INDIA MAJOR UPDATE: All orders now require custom clearance/document verification so you will have to pay extra non-refundable customs fee
As of March 2026, India did another fucking stupid thing where now they are adding extra custom charges willy-nilly on even small items in small quantities.
You HAVE TO USE YOUR DOCUMENT'S ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER for delivery and be ready to pay Custom Charges at the time of delivery which you will not know before hand(Unless seller sends it via DDP which itself is very expensive).
This means that if you got something that is broken and even if you get full refund on it, you will not get a refund on the custom clearance as it's a separate payment.
This was not the case with small orders that individuals were ordering earlier but now any order above Rs.1000 or merely $10 which all will be due to shipping charges will be subject to that.
In short if you're in India, buy from a reseller in India instead of ordering from Alibaba, although expect them to also increase prices soon also.
Aliexpress was already shut down around 2019.
DO NOT REVIEW THE PRODUCT OR THE SELLER AT ALL unless I greelight the seller..
Update: There are a few exceptoin sellers who are truly great and won't increase prices or remove their products based on the genuine review provided. I will update the list of the sellers once I do find them. Until then, skip this entirely.
In no case give any positive review to the product or the seller. Completely ignore them after you get your product and something is fine with it. They increase prices as soon as they get good reviews or completely remove the product and make a new listing when they get a negative review.
I know it's not the morally right thing to do but that's where I come in. I will review stuff myself on my websites and you guys can order it yourself thereby giving the seller money instead of a review he might abuse later.
No one hates it more than me because people need to know about good seller but if they do the following practices, I won't allow it.
Look at this listing(if still available).
As soon as I made a video review the seller took that video and put it in the video description of the product which is all well and fine but then it went ahead and increased the price of the product. Why? Because it has a good review. I made this mistake, you should not do this.
As long as you make a video of the shipping product, Alibaba will always go into your favour, all you have to be careful of is that they try to put in a message like "COuld you give this and that" but secretly change the refund amount to 0 and if you just accept it as a normal message, you lose your money. THat's the only thing you have to be careful of:
1. Always record complete unboxing and testing the device withoout any cuts int he video.
2. Careful what you select when a dispute does happen.
3. Don't order if you can't risk losing all your money especially for bigger orders. Check this
Alibaba and Customs
DAP❌ vs. DDP✅
An example of DAP vs DDP on the same product(Note: I asked seller for the Gamepad with Dongle and that's the prices here are slightly high than the link) This is very very important if you're not ordering directly but asking the seller to create an order for you as the sellers can just ignore this custom extra charges on your end.
DAP means you will pay all custom duty and DDP means the seller will pay it before hand. If your order doesn't say DDP under "Incoterms and duties" then you should be ready to pay customs.
AVOID DAP if you can. DAP is horrible if the product you recieve turns out to be faulty as you will only get the refund on the amount you paid to Alibaba/Seller not what you paid to customs. This means the custom amount you will loose in case something goes wrong which is a common occurance.
And the customs in many countries like India love to take all the money for themselves.
Also when you see the actual cost of something with DDP instead of DAP you can decide if you want to get that product or not. This will be a more accurate cost of the product if you plan to sell it to someone.
Later, of course you can try agents and all that which I haven't yet.
But you won't find many sellers willing to give you a quote on DDP at all so it's completely understandable that you have to take te risk, or, just buy from some resellers instead like even I do.
[TODO] Ordering via agent instead of direct from Alibaba/Seller
The main reason I have avoided this in the past is becuase on smaller order the cost of sending the prodcut to the China Warehouse turns out to be the same as the cost of getting it delivered in India.
Alibaba and India
Update: Since alibaba is now delivering packets via courier so there is little chance oof missing packets or lost packets or even unnecessary late deliveyr.
Delivery Time Estimates: Last Packaged Delivered in 21 Days
Note: If Customs are not mentioned it means no Customs were paid.
Express: Electronics Parcels (Standard) 25 days Apr 1 to Apr 25: IndiaPost Delivered it.
Newest R36S PLUS WIFI Handheld Game Console with 4-INCH Screen VS R36S MAX PRO→ Link removed from Alibaba because I added a negative review and it was the only review.
Since Aliexpress can't deliver products you are left with Alibaba if you want to order something from China. The problem happens when you start seeign the shipping cost which often is too mcuh and for cheaper items it can cross product price itself.
Hence, it is recommended you get yourself some coupons espeically on a new account and which you keep getting from time to time and use that to the fullest.
That is not to say that it's worthless to order from Alibaba. Even something like R36 Game console at the base price is still a lot cheaper than buying it froom someoone in India and also to ensure that you get the genuine product not the clones.
Videos
India/Hindi Videos
This should no longer be ture in India as they are now using Ekart instead:
Archived
Click to view old stuff
1. Summary / Important Points
First order should be of something of low value as your first order to confirm if the seller is sending you package with all duties/custom paid so that you don't incur extra charges.
Prefer DDP, if not then DAP, DDU will certainly occur a lot of charge to you. Also, confirm about DDP/DAP from the seller before ordering.stea
It's a lot about finding seller which are reputed and genuine just like any other platform. I will adding a list of seller I found to be pretty good here:
Check the Coupons links on the Coupons page. You might get some discount or free shipping coupons.
Before you place your order, send this message and confirm if they can do this. (This steps needs validation which should take to up to about July 2025):
Hello! I am ordering from India. Packages here are sometimes opened during customs clearance and delivery, and items can go missing.
Can you please pack the item inside an inner box or bubble wrap, and seal that inner package using tamper-proof tape or a sticker?
This way, even if the outer box is opened during inspection, the item inside will still be protected.
Customs in India are allowed to open packages if needed, so it won’t be a problem — this is just an extra safety step for delivery.
Thank you for your help and careful packaging!
2. Videos: Hindi & English
English Video here → English Comments only.
Hindi Video here → Hindi and English Comments here.
3. Detailed Information
3.1. DDP vs. DDU vs. DAP
"The difference between DDP and delivered duty unpaid (DDU) is that DDU requires the end consumer or person receiving or importing the package to pay the duties incurred once the package enters the destination country.
With DDU, customs will contact the customer once their package arrives, and the customer may even have to go to the local post office to pick it up. Too often, the customer doesn’t realize their order was DDU and will contact the merchant’s customer support line, cancel the order, or refuse to get it and return it to the sender.
DDP is considered the better customer experience, as it is a cross-border option that takes all fees into consideration upfront, allowing the merchant to still choose whether they pass those fees to the customer by increasing the product pricing or simply eat those costs.
