Ali Express

[g.ren]

Morning Hubbers

 

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with Ali Express?

They have a pretty comprehensive kit offering (which I realise isnt genuine) which we would struggle to get here otherwise.

 

Let me know if its worth it.

[Duimpies]

Never had any issues, takes a while to get here thou. 

[lechatnoir]

If it's clothing, keep in mind the exorbitant duties you'll get lumbered with from SARS. But, if the price is still good, why not?

 

If it's carbon goodies, then 'caveat emptor' and check out the current thread on carbon breakages

[Ed-Zulu]

As per Duimpies, no issues yet on 3 purchases which included electronics...they take some time to deliver, sometimes up to 6 weeks.

 

Read the customer reviews, very good gauge on who you deal with

[usxorf]

If it's clothing, keep in mind the exorbitant duties you'll get lumbered with from SARS. But, if the price is still good, why not?

 

If it's carbon goodies, then 'caveat emptor' and check out the current thread on carbon breakages

It's almost friday, so why not. Check out the one tiny thread on carbon breakages, compared to the rather large thread on chinese carbon imports .

 

Edit: As mentioned above, duties on clothing will nail you. Also sizing can be deceptive. But aliexpress works 100%, bought tens of stuff over the years.

Edited June 29, 2016 by usxorf

[g.ren]

It's almost friday, so why not. Check out the one tiny thread on carbon breakages, compared to the rather large thread on chinese carbon imports .

 

Edit: As mentioned above, duties on clothing will nail you. Also sizing can be deceptive. But aliexpress works 100%, bought tens of stuff over the years.

How bad are those import duties?

[GrahamS2]

How bad are those import duties?

45% + 10% incidental duty on my last shopping trip.

[usxorf]

45% + 10% incidental duty on my last shopping trip.

45% duty, +15.4% VAT

[TheJ]

Every single piece of kit I own (ok like 90%) is AliExpress kit. Never had any issues. Getting bibs AND a shirt for around R350-400 is a steal. My drawers at home are overflowing with AliExpress kit. Bibs, shirts, long sleeve tops as well as thermal tops.

[KidCharlemagne]

Plenty of bargains to be had with Ali-Express kit even after costs.  China post is slow.  Singapore post is fast, not always an option though.  They tend to lower the value of the package.  $10 is often the default amount.  Also, it's of a surprisingly decent quality.

[TheJ]

Plenty of bargains to be had with Ali-Express kit even after costs.  China post is slow.  Singapore post is fast, not always an option though.  They tend to lower the value of the package.  $10 is often the default amount.  Also, it's of a surprisingly decent quality.

 

The other day I bought over $480 worth of stuff. It was declared as $50.

[g.ren]

When and how do they charge the import duties?

[Aurora]

Have ordered many pairs of kit from here in the past and never been charged duty. They declare it as samples or much lower values.

[TheJ]

When and how do they charge the import duties?

 

When the parcel arrives in SA at Customs they look what it is, what its "worth" and then apply a fee to it. This you'll pay at the Post Office.

 

But don't think the system is faultless. The $480 worth of stuff I bought was split over 7 parcels to make each parcel smaller. 5 of the parcels were levied at R30.40, and 2 at R101.86. Even though all 7 looked the same, weighed the same, had the same size and had the same contents. Comes down to who-ever is sitting on the customs PC that day and how they interpret what they see coming past them.

[KidCharlemagne]

When the parcel arrives in SA at Customs they look what it is, what its "worth" and then apply a fee to it. This you'll pay at the Post Office.

 

But don't think the system is faultless. The $480 worth of stuff I bought was split over 7 parcels to make each parcel smaller. 5 of the parcels were levied at R30.40, and 2 at R101.86. Even though all 7 looked the same, weighed the same, had the same size and had the same contents. Comes down to who-ever is sitting on the customs PC that day and how they interpret what they see coming past them.

Yeah, it's very arbitrary.  I collected a parcel at the mail hub and on that occasion there was no value declared.  The customs guy asked me what the value was and then used that amount.  Another time, the customs gentleman went to check the internet and came up with a value. 

[Long Wheel Base]

I have bought a lot of stuff from ALI. Not much has been cycling stuff though. I did buy 1 pair of bib shorts and I usually take a Med bib and these are a little tight, Still wearable but a Lrg would have been better. The shammy actually isn't bad. Like has been previously mentioned a lot of sellers put a much lower price and list it as "gift". Shipping does take 4 to 6 weeks but I never mind the wait. I always like to read the reviews on what I want to buy as well as try buy from a seller with a good rating. Also fairly often the item you buying is slightly cheaper if you do the purchase via the app. All I do is shop around and place in my basket via PC and then log in to the app and do the payment.