Gearbest.com - Any good?

FlashSA said:
Now I want the Poly-Carb cover for the Mi A1 but the Priority Line shipping is $15 and I refuse to choose regular post, because **** the SAPO and months of waiting.

Any tips from experienced Gearbest shoppers? Is anybody, by same cruel coincidence to them, in my area and keen to split the Priority Line fee via a combined order?

EDIT

Just found several items from my Takealot wishlist on Gearbest and the Gearbest total, with $15 Priority Line comes out to a fraction of the Takealot total. This could become addictive
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PM GearBestZA - I'm pretty sure he has offered to consolidate/combine orders for forum members.
 
Placed an order for 4 items

Total : R736 (includes priority shipping)

Will see how this goes.


Edit: any idea how much customs could be?
 
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RVR said:
Placed an order for 4 items

Total : R736 (includes priority shipping)

Will see how this goes.


Edit: any idea how much customs could be?
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Depends on what you ordered. Some things have zero import duties but you get charged VAT and Aramex’s handling fee (around R50).
 
I placed an order in early Jan using cheap shipping (cos the order was under $25).
Last time i ordered something from GearBest was early Jan 2017 (also under $25 and also on the cheap shipping option) and the parcel arrived 2nd week in March ! :cry:

But i see my BangGood orders from mid-Dec are at my local post office already, so I'm hoping the GearBest order will make it to me by mid-Feb.
 
Inevitability said:
I placed an order in early Jan using cheap shipping (cos the order was under $25).
Last time i ordered something from GearBest was early Jan 2017 (also under $25 and also on the cheap shipping option) and the parcel arrived 2nd week in March ! :cry:

But i see my BangGood orders from mid-Dec are at my local post office already, so I'm hoping the GearBest order will make it to me by mid-Feb.
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Which shipping method exactly did you use?
 
Inevitability said:
Registered Airmail
That parcel last year took 20 days *after* customs to reach me!!
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That explains it.

Usually when you use a courier it arrives much faster. You're lucky you even got your items lol

I ordered three stuff from eBay in November and haven't received it. Probably taken. Luckily got refunded.
 
RVR said:
That explains it.
Usually when you use a courier it arrives much faster. You're lucky you even got your items lol
I ordered three stuff from eBay in November and haven't received it. Probably taken. Luckily got refunded.
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Thing is ... when the order total is sub-$30 it's hard (for me, at least) to justify a $20 shipping bill :)
And my stuff from China has always reached me ... just sometimes it takes 75 days! The one time it didn't reach me, BangGood refunded me but that was like $5 order where i went with free shipping

I did once (mid-2017) try to buy a drone from GearBest and use Priority. But they said they couldn't deliver to my address, which I found strange cos they had sent me the small package with no problems. At least now I know why (the whole postal code issue). I'll make sure to remember that the next time and use 2001/2000 cos I do wanna buy some RC toys for my kids... definitely gonna use Priority for that one cos then the cost of shipping won't be such a big % of the order total.
 
Apparently my phone will be at local dhl office by 11am and I can go pick it up if I want or wait for the the van to do it's rounds which might only be tomorrow. I'll go pick it up as it's only 5km away.
 
Yay! Got my phone from Tineydeal. They sent me a charger for US plugs when I specified EU, sigh.

td_dhl.JPG
 
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Inevitability said:
Thing is ... when the order total is sub-$30 it's hard (for me, at least) to justify a $20 shipping bill :)
And my stuff from China has always reached me ... just sometimes it takes 75 days! The one time it didn't reach me, BangGood refunded me but that was like $5 order where i went with free shipping

I did once (mid-2017) try to buy a drone from GearBest and use Priority. But they said they couldn't deliver to my address, which I found strange cos they had sent me the small package with no problems. At least now I know why (the whole postal code issue). I'll make sure to remember that the next time and use 2001/2000 cos I do wanna buy some RC toys for my kids... definitely gonna use Priority for that one cos then the cost of shipping won't be such a big % of the order total.
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Don't forget you also will get charged a small fee from the the post office so items that are free shipping won't really be free but best to just use priority or DHL if it's not too bad.
 
Well it's going bad for me.

The gearbest Facebook team messaged me and told me that out of the 4 items, 3 items are out of stock.

Also shipping was more because of the three added items, otherwise it would be less and not R210

Edit : I have messaged them asking for a full refund. Will see
 
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HISTORY - ORDERED 19/01 with PRIORITY LINE and phone was packed and given an Aramex Waybill number the same day

23/01 UPDATE - Phone now at Aramex Hong Kong Depot awaiting a flight to Dubai. So it seems that an in stock item will usually be packed and given an Aramex waybill number without much delay. Then, it sits at Gearbest warehouse for a few days until it is fetched and scanned in at Aramex Hong Kong depot where it waits for a flight to Dubai (based on other users shared tracking history).

I now await the next update...
 
FlashSA said:
HISTORY - ORDERED 19/01 with PRIORITY LINE and phone was packed and given an Aramex Waybill number the same day

23/01 UPDATE - Phone now at Aramex Hong Kong Depot awaiting a flight to Dubai. So it seems that an in stock item will usually be packed and given an Aramex waybill number without much delay. Then, it sits at Gearbest warehouse for a few days until it is fetched and scanned in at Aramex Hong Kong depot where it waits for a flight to Dubai (based on other users shared tracking history).

I now await the next update...
Click to expand...

Order happens as follows:

1) Order placed.
2) Order packed at warehouse.
3) Order shipped to Shipping company.
4) Shipping company gets Aramex waybill number and requests for them to fetch.
5) Fetched from shipping company.
6) Moves from Hong Kong -> Dubai -> Johannesburg.

The only step you were missing is that GearBest do not ship directly with Aramex but rather uses a shipping company. The shipping company gives a better rate based on their quantity and agreement with Aramex and other shipping companies.
 
GearBestZA said:
Order happens as follows:

1) Order placed.
2) Order packed at warehouse.
3) Order shipped to Shipping company.
4) Shipping company gets Aramex waybill number and requests for them to fetch.
5) Fetched from shipping company.
6) Moves from Hong Kong -> Dubai -> Johannesburg.

The only step you were missing is that GearBest do not ship directly with Aramex but rather uses a shipping company. The shipping company gives a better rate based on their quantity and agreement with Aramex and other shipping companies.
Click to expand...

Cool info, thanks! I find the tracking and following of the package very interesting
 
Am awaiting a Gearbest shipment sent on 11th December. Tracking enquiry states "not updated". Have submitted a ticket and received an auto-response, but nothing more (this on 31st December)

Shipping chosen was "Aramex expedited shipping 9 days"
 
I've given up on using them really. Maybe only when I buy a phone and then use DHL. Did it last time and no issues and was really quick.

However for small items, and using priority can be a pain.
 
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