Is aliexpress a good place to order from?

[Toasaurus]

is it possible for me to request for them to mark the parcle as $20 value? I know some websites have that

Yes, you can, but they may refuse to do it (since it is breaking the law, from what I understand).

ok im worried that will get hit with a customs fee which is the last thing i need but i want them cheap

[tyrantqueen]

is it possible for me to request for them to mark the parcle as $20 value? I know some websites have that

Yes, you can, but they may refuse to do it (since it is breaking the law, from what I understand).

ok im worried that will get hit with a customs fee which is the last thing i need but i want them cheap

Custom fees do suck, but unfortunately they're just something you have to deal with when ordering from non EU countries. I've paid my fair share of 'em.

[stargatedalek]

is it possible for me to request for them to mark the parcle as $20 value? I know some websites have that

Yes, you can, but they may refuse to do it (since it is breaking the law, from what I understand).

That too will vary depending on the country of entry and in some cases the kind of goods, but as a general rule of thumb it's best to assume it's illegal to do so.

The reason it's illegal is because it can be used to circumvent custom fees on items like electronics, which the local governments want to incentivize that you buy within your country. For goods unavailable within your own country some won't even charge you custom fees, and others (Canada for sure) will only charge you fees for oversized packages if it's not a product they want you to buy internally.

I've only ever had to pay custom fees on oversized packages when they were marked as toys, but electronics will earn you heavy fees if they're worth over a certain value.

There really isn't anything a government can or would do to you for receiving something with a lower declared value than you paid for it, but you're taking the risk should the package be lost as the declared value is what gets refunded.

I tend to mark my outgoing packages value at a rough estimate of the original retail, rather than what I was payed for it, as this isn't frowned upon (it was actually recommended I do this by the postal staff), and does save the buyer significant costs if they want a fast delivery or tracking. It's just risky for me should the package go missing, as I'm not going to receive my full refund.

A business doing so certainly wouldn't be willing to eat the costs themselves if that happened, and so would probably only give you the partial refund of the declared value.

[Toasaurus]

is it possible for me to request for them to mark the parcle as $20 value? I know some websites have that

Yes, you can, but they may refuse to do it (since it is breaking the law, from what I understand).

ok im worried that will get hit with a customs fee which is the last thing i need but i want them cheap

Custom fees do suck, but unfortunately they're just something you have to deal with when ordering from non EU countries. I've paid my fair share of 'em.

yeah i bet i just want them cheap no risk of late delivery or custom fees but monsterhousehk has them a bit more expesive they get here reasonblynfast ans no risk of custom fees idk though im sorry im just so stressed

[Toasaurus]

There is also TaoBao--not quite sure the difference. I used a broker site, Taobaoring, for the one time I placed an order, to see what would happen. And everything went smoothly for me.

There are actually several middle-man sites, which can take some of the hardest parts out of the transactions. They do any required negotiating, etc, and I didn't find their fees to be unreasonable.

quick question would acroman be able to help me out with orderng off taobao?

[SBell]

So is it fast and is there any risk of getting custom fees? I mean when it arrives i have to pay for yhe parcel did you have any experience with that?

I received my parcel within a couple of weeks. I didn't pay extra or anything. Honestly, it's faster than (sometimes) when I get parcels from the US! I'm in Canada.

is it possible for me to request for them to mark the parcle as $20 value? I know some websites have that

Yes, you can, but they may refuse to do it (since it is breaking the law, from what I understand).

That too will vary depending on the country of entry and in some cases the kind of goods, but as a general rule of thumb it's best to assume it's illegal to do so.

The reason it's illegal is because it can be used to circumvent custom fees on items like electronics, which the local governments want to incentivize that you buy within your country. For goods unavailable within your own country some won't even charge you custom fees, and others (Canada for sure) will only charge you fees for oversized packages if it's not a product they want you to buy internally.

I've only ever had to pay custom fees on oversized packages when they were marked as toys, but electronics will earn you heavy fees if they're worth over a certain value.

There really isn't anything a government can or would do to you for receiving something with a lower declared value than you paid for it, but you're taking the risk should the package be lost as the declared value is what gets refunded.

I tend to mark my outgoing packages value at a rough estimate of the original retail, rather than what I was payed for it, as this isn't frowned upon (it was actually recommended I do this by the postal staff), and does save the buyer significant costs if they want a fast delivery or tracking. It's just risky for me should the package go missing, as I'm not going to receive my full refund.

A business doing so certainly wouldn't be willing to eat the costs themselves if that happened, and so would probably only give you the partial refund of the declared value.

A good business won't lie about the value--but also keep in mind, if there is a problem, insurance will only cover declared value (and that's buyer beware, so if something goes wrong, you're not getting all of your money back).

Another popular target for customs? Clothing.

[SBell]

There is also TaoBao--not quite sure the difference. I used a broker site, Taobaoring, for the one time I placed an order, to see what would happen. And everything went smoothly for me.

There are actually several middle-man sites, which can take some of the hardest parts out of the transactions. They do any required negotiating, etc, and I didn't find their fees to be unreasonable.

quick question would acroman be able to help me out with orering off taobao?

That I don't know.I just signed on with Taobaoring. You place your order (even multiple sellers, I messed up and they contacted me within a few hours to consolidate and lower my costs).

They also confirm all costs before actually placing the order--so there are a couple steps in case things aren't what you expect.

They also send multiple photos of the items when they receive them, and if there are issues they can deal with it (since they are the buyers--as with Aliexpress, there is incentive to make sure that the goods from the site are as expected). I didn't, but I guess it could happen.

And they accepted Paypal as well as many other forms of payment. I have absolutely no complaints about my experience with them, except that I didn't order as many things as I should have...! but I was also hesitant and wanted to try it out.

[Toasaurus]

There is also TaoBao--not quite sure the difference. I used a broker site, Taobaoring, for the one time I placed an order, to see what would happen. And everything went smoothly for me.

There are actually several middle-man sites, which can take some of the hardest parts out of the transactions. They do any required negotiating, etc, and I didn't find their fees to be unreasonable.

quick question would acroman be able to help me out with orering off taobao?

That I don't know.I just signed on with Taobaoring. You place your order (even multiple sellers, I messed up and they contacted me within a few hours to consolidate and lower my costs).

They also confirm all costs before actually placing the order--so there are a couple steps in case things aren't what you expect.

They also send multiple photos of the items when they receive them, and if there are issues they can deal with it (since they are the buyers--as with Aliexpress, there is incentive to make sure that the goods from the site are as expected). I didn't, but I guess it could happen.

And they accepted Paypal as well as many other forms of payment. I have absolutely no complaints about my experience with them, except that I didn't order as many things as I should have...! but I was also hesitant and wanted to try it out.

ok is there a tutorial on how to use it i know you just started a couple of hours ago but i might get confused and do these agent have a fee?

[SBell]

There is also TaoBao--not quite sure the difference. I used a broker site, Taobaoring, for the one time I placed an order, to see what would happen. And everything went smoothly for me.

There are actually several middle-man sites, which can take some of the hardest parts out of the transactions. They do any required negotiating, etc, and I didn't find their fees to be unreasonable.

quick question would acroman be able to help me out with orering off taobao?

That I don't know.I just signed on with Taobaoring. You place your order (even multiple sellers, I messed up and they contacted me within a few hours to consolidate and lower my costs).

They also confirm all costs before actually placing the order--so there are a couple steps in case things aren't what you expect.

They also send multiple photos of the items when they receive them, and if there are issues they can deal with it (since they are the buyers--as with Aliexpress, there is incentive to make sure that the goods from the site are as expected). I didn't, but I guess it could happen.

And they accepted Paypal as well as many other forms of payment. I have absolutely no complaints about my experience with them, except that I didn't order as many things as I should have...! but I was also hesitant and wanted to try it out.

ok is there a tutorial on how to use it i know you just started a couple of hours ago but i might get confused and do these agent have a fee?

There is a fee, yes. In my experience, they confirmed the prices including fees in advance--and consolidated my order when I did it wrong, to lower the fee!

Honestly, I found them really fast to communicate, so if you have questions or problems don't be afraid to ask them.

[Syndicate Bias]

Weird my Vitae Giganotosaurus never got an extra customs fee even though it was around 100 dollars

[Toasaurus]

There is also TaoBao--not quite sure the difference. I used a broker site, Taobaoring, for the one time I placed an order, to see what would happen. And everything went smoothly for me.

There are actually several middle-man sites, which can take some of the hardest parts out of the transactions. They do any required negotiating, etc, and I didn't find their fees to be unreasonable.

quick question would acroman be able to help me out with orering off taobao?

That I don't know.I just signed on with Taobaoring. You place your order (even multiple sellers, I messed up and they contacted me within a few hours to consolidate and lower my costs).

They also confirm all costs before actually placing the order--so there are a couple steps in case things aren't what you expect.

They also send multiple photos of the items when they receive them, and if there are issues they can deal with it (since they are the buyers--as with Aliexpress, there is incentive to make sure that the goods from the site are as expected). I didn't, but I guess it could happen.

And they accepted Paypal as well as many other forms of payment. I have absolutely no complaints about my experience with them, except that I didn't order as many things as I should have...! but I was also hesitant and wanted to try it out.

ok is there a tutorial on how to use it i know you just started a couple of hours ago but i might get confused and do these agent have a fee?

There is a fee, yes. In my experience, they confirmed the prices including fees in advance--and consolidated my order when I did it wrong, to lower the fee!

Honestly, I found them really fast to communicate, so if you have questions or problems don't be afraid to ask them.

what about superbuy i heard that workd really well

[mgaguilar]

Weird my Vitae Giganotosaurus never got an extra customs fee even though it was around 100 dollars

Good to hear. I just grabbed one and am awaiting delivery.
Looks like from others it'll just be luck of the draw.
S @Syndicate Bias Are you in the states?

[Syndicate Bias]

Yea man. Northern part

[Toasaurus]

I heard on youtube of a website called superbuy how. Is that?

[Halichoeres]

The United States does not impose customs fees on incoming packages unless they have a declared value over $800, and even then it is usually pretty nominal and is not a function of its value. (https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases)

The flip side of this is that it costs more to ship from here than from most countries (except Italy, good lord).

(Off topic, I know, but there were people wondering about US customs; that's just not a problem for us for purchases the size of a box of toy dinosaurs.)

[mgaguilar]

The United States does not impose customs fees on incoming packages unless they have a declared value over $800, and even then it is usually pretty nominal and is not a function of its value. (https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases)

The flip side of this is that it costs more to ship from here than from most countries (except Italy, good lord).

(Off topic, I know, but there were people wondering about US customs; that's just not a problem for us for purchases the size of a box of toy dinosaurs.)

Gosh, THANK YOU @Halichoeres. This is a HUGE relief and a weight off my shoulders. I was waiting for an email for my bill from customs as to how much I owed.
California here, I'm used to paying premiums. 

[Toasaurus]

The United States does not impose customs fees on incoming packages unless they have a declared value over $800, and even then it is usually pretty nominal and is not a function of its value. (https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases)

The flip side of this is that it costs more to ship from here than from most countries (except Italy, good lord).

(Off topic, I know, but there were people wondering about US customs; that's just not a problem for us for purchases the size of a box of toy dinosaurs.)

yeah but i live in CANADA not the US

[mgaguilar]

The United States does not impose customs fees on incoming packages unless they have a declared value over $800, and even then it is usually pretty nominal and is not a function of its value. (https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases)

The flip side of this is that it costs more to ship from here than from most countries (except Italy, good lord).

(Off topic, I know, but there were people wondering about US customs; that's just not a problem for us for purchases the size of a box of toy dinosaurs.)

yeah but i live in CANADA not the US

@Toasaurus, it probably would have been a good idea to include some background information in all your first posts in these two topics so the responses wouldn't be so haphazard (information being non-applicable to yourself).
No one can really give you good advice unless they know what your situation is (i.e. location, budget, priorities, etc.) @Halichoeres was just trying to offer information on what was being discussed at hand. How were we supposed to know your location was in Canada?

From what I can gather, you want a decent shipping speed, but don't want to pay additional costs, even willing to sacrifice the package itself to avoid additional charges (the illegal $20 request). That in itself is where you need to make a decision on priorities. Also, relative shipping speeds are very different depending upon your location.
I personally have dealt with Aliexpress (China to US), and it takes around two to three weeks to get a package (which to me is slow, due to Amazon [Two-Days], and eBay [One Week] being readily available). The longest I have had to wait for a package is one month, and that was due to it chilling in customs for whatever reason.

That is my two cents. When ordering a continent away, I recommend keeping the process simple and safe. I haven't personally dealt with TaoBao or agents, so I can't say anything about it. But it seems like it's much more complicated when there are much simpler (and easier) means of obtaining what you want (for a comparable price-point).

[Toasaurus]

The United States does not impose customs fees on incoming packages unless they have a declared value over $800, and even then it is usually pretty nominal and is not a function of its value. (https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases)

The flip side of this is that it costs more to ship from here than from most countries (except Italy, good lord).

(Off topic, I know, but there were people wondering about US customs; that's just not a problem for us for purchases the size of a box of toy dinosaurs.)

yeah but i live in CANADA not the US

@Toasaurus, it probably would have been a good idea to include some background information in all your first posts in these two topics so the responses wouldn't be so haphazard (information being non-applicable to yourself).
No one can really give you good advice unless they know what your situation is (i.e. location, budget, priorities, etc.) @Halichoeres was just trying to offer information on what was being discussed at hand. How were we supposed to know your location was in Canada?

From what I can gather, you want a decent shipping speed, but don't want to pay additional costs, even willing to sacrifice the package itself to avoid additional charges (the illegal $20 request). That in itself is where you need to make a decision on priorities. Also, relative shipping speeds are very different depending upon your location.
I personally have dealt with Aliexpress (China to US), and it takes around two to three weeks to get a package (which to me is slow, due to Amazon [Two-Days], and eBay [One Week] being readily available). The longest I have had to wait for a package is one month, and that was due to it chilling in customs for whatever reason.

That is my two cents. When ordering a continent away, I recommend keeping the process simple and safe. I haven't personally dealt with TaoBao or agents, so I can't say anything about it. But it seems like it's much more complicated when there are much simpler (and easier) means of obtaining what you want (for a comparable price-point).

ok fine ill put canada inthe discription abut please have anyone tell me what the customs limit to items are in canada

[RobinGoodfellow]

ok fine ill put canada inthe discription abut please have anyone tell me what the customs limit to items are in canada

..maybe it could help you... :

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/courier/menu-eng.html

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/courier/lvs-efv/prsn-eng.html

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d8/d8-2-2-eng.html