Buying a mobile phone from Aliexpress

[ha55ha]

Hi, I'm contemplating buying a mobile phone from Aliexpress and shipping to Bangkok - Has anyone done this recently and know if I'd have to pay customs fees? The phone costs $280 USD and is free postage and packaging.

Thanks!

Edit: Sorry i just realised i posted this in the wrong subforum. Is there a way to move it to mobile devices or the correct forum

Edited December 17, 2016 by ha55ha

[avander]

I've never purchased a phone but purchased a number of other items from Aliexpress. Never paid duty on any items electrical and otherwise as I always make a point of askibg and they change the item description and lower the goods value. I've always been fairly dealt with by their suppliers in terms of credits/replacements also.

Delivery usually requires some patience as it can take a month for orders to arrive.

 

[Gary A]

I very recently bought a Xiaomi Mi5 off AliExpress. I received it in about ten days. No problems and no Thai taxes.

[ha55ha]

That's great, thanks for the replies. I'm looking to go for the Mi5s and that's all I needed to know before pulling the trigger 

Gary, any other problems at all with the phone? Was it pre loaded with English?

[Henryford]

I have bought loads of phone cases from Aliexpress with no problems but i would be vary of buying a phone. Is it a lot cheaper than say Lazada here in Thailand? The risks from customs or a faulty phone would put me off. It would be a nightmare to replace.

 

Edit just out of interest i checked the prices. A gold 64gb Mi5 is 10,000 baht on Lazada (with discount), the same on Aliexpress is $260 @ 9,400 baht. For the sake of 600 baht i'd get the phone from Lazada within a few days.

Edited December 18, 2016 by Henryford

[Gary A]

14 hours ago, ha55ha said:

That's great, thanks for the replies. I'm looking to go for the Mi5s and that's all I needed to know before pulling the trigger 

Gary, any other problems at all with the phone? Was it pre loaded with English?

 

The only Chinese phone I had before ordering this one was a Lenovo. It had Chinese apps on it that I couldn't remove and it lasted about 13 months before it died. I was a little nervous about buying the 10,000 baht Xiaomi but after having very bad luck with top of the line Samsungs, I took a chance. The new phone has no Chinese on it and comes with Google play store installed. I set up all her apps and was very impressed with the phone. My wife uses all that social crap and she is happy with the Xiaomi . She claims it is faster and better than the Galaxy S5 that died. She was not happy with the stock launcher so I downloaded the Google launcher from Playstore. It works great and looks like the old S5 phone launcher. She mostly uses the speakerphone option and it is clear and loud. She also loves the camera. I am getting the S5 repaired but she doesn't want it back. The AliExpress seller is supposed to be an official Xiaomi dealer and guarantees the phone for a year. Hopefully I won't have to test the warranty. This is the original Mi5 and not the newest model. You may want to carefully compare the two models.

[dddave]

I've purchased at least a dozen phones off Ali Express, from $60 to $200+.  Duty charged on delivery, and one time for phone held at PO, has always been hit or miss. I've had to pay maybe 3 or 4 times, the more expensive models as I recall.  Full sized tablets, $150+, were always charged duty.