenshots of both Order (deleted the "Open Dispute" option which appears through MS Paint) and Financial sections. Converted these to PDF and sent these.

Attaching the Invoices I sent below so you can take a look:
Screenshot 1:

1.jpg

(The "Open Dispute" which appears below the "Awaiting Receipt" under Status option I whitened out).

Screenshot 2:

2.jpg


Both screenshots were converted into separate PDF documents and sent along with my Bank Statement which matched the amount shown.

Whenever they spot words like Amplifier, Graphics Card, Japanese Watches or any other nice electronic component they pounce on them and hold them for evaluation of Duty. I don't think there is any lower limit now that these officials follow when slamming a duty on the items. If they want they can even ignore your invoices and other related documents and find their own magical values off the internet. It's such a PITA to go through this at times. I just didn't want to endlessly wait for my product and thus sent them the invoice. Maybe next time if a cheaper item is held I'll just wait and see how long they take to release it or if they send me a letter.

P.S. I'm setting up a 2.0 stereo setup at home currently and thankfully not having to import the speakers and Stereo Amplifier!
 
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People in Bangalore are reporting very late deliveries, even months due to slow speed by customs, Mumbai is very fast takes 1-2 days max.
 
Party Monger said:
My orders from 11/11 havent even left china. Two have last update of 14-15 and one has last update of 4/12
Click to expand...

I am in the same situation, four item according to 17track travelling all over china’s airport which are - Guangzhou,Pudong,Shanghai,Beijing and Ningbo and Shenzhen city.

All seller shipped them 12 to 14 Nov and handover to the logistics by 18th Nov.
 
Some of the 11/11 stuff got delivered in 2 weeks, some havent been delivered even now. Bangalore customs is absolutely unpredictable now.
 
My friend's shipment is lying with Mumbai Customs for more than 2 weeks now with the status "Retained for Unspecified Reason". It's an automatic watch. :(
 
dissel said:
I am in the same situation, four item according to 17track travelling all over china’s airport which are - Guangzhou,Pudong,Shanghai,Beijing and Ningbo and Shenzhen city.

All seller shipped them 12 to 14 Nov and handover to the logistics by 18th Nov.
Click to expand...
Yep, havent even reached india
 
I wonder why...
Capture.jpg


AliExpress is showing such high additional charges with China Post Registered Mail or AliExpress Standard Shipping for some products? I mean an extra 400-500 bucks for shipping on a 1.4k product ruins the purchase to be honest!
 
Black_Hawk said:
I wonder why...
Capture.jpg


AliExpress is showing such high additional charges with China Post Registered Mail or AliExpress Standard Shipping for some products? I mean an extra 400-500 bucks for shipping on a 1.4k product ruins the purchase to be honest!
Click to expand...

100+
In November, I was looking at some 16 Core Copper IEM cables cost around 700 to 900 INR and I'm going to pick 3 in different pin and jack configaration of them but their shipping charges are 450/- each no matter how many you add in the cart, Upon informing the seller that you will probably send them in one packet.....Can I pay for the shipping charge for one, at first he thoughts I'm asking for free shipping, upon further communicating he replied OK just go ahead and order he will take care rest of it - But he didn't....So I asked again, later I came to know 'taking care' means giving me a coupon from his store at the value of the shipping charge.

That is pure Day Time Robbery.
 
dissel said:
In November, I was looking at some 16 Core Copper IEM cables cost around 700 to 900 INR and I'm going to pick 3 in different pin and jack configaration of them but their shipping charges are 450/- each no matter how many you add in the cart, Upon informing the seller that you will probably send them in one packet.....Can I pay for the shipping charge for one, at first he thoughts I'm asking for free shipping, upon further communicating he replied OK just go ahead and order he will take care rest of it - But he didn't....So I asked again, later I came to know 'taking care' means giving me a coupon from his store at the value of the shipping charge.
Click to expand...
You can order but not pay, then ask the seller to adjust the price. You can then pay the final amount
 
Funny thing, I ordered some stuff from UK, without tracking and it came in a week. China with tracking is now one month plus.

I think they are taking a stand against china imports basically.
 
It's best not to try and make sense of the shipping charge son aliExpress. There have been times when I have ordered multiple quantities of a pretty light item and then shipping would increase like crazy. It's essentially just part of the cost of the product. That's one of the reasons why some of the things are cheaper with certain seller.
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I needed a monitor for a shoot and should have just paid a little extra for better shipping.. atleast I wouldn't have wasted money in renting it then..
 
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