w3bsit3-dns.com xiaomi buying abroad. Is it possible to buy Xiaomi on Aliexpress? How to pick up a package with goods from Xiaomi from Aliexpress by mail? Inadequate product line

After a wave of complaints to the ICR, the FAS, the prosecutor's office and the media, customs officers stopped "wrapping" parcels from China

Parcels with phones ordered by Russians in foreign online stores, customs began to skip. Recall that in April, the Federal Customs Service froze thousands of orders, mainly with Xiaomi brand mobile phones, seeing signs of counterfeit goods in them. The buyers, who did not wait for orders, considered these actions to be arbitrariness and suspected the customs officers of conspiring with dealers who sell the same devices in Russia for one and a half to two times more expensive, and began to complain to the regulatory authorities. After the hype raised, smartphones began to be produced, but it is not known whether the conflict has been resolved: the FCS considers its actions legal, as does the Association of Internet Trade Companies. Details are in the material of Realnoe Vremya.

Telephone amnesty, or Customs gave the go-ahead

The Federal Customs Service began to allow smartphones from China to pass through. On the page in the social network, which was created by the Russians who did not wait for their parcels, there is a joyful revival. If a few days ago they posted samples of complaints about the actions of customs officers to the prosecutor's office, the Investigative Committee and the antimonopoly service, now they are screenshots with tracking packages with the long-awaited "released by customs". Almost all parcels hung at customs for 16-20 days.

“Oh, they released it on May 3rd. It looks like an amnesty. Or “Smart Orange” gave the go-ahead,” Irina Koroleva writes in the comments.

Recall that problems with the delay of smartphones ordered in Chinese online stores began in April. The Federal Customs Service included the Xiaomi trademark in the register of intellectual property objects based on the request of the copyright holder, which in Russia was Smart Orange LLC. According to the law, customs must notify the representative of the right holder about the importation of a suspicious phone into the territory of the Eurasian economic union. Smart Orange, in turn, replied that this product had signs of counterfeiting, and objected to its import. Thus, customs officers began to return thousands of phones back to China.

The Federal Customs Service included the Xiaomi trademark in the register of intellectual property objects based on the request of the copyright holder. Photo anrt.info

As representatives of the Federal Customs Service commented to Realnoe Vremya, “in accordance with Article 111 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union officials customs authorities, when performing customs operations, check documents and information, during which they send appropriate notifications to right holders about the identification of goods in the IGO that have signs of violation of intellectual property rights (counterfeit). When sending this notification to the right holder, the customs authority decides to extend the period for the release of goods. If, according to the information provided by the copyright holder, the goods being sent are counterfeit, the customs authorities, in cooperation with the Russian Post Federal State Unitary Enterprise, take measures to prevent the import of prohibited goods arriving at the MPO into the Russian Federation and ensure their immediate export from Russian Federation».

Have phones suddenly ceased to find signs of counterfeit goods?

According to media reports, Smart Orange LLC asked the customs to take a closer look at phones from China in order to stop the "gray" shipments of smartphones and accessories under the Xiaomi brand. Perhaps the company saw the main threat in private entrepreneurs involved in the supply of gadgets bypassing official channels, but in the end they began to suffer retail buyers ordering smartphones for personal needs. The actions of customs officers, "deploying" such parcels, the president of the National Association of Distance Selling, Alexander Ivanov, called lawlessness.

I have serious doubts about the legality of this. With us, this story - with the rights of individual distributors - does not apply to goods for personal use. Goods for personal use are not subject to certification or law in any way. What has happened now is an outrage. The question is whether the victims will sue and prove their case. A private person has a weak position in this regard - it is practically powerless against the state. And the Chinese seller will not go to Russia to sue - for him this is a microscopic part of the business, - Alexander Ivanov told Realnoe Vremya.

What happened, since the phones started to come to customers, did the customs officers change their position or did Smart Orange LLC suddenly stop finding signs of counterfeit goods in Xiaomi ordered directly from China? Smart Orange was unable to promptly comment on its position to Realnoe Vremya, we sent a request and are waiting for a response.

Buyers believe that an original Xiaomi phone bought in China from an authorized dealer cannot be considered counterfeit - it is, without a doubt, original and made in the sender's country. Photo miui.su

Discounts for victims of "greed"

From dissatisfied buyers, a shaft of criticism fell upon the official distributor. They believe that the original Xiaomi phone bought in China from an authorized dealer cannot be considered counterfeit - it is, without a doubt, original and made in the sender's country.

According to buyers, the distributor's attempts to stop the supply of smartphones directly from China are connected "only with greed." The petition addressed to the management of Beijing Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd, states that the official Xiaomi distributor in Russia sells phones at excessively inflated prices.

“On average, it is 2 times higher than the price set on the official website of the manufacturer,” writes Aleksey Sadchikov, the author of the petition.

In the official group on the social network, representatives of Xiaomi in Russia are already tired of answering what the price of the product in Russia is made up of.

"Pro pricing policy already said before, nevertheless we are ready to repeat. The price of our products in Russia depends on many factors. Taxes and customs tariffs of the Russian Federation are one of the most important. In addition, we offer a number of services included in the price of the goods: warranty service, localization, adaptation to the local market, and much more,” the official distributor answers.

It is noteworthy that, as soon as problems with the delay of phones at customs began, the distributor offered buyers whose phones were sent back to China "the maximum possible discounts on official Xiaomi products." To do this, it was necessary to send confirmation that the goods were returned to the seller. From the messages under the post, one could understand that the discounts were meager and they were in no hurry to use them.

According to Fedorov, cross-border e-commerce has long become a channel for obtaining small consignments of goods for commercial use. Photo allinvest.ru

AKIT protected the customs

Against the actions of Smart Orange LLC, which declared war on Chinese online stores, spoke out in public organization RosKomSvoboda and the National Association of Distance Selling. However, there are experts who agree with the position of the Federal Customs Service and the official distributor.

ACIT believes that the activities of the FCS are fully justified and correct from the point of view of the law. In our understanding, it is the right holder in the country where products under his brand are sold that must determine whether a particular product is counterfeit or not. With the rapid development of the Internet, cross-border online trading has become the main channel for counterfeit products to enter our country. At the same time, for example, in classical imports, customs has long learned to stop the supply of counterfeit products. Cell Phones, arriving from abroad in parcels, do not pass certification and security checks (at the same time, all phones officially imported into the territory of the Russian Federation must be certified by the security authorities of the FSB and FSTEC), cannot be used when working with our telephone communication standards. And this means that such goods cannot be legally sold in Russia, - says Alexei Fedorov, President of the Association of Internet Trade Companies.

According to Fedorov, cross-border e-commerce has long become a channel for obtaining small consignments of goods for commercial use. Increasingly, for example, in the regions, a resourceful entrepreneur orders a batch of phones in several parcels “for personal use”, keeping within the duty-free threshold of 1,000 euros in the Russian Federation. The sale of goods in this case takes place on the territory of the buyer, at the place of receipt of the goods, that is, such products are considered purchased on the territory of the Russian Federation, and not abroad.

The Association advised not to purchase goods from unofficial sellers and always remember that "the miser pays twice." Photo miui.su

“Marginality of sales of Apple phones is less than 3%”

Often goods in foreign online stores are cheaper than analogues in Russia. ACIT believes that this is due to the fact that some models are not designed to work in our telecommunications networks. In addition, they lack warranty and post-warranty service and maintenance.

In our work, we have repeatedly come across a big misconception that Russian sellers receive 300-400% of the profit from the sale of one phone, which, of course, is not true. So, for example, the marginality of the sale of Apple phones is less than 3%, while sellers receive income from the sale of accessories and maintenance of equipment, but the difference in customs payments that they pay Russian companies and their foreign competitors do not pay, reaches 28%. We are well aware that today the Chinese counterfeit everything. At the moment, even on the Runet, you can find a huge number of sites selling copies and replicas (which, in fact, is just a beautiful name for counterfeit products). China has a strong manufacturing modern technology However, in parallel with this, a huge number of clandestine factories for the production of branded goods of famous brands are developing, which can be bought at very low prices, says the president of the Association of Internet Trade Companies.

The Association advised not to purchase goods from unofficial sellers and always remember that "the miser pays twice."

After receiving the goods, in most cases you simply cannot return the money from a foreign seller, - Alexey Fedorov is sure.

It should be noted that the Federal Customs Service in the case of Xiaomi smartphones did not confiscate the goods, but sent them back to the seller, who returned the money to the buyer.

Daria Turtseva

The scandal around Russian customs and Xiaomi smartphones does not subside: more than 10 thousand people have already signed a petition against the ban on the import of devices. We will learn from experts whether the actions of the customs and the Xiaomi distributor are legitimate.

What happened?

In Russia, cases of delays at the customs of postal items with Xiaomi smartphones have become more frequent. People buy them from Chinese online stores, but the parcels do not go through customs control. The reason is the appeal of the Xiaomi distributor in Russia (Smart Orange LLC): they own the rights to the XIAOMI trademark and declared all devices passing customs to be counterfeit. Therefore, customs prohibits the import of Xiaomi smartphones through postal items.

According to rough estimates, more than a thousand Russians are faced with this situation.

Whose side is the law on: what the experts say

Hi-Tech Mail.Ru talked to lawyers about this situation and found out some interesting details. Experts reported that they had not heard of similar cases in other countries.

It is entirely possible that customs will be bombarded with lawsuits, since despite the completely legitimate claims of brand owners, according to the law of the Russian Federation, a material carrier can only be recognized as counterfeit by a court.

As Ivan Nikitenko, an intellectual rights lawyer, explained:

A material carrier can be recognized as counterfeit only by a court. That is, until the entry into force of the court decision, it is correct to consider the disputed goods as “goods with signs of counterfeit”. The concept itself is legal. Therefore, it is up to the court to decide.

Under Russian law, a product can only be recognized as counterfeit by a court decision.

However, the Head of the Moscow Human Rights Center, Mikhail Salkin, said that the actions of the distributor and Xiaomi are completely legal:

Customs has the right to do this - this is regulated by various laws, as well as agreements. Under Russian law, customs may require you to provide a document that authorizes you to use a trade or trademark in Russia.
Mikhail Salkin
Lawyer, head of the Moscow Human Rights Center

Lawyer Alexei Yegorov also called these actions legal:

The situation is indeed quite loud. However, from the point of view of the law, the distributor, alas, is right. He is the owner of the brand in Russia. This is supported by the decision of the FCS. Now, upon receipt of a smartphone, customs is obliged to send a request to the distributor, and he, of course, will answer that it is counterfeit. Therefore, Internet sites selling gray models can already be considered violators Russian legislation. It is easier for them to agree with customs and send the order back than to have problems with the law. Well, or at least not to write that they sell a smartphone of this particular brand (this is just a trick, and not a legal way of selling).

Position of Xiaomi and Aliexpress

Hi-Tech Mail.Ru contacted the Xiaomi press service in Russia. to find out their attitude to this situation. They are aware of the situation with Russian customs and distributor:

Xiaomi is aware of the situation and is working with our partner RDC Group to resolve the issue. Our fans have always been the company's top priority.
Press service of Xiaomi in Russia

It should be noted that Aliexpress representatives declined to comment officially.

Is there a war with the “seryakom” coming?

So, Xiaomi smartphones are being held up at customs - this is annoying, but another question arises: will this become a trend? Other companies, such as Meizu or Apple, may also claim ownership of the brand and declare counterfeit all devices ordered from other countries. Then a large-scale war awaits us between official distributors and sellers of "gray" devices.

Customs' actions set a precedent for other companies. There are already reports that devices from Sony, Blackberry, Chuwi and some other companies have been “wrapped” in this way.

As Yuri Salkin said, such an outcome is quite possible. Customs services received new equipment that allows them to examine parcels without opening them. Therefore, there is a possibility that some iPhone ordered from an uncertified online store may also get stuck at the border. So far, there have been no such cases, but be careful.

So far, all cases have occurred in the Yekaterinburg and Orenburg customs, which is strange. For some reason, parcels with smartphones are not detained at Moscow customs and other cities. Perhaps so far only new equipment has been introduced there and it is being tested. So in the future, probably other customs will also begin to stop parcels with smartphones.

Why do people generally order equipment in China

The reason is simple - the price difference between the "white" and "gray" device reaches an average of 30-40%. Let's say Redmi Note 3 Pro in the Smart Orange store will cost you 13490 rubles. On Ali, a similar copy with global firmware is estimated at 8700-9500 rubles. In the upper price segment, the percentage difference is smaller, and in absolute terms it is higher - the “official” Mi Note 2 is given for almost 35 thousand rubles, and the “Chinese” costs 28781.

"Wrap" at all points?

Not really. Among the indignant buyers, Yekaterinburg and especially Orenburg customs points are notorious. Users note that Xiaomi smartphones pass through Vnukovo almost without problems. A trend has also been noticed: several devices that arrived in Yekaterinburg in early May have been tested, but the ones from April are still lying around. Community subscriber Irina K. from a certain moment began to collect statistics - which smartphones passed the control, and which failed. From these data, it can be seen that a lot of devices hung tightly in Orenburg, and the “May” ones, no, no, and even leave Yekaterinburg:

Why did Smart Orange do this?

As in the case of consumers, suppliers are simply looking for their own benefit - "parallel" imports somehow hit the contents of the pocket. It is problematic to calculate the volume of "left" deliveries, but, judging by the hype of the deceived investors, a certain percentage floated past the official importer. The senior vice president of Xiaomi himself spoke about the intentions to “strangle” gray smartphones at a presentation in Russia. Another thing is that such a step, it seems, was designed primarily for wholesalers - Internet shuttles, which they bought cheaper there, sold more expensive here. Alas, he hooked and ordinary users.

Will others do the same?

In this regard, the behavior of Meizu, a direct competitor of Xiaomi for the attention of the Russian consumer, is indicative. Meizu also has a representative office in the Russian Federation, but no one is fighting the flow of gray imports - apparently, they want to drown it out not with bans, but with service and other advantages of “white” smartphones.

But there are also opposite examples, moreover, it’s good for us famous company Sony. The story about a guy from Surgut who ordered a PS4 Slim in Germany and received a fine has recently spread all over the Internet - but there it’s more about the imperfection of the bureaucratic system: the new “slim” simply did not have time to register in the registry database of notifications about the characteristics of encryption tools and goods. But the story that an employee of the press service of the Khabarovsk customs told to AmurMedia deserves close attention:

“There was a precedent when we turned back a package with Sony PlayStation, because the copyright holder said that he did not give permission for import,” Victoria Aleshina, press service of the customs office of the Khabarovsk Territory.

Victoria clarified that if a product included in the list of Rospatent is found in the parcel, then a request is sent to the copyright holder whether he gave permission for import. If the manufacturer refuses, the goods are returned to the seller. Judging by customer reviews, Sony is now adhering to just such tactics.

Ok, I bought a smartphone and it got stuck in customs, what should I do?

Strictly speaking, you have two options. Of these, only one is capable of leading to a satisfactory solution to your local problem.

Option 1. To sue the FCS, which is long and dreary. Even in the case of a successful outcome, the trial may last more than one year. By that time, the smartphone will lose its relevance. Plus, the overhead costs of litigation should be taken into account.

Option 2. Try to get money back. This option is preferable at least because there are successful precedents. For a refund, you need to make a request to the customs office about the reasons for the return, then open a dispute and attach a scan of the answer there, explaining that transport company returned the goods.

Tags:

Since March 15, 2017, another official distributor has appeared in Russia, the Smart Orange company. It sells Mi equipment and provides user support throughout Russia. It sounds like a good thing, but not everything is so clear.

What is the problem

A week after the loud announcement and the appearance of the official store, users in in social networks complained about the following: the Russian customs, by order of Smart Orange, began to deploy Xiaomi smartphones ordered on sites like Aliexpress and send them back to China.

It is worth noting that we are talking about users with single orders, and not about gray suppliers and delays of entire batches of "gray" products intended for sale in the country and tax evasion.

Such illegal actions were noticed at the customs of Yekaterinburg and Orenburg. Many users have already suffered from them, who never received their Xiaomi phones from Aliexpress.

How do they explain this

The Smart Orange company itself officially confirmed its participation in the "scheme" and explains this as follows:

According to the letter of the Federal Customs Service dated March 15, 2017 and paragraphs. 2 p. 1 art. 313 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union, paragraph 1 of Art. 1515 and paragraph 4 of Art. 1252 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, as well as Article 18 of the Universal Postal Convention, Xiaomi smartphones imported through unauthorized channels are not allowed to be introduced into civil circulation on the territory of the Russian Federation. Recently, cases of suspension have become more frequent. customs authorities such parties. The situation also applies to private orders placed on foreign online trading platforms and sent to Russia by mail.

The company also encourages all users who have encountered a similar problem to become their customers and buy the same Xiaomi smartphone from them. additional discount. Here is a loyalty program.

What about prices in Russia

The appearance of an official distributor in the country is an excellent event, which should first of all be aimed at improving service and user support, and secondly at selling official products. But Xiaomi fans on social networks noted the high cost of Mi smartphones, some models are sold 2 times more expensive than on Aliexpress.

For example (32 GB), which is sold on Aliexpress for 8-9 thousand rubles in the Smart Orange store, it will cost 12,999 rubles. The Mi Max phablet with 32 GB of memory costs 19,900 rubles against the Chinese price of 12-13 thousand. Mi Note 2 - 34,000 rubles against 25-26 thousand rubles.

How to order a Xiaomi smartphone so that customs does not return it

Users note that the problem affected Xiaomi smartphones, light bulbs, bracelets and other smart gadgets go through customs without any problems. And once again, we note that the cases were recorded at customs in Orenburg and ECB. And so, here is a small list of tips on how you can buy Xiaomi on Aliexpress so that customs does not return it back.

• ask the seller not to indicate that this is a Xiaomi smartphone (let them indicate Meizu, Bluboo, Venee or any other less popular brand)
• ask the seller not to indicate that this is a smartphone at all (let him write in the declaration that this is a gift, photo frame, etc.)
• ask the seller to repack the smartphone in another box so that it cannot be identified without opening the package
• please do not send to the above customs (although it is difficult)

What will happen to Xiaomi in Russia

The Xiaomi brand is very popular in Russia, Ukraine and other countries. Not a small merit in this is just Chinese stores that sell Mi equipment to the whole world. What will happen to the Xiaomi brand and products in Russia now?

The two main sales drivers for Xiaomi smartphones are low cost and balanced features. Without one of these components, the meaning in the devices of this brand is lost. There is a very small chance that users in Russia will start massively buying Xiaomi phones with a double mark-up, such a scheme simply will not work. Most users will switch to similar smartphones that can be easily ordered from China: Meizu, LeEco, Huawei, Vivo, Oppo and others.

Xiaomi Tech proudly announces its record sales every year, if you compare the numbers, it becomes clear that a large percentage of these sales are in international markets where the brand is not represented at all. The merit of these sales is precisely Chinese stores with adequate prices and delivery around the world, but the manufacturer is usually silent about this in reports.

Thus, depriving Russian users of the opportunity to order affordable Mi-smartphones on Chinese venues, Xiaomi itself will face losses and a drop in global sales. The current situation harms not only ordinary customers, but also the Mi brand.

We hope that Chinese stores will adapt to such conditions and “whitewash gray products” by simply repacking Xiaomi phones in ordinary white boxes, without logos and inscriptions.

Instead of conclusions

Do you remember the days of Redmi 1S, Mi3 and the first Redmi Note with a 5.5-inch HD screen? When all Xiaomi devices were sold in these cute beige recycled cardboard boxes. When even in anticipation of the parcel there was something pleasant and magical. And when you picked it up at the post office and opened the coveted box, there was no limit to delight.

Today, the popularity of Xiaomi has made the company highly commercial and this is felt in all aspects. New items come with a locked bootloader, and recognizable beige boxes have become faceless white, like Apple's. Today, everyone is trying to capitalize on brand fans by inflating prices and cutting off supply lines. But many do not understand what exactly fans want from Xiaomi, since they themselves are not.

One fact cannot be denied: Xiaomi is a cool Chinese company that has climbed into almost every category of electronics. And most of these devices are really successful.

I did not notice allergies to Xiaomi. At one time I had two Power Banks of different capacities, changed two versions of Mi Band, and now I'm waiting for Mi WiFI 3. But I will never buy their smartphones. And there are certain reasons for this.

1. Inadequate product line

Frankly, I considered the option of taking Xiaomi as a second handset, after all, the price / power ratio is tempting. But I had to spend a good half an hour to understand how the current models differ from each other.

Ok, two main lines: Mi and Redmi, there are also large Note models, but what kind of mess is in the indices? Are they really competing with each other? Where is the flagship? To make a choice, you need to compare ten (!) Completely unfamiliar devices. And some of them are relatively cool aluminum smartphones, while others are creaking plastic “toys”.

2. Smartphones are released at a breakneck pace - you can't keep up

Xiaomi releases its smartphones almost every six months. At the same time, it can easily update the body of the old model or add some kind of chip there. All this, coupled with incomprehensible logic in the names, plunges the smartphone line into chaos.

With such a frenzied turnover, I’m not sure if you are taking a fresh smartphone at a bargain price or already outdated, but at a discount. Most likely, the situation will change with the full transition of Xiaomi to retail, but so far, buying a smartphone online from China is torture.

3. A bunch of non-removable services in the firmware

I often came across the opinion that MIUI is almost the best thing that happened to Android. It doesn’t fit in my head how the shell can be more stable and more convenient than the original, but the fact remains: Xiaomi smartphones have a bunch of Chinese services that are not removed even from the global version of the firmware.

What are they doing? What data is collected? How to trust your smartphone with your bank card?

And if you can not answer the first two questions, but simply disable the corresponding applications in the settings, then I still would not tie the card.

4. Lots of small bugs that are slowly being fixed

Several times I come across advice, do not take new items for the first six months or a year, so that they run in properly. Like bugs in specific models fix for a few months. It's not about the font that has gone wrong (which is also annoying), but about sudden reboots, jambs with sound and in the camera. Or, according to the classics, a slowing down interface.

We have been accustomed to the good for too long: even respring on the iPhone (hello, iOS 11.0) shocked me. But iOS errors rule in a month and immediately for everyone, and with Xiaomi you will have to adapt to each model. At first glance, identical smartphones can be made from different components that “sick” in their own way.

5. A sewn-in shell that you need to know how to reflash

As a rule, these are purely software errors, which, logically, should be treated by flashing to another version of Android. But everything is not so simple here, to access the bootloader you need to leave a request on the site. Yes, and assemblies - darkness, in order to find the right one, you need to shovel kilometers of the corresponding resources. To run into a firmware with embedded advertising - just spit.

This is not a short list of supported versions for you, which are rolled through Shift + restore.

6. First you have to constantly dig into the system

Especially if you migrated from iOS. Due to the peculiarities of MIUI, huge batteries are still not enough, and in order to reach an acceptable level of autonomy, you need to fine-tune the operation of services and notifications.

I am glad that it is enough to set the desired settings once. But MIUI has a slightly different logic of the system, so it may not be possible to do everything by inertia, intuitively. Get ready to return to thematic forums.

7. Chinese smartphone is a lottery. Even Xiaomi

The last Xiaomi that visited my family began to streak two weeks after being turned on. Marriage in the matrix - the money was returned. It was lucky that he was bought in Mvideo. The previous one began to discharge to zero - they “brought” the battery in the service and sold it to Avito, away from sin.

Such sores are inherent in many Chinese brands, apparently, something goes wrong at the stage of product control testing. At the same time, I often hear rave reviews from many acquaintances who are more fortunate. But for some reason, there is no desire to "fit" into such adventures.

Xiaomi will not replace the iPhone

If you have been using Apple smartphones for a long time, then Xiaomi is unlikely to cause any feelings other than rejection. They constantly need to finish and adjust for themselves. Few people like to study materiel, the buyer wants to get a smartphone out of the box and use it right away.

But if the main determining factor is the price, then go ahead, surf Ali. Well, or just buy SE.

P.S. Wangyu that there are gurus who remember the Xiaomi menu from memory or reflash with their eyes closed. Do not throw dirty laundry, it is better to advise which smartphone will really not creak, not slow down and work. If such exist at all.

All Xiaomi smartphones imported into Russia, so many buyers of mobile devices from this manufacturer have not been able to receive their packages. Chinese online stores and sellers understood this and returned money to buyers for undelivered goods. Even despite the fact that thousands of Russians have already filed complaints with several Russian authorities and the Xiaomi CEO in China, the likelihood of resolving this situation with customs peacefully is extremely small.

The editors of the site carefully analyzed the situation and found two really working solutions that will help buyers from Russia continue to get their hands on Xiaomi smartphones at very low prices. At the same time, the likelihood of any problems with the customs service of the Russian Federation is negligible. If everything is done correctly, then the parcel is guaranteed to be in the hands of the buyer, bypassing the traps set by Smart Orange, which asked not to let supposedly counterfeit Xiaomi smartphones into Russia, since it owns the rights to this trademark.

Negotiate with the seller or online store

Russian customs operates very simply. If the postal packaging contains words like “Xiaomi smartphone”, then such a postal item will not reach Russia. All Chinese online stores and individual sellers usually mention the name of the company, so the Russian customs are actually provided with all the data to complete their task.

Before buying a Xiaomi smartphone in China, you should contact the representatives of the online store or the seller in advance, asking them not to indicate the brand name of the smartphone, limiting themselves to the words “smartphone” or “Android mobile device”. In this case, the customs service will never be able to know for sure which smartphone from which manufacturer is inside. Of course, the package can be opened, but this almost never happens.

Compliance with this simple rule will allow you to continue ordering Xiaomi smartphones from China without overpaying a double price to the Russian representative of the company. At the same time, everything will be on completely legal grounds, since the essence of the parcel does not change from this. Customs officers will still understand that there is a mobile device inside, but which one, they will only have to guess.

Order Xiaomi smartphones from the Mall

As part of the integration on Russian market A few months ago, the largest Chinese online store AliExpress opened the so-called "Mall", in which Russian residents can order goods not from China, but directly from their own country. Thus, postal items bypass the check customs services, which means buying like this in a simple way you can Xiaomi smartphones.

Of course, goods from the Mall cost about 10-15% more than those delivered from China, but the confidence in receiving the package and the absence of headaches with customs are definitely worth it. Also note that all postal items moving only in Russia reach the recipients within two weeks, and this is another reason to buy a Xiaomi smartphone through the Aliexpress Mall.

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