“We once found $3,000 in a vacuum cleaner.” How customs checks parcels from China. What to do when the goods are detained at customs Has the parcel passed customs?

Such messages are often seen by AliExpress buyers who are waiting for their parcel and tracking its progress. in your AliExpress account. But this information is often incorrect!

How and where to properly track a parcel from AliExpress? After purchasing a product on the official AliExpress.com section My orders – All orders there is a button on the right side of the screen Check tracking.

When you click on this button, the user is taken to the parcel tracking page, where he can see information about when the parcel was sent, tracking number, name of the logistics company, as well as information about the order number, recipient's address and the name of the store where the product was purchased.

What is the most important information for us? This Tracking Number And Logistics company name.

As a parcel moves from one logistics warehouse to the next, the status of the parcel is updated and items in the list are added. Examples: “Awaiting collection by carrier”, “Accepted by air carrier”, “Left country of origin”, etc.

So day after day passes, the parcel happily moves to its owner, the buyer is happy, waiting for the parcel.
But one day, logging into the user account on the official website AliExpress.com, the buyer sees the status of the parcel: “ Parcel detained at customs Please contact customs or seller" or "". How so? After all, the goods are cheap, fit into customs requirements and are cheaper than 150 euros, and are allowed for shipment. Why is the product detained at customs?

And the whole point is that The AliExpress website provides inaccurate information on the movement of parcels!

Take a close look at your package tracking page and find information about which service will deliver your package to your country.
Click on the active link or find your delivery service through a search engine and see the status of your parcel on the official site. Or we also recommend looking at 17track.

In Ukraine, most often the delivery service will be UkrPoshta. In Russia – Russian Post.

The data that you see in the official AliExpress account is “pulled” from the website of a Chinese logistics company Cainiao, which is part of the Alibaba Group. Due to some technical reasons and imperfect translation in your account on Ali and on the website Cainiao you may see erroneous information.

Phrases: “The parcel was detained at customs. Please contact customs or seller.” and “Customs clearance failed” should not be taken literally! Perhaps the parcel has already cleared customs and is at your post office!

The parcel was detained at customs- this often means that the parcel is simply at customs, lying in a warehouse and waiting for clearance. You need to start worrying only if the parcel does not change status for more than 7 days.

– the same thing, no need to panic and worry. Go to the official website of the delivery service (UkrPoshta, Nova Poshta, BelPochta, Russian Post, etc.) and check the status.

Please contact customs or seller– you don’t need to contact anyone, or print out the AliExpress page and go to customs until you go to the official website of UkrPoshta, Nova Poshta, Belposhta, Russian Post, etc. and look at the official information on your parcel! Do not open a dispute long before the end of protection until you find out where the parcel is, otherwise you may be blocked. A new algorithm for blocking users on Aliexpress.com has now been launched.

In summer, parcels clear customs in 2-3 hours. In autumn and winter from 1 day to a week.

The information in this article concerns parcels with tracking numbers that are tracked. Trackless parcels and parcels that are tracked only in China also undergo customs control, but the status of customs clearance is given to the buyer not visible.

In Ukraine, when you check the parcel track on the UkrPoshta website, you will see completely normal statuses for each foreign parcel: “Transferred for military control”, “Being at the police station: check presented to the police inspector”, “Returned for military control”. Usually the time corresponds to Chinese information, which supposedly the parcel is detained by customs or customs clearance has not been completed.

All international postal items (IPO) upon arrival in the country of destination undergo customs control. Recipients who are looking forward to receiving the parcel and regularly checking its tracking status are always interested in: How long does the parcel stay at customs?, in other words, what is the time frame for passing customs control.

Customs officers perform checking the contents of the software for the absence of categories of goods that are prohibited for import. They also check the contents of the parcel for compliance with the customs declaration and collect customs duties if such a need arises (for example, if the value of the contents of the parcel from an online store exceeds the established customs limit).

Normally, customs clearance of the parcel should be carried out in three days from the moment it arrives at the place of international postal exchange (IMPO). In practice, this period may be longer in two main cases: a heavy workload at the MMPO or problems with the parcel (an incorrectly completed declaration, the presence of prohibited goods, suspicion of goods, etc.).

In Russia, for example, there are several MMPOs, but the bulk of international mail passes through Moscow. Due to the large flow of parcels, there may be delays in passing customs control - customs can't cope physically with so many items.

Most often delays occur after holidays, as parcels accumulate over the weekend. Sometimes, when there is a heavy workload, parcels are redirected from Moscow to other MMPOs, but this also takes some time and lengthens the time it takes for the parcel to clear customs.

Problems with customs clearance often arise in parcels sent by courier services(TNT, DHL, UPS, FedEx, etc.). Firstly, for these services the customs limit is lower, i.e. the maximum value of the goods at which the parcel is not subject to duty. Secondly, these services do not have the right to take over. Therefore, when a parcel is detained at customs, you will need to come in person to process the parcel or pay for the services of an intermediary - a customs broker.

What can be done to so that the parcel passes customs faster? Naturally, it is not in your power to “unload” the MMPO, but you have the power to choose the optimal delivery method and take care of the correct registration of the parcel, which will reduce the likelihood of problems arising at customs.

First of all, it's better use regular mail services, not courier services. National postal services of the countries of the world are members of the Universal Postal Union and are authorized to take over the customs clearance procedure. This means that if you need to pay a duty, you will not need to personally go to customs or pay a broker: the parcel will safely leave the MMPO, and you will pay the duty at the post office upon receipt.

Secondly, you need to make sure that the customs declaration is filled out correctly: the list of goods corresponds to the contents of the parcel, and the declared value corresponds to the real one. Otherwise, the parcel may take a long time to be re-evaluated.

Thus, in parcels sent by the United States Postal Service (USPS), the role of the customs declaration is played by mailing label(shipping label). If you make purchases in American online stores, it is important to make sure that the seller correctly indicated in the declaration all the goods sent and did not underestimate their value.

If for some reason you doubt the sender, you can generate an electronic mailing label and send it to the seller, and he will print it and stick it on the package. You can do this using the service PostageMaker, which allows you to generate mailing labels in a semi-automatic mode.

After simply registering in the system and replenishing your personal account, you will need to enter information about the recipient, sender and contents of the parcel in the appropriate fields of the online form and click the “Create label” button. Ready shortcut You can immediately print or save in .pdf format.

If you follow the simple rules above, the likelihood of problems arising at customs will be minimal, and your parcel will pass customs control within the stated three days, unless MMPO is overloaded at that moment.

When making online purchases abroad, you must understand that parcels from Aliexpress are checked by customs. In some cases, it may be necessary to provide passport data and TIN.
There are other problems with customs. In this article we will look at what to do if customs does not allow your parcel to pass through.

Fans of foreign online shopping should better study in advance the algorithm for how to act in the event of a delay in customs clearance of an order from Aliexpress.

There are a number of reasons why goods from Aliexpress may get stuck at the customs clearance stage:

1. Employees suspected the shipment was a commercial shipment (for example, the order contains a number of identical items).
2. The cost of goods sent is deliberately underestimated.
3. The weight of the parcel does not correspond to that stated in the accompanying documentation.
4. The seller did not attach the necessary documents or there were errors in them.
5. Customs needs to clarify information about the sender.
6. The product is included in the list of prohibited imports (narcotics, weapons, spy equipment, valuable objects of art, etc.). In this case, the parcel is seized and an investigation is carried out.
7. Counterfeit products that violate copyrights, such as counterfeit mobile phones, are being moved.
8. The weight of the parcel exceeds the permitted limit of 31 kg and duty payment is required from the buyer.
9. The total value of the goods is 1000 euros or more. Or, orders to the same buyer for an amount exceeding 1,000 euros have already passed through customs within a month. In this case, the recipient is also required to pay a fee.

Note! To control duty-free limits, customs uses the TIN and passport data that the buyer indicates when placing an order on Aliexpress.

And if you become aware of the fact of the delay quite soon - through the mail tracking service, or from the delivery service, then no one will tell you the reason for the problems with customs. To find out, you will have to contact the customs office directly.

What to do if your order is stuck at customs

The customs clearance period is not constant. It happens that parcels “skip” the stage in just a few hours, but sometimes the procedure drags on for 3–5 days, and this is also considered normal. In any case, until this period has passed, there is no need to panic. Just check the status of your parcel periodically through the tracking system, and be patient. The delay may be due to technical problems or high customs workload, and your order will be released safely and sent to your post office shortly.

Be careful! When opening a dispute due to a delay in goods at customs, be prepared to prove that it is not your fault. Otherwise, there is a high risk that the decision will not be made in your favor.

How and when to open a dispute on Aliexpress

The standard period for a detained Aliexpress parcel to remain at customs is 14 – 30 days from the date of notification of the recipient, depending on the type of postal item. After this time, the order is sent back to China. It is at the moment when the track shows that the goods are being returned that you can begin negotiations with the seller. Perhaps he will not bargain when he sees that the parcel is already on its way, and will agree to return you the full cost of the goods.

If you yourself are to blame for problems with customs, a good compromise would be to agree on a refund, minus shipping costs. Agree to this option, because if you decide to escalate the dispute, Aliexpress may take the seller’s side, and you will lose not only the goods, but also the entire amount paid for the order.

Postal rules state that until the package is delivered to the buyer, responsibility for it lies with the seller. He is obliged to look for the loss himself, resolve issues with documents, and if the client does not receive it, compensate him for the cost of the goods.

However, in the case of customs returns, everything is not so simple. If a product ordered from Aliexpress is detained at customs, the site places the burden of proof on the buyer and gives him only 7 days to do so. Moreover, a screenshot from the order is, as a rule, not enough, and when opening a dispute they are required to provide “live” documents with stamps and signatures.
At the same time, a request to the customs service to receive the necessary papers can be processed up to 30 days.
Therefore, before opening a dispute, visit the postal distribution point.

Be sure to take with you:

1. Passport (original and copy), TIN, parcel track number.
2. Copies of documents of relatives, if the order contains the same type of goods, so that customs has no doubt that the items were purchased for their personal use.
3. As complete information as possible about the products: their list, photographs, links, descriptions, purpose, etc.
4. Bank statement confirming payment for goods, invoices, and other financial documents.

Try to resolve all issues with customs, if necessary, pay the duty.
Based on the submitted request, the government service will issue you with official papers containing the justification for the refusal of customs clearance.

As soon as you have the documents in your hands, feel free and be sure to attach the scans within a week.

Don’t despair if you don’t have a customs office nearby to quickly collect your documents. When you open a dispute, write to the mediators that you live in a remote place and are unable to receive an answer within the allotted time frame. Attach a screenshot from the order with your address and Google Maps, where you indicate the distance to the nearest customs office. In the parcel tracking service, take a screenshot of the information about returning the parcel to the seller. Be sure to refer to the postal convention, which obliges the sender to be responsible for the parcel until it is delivered to the buyer.

There is no need to be afraid of difficulties with customs and orders with Aliexpress.
If you do everything honestly, provide the correct information and do not try to buy in bulk without paying customs duties, any problems that arise can be resolved.

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The Chinese site “AliExpress” is the most popular online store in Russia. Its Russian audience is more than 20 million people, who regularly order a variety of goods from Ali - from women's handbags to large-format LCD TVs. On their way to the buyer, purchased goods go through several transit stages, one of which is domestic customs, where parcels can get stuck for a long time. Below we will look at why a parcel from Aliexpress may be delayed at customs, and what to do in this situation.

In the process of tracking our parcel, we may find that the status of our parcel has changed to “Parcel detained at customs” or similar, which indicates problems in passing customs control.

The reasons for the delay of delivery in Aliexpress may be the following:

• The presence in the parcel of a number of similar goods (a dozen identical phones, dresses, jackets, etc.), which may be a sign of commercial cargo;
• Intentional underestimation of the value of goods contained in the parcel;
• The difference in the declared gross and net of the goods;
• The total value of the goods contained in the parcel exceeds 1000 euros, and customs duties have not been paid on this parcel;
• The total weight of the parcel is more than 31 kg. If the weight is exceeded, a duty is also paid;
• The presence of goods prohibited for import in the parcel (drugs, weapons, plants and animals, alcohol, art, jewelry, spy gadgets, etc.). In this case, the goods will be seized and an appropriate investigation will be carried out;
• Products that violate copyright (as happened most recently with Xiaomi phones);
• The desire of customs to clarify the sender’s information.

The recipient may be notified about the delay of the parcel at customs by the delivery system (letter from the logistics service). But you shouldn’t rely too much on this, so it would be better to track the delivery of your goods yourself on the website of the Russian Post and Chinese postal companies.

We also previously discussed what to do if the message “” appears on the Aliexpress website.

What to do if customs detained a parcel from China

If your parcel from Aliexpress has received the status “Parcel detained at customs”, do not rush to panic. Some shipments may take 3-5 days to clear customs, after which the package is sent onward.

If, after the specified 5 days, the parcel still has the status “Parcel detained at customs” (when checked on the Russian Post website), then you need to contact customs and try to find out the reason for the delay.

If the seller is to blame for the delay (the accompanying documentation was filled out incorrectly, the necessary duties were not paid, etc.), you must open a dispute with the seller for a refund of the funds you paid. When opening a dispute, the AliExpress administration will ask you to provide documents within 7 days confirming the seller’s guilt in the customs delay of the goods.

These documents can be obtained from the customs service, and their receipt may take from 3 to 30 days (which clearly does not fit into the 7 days proposed by Ali). To speed up the process, you will need to go to the postal distribution point yourself, where you will be required to provide the following documents:

• Invoice from the store where the purchase was made;
• A document confirming payment for the goods (usually an account statement);
• Passport (original and photocopy). If there are many similar goods in the parcel, they may also request copies of relatives’ passports in order to make sure that the specified goods are purchased for them;
• Photos of the goods in the parcel;
• A form of explanatory note, which will list the names of the goods in the parcel and their purpose.

If necessary, you will be required to pay a duty on your parcel, for which you will need a passport and identification code.

If these documents can be obtained, they will need to be sent to the seller and wait for the dispute to be resolved. You can expect to receive a refund of the full cost of the previously paid item, minus shipping costs, although there have been cases where customers were refunded 50% or less of the cost of the item.

Typically, the parcel is held at customs for no more than 14 days after the recipient of the parcel is notified of the delay, after which it will be sent back. Moreover, in some cases (airmail), the period of its stay at customs can be 30 days.

You may also be interested in the delivery of goods from Ali.

Conclusion

If your parcel is detained at customs, do not rush to panic. Perhaps in 3-5 days it will safely pass customs control and go to the recipient. If the parcel is at customs for a longer time (more than 5 days), then I recommend contacting customs and finding out the reasons for the delay. If the seller is directly at fault, feel free to open a dispute on Ali, and it is quite possible that you will be refunded the amount previously paid.

In contact with

Many people have encountered the customs service in their lives. After all, all commercial goods and parcels from abroad enter our country through customs. But the cargo does not always pass without problems. It often happens that cargo is detained at customs by employees. What to do if the cargo is delayed, how to properly “win back” your parcel?

Before entering, all goods, parcels, and commercial cargo undergo preliminary control and inspection at the Federal Customs Service, or, more simply, at customs or at the border. But quite often people are faced with a situation where cargo is delayed at the initiative of service employees. If the cargo is delayed, this does not mean that it cannot be received. It is quite possible to pick it up if the cargo does not contain goods and products prohibited for import. The main thing is to be patient and find out the reason for the delay of the cargo.

What to do if cargo is detained?

Frequently, individuals who order goods for personal use from different countries, including China, experience cargo delays. Their transportation is carried out by various services and organizations. The most famous is EMS. It differs from regular mail in that when the parcel arrives at the post office at the sending address, the customer receives a notification letter or SMS on his mobile phone that the parcel has been delivered and the customer can pick it up.

If the parcel was sent through this delivery channel, then the situation becomes somewhat simpler. The customer will receive a letter about the delay. If the parcel was sent by regular mail, then the customer himself will have to find out where it went. This takes a lot of time, because initially you need to visit the post office, then contact the sender, submit an application to customs to clarify the delay of the cargo.

If the cargo was sent via systems such as Regular Air Mai or EMS or regular mail, then you can check whether it was delayed using the following. When visiting this site, you will need to enter the declaration and parcel number. If “transferred to customs” is displayed, then you should call the company to confirm the delay and go to the customs service.

Once it has become clear that the cargo is actually detained and is not on the way, it is worth visiting the customs service in your city.

When you go to the customs service, you must have the following documents with you:

1. An invoice from a store confirming that the purchase was made at that store.
2. An extract or form from the bank confirming payment for the ordered goods.
3. Civil passport (original and copy).
4. Copies of civil passports of relatives. They are required only if the cargo was delayed due to the presence of a similar product. The customs service will need to explain that these goods were purchased for friends, relatives, acquaintances, etc.
5. Photo of the goods that are in the parcel.

After presenting all these documents, you will need to fill out an explanatory form, which describes in detail the name and purpose of all the goods that are in the parcel.

If the goods were detained due to exceeding the weight limit and total cost, then you will need to pay a duty on it. The amount of duty directly depends on the estimated value of the goods being transported and the country. The customer is required to pay 30 percent of the amount exceeding the limit if the goods arrived from China. But it is worth considering that the cost of one kilogram of goods cannot be less than 4 euros.

Customs detained the parcel from China.

If the goods, for example, arrived from the United States of America, then the amount of duty will range from 10 to 30 percent, depending on the goods that are in the parcel.

Customs duties are paid in banks with a TIN code (citizen identification code) and a passport. After payment, the person is given a receipt. By providing a receipt to the customs service, a person will be able to pick up his parcel.

However, before the parcel is returned, it is opened by customs officers for additional inspection. The customer must check the availability of all goods according to the declaration.