Tips on Buying Gadgets from China Online Stores to Philippines

I really love buying gadgets online and if you’re like me who wants to buy gadgets from online stores specially from China stores, try reading the following tips on things to consider before buying online.

1. Buy from a great and legitimate online store. The following are some of the China stores I’ve encountered so far and my experience. I checked on the background of these stores and find them legitimate specially with the age of their domains, and the physical address of the store.
   • TinyDeal – this is where I bought my Android TV box. Great price and really fast delivery via DHL Express or EMS. I received my item after a week and a half (ordered the item last December 18 and received it on December 26). ^Update: I experienced issues with the action camera (didn’t turn off after using it as dashcam) I ordered from them the last Black Friday and left a negative review about the said product. After a day or two, a customer service contact me about the issue and requests for videos or picture of the faulty product. After that they erased the negative review & low rating from their site and then offered me 50% refund which is better compare to not receiving anything at all or spend more in returning the product.
   • Banggood^new – I just recently ordered from this site so I can not make any review yet but later I will update this post when I receive the item. What I like about their site is that they have tons of items I found that can’t be found from other stores. Aside from that, their customer service is great. I can easily inquire anything through their online live chat whenever I have any doubts or questions about the item and/or shipping of my orders. ^Update: Did received the item and it is what I expected.
   • EverBuying – I always see this site on ads on Google search and Facebook timeline and decide to try it. Nice lists of gadgets and lots of items to choose from but the problem with the store is that they got this “Shipping in 24 hours” tag on items that actually does not happen. I cancelled two orders from them. The reason for cancelling the first order was they were not able to ship them because some of the items are not available despite in their online store it is indicated “In Stock.” I cancelled my 2nd order from them which is an Android TV box because their site indicates that it will be shipped in 24 hours but is been almost a week already and they were not able to ship it or even process the order. However, they REFUND fast because I filed a dispute over PAYPAL. 🙂
   • A China Store I found from eBay. I’m still waiting for the item to arrive. I asked it to be delivered via Standard Mail which will take almost a month to arrive.
   • I’ll add more later if I try other China Online Stores.
2. Use a secure payment.  I usually avoid paying using my credit card when I’m trying to buy gadgets online but instead I use PAYPAL. The reason is that it will be easy for me to file a dispute in case the transaction was fraudulent and ensures a refund. Try to use paypal in paying to ensure protection of your transaction.
3. Prepare for a delayed delivery. There’s a big possibility that it will be delayed because of a lot of possible scenarios. From weather disturbances, holiday, custom clearance and a lot more. Expect that you will receive your item according to what shipping method you have selected. The following are the various shipping methods you can select or offered by stores and the number of days before your orders are delivered. Remember, the faster the delivery the higher it may cost you.
   • via Postal Office – it takes 15 to  25 business days;
   • via EMS or Standard Shipping – it normally takes 5 to 10 business days;
   • via Expedited Shipping methods through DHL or UPS – I prefer this because of the 3 to 5 business days delivery time. Of course that excludes the time your package was delayed in the customs.
4. Prepare for additional fees incurred by the order. You might be expecting that you already paid for the item and the shipment fee and that’s it, you’re ready to receive it with nothing to worry in mind. Well, you should remember that imported items will undergo custom clearance and this will incur custom tax fees that you should pay. See this site: http://customs.gov.ph/references/tax-computation/ so that you have an idea of the possible fees that you will pay for the item/s you ordered.
5. Read carefully the return policies of the online store. This would not be an issue if you did not find any problem on your gadget. But in case you encounter this, prepare for a long wait for the gadget to return to you and it will surely cost you something again. It’s one of the risk you take when you order the gadget from the said store. So just cross your fingers that this will not happen to you. 🙂

If you experience ordering items online and encountered problems with the process, shipping and other stuff, share it with us by leaving your comments below. Good luck and have a nice gadget hunting!