Xiaomi delivery problems. Customs has opened a “hunt” for Xiaomi TM gadgets ordered on AliExpress and other foreign trading platforms

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Recent news that has outraged ordinary buyers who are accustomed to other large Chinese stores - customs began to confiscate parcels with Xiaomi phones. Yes, these are not rumors, but really true, why is this happening and what to expect next?

As is known, for short term The Chinese brand Xiaomi has rapidly gained popularity among Russians and residents of the CIS, largely due to the availability and quality of its products, which is not inferior to global brands. Without thinking twice, buyers realized all the benefits and began ordering products from the Xiaomi brand on Aliexpress; the trend became widespread.

Despite the fact that Xiaomi produces a huge line of products, ranging from small items to small items, the main demand among buyers is still for smartphones. One of the official distributors of Xiaomi in Russia, Smart Orange LLC, just recently succeeded in including the brand in the register of intellectual property objects (TROIS) as the legal representative of the copyright holder. Consequently, from that moment on, mass openings of parcels from China began to reveal Xiaomi products.

All these measures with a ban on the import of Xiaomi phones are aimed at combating the so-called “gray” phones, according to at least By official version. However, you don’t need to have any outstanding abilities to understand that in this way the official representative intends to fight the shadow supply of products of which he is the legal representative. IN in this case It doesn’t take into account whether you ordered a Xiaomi phone from China for personal use or a whole batch for commercial purposes; both cases are prohibited.

How do customs detect? First of all, special attention is paid to parcels to customs declaration(CN22) which indicate “cell phone”, “tablet” and other names that we are used to seeing when receiving our smartphones from China. Most of these parcels must be opened, and if Xiaomi products are found, the recipient is notified of the refusal to import such a parcel.

Of course, it is not possible to identify all the parcels containing Xiaomi equipment, but the very fact that the situation has gained mass indignation suggests that this issue has affected many.

On this moment Problems with parcels containing Xiaomi smartphones are observed at Orenburg and Yekaterinburg customs. According to our users, the import of such parcels to Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo is still proceeding as usual and does not raise any questions.

Of course, after purchasing, you can ask to pack the phone in a box from another manufacturer or write in the declaration what you need, but this does not guarantee delivery, and from the point of view of the law it is a violation. Someone will be lucky and will receive their parcel with a Xiaomi smartphone, but someone will not, and will have to open it demanding a full refund.

An option that would suit everyone is the delivery of Xiaomi phones from a Russian warehouse at average Aliexpress prices, but unfortunately there are no such prices yet.

After Russian customs began to confiscate parcels with Xiaomi phones; one of them announced the cessation of supplies of smartphones of this brand to Russia; moreover, a limit is being introduced for Russian buyers - the maximum cost of a parcel should now not be more than $50.

According to a store representative, the limit is temporary and they are doing everything to find optimal solution, which would suit each of the parties to the conflict. In this case, it is obvious that Smart Orange LLC does not intend to retreat from its position, but has only begun the fight against “gray” supplies of Xiaomi phones. It should be assumed that in the event of a conflict resolution, the buyer, as usual, will be the last one, who will bear additional financial costs.

We can only hope that other official Russian representatives of large Chinese brands will not pick up the trend and begin to restrict the import of products from brands such as Meizu, Elephone, ZTE, etc.

As you know, all these bans only encourage people to “reinvent the wheel,” so it is quite possible that in the near future there will be a tendency to supply Xiaomi smartphones from China in transit through Belarus or Kazakhstan. The first option is, of course, unlikely (in Belarus the limit is 22 euros/month for parcels from abroad), but the second is quite realistic. We will monitor the situation and hope for a civilized solution to this issue.

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Federal Customs Service Russian Federation began to more often block the import of electronic gadgets ordered by private individuals in foreign online stores. Parcels with goods that have not cleared customs are sent back to the sender.

There have been a lot of complaints online from people who made smartphone purchases on AliExpress, and their parcels were blocked at customs and subsequently sent to the return address. In some cases active users tried to understand the reasons why customs did not release their orders, which they shared in their reviews. Thus, it became clear that the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation, under the pretext of combating counterfeit products imported into the territory of the Russian Federation and the countries of the Customs Union, actually lobbies the interests of certain business structures that are interested in increasing their sales. At the same time, this government agency has developed a cunning and, from a legal point of view, very dubious scheme to block the import of parcels with certain equipment that should be delivered to private individuals for personal use.

In this case, smartphones and other electronic gadgets were “distributed” trademark XIAOMI. However, this is not the first group of goods that has fallen out of favor with our valiant customs. Previously, the network discussed the problem of receiving child car seats ordered from foreign online stores, which were not tested for “counterfeiting” when they were ordered independently by ordinary buyers from Russia. At the same time, the exact same car seats of the same Chinese brands were quite successfully sold in Russian online stores.

Now the same thing is happening with Xiaomi smartphones.

According to a statement from one of the victims of the denial of import of parcels from mobile gadget Xiaomi, when trying to figure out the causes of the problem, he turned to the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation for clarification. In the response letter, it was indicated to him that in the parcel addressed to the applicant from abroad, a product was found that was included in the list of “intellectual property objects” and had signs of “counterfeit or pirated items.” As a result, documents and information about this product were checked, which showed that the Xiaomi TM smartphone is listed in the customs register of intellectual property.

As it became known earlier from the media, in March of this year, the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation sent out notifications to all its divisions about the inclusion of the trademark “XIAOMI” in the appropriate register based on the request of the copyright holder. Moreover, in the same notification, the applicant is called Smart Orange LLC, with a note that this company has the status of an authorized importer of XIAOMI products in Russia (and this is not even a representative of the trademark owner in the country). But, apparently, the customs believes that the copyright holder (or his legal representative) and the importer are equivalent concepts, since in the response letter to the person affected by the actions of the customs, Smart Orange LLC is indicated as an authorized representative of the copyright holder.

The customs authorities do not have the authority to independently recognize the fact of “counterfeiting” of goods. Therefore, in order not to accidentally miss such products on the territory of Russia, FCS employees notified the above-mentioned “representative of the XIAOMI trademark in the Russian Federation” about the import portable phone Xiaomi. He, in turn, sent a “response” to the relevant department of the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation stating that the goods indeed have signs of counterfeiting, and they have objections regarding its import into the territory of the Russian Federation.

This recognition of the goods as “counterfeit” gave the right to employees of the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation, on the basis of the “Customs Code of the Customs Union,” to prohibit the transportation of parcels with the corresponding goods to Russia. As a result, the goods were transferred to the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Russian Post" for return shipment to the sender's address.

The above example shows an outrageously primitive scheme for “wrapping up” parcels containing smartphones ordered by private individuals in foreign stores. Thus, when an inspector discovers the mark “cell phone” or “phone” on an international postal item (IPO) in the customs declaration, he opens the parcel.

If a Xiaomi TM gadget is detected in it, the shipment is postponed and the process of recognizing this product as counterfeit begins: the customs inspector takes a photograph of this smartphone and sends the photo to Smart Orange LLC, which, based on this photograph, recognizes it as counterfeit. And this, in turn, gives customs a reason not to miss the parcel and send it back to the sender.

According to the law, customs experts and other competent persons are only allowed to identify signs of counterfeiting that may indicate a violation of intellectual rights. And recognition of a product as counterfeit can only be made by a court, which is clearly stated in paragraph 25 of the Plenum Resolution Supreme Court RF No. 5, Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation No. 29 dated March 26, 2009 “On some issues that arose in connection with the entry into force of part four of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.” And no matter how much anyone else would like it, there are no exceptions for authorized importers and even legal representatives, including Smart Orange LLC.

Moreover, based on another resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation dated June 19, 2006 No. 15 (POINT 5), “When ordering an examination in connection with the need to study objects of copyright and (or) related rights, the courts must comply with the requirements regarding the inadmissibility of engaging as experts or specialists persons associated with labor or contractual relations with copyright holders. If necessary, obtain information about special forms protection of objects of copyright and related rights (special marks on disks, works of art, etc.), which are known only to the copyright holder, his employees and other persons associated with him can be summoned to court only as witnesses.”

All of the above clearly indicates the illegality of the actions of employees of the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation regarding the recognition of documents received from Smart Orange LLC with the grounds given in them for recognizing the XIAOMI TM goods imported to the MPO as counterfeit.

Now a few words about business interests...

Xiaomi officially entered the Russian market only in the fall of 2016. In October 2016, it was announced that Smart Orange LLC had been appointed as the official representative and distributor of Xiaomi in Russia. This LLC is the representative of the RDC Group in the Russian Federation and the countries of the former USSR. In addition, on products of the TM “Xiaomi”, which are sold in retail outlets“Smart Orange” labels indicate that the importer is RDK. The ultimate owners of the latter are several citizens of the Russian Federation, including Arkady Yashkov. And he has been included in the list of members for several years now expert council at the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation. So much for your logical financial interest.

So, it is quite understandable why the FCS structures are very interested in lobbying the interests of Smart Orange and preventing the import of Xiaomi smartphones and some other products.

Users are increasingly unsubscribing online with complaints about such misconduct with MPOs, in which smartphones are sent to individuals, by employees of Koltsovskaya Customs (Ekaterinburg) and the Orenburg division of the Federal Customs Service. So far, such chaos has not yet been observed with parcels that arrive through Moscow customs at Vnukovo, but there are fears that such a scheme of preventing Xiaomi products ordered directly from abroad for personal needs by private individuals could quickly spread to all possible “ entry points" for parcels from abroad. In addition, it is possible that this same example may be followed by “representatives” of other trademarks, whose products are popular among ordinary Russians who do not want to overpay when purchasing things in Russian stores (both online and offline), but prefer to order them on AliExpress and other foreign sites.

What to do if you are caught in a distribution

Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group, recommends that victims of the actions of the customs service file a lawsuit, since the FCS is clearly violating the “rules postal items private individuals."

It is clear that such legal hassle can require a lot of time, effort and even money. Few people want to get involved in litigation with the state.

On the other hand, if you have not received a smartphone ordered, for example, from AliExpress, you have the right to open a dispute and return the funds paid for it under the buyer protection program.

If there are a lot of such cases, then most likely the sellers and the manufacturer will clearly be unhappy with the losses associated with direct online sales from China, which may force Xiaomi to intervene in the situation. Many users in their comments suggest that one of the options for solving the problem could be to revoke the right to represent interests from Smart Orange LLC Xiaomi company in the Russian Federation, or at least a demand to stop their “expert” activities to recognize smartphones coming to the MPO as “counterfeit”. This development is quite likely due to the high and constantly growing volumes of orders of Xiaomi smartphones from Russian buyers directly from China.

For those who do not want to worry about the fate of the Xiaomi phone purchased on AliExpress, we can recommend waiting for a while. Surely everything will return to its previous place soon.

Those who are willing to take risks, in principle, do not risk anything, since you can always demand a refund for goods not received, at least on AliExpress this scheme works quite well. The only problem is that the buyer wastes time waiting for the parcel. If it is not received, the money is returned quickly, but then you will have to wait again for another smartphone.

From May 5, 2017, GearBest stopped selling smartphones and other Xiaomi gadgets costing more than $50 to buyers from Russia. All previously ordered items from this brand have either been shipped or will be shipped as normal. In any case, all buyers are protected from non-receipt of goods under the normal mechanism. If problems arise with the delivery of ordered products, users are advised to contact GearBest support via a ticket, and promise to protect the interests of the client.

P.S. Victims and simply outraged current situation things with the ordered electronic gadgets from China, citizens created on the Change.org resource, in which they demand to allow the import of transported individuals in the MPO of Xiaomi smartphones for personal use. This petition will be sent to the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation and to the address of the manufacturer Beijing Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd.

Thus, great public interest in this problem can have a positive effect on its speedy resolution. At least we really hope so.

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. Let's find out from experts whether the actions of customs and the Xiaomi distributor are legal.

What's happened?

In Russia, cases of postal shipments containing Xiaomi smartphones being delayed at customs have become more frequent. People buy them from Chinese online stores, but the parcels do not pass 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 have declared all devices passing through customs to be counterfeit. Therefore, customs prohibits the import of Xiaomi smartphones through postal mail.

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

Whose side is the law on: what experts say

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

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

As Ivan Nikitenko, an intellectual rights lawyer, explained:

A material medium can only be recognized as counterfeit by a court. That is, before the court decision comes into force, the disputed goods are correctly considered “goods with signs of counterfeiting.” This concept itself is legal. Therefore, the court must decide this.

According to 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 the Xiaomi company are completely legal:

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

Lawyer Alexey Egorov 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 copyright holder of the brand in Russia. This is also supported by the decision of the Federal Customs Service. Now, when receiving a smartphone, customs is obliged to send a request to the distributor, and he, of course, will answer that it is counterfeit. Therefore, online platforms selling gray models can already be considered violators of 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 write that they are selling a smartphone of this particular brand (this is just a trick, 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 know about the situation with Russian customs and the distributor:

Xiaomi is aware of the current situation and together with our partner RDC Group we are working to resolve the problem. Our fans have always been the company's top priority.
Xiaomi press service in Russia

It should be noted that Aliexpress representatives declined to make official comments.

Is there a war coming with Seryak?

So, Xiaomi smartphones are being detained at customs - this is unfortunate, 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 all devices ordered from other countries counterfeit. Then we will face a large-scale war between official distributors and sellers of “gray” devices.

The 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 a similar way.

As Yuri Salkin said, such an outcome is quite possible. Customs services have received new equipment that allows them to examine parcels without opening them. Therefore, there is a possibility that an 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 Yekaterinburg and Orenburg customs, which is strange. For some reason, parcels with smartphones are not detained at Moscow customs and other cities. Perhaps they have just introduced new equipment there and are testing it. So in the future, other customs offices will probably also start stopping parcels with smartphones.

Why do people even order equipment from China?

The reason is simple - the price difference between a “white” and a “gray” device reaches an average of 30-40%. Let's say Redmi Note 3 Pro in the Smart Orange store will cost you 13,490 rubles. On “Ali” there is a similar copy with global firmware estimated at 8700-9500 rubles. In the upper price segment, the difference in percentage is smaller, but in absolute numbers it is higher - the “official” Mi Note 2 costs almost 35 thousand rubles, and the “Chinese” one costs 28,781.

Are they “wrapping up” at all points?

Not really. Among indignant buyers, Ekaterinburg and especially Orenburg customs points are notorious. Users note that Xiaomi smartphones are allowed through Vnukovo almost without problems. A trend has also been noticed: several devices that arrived in Yekaterinburg in early May have been tested, but those from April are still lying around. Community subscriber Irina K. at some point began collecting statistics - which smartphones passed control and which failed. From these data it is clear that many devices are stuck in Orenburg, and the “May” devices are leaving Yekaterinburg:

Why did Smart Orange do this?

As in the case of consumers, suppliers are simply looking for their own benefit - “parallel” imports one way or another hit their pockets. It is difficult to calculate the volume of “left” deliveries, but judging by the frenzied reaction of deceived investors, a certain percentage passed by the official importer. The senior vice president of Xiaomi himself spoke about his intentions to “strangle” gray smartphones at a presentation in Russia. Another thing is that such a step seems to have been designed primarily for wholesalers - Internet shuttles, who bought cheaper there and sold more expensive here. Unfortunately, it also caught the attention of ordinary users.

Will others start doing this too?

In this regard, Meizu’s behavior is indicative – direct competitor Xiaomi for your attention Russian consumer. 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 counterexamples, moreover, from the well-known Sony. The story about a guy from Surgut who ordered a PS4 Slim in Germany and received a fine recently spread all over the Internet - but there the issue is more likely to be the imperfection of the bureaucratic system: the new “Slim” simply did not have time to register in the database of the registry of notifications about the characteristics of encryption tools and goods. But the story that an employee of the Khabarovsk customs press service told to AmurMedia deserves close attention:

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

Victoria clarified that if a product is found in a parcel that is included in the Rospatent list, then a request is sent to the copyright holder - whether he gave permission to import. If the manufacturer refuses, the goods are returned to the seller. Judging by customer reviews, Sony is now pursuing exactly this tactic.

Ok, I bought a smartphone, but it got stuck at customs, what should I do?

Strictly speaking, you have two options. Of these, only one can lead to a satisfactory solution to your local problem.

Option 1. Going to court with the Federal Customs Service, which is long and tedious. Even if the outcome is successful, the trial may last more than one year. By then, the smartphone will no longer be relevant. Plus there is the overhead of litigation to consider.

Option 2. Try to get the money back. This option is preferable, if only because there are successful precedents. To 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 response there, explaining that the transport company returned the goods.

Yesterday I received my Xiaomi Mi6 at the Russian Post office, which I ordered less than a month ago from China. In modern times, consider yourself lucky, because customs, together with the Russian representative office in the person of Smart Orange, are clearly against such fraud. I’ll tell you how I did it right now.

Yaroslavna's cry

Let's start with the fact that I have to cry. At the first one held recently in Moscow official presentation Xiaomi in Moscow didn’t invite me. Why? I don't know. I communicate with PR services of almost all vendors, including Samsung and even Apple. The latter, however, very politely send me (and not only me), but nevertheless. But somehow the relationship with Smart Orange did not work out, so my absence from the presentation is not surprising. Although no, on the contrary. Considering how much material about Xiaomi is published on the site, this is doubly strange.

In any case, I still have to buy smartphones and other devices from China in order to write interesting and comprehensive reviews on them. And the main thing is to try to do it quickly. And Mi6 was purchased for the same purpose.

Where did you buy it and what about customs?

I buy most Xiaomi devices on AliExpress from this seller. We communicate closely and he promptly sells me new items. In return, I always include links in my reviews of this store, because it would be a sin not to recommend a reliable site, and secondly, we cooperate, and such relationships should be mutually beneficial.

I ordered my Xiaomi Mi6 on April 30th. Literally a day later, it turned out that at some customs points problems began with newly arrived phones - they were returned back, since the presence of gray supplies disrupted the orderly order of the universe. I immediately informed my supplier about this, to which he replied: “Don’t worry. All our orders are sent by Singapore Post, and there are no returns through it. The Finnish post office is problematic, yes, but the Singapore post office is fine.”

On May 14, the departure was registered at Vnukovo airport. It started on the same day customs clearance and on the night of the 15th the parcel was transferred for delivery throughout Russia. No delays.

On May 16, I received a smartphone at the Russian Post office in Kaluga. Thus, delivery took less than 20 days. In my opinion, an excellent result.

I unpacked the box, turned on the phone - everything works great, as it should. We'll talk about the phone in detail in the review, which will be released next week, but for now let's talk about delivery.

It is noteworthy that the customs declaration stated the following:

"ANDROID PHONE. VALUE $18.” In other words, the seller did not indicate that the phone was specifically Xiaomi inside and its actual cost ($422). And this is despite stories on the Internet that such a lengthy formulation is guaranteed to lead to opening the package in order to check what kind of “Android background” is there.

Perhaps such a scenario would actually take place if there were 150 border service officers at the customs office in Vnukovo and they processed no more than 50 parcels per day. It’s a sin not to open something, because it’s boring. However, I am sure that a little more than 50 shipments arrive at Vnukovo every day.

Push

I have ordered and will continue to order smartphones (including Xiaomi) from China. After all, even taking into account the month-long wait and at least a week of testing the device, my reviews are still published promptly. There is no point in waiting until the device officially arrives in Russia, samples appear at the representative office, and only then they get to me.

Briefly about the current situation. I don’t think the prices for Xiaomi smartphones in Russia are overpriced. Yes, perhaps they could be a little lower, but even for 30 thousand rubles it looks like a completely adequate offer. After all, we get a flagship device, and in addition official guarantee, support and system with Russian language out of the box.

I only condemn the fact that to a simple user they slap his hands when he personally own funds and is trying to buy some device abroad exclusively for himself. Cunning individual entrepreneurs who organized a one-page website and resell something from China should go the distance, but ordinary citizens should not follow them. Can not be so.

Since March 15, 2017, another official distributor, the Smart Orange company, has appeared in Russia. It sells Mi equipment and supports users throughout Russia. It sounds good, but not everything is so simple.

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: Russian customs, by order of Smart Orange, began to unwrap 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 offices of Yekaterinburg and Orenburg. Many users have already suffered from them and have never received their Xiaomi phones from Aliexpress.

How do they explain this?

The Smart Orange company itself has officially confirmed its participation in the “scheme” and explains it 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. IN Lately Cases of suspension by customs authorities of such consignments have become more frequent. The situation also applies to orders from individuals placed on foreign online trading platforms and sent to Russia by post.

The company also calls on all users who encounter similar problem, become their clients and buy the same Xiaomi smartphone from them additional discount. This is the loyalty program.

What about prices in Russia?

The appearance of an official distributor in the country is great event, which should primarily be aimed at improving service and user support, and secondarily at sales of official products. But Xiaomi fans on social networks noted high cost Mi smartphones, some models are sold at 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, will cost 12,999 rubles. The Mi Max phablet with 32 GB of memory costs 19,900 rubles against Chinese prices at 12-13 thousand. Mi Note 2 - 34,000 rubles versus 25-26 thousand rubles.

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

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

• ask the seller not to indicate that this is a Xiaomi smartphone (let him 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 it is a gift, a photo frame, etc.)
• ask the seller to repackage the smartphone in another box so that it cannot be identified, without opening the package
• please do not send to the customs indicated above (although this is difficult)

What will happen to Xiaomi in Russia

The Xiaomi brand is very popular in Russia, Ukraine and other countries. No small merit in this is due to the Chinese stores that sell Mi equipment to the whole world. What will happen to the brand now? Xiaomi products in Russia?

The two main drivers of sales of Xiaomi smartphones are low cost and balanced characteristics. Without one of these components, the meaning of the devices of this brand is lost. There is a very small chance that in Russia users will start buying Xiaomi phones en masse at a double markup; 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 come from international markets, where the brand is not represented at all. The merit of these sales is precisely Chinese stores with reasonable prices and worldwide delivery, but the manufacturer is usually silent about this in reports.

Thus, by depriving Russian users of the opportunity to order affordable Mi smartphones on Chinese sites, 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 will “whiten up gray products” by simply repackaging Xiaomi phones in regular white boxes, without logos and inscriptions.

Instead of conclusions

Do you remember the times 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 boxes made from recycled cardboard. When even while waiting for the parcel there was something pleasant and magical. And when you picked it up at the post office and opened the coveted box, your delight knew no bounds.

Today, the popularity of Xiaomi has made the company highly commercial and this is felt in all aspects. The new products come with a locked bootloader, and the recognizable beige boxes have become featureless white, like Apple's. Today everyone is trying to make money from brand fans by raising prices and cutting off supply routes. But many do not understand what exactly fans want from Xiaomi, since they themselves are not fans.