r/Aliexpress • • Jul 20 '26

Aliexpress 101 (Guides and FAQs) FAQ: EU €3 customs duty/tax

178 Upvotes

The new EU €3 customs duty has been active since July 2026. You pay €3 (plus VAT on that €3) for each customs category in a single order. AliExpress collects this duty at checkout (like it does for VAT), and pays it directly to EU customs.

Always check for the green message during checkout saying “No extra duties will be collected upon delivery.” If that message is missing, customs may still charge you on delivery.

Be aware: the €3 duty is only added at checkout during the final payment step. Your cart total will increase right before you press pay.

Warning:

AliExpress does not follow the EU category rules correctly. In practice they charge €3 per different item, even if items should fall under the same category. Only when you buy multiple quantities of the same listing from the same seller (including different colors, variants or options) will AliExpress charge the €3 tax only once.

There are signs of slow improvement as some sellers have begun assigning proper customs categories. In certain cases, buying similar types of products from the same seller results in the €3 being charged only once. The same may happen for bundle deals, even when multiple sellers are involved. Experiment with your orders and see what happens.

Some other FAQs:

  • AliExpress sometimes shows “Duty‑free shipping” or “No customs fees” on the product page, but this text is meaningless. Only the green checkout message counts.
  • If you buy from EU warehouses, the €3 duty is not charged. But many “EU warehouse” listings are fake, so always check the delivery time. Anything longer than a week is almost certainly shipping from China.
  • If you use coupons, coins, or seller discounts, the €3 duty is still added on top. Discounts never reduce or remove the duty.
  • We expect the €3 duty to be refunded whenever AliExpress issues a refund (cancellation, dispute, or seller error), but this has not yet been confirmed by users. Please let us know your personal experiences with that.

This topic is for practical questions about the handling of the duty only. Anything useful for improving this FAQ. Other reactions will be removed.


r/Aliexpress • • May 30 '20

Aliexpress 101 (Guides and FAQs) New on Aliexpress or this sub? Read this first.

696 Upvotes

FAQs & Guides

Aliexpress has very different rules than your average Western e-commerce site. So we try to help you by providing several guides & FAQs.

You can find these guides by filtering for the "Aliexpress 101" flair. Just click on the red subtitle above.

These are some of the most important FAQs:

There are many other FAQs, try this link%22&restrict_sr=1) for a complete list.

Posting guidelines

Over 95% of questions asked on this sub are actually answered in one of these guides and faqs%22&restrict_sr=1), so please check before asking a question.

Make yourself familiar with the rules of the sub that you can find in the sidebar. Any posts that do not respect these rules will be removed without notice.

Questions related to shipping & tracking

Many people questions ask questions about the tracking of their package. Most of these questions are the same: when will my package arrive, what does this tracking status mean, ...

Most of these questions get answered in our Shipping & Tracking FAQ. Please read it before making a post.

Games, discounts, coupons, invite codes

Anything related to Aliexpress games, discount links or invite codes is not allowed.

About this sub

This sub is NOT run by Aliexpress. Aliexpress does not read any topics here.

This is a sub by Aliexpress buyers trying to help other buyers. So please be nice to these people as they are dedicating some of their spare time to help you.


r/Aliexpress • • 7h ago

Shipping & Tracking Scam? Ordered a foam sword for Halloween, got this note instead?

Post image
136 Upvotes

r/Aliexpress • • 12h ago

Shipping & Tracking It has finally started.

Post image
8 Upvotes

We are in October and the slowest shipping times already started. Speedx can even deliver in January if u buy in November. The only cheap shipping method that is faster in these months is post office. I always forget about these year end slow shipping


r/Aliexpress • • 34m ago

EU customs duty How to select items from the same customs category? New tax is killing me!

Thumbnail
• Upvotes

The same but with AliExpress! How do I filter items by customs code?


r/Aliexpress • • 2h ago

Issues & Disputes Is this a scam? WinowTT119

Post image
0 Upvotes

I’ve paid for a Winow tt119 frame set of Ali express. The seller told me that the logistics company said that the shipping cost is too high, so I need to pay an extra 150 dollars through PayPal to get it shipped and delivered. They said the package is sitting at the logistics company warehouse. What do I do? Is it a scam? If I pay the 150 will they deliver the bike? Help I really want the bike 😅


r/Aliexpress • • 3h ago

Issues & Disputes Is there any other way than face ID to prove your age?

0 Upvotes

Usually apps offer either id or face recognition but for now all i see is a face recognition option, nothing else.

I'm 20 but i look way younger, and face recognition just keeps rejecting me, is there a way to access 18+ products with another kind of certification?


r/Aliexpress • • 21h ago

About Aliexpress AliExpress Is Quiet This Month - Here's Why

Post image
27 Upvotes

Why AliExpress Sales and Codes Feel Limited This Month?

If October felt slow on AliExpress, you're right.

All the sales this month are already over. Party Ready Sale, Brand Day and Winter Offers all happened in the first two weeks, and there's nothing else until November.

Codes have been harder to get too. Fewer of them, smaller discounts, and they run out fast.

This happens every year before November. November is the biggest month on AliExpress, so sellers and AliExpress save their best deals and codes for it instead of using them now.

Here's what's coming:

  • Choice Day at the start of November
  • 11.11, the biggest sale of the year
  • Black Friday (Nov 27) and Cyber Monday right after

That's usually when you get the best discounts and the most codes.

So if you don't need something right away, I'd wait. In the meantime, add what you want to your cart or wishlist. That way you can see if the price really drops when the sales start.


r/Aliexpress • • 5h ago

Tips & Reviews is this legit?

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

i know they have some good reviews and 4.8 ⭐️ but im still hesitant 😕


r/Aliexpress • • 1d ago

Humor & Memes I feel personally attacked NSFW

Post image
61 Upvotes

r/Aliexpress • • 8h ago

Shipping & Tracking Any hope of getting this before Halloween?

Post image
1 Upvotes

second time ordering off AE. should have know better than to rely on them for any kind of shipping deadline 😔


r/Aliexpress • • 14h ago

EU customs duty EU and Black Friday

4 Upvotes

Do you think AliExpress will offer discounts to EU customers for Black Friday that make it worth buying from them? As far as I know, AliExpress operates with high enough profit margins to be able to do so.


r/Aliexpress • • 1d ago

Humor & Memes And why the fuck would I want this? NSFW

Post image
129 Upvotes

I just got this recommended to me after solely looking up clothing and wigs on Aliexpress…. I am genuinely in disbelief wtf is this 💀


r/Aliexpress • • 16h ago

Shipping & Tracking Am I cooked?

2 Upvotes

Yall I bought my costume on the 13th and it hasn’t shipped but said it would be here on the 21-26th, am i cooked or is there still hope?💀I messaged the seller but they just said they’d ship it which was 2 days ago


r/Aliexpress • • 1d ago

EU customs duty If I did not receive an item will I be refunded the 3 euro fee as well...?

11 Upvotes

My item got lost somewhere... can't even see where lol. Will I receive a refund of the 3 euro tax or are the EU just greedy? (Spoiler- they are)


r/Aliexpress • • 14h ago

Shipping & Tracking SpeedX Shipping?

0 Upvotes

Hi! This is my first time ordering from AliExpress. I saw that my courier will be SpeedX; I’d never heard of them before so I looked it up and the horror stories are kind of freaking me out. Does anyone have any experience with them? TIA!


r/Aliexpress • • 14h ago

Shipping & Tracking Stuck awaiting transit

Post image
0 Upvotes

My orders are stuck at the origin airport and awaiting transit for almost a week, this is my first time ordering from AE so idk how long it'd usually take and the lack of updates, but I might just be impatient and try to wait more


r/Aliexpress • • 1d ago

Shipping & Tracking Package with no update in 1.5 months

Post image
8 Upvotes

Not sure what to do, no movement since September 9, AliExpress support being utterly unhelpful in every possible way, getting the same generic response from them with no compensation or offer of a refund.

Anyone else experienced ridiculous shipping times?


r/Aliexpress • • 20h ago

Ordering & Payment issues when i go to buy it says this what do i do

Post image
2 Upvotes

r/Aliexpress • • 17h ago

Shipping & Tracking AliExpress tracking question: Shipping to CA, Estimated Delivery

Post image
0 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I ordered a watch for a friend in California.

The tracking shows it departed from the origin country today (Mon, Oct 19 at 17:15), and the top estimated delivery window says Oct 23 - 27. But right under the status bar, it says "Your package is estimated to arrive on Oct. 19" (which is today).

For anyone who frequently ships to CA via AliExpress

  1. Is it realistic for it to hit the estimated Oct 23–27 window once it departs?

  2. How long does US import customs + local delivery usually take once it lands?

Thanks!


r/Aliexpress • • 22h ago

Tips & Reviews action figure, statue recomms

2 Upvotes

helloo! I'm a huge MC and anime fan. I also collect figures and statues. It's really hard to gamble here. I want them to have pretty faces, but with the fake pictures in the ads, it's hard to tell that they're flawed and look funny in real life. I know that fakes will never be perfect, but I know there are plenty of decent ones out there.

i'd love to see any kind of recomms! :))


r/Aliexpress • • 1d ago

Ordering & Payment issues Paypal: Set up once. Pay faster next time. Anyone getting this?

3 Upvotes

Today I started getting the message "Set up once. Pay faster next time. We'll save your choice for future payments to AliExpress. Change this anytime in your PayPal" in the PayPal window instead of the usual checkout screen. I can only agree and continue or void the transaction by exiting. This makes it so that clicking buy now bypasses the PayPal window and I don't receive cashback or any warning of purchase I'm used to. Is anyone else getting this?


r/Aliexpress • • 18h ago

Shipping & Tracking I need help with what to do next

1 Upvotes

Hey guys I need help I’ve ordered a alo set and I need it by November 5th and the seller still hasn’t shipped it out yet I bought it around 2-3 days ago with other items they have been shipped and ready to arrive but idk what to do now


r/Aliexpress • • 1d ago

About Aliexpress "Free shipping on first choice order"

Post image
12 Upvotes

So I guess they will charge shipping on my next order even if I reach the 10$USD minimum? That sucks. Probably going to drop using AE then.


r/Aliexpress • • 23h ago

Ordering & Payment issues Why does shopping cart, or checkout, drop items ?

0 Upvotes

So I had eight line items in my shopping cart. Went thru checkout, made payment, but only got seven items checked out. All were Choice. All were available in stock. Shopping cart now has one item in it after checkout.

One time before, I noticed that an item in the shopping cart had been deselected, selected it (before checkout) and it was correctly included. This time I missed it. Of course, the item remaining is way below minimum $10.

What causes items to be deselected ?