No more PAYPAL at AliExpress

Ummm, since when does ordering from AX through PP charge tax?

I was all set to pay something like 4.92, and when I clicked to order, the total instantly jumped to 5.35 or whatever (ballpark; just guessing from memory as to the amounts).

Looked at the order details, and I got nicked for 44¢ tax!

Anyone know if this is something new from AX, or is it because I paid through PP?

I don’t have any tax surcharges for any of my AExpress orders, regardless how I pay for them.
there is an actual PP charge, of course, which can be quite high (I just paid a 3.50 $ PP charge for a few items?!).

Well, how expensive was the total purchase?

a bit over 18 dollars. 3.5 dollars for the PP charge.
I think it also depends on whether you are purchasing fewer items or just 1.
(These are cell phone covers)

Oof 18$US.

That’s expensive. Even if you do (18*0,055)+0,30$US, it should still equal to a max 1,30$US in fees.

3,50$US is extreme, and means Aliexpress is not only taking profits from the sellers, but also from the Paypal payment.

the paypal charge is different depending on what item and how many you order. The “regular” pp charge is only 80 US cents for low value items. This charge suddenly goes up if you change the quantity (value) or type of item.

I wonder how the global trade war influences the PP/china ordering ecosystem.

The odd thing is, the total showed the <5buk figure right up to the point where I clicked, then bam!, 5’n’change.

It might be actual tax, though, ’cause here local tax is ~9%, and that’d be just about the right amount.

That’s why I’m not sure if all of a sudden PP is declaring POP (point of presence) “jurisdiction” and charging tax, vs direct payment to them nice little fellas in China.

It’s definitely coming from there, Yanwen shipping, expected delivery something in mid-July (2021, probably), and so on. Ain’t like it’s coming from a US-based warehouse or anything.

Different seller on AX, and they just did it again. Got nicked for “tax”.

Don’t wanna order anything with my “real” card, and don’t need anything from a different company (GB, FT, etc.) yet, so am wondering if it’s an AX thing, automatically “charging” (but of course not remitting) tax, or if it’s a new PP thing.

Followup:

Doesn’t seem to be a PP thing but an AX thing, nicking people for tax.

Just ordered from GB, amount charged (through PP) was exactly what it said on the tin, nothing “extra” taken for tax.

So, PP is in the clear on this one. :wink:

If you want extra security use Revolut and create virtual cards for every order.
After you pay you can just deactivate the card and create another

I’ve been on Internet since it started.
Paypal sine it started. Once they got the wriggles out of if.
Nowadays. I buy through PayPal only.
No Paypal. I go elsewhere.
There are plenty of reputable dealers that use it.

I’m totally new to Aliexpress and wanted to buy a Convoy 21A with 12 modes from the Convoy flashlight Store site. I prefer to pay with Paypal oddly I initially saw paypal as an option with a small fee but then on changing my mind to go with a 5000k tint intead of 6500k I now find PP isnt available. Should it be a valid paypment method? Any help would be appreciated.

You can contact Simon from Convoy flashlight Store via aliexpress message center, say him what you need, your shipping address, and ask him if he could accept payment with Paypal. Simon is a nice person and in 99% of cases you would find an agreement.

Thanks for the advice. I’ll try that

When you ask to pay with paypal and the vendor accepts it as a favor, do you use Friends and Family to save the vendor on fees or it’s not worth it?

F&F used to be free but I think they added some fees, right?

As far as I know when you send money using family and friends you lose protection from any dispute. I figure that’s why its free, paypal isn’t going to lose anything.
I would ask the seller how much will the fees be or just send extra to cover it and pay as a transaction and add a brief exact discription of what your buying in the notes section.
If its Simon (convoy store) your buying from I’m pretty confident you’ll get what you order or he will make it right so family and friends maybe fine.
That’s up to you though.

Thanks again. I’ll message the Convoy Store (Simon) shortly. Happy to pay the fees too of course.

Issue I have is that I dont have a VISA card nor immediate access to any of the other payment methods. I do prefer Paypal as it’s been a reliable option in the past too.

You guys should start using fintechs like Revolut or Transferwise.
They have the best conversion rates, no fees and let you create virtual cards.
Paypal are just plain thieves and should be completely avoided. I was getting paid though Paypal and lost 8% just to fees, and on top of that transfers weren’t instant. And the sender lost a lot too because he had to do a conversion at a ridiculous rate from Paypal. They basically %^&*ed us both for more than 5 years but in the last year they went bonkers with the fees

I’ve been ok with paypal for many years but always interesting to check out other options. I’ve never come across Revolut or Transferwise but will read up on them.

I found oddly that in progressing an order if my address is blank the Paypal Option appears, however after entering and confirming my address it the dissapears leaving CC and Web Money option only. Possibly think my address isn’t legit.

Revolut doesnt work worldwide.
Paypal works in 200+ countries, in some of them you met limitations but they work even if dont have banking license in the country.
Revolut (as dangerous competitor in bank industry) have met problems with growing, many countries give acceptance for work only if they have banking license (the other option - improve laws with modern money trasfer rules, but most governments are not intrested in this).
To use revolut today, you need to be a citizen or have a working visa in:
European Union
Swizerland
Australia
Canada
Singapore
United States