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H M Customs & Excise - A problem?

As @flutteringwow suggests - Aliexpress is a platform, in many ways similar to EPay, just with mostly BIN prices - a bit like Amazon third party.

If anything is sold via the global shipping scheme of EPay, EPay do all of the financial bit, which is why charges for items supplied from abroad now have very large EPay costs/charges on them. I might sell something for £100, free postage, on EPay, but the buyer in France will see/get charges of something like 30-40 Euros, even though the item is second-hand.

Very likely Aliexpress operate as EPay, so you will have paid all that is due.
 
Sorry I do not know EPay, and the only stuff I sell is to uk buyers, although I have purchased plenty of stuff from AliExpress when living abroad and the uk without any problems like this
 
Salamander said:
@fluttergwow I am waiting to find out who the shipping company are, I have been given a number to call, unfortunately the phone just cuts off when the number is dialed
I thought I paid Ali Express and they forward the monies to the seller :)
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If you go to your purchase page on Aliexpress, there will be a tracking number and company handling it.

The problem with Aliexpress shippers is they use third party shippers, who still use the big couriers, but they discounted rates due to volume, so often the tracking is presented for this third party company and its often rubbish, when in fact the parcel will be with the likes of DHL or UPS in the UK, as there are only a few couriers that handle these cross sea shipments, but it can also change from one to another while in transit!

You did pay Aliexpress, but they are not the seller, just the platform that handles the transaction as a third party, the same as eBay, and Amazon (for Marketplace sales).
 
flutteringwow said:
If you go to your purchase page on Aliexpress, there will be a tracking number and company handling it.

The problem with Aliexpress shippers is they use third party shippers, who still use the big couriers, but they discounted rates due to volume, so often the tracking is presented for this third party company and its often rubbish, when in fact the parcel will be with the likes of DHL or UPS in the UK, as there are only a few couriers that handle these cross sea shipments, but it can also change from one to another while in transit!

You did pay Aliexpress, but they are not the seller, just the platform that handles the transaction as a third party, the same as eBay, and Amazon (for Marketplace sales).
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It is Ali Express Standard Shipping, and I do have a updated tracking number, I have asked the seller for the name of the company doing the shipping and whereabouts in the uk the package is, my ifo only tells me Country of Destination
 
Salamander said:
It is Ali Express Standard Shipping, and I do have a updated tracking number, I have asked the seller for the name of the company doing the shipping and whereabouts in the uk the package is, my ifo only tells me Country of Destination
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Ok, so Aliexpress shipping is what I mentioned earlier. It will be carried, normally over the border to Hong Kong by a local freight company and then be dispatched with DHL, UPS, TNT etc. That MAY then change when in the UK to Hermes, Yodel, Royal Mail etc but as I imagine this is a big parcel, it will probably stay with one of the bigger carriers.

Your Seller can find out quite quickly what company it has been converted to.

How do you know there is a problem with customs?
 
LecsonQuad said:
What is EPay?
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Payment provider service like PayPal, Ayden (eBay, Etsy etc) and Amazon. Epay normally concentrate on the gaming industry for purchasing passes and credits etc on online games servers, but they are branching out now and cover a LOT of Chinese E-commerce.
 
Wherever anything is shipped from outside of the UK, a good rule of thumb is that charges will be ROUGHLY 30% of the cost of the new item, for items that are something like £1-2-300.
As the admin' charge is fixed, as the value of the purchase increases, that flat charge decreases in terms of %.
Charges are based on TOTAL cost, including carriage.

Conversely, even something that cost £10 abroad will still attract the same flat admin' charge, so charges would be more than the cost of the item.
 
Salamander said:
@fluttergwow It tells me when I go on Track Parcel
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The 'track parcel' button will take you to an alternative site normally.

I would'nt trust any of what those tracking systems state to be honest, you need clear carrier details to make headway.

If the delivery estimated time is up, just open an item not received case, you'll get the proper details fairly quickly then.
 
flutteringwow said:
Payment provider service like PayPal, Ayden (eBay, Etsy etc) and Amazon. Epay normally concentrate on the gaming industry for purchasing passes and credits etc on online games servers, but they are branching out now and cover a LOT of Chinese E-commerce.
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I stand corrected!
 
Well there is good news, they have finally cleared customs after being in the uk for 10 days.

Thank you everyone who replied to this thread, I was beginning to think I was never going to lay my grubby hands on this pair of speakers.
 
Salamander said:
Well there is good news, they have finally cleared customs after being in the uk for 10 days.

Thank you everyone who replied to this thread, I was beginning to think I was never going to lay my grubby hands on this pair of speakers.
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This is what I said earlier, it can take time to clear, I am not sure where you got the info saying it 'didnt clear' as that's not something that is ever said on tracking info!

Happy that they will be with you probably Monday now!
 
Salamander said:
@flutteringwow It actually said 'Customs Clearance Unsuccessful', so hopefully delivery by Monday, will let you know.
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Surprsing I must say but I think thats down to the piss poor Aliexpress system and the translation, its useless.

Do you even know who is carrying it in the UK yet? When you get it, and run the tracking info on the box, on the DHL or UPS label etc, it will show proper tracking info rather than Aliexpresses distortion.
 
Salamander said:
Customs Clearance Unsuccessful doesn't sound like poor translation to me, I will just wait until the goods arrive :)
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Well it seems like it was as it seems like it was now successful :)

I really wont bore you by going into how it works, but all that matters is that they turn up on Monday if not before.
 
Over the past half a dozen years I've bought 20 or so albums a year from a number of shops in the EU without any issues at all. So far this year, two albums have just vanished into the ether on arriving in the UK with no explanation forthcoming at all from customs.
 
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